HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
I'm not sure what it is, but usually when I see LED lit tanks, they look harsh. It's almost like a stage lighting effect, or just an unbalanced feeling. Is it just me?
Do LED's look harsh to anyone else?
- Thread starter HippieSmell
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trueblackpercula
New member
heritage
Active member
What do you mean by shadows ?
Granted, some leds don't look as good as others but you get what you pay for.
James77
Team RC
+1 on this.
I have seen high end and low end fixtures and DIY setups, with all sorts of spectrums. Not sure if "cold" is 100% the word to describe them....but they are definitely different from every other type of lighting.
rtparty
Raise The Reef!
With all the different point sources shadows just seem more pronounced to me. I actually don't love halides for this same reason but halides are much better in my opinion.
About the only high end system I haven't seen in person is the mitras.
trueblackpercula
New member
What fixture do you have? I have a radion G1 and it is working fine for me. The only issue I have is the blues at 100% are way to strong so I had to lower them a little in the morning and at night. Other then that the fixture is producing more light then my 400watt my and 150watt VHO. Well to my eyes anyways.alao my sps are getting a lot my vibrant in color and I have only had the fixture about a Month. Can't wait to see the results after a year thanks echotech
Michigan Mike
Freedom costs a buckofive
Point source lighting looks more natural because of the shadows.
Ya LEDs are cold, to the touch....(rimshot) meh...
Some LEDs look okay, they have a weird fluorescence about them that I can't describe at the moment, but like it.
I can't stand crummy led disco effect.
Some LEDs like the kessil 350a look good and are almost mesmerizing from the shimmer and glitter lines, almost too much and it can be distracting, but no where near as bad as multi looked disco light dancing everywhere.
I think its funny when people say T5 is dull etc... I guess it depends on your bulbs etc because my tank is as colorful as a big box of crayons. Ha.
Ya LEDs are cold, to the touch....(rimshot) meh...
Some LEDs look okay, they have a weird fluorescence about them that I can't describe at the moment, but like it.
I can't stand crummy led disco effect.
Some LEDs like the kessil 350a look good and are almost mesmerizing from the shimmer and glitter lines, almost too much and it can be distracting, but no where near as bad as multi looked disco light dancing everywhere.
I think its funny when people say T5 is dull etc... I guess it depends on your bulbs etc because my tank is as colorful as a big box of crayons. Ha.
heritage
Active member
Ok, I know what you mean now. I think a lot of that has more to do with the amount of leds used and the type optics. But I guess that depends on the person looking at it as well.
Have you seen the acan prism yet?
I have one 18" fixture over my 40b and 3 that I will be running over my 125, and I have to tell you they are amazing !
I have noticed this as well. I was running t5's and the coral looked great but once I got them under the leds the color of the sps have really started to pop.
LOL... I saw one tank that was running something similar to the kessil, and it had this crazy disco effect, so bad that after looking at it for a few minutes I would start to feel nauseous. :uhoh2:
I dont get any of that shimmer, in fact the only time I see it is if I'm looking directly at the coral or sand bed.
brock_adams2002
New member
When I first made the switch from my t5's to my AI Vega's, I hated them! Totally different light! But now that I'm used to them, I couldn't be happier! The colors are just amazing!! Corals and fish look so good! Never seen those colors before!!
TimeConsumer
Active member
I can't say much about the newer LED systems, but I recall when I purchased some rainbow acans from a local reefer at a frag swap he was displaying them under a Radion (this was right after they had come out). He was talking up the fixture so much he had me convinced to buy one, until I got home. Once I put those same rainbow acans in my tank under my T5s and they exploded with colors that his Radion hid, I knew I wasn't switching anytime soon. The word I'd use to describe the LED colors is dull. The rich orange, the bright green, the pale blue, the soft pink, all those colors were just dull and muted under the Radion. Maybe the newest fixtures are better, but I won't switch until I see it in person (with rainbow acans).
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
The harshness could be from multiple shadows. It sort of reminds me of halogen track lighting, which I also find harsh. Part of it is probably the disco effect, which some fixtures have. But, I think a lot of it is harder for me to pinpoint, and it could be because of this: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/aafeature
I'm not sure if the spectral plots for led's were smoothed by Sanjay, but if led's actually emit light in such a uniform way, that could be what I'm seeing. I thought that maybe my problem with led's was that they were too "spikey" in their light output, but it turns out it may be the complete opposite. They may be too smooth.
I'm not sure if the spectral plots for led's were smoothed by Sanjay, but if led's actually emit light in such a uniform way, that could be what I'm seeing. I thought that maybe my problem with led's was that they were too "spikey" in their light output, but it turns out it may be the complete opposite. They may be too smooth.
Voxboy
Premium Member
Im the opposite. I love my LEDs for that reason. I think it gives more depth to the tank....more dimensional.
Squidmotron
New member
Opposite of the OP here too. To me, full-spectrum LEDs are by far the best looking lights. And the "underwater" look and shadowing actually seems more natural to my eyes.
Some LEDs do look pretty harsh, and some people really like to crank the blue to rave levels which makes it worse. I won't claim to have seen everything, but the Radion Pro, the Maxspect Razor and the Kessils all look good to me as long as the blue isn't being run out of whack.
T5s seem to bring out some unusual colors, but they've never looked very natural to my eyes. The fun-house colors and the lack of shadows makes it look off to me. I'm sure you can fix the fun-house colors that with bulb choices though.
It's hard to beat metal halide for natural looking light though. I use LED and I'm happy with that choice when you weigh all the pluses and minuses but MH bulbs just send light through the water in a terrific way. There is some shadowing but it's diffuse, some rippling but it's muted, etc.
T5s seem to bring out some unusual colors, but they've never looked very natural to my eyes. The fun-house colors and the lack of shadows makes it look off to me. I'm sure you can fix the fun-house colors that with bulb choices though.
It's hard to beat metal halide for natural looking light though. I use LED and I'm happy with that choice when you weigh all the pluses and minuses but MH bulbs just send light through the water in a terrific way. There is some shadowing but it's diffuse, some rippling but it's muted, etc.
HippieSmell
Occupy Reef Central
The only higher end led I've seen (in person) is the Maxspect Razor, and as soon as my wife saw it she commented on how it was way too blue. It was blue, but I think it was 10k. It felt like a sparkly ice cube, not warm like a tropical reef should feel, IMO.
I was thinking about how people are used to seeing colors in real life. IRL, the blue sky is a very diffuse light, coming in from all angles above us. The sun itself, which is much more like a point source, is a warm color. Might be why I feel 6500k halides with fluorescent actinics look so darn nice. I actually like the color of the Kessil Amazon Sun. Maybe one of those with some T5 blues would look good.
I was thinking about how people are used to seeing colors in real life. IRL, the blue sky is a very diffuse light, coming in from all angles above us. The sun itself, which is much more like a point source, is a warm color. Might be why I feel 6500k halides with fluorescent actinics look so darn nice. I actually like the color of the Kessil Amazon Sun. Maybe one of those with some T5 blues would look good.
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