"Red is Dead" Optical Mice LED Change 500
A reader sent us the
HOWTO for changing that red LED on your fancy-pants new optical mouse to blue - or, I suppose any other color. I think I'm fine with what I've got - although, the glass tops on tables does make using optical mice a pain there.
Article: Desoldering LEDs (Score:5, Informative)
This shouldn't be the hardest part of the mod. Solder-removal braiding and suction solder removers are cheaply available and highly recommended. Once you remove the solder, removing the LEDs is much easier and safer. (No flying hot solder!)
Re:Which color works best? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Don't actually do this! (Score:5, Informative)
Blue has a shorter wavelength than red.
The reason red LEDs are used is because they are the cheapest, as longer wavelength bandgap devices are easier to make.
The exception to this logic is infrared, since LEDs are typically used for visual indication. Infrared LEDs are useless for this purpose so manufacturers don't make nearly as many of them...
I wouldn't suggest doing it... (Score:5, Informative)
I don't recall the URL, but about a year ago someone did a comparison of about 10 different LED colors they tried in an optical mouse, and found that red is the best. (Duhh)
Re:what about ultra-violet? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:woodgrain (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Which color works best? (Score:2, Informative)
Excerpt from the article:
The reason for this is because the red light increases the contrast of the surface it is lighting up. The tiny camera used to take pictures in the mouse is able to see changes in the surface better, offering excellent responsiveness.
So, I guess the red color wasn't choosen for nothing... :-P Indeed, the article says that the mod will only work fine if you use high-intensity blue LED's.
Re:I wouldn't suggest doing it... (Score:4, Informative)
Optical mice hork down batteries (Score:3, Informative)
I have two Logitech wireless mice: one at work, one at home. I spend comparable amounts of time logged in both places (*sigh*). The one at home is a mechanical mouse, the one at work is an optical mouse.
My optical mouse has been through five sets of AA batteries in the amount of time it took my mechanical mouse to finish off one set of AAAs.
And you can't use rechargables, because these bad boys need the full 1.7 volts from those Alkaline cells -- the 1.3 from NiCd just won't cut it.
That's just nasty.
Re:logitech is blue... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Fix for glass tabletops... (Score:3, Informative)
Logitech Mouse (Score:5, Informative)
www.skybusiness.com/ntanner [skybusiness.com]
I've done this, and it works fine. Note that there are two Radio shack LED's that are blue, one that outputs 2600 MCD's at 4.5 volts, the other 300 at 6 volts. I used the brighter one, and have no skipping problems at all.
Radio Shack [radioshack.com]
Cached (Score:2, Informative)
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:pYdsFS2ayMgJ
mirror (Score:2, Informative)
http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/mouseled1.html [attbi.com]
http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/mouseled2.html [attbi.com]
http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/mouseled3.html [attbi.com]
though page one links to two and two to three fine on the mirror
One source for bright LEDs (Score:3, Informative)
http://hosfelt.com/en-us/dept_54.html [hosfelt.com]
Re:why?? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:water isn't blue. (Score:1, Informative)
Read this. [webexhibits.org]
Re:Optical mice hork down batteries (Score:3, Informative)
NiCad? What is this, 1982?? Try high-output NiMH instead. I've got a couple of sets for my digicam (which will destroy a set of alkalines faster than it takes to fill a CF card), and they're great. See Steve's digicams [steves-digicams.com] for a rundown of what's out there.
Re:Where to buy ultrabright LED's? (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, the hosting company shut down the site temporarily. Crippled their server. Sorry guys...I tried to keep it up.
About the LED's used in this mod...
They are from superbrightleds.com (go figure huh?) hehe
You need them that bright in order for them to work properly. Hope this helps!
Re:Which color works best? (Score:5, Informative)
Please stop being lazy and Google for it yourself. The original poster is quite correct. The human eye is most sensitive to green light. Going from red (632 nm) to green (532 nm) there is an approximately fourfold increase in sensitivity. That's why green laser pointers are starting to appear, despite their cost. Novelty value, certainly, but also because a laser pointer limited to a safe power is four times more visible in green than in red.
My guess is that it is because green does not re-transmit as far in distance as red does. Red has a longer wavelength and so can travel further without absorption. You don't want your enemy to be able to see you as well, right?
The eye can resolve finer variations in contrast and brightness in green than in red, as well--hence the use of green displays in night vision scopes. Incidentally, it doesn't matter at all what colour your night vision scopes' display is from the enemy's point of view. Night vision devices are almost always passive devices that collect existing light. As long as they are properly fitted, they aren't directing any radiation--red, green, visible, invisible--outward, so there's nothing to see.
There was a study done about what would be better to use for star watching: green or red.
For amateur astronomers, red LED flashlights are available. They are used because even a fairly bright red LED is perceived as relatively dim by the eye, so your eyes don't lose their dark adaptation every time you check your star charts.
As an aside to anyone here who works with near-IR lasers...you know that a 200 mW diode laser at 670 nm (very red) looks no brighter than a 5 mW HeNe (red, 632 nm)--indeed, it looks quite a bit dimmer after all those burn spots start occluding your vision. Wavelength matters just as much as power when talking about perceived brightness.
Try this article (Score:3, Informative)
I guess this isn't _that_ new of a hack.
Re:Quack (Score:2, Informative)