White vs Amber 4 Channel

[Kresnik]

Alright this is possibly a really dumb question but I need validation before I purchase.

Through my research I have seen that the Amber LED is best too add warmth to a color and that the white is good for white and more pale colors.

My question is - what exactly does firing up the amber or white led do?

This what I am assuming - can someone correct or validate it please ?

An amber led will "warm" up a color or make it brighter. So if you had a yellow color showing with amber at 0, every increase of the amber will make it brighter as it is another led being utilized as in more brightness.

The white led however will take color away from a diode and make it more "pale" aka "cool" down the color. 

So for example - I have Blue at 255 for guardian blue but I wanted it to be brighter but a little less blue I would want a white led.  If I wanted it brighter and "hotter" i would want an amber ?

I'm having difficultly wrapping my head around the difference as I would see no matter what adding a white LED would add brightness period and same with an amber. The only difference is one is white bright making them less colored but brighter while the amber is giving them brightness but an orange tone ?

[scraver]

Ok, first I can only respond firmly on the RGBW as I don't own a Saber with RGBA.

It depends a lot on how much base colour and how much white you mix in.

255 Blue + moderate amounts of white gives you an easy AB.
255 Blue + 255 White, the White almost completely overpowers the blue to the point it's more like a Cool White Fluorescent light.
With Red - because it's the lower power colour the white would 'wash it out' at lower levels.

I can assume that Blue and Amber would turn Green at a certain point so you could make more intense 'brighter/deeper' Greens by mixing Green Blue and Amber Di(c)e and it would technically be brighter as you say because more LED in use.

Really, short version, yes the white makes it brighter but also makes the colour more Pale.

[Darth Obvious]

First off, you shouldn't need to add white to your base color to make it bright. Yes, adding white will make any color brighter (and lighter), but your base color should already be bright enough to begin with.

Secondly, adding amber to blue will obviously make the color more green... it might make it a little bit brighter, but the main effect will be shifting the hue of the color toward the green wavelengths.

The real benefit to the white LED is that it makes really fantastic flashes. So for example, if my base color is some combination of blue and green (let's say cyan), then I can make the perfect bright flash simply by adding white to it. If instead I were to make the flash by just turning red, green, and blue all the way up, then what have I done to my color? I will have added a lot more red to it (as I was already using the blue and green LEDs), and since our eyes have already adjusted to the cyan, the flash will look a bright pinkish color instead of the brighter version of cyan that we wanted. This is caused by neural adaptation to color wavelengths.

The bottom line is that with our RGBW drivers, it's really just the yellows that are lacking (the oranges, on the other hand, look truly awesome... possibly the most vibrant color we've made). So I would strongly suggest only getting the one with amber if you are intent on making some kind of yellow or amber color. Otherwise, you will be better off with the RGBW, because you can make brighter, more convincing flashes with the white LED, and all the other colors should look good.

[Kresnik]

Thanks ... The concept still is irritating I would love to see a side by side comparison of both in action. Maybe by having a color set with the same settings and one with a white led and one with an amber just so I can see the difference

[Sciggs]

Having an Amber LED will also give you the option for a great Lime-Neon green that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise. But other than that, yes, adding Amber would just shift whatever color you are at more toward the yellowish part of the spectrum.

[AdenDurcani]

White is incredibly useful for FoC and "shimmer" effects.

It's harder to do nice even oranges and yellows without an amber LED. So if that's what you're going for, and you're willing to sacrifice the overall utility of the white LED, only then would I go amber.

[Kresnik]

White is incredibly useful for FoC and "shimmer" effects.

It's harder to do nice even oranges and yellows without an amber LED. So if that's what you're going for, and you're willing to sacrifice the overall utility of the white LED, only then would I go amber.

I agree with you I ended up purchasing the 4 Channel with White for a Stunt Saber and it was kind of pointless to have the white on there at all.  It really would only be beneficial on a sound set up as you said to initiate a really cool flash on clash effect.  I am regretting my decision to go with the White on a stunt but overall I am still really happy.  I can get some really cool oranges and red still just mixing Red with Green but at the same time I know I could have gotten some more brightness with the Amber LED instead of the Green as the more Green hits it the more yellow it becomes. 

Overall still very happy with my purchase... I change the color just about every day I am currently sporting a nice Arctic Blue look

[cshigeok]

agreed i have an RGBW emerald and the white is nice for effects or a white saber blade but thats about it. While I am very happy with it I also realize that i might have been happier with the RGBA due to the additive effect it has on the reds and oranges. oh well one day ill get my RGBA...

Thanks for this subject i found it interesting and awarded points accordingly

[kav2001c]

In my limited experience so far, the W tends to really wash out mix colours (you are using 2 or 3 of the RGB LEDs for primary colour)

So as an example, B + W works well to create a nice light blue
But if you prefer B + G (arctic blue) looks much better when not adding +W as well

I suspect the RGBA would give some darker colours, but the RGBW is much nicer for FOC & Pulse effects

I did wire my A/V switch as W though since that way it doesn't clash to whatever other colour I set my blade