Trackball light changing

[berserkfan]

Just asking, has anyone actually tried changing their Kensington trackball mice LEDs? I am bored with my standard red LEDs but have no idea if changing these LEDs will have any effect on the working of the optical trackball.

[TheAngelicWolf]

Just asking, has anyone actually tried changing their Kensington trackball mice LEDs? I am bored with my standard red LEDs but have no idea if changing these LEDs will have any effect on the working of the optical trackball.

Why would it? Doesn't an optical sensor just need some sort of light to determine movement of the ball?

[davkol]

Logitech trackballs heavily depend on the color and texture of the ball AFAIK, it could have some (undesired) consequences.

[berserkfan]

Logitech trackballs heavily depend on the color and texture of the ball AFAIK, it could have some (undesired) consequences.

Does this have to do with the color of the light and the wavelength that the sensor is able to read?  I wouldn't want my trackball to die just because I changed the LED color.

[Melvang]

Logitech trackballs heavily depend on the color and texture of the ball AFAIK, it could have some (undesired) consequences.

Does this have to do with the color of the light and the wavelength that the sensor is able to read?  I wouldn't want my trackball to die just because I changed the LED color.

I believe this has to do with the sensor being able to pick up the light.  At one point I was chatting with Mkawa about building a switch for my PC that I would use a laser pointer to turn it on.  He told me if I did that to use a green laser because 1, they are most sensitive to those wavelengths, and 2, those things are just bright as hell.  Granted these are not the same sensors but I would believe the same principle still applies.

[berserkfan]

Logitech trackballs heavily depend on the color and texture of the ball AFAIK, it could have some (undesired) consequences.

Does this have to do with the color of the light and the wavelength that the sensor is able to read?  I wouldn't want my trackball to die just because I changed the LED color.

I believe this has to do with the sensor being able to pick up the light.  At one point I was chatting with Mkawa about building a switch for my PC that I would use a laser pointer to turn it on.  He told me if I did that to use a green laser because 1, they are most sensitive to those wavelengths, and 2, those things are just bright as hell.  Granted these are not the same sensors but I would believe the same principle still applies.

But doesn't that mean that any bright LED would work? The Kensingtons all use red LEDs which don't look as bright as clear LEDs or light green or yellow LEDs. If I stay away from 'dim' colors like purple and blue, what do you think?

[Melvang]

Logitech trackballs heavily depend on the color and texture of the ball AFAIK, it could have some (undesired) consequences.

Does this have to do with the color of the light and the wavelength that the sensor is able to read?  I wouldn't want my trackball to die just because I changed the LED color.

I believe this has to do with the sensor being able to pick up the light.  At one point I was chatting with Mkawa about building a switch for my PC that I would use a laser pointer to turn it on.  He told me if I did that to use a green laser because 1, they are most sensitive to those wavelengths, and 2, those things are just bright as hell.  Granted these are not the same sensors but I would believe the same principle still applies.

But doesn't that mean that any bright LED would work? The Kensingtons all use red LEDs which don't look as bright as clear LEDs or light green or yellow LEDs. If I stay away from 'dim' colors like purple and blue, what do you think?

I am still doubting that just swapping the LED to a different color would work.  Yes the swap would be possible but I don't think it would work.  The reason is because to my knowledge optical sensors work from the IR spectrum and the red light is just a byproduct of the LED.  Much in the same way that UV LEDs emit visible purple light.  I used to have a flashlight in the service that had blue LED's and it would cause certain colors of torque stripe (a type of paste that we put on nuts and bolts as a visible indication that the hardware had turned or loosened in flight) to glow as if under UV light. 

For the project I was referring to, I was just planning on using a light sensor of some fashion.  It doesn't have to detect movement like in a track ball.  Just light intensity above a certain threshold.

[berserkfan]

Thanks a lot for this response Melvang!

It's a really constructive reply. That's what i wanted to hear. If the technology requires infra red then no other visible color LED will work well because they're all further from red.