Realism in lighting: An open letter to Chihiros

[Swordtail89]

The WRGBII is a really cool light. I just got my first one today. Seems to be on the cutting edge and whatnot.
The hardware in this light (and in other high-end aquarium-lights too, probably, I don't really know) might not be fully exploited. I thought of a couple of things that might be an easy change on the app and which might add functionality and value at little cost.

- The one I'd most like to see is an (option to) increase in reds towards the end of the ramp down to a dim dark blue and then off (like a sunset). That could be a button.

- The one that would be most notable, would be some way to track day length throughout the year. You may need to input latitude, but I suggest we would see behavior and displays that you wouldn't otherwise see. Breeders would likely find this extremely useful. It would also make it so the light is never on at night automatically which some could find useful.

If those are already features of higher end lights you have on offer, please let me know.
I am a humble consumer of your product. I am not a programmer and I do not speak computer. Maybe, these things would be harder than I think. In any case, cool light and thanks for reading

-Swordtail

 

[Administrator]

For the first one, you can customize your own setting in Customize mode.
For the second, we'll consider.
Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[Swordtail89]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.
I had typed up a whole second post to respond to you before i figured out what I was trying to do.

 

[Swordtail89]

Is it true that you can only have 20 control points in the customize mode? That seems like too few to make into a sunrise and sunset. I'm trying now (and intend to post it once it's done), but I'm worried that my work will be fruitless or limited in its success due to this limitation.
Another way to integrate this light is to change the ratios of RGB throughout the whole day and its not just sunrises and sets. Morning sun is different than afternoon sun- the 1980s plastic makeup kits knew this. This certainly cannot be done in 20 points. This variation throughout the day also might have unexpected knock-on effects in the keeping of our fish. Though, if that 20 points is actually quite high and much work was done just to get to that, I suppose I can be happy- I really have no idea, but if 20 was an arbitrary choice which can be changed easily, it probably should be.

I wonder how much further along my sunset would be if I hadn't typed any of this up

Another note: There is no way, specifically to tell the app when to apply your customized schedule. Think in the same way as the green switch turns on and off for the auto section. As it stands, in order to use your customized schedule, it MUST be the last section of the app you view. If you make a mistake- say, in the evening, when the light might be off anyway, and leave the app on some other section, the light will not turn on until you have realized your mistake and corrected your action. This is not something that can happen with the green switch in the auto section. You can turn it on and as long as it's on, you can do other things in the Chihiros app. That is how the customize tab should behave. Also notably absent is the ability to SAVE your work without creating a whole new file. This is a useful feature. So useful and so universal that some take it for granted. Don't be like that. SAVE AS is not enough.
As always, thanks for your time.

 

[Administrator]

Yes currently max 20 control points in the Customize mode. Technicians may improve in the future.
Change mode means change the settings, you can load the customize settings you saved. As for the activate button technicians will consider.
Thanks for your suggestions.