YouTube Video
Corsair LT100 - Smart Lighting Towers
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Recently, I've been taking a look at several products which synchronize video to RGB lighting mounted on the back of a monitor. I've reivewed corsairs own LS100 kit, one from ASUS and another from NZXT. All 3 have done a relatively decent job and extending the action on the monitor to the surounding area creating a unique effect.
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A more recent product from Corsair is the LT100 Smart lighting Towers. This is a slightly different take on that function of synchronizing your video to RGB lighting.
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First off this is obviously a rigid tower as opposed to the LS100's strips ability to bend. The tower plugs into a base module and can be reversed to be facing forward or in reverse. In the reverse facing direction, it will project it's light onto your wall, much like the ls100. It does not project the top and bottom of the monitor however, which the ls100 does since it has 4 strips, 1 for each side of your monitor.
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The controller is integrated into one of the bases which comes with the 2 tower kit, so it's recommended to purchase at least one kit, there are also expansion towers (sold in singles) available. The second tower plugs into the controller and gets both it's power and RGB signal from it. The controller has the main power source to the wall and a USB connection to the PC.
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Once connected, you will use iCUE software to control it.
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I can report that the towers fit nicely into the iCUE environment, although at first it didn't work and iCUE needed to be upgraded to the latest version (currenlty 3.34.170). Once iCUE was upgraded it immediately recognized the towers and I was able to select video syncrhronization as well as audio sync. Beyond those, it has many of the standard iCUE lighting schemes and fits in nicely with the lighting link feature.
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In my experiences with it, it's comparable to the LS100 when using the video syncrhonization in a rearward facing direction. It's not as brilliant since it's not syncing the top and bottom of the monitor, but still looks great.
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It works nicely with the LS100, both will function at the same time, giving you the ability to expand the lighting on the sides.
in the "Lighting setup" tab of the LT100 towers, you can customize which part of the monitor will sync with the tower. So you can get the top and bottom to sync, but the towers won't really orient in those positions.
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In addition to video sync, the ambient lighting in general in a rearward position is nice. It has a brillian color which can be dimmed in the settings of iCUE. The look and brightness will vary depending on your wall color.
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It's simple to reorient the towers to a foward (or vice versa) position. they simply unsnap from the base, turn it around and snap it back in. It has two large lugs that orient it on the connector in either direction.
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The towers have a "Hardware Lighting" function which tells the tower what to do if it's not plugged into a PC and in a standalone mode. There is also a power on/off switch on the controller base to turn it off if it's in this standalone mode.
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There is an included headphone stand that rests on the top of one tower, it works well and fits in with the aesthetic.
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It's important to note that the number of LED's in the tower is marketed at 47 individually addressed RGB LEDS. In Reality, although there are 47 LED's on each tower, only 27 objects are customizeable in icue. This is because the base contains 20 LED's which are only customizeable as a single object.
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The LEDS are diffused with a built in diffuser, not unlike the strips for the ls100.
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the bases have a single RGB color to them, which looks good and syncs with the rest of the tower.
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I have found the video syncronization of all these products to be a cool feature. I must say that when I use it with video games, I don't notice it much....but I do notice when I turn it off.
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However, where I really enjoy the synchronization is with videos that I watch, since i'm not actively playing a game. I notice (and enjoy) the effect to a greater extent with video.
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Overall the LT100 kit is a great addition to the corsair ambient lighting lineup, I may have to add another tower or two.
It's only downfall I can see is the pricetag which feels steep at 129. This is a quality item on the level that Corsair usually manufactures, but 129 for lights still seems steep.
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However, I'm all in with it.
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Go create something awesome!
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Andrew
