Where to find twinkle lights from Disneyland?

[f150trk21]

Ok found them. Went to disneyland today and got up close to the lights. They are made by Tokistar lighting.

[casyoo]

The incandescent bulbs that Disney used in the trees are the 258 type. They are a G4.5 14volt flasher bulb in E10 base. The twinkling effect is the same as the flashing c7 bulbs, but since they are low voltage, they flash slower.
I have heard that they had replaced these recently with LED, but I really liked the effect that the older incandescent bulbs had.

[absolom7691]

The incandescent bulbs that Disney used in the trees are the 258 type. They are a G4.5 14volt flasher bulb in E10 base. The twinkling effect is the same as the flashing c7 bulbs, but since they are low voltage, they flash slower.
I have heard that they had replaced these recently with LED, but I really liked the effect that the older incandescent bulbs had.

Talk about a thread rez! Seriously though, thanks for the info!

I will say, LEDs can match color temp and a few other attributes of incandescent but the instant on/off of LED seems harsh to me. I know, I know, a capacitor will help but LEDs still can't emulate the color temp change of a filament turning off. From white/amber>amber>orange>red>off... That's difficult to emulate. I notice it a lot in the "carnival" and "midway" games at theme parks as well as casino and marquee signs. They all lack the "warmth" of the incandescent glow. I also see it on pinball machine playfields. LEDs have great color but lack the warmth. For strobing, LEDs are great. Same with general light (provided they're filtered and don't flicker at 30hz, drives me nuts) but there are certain applications where incandescents look and "feel" better.

[buffo]

Not really the same thing as the twinkle lights, but just wanted to share something similar we saw at the recent UKLEM: "Sparkle Fiber".

Basically it's your typical cheap, plastic fiber, but it's got little "beads" on the strand every few inches or so. It looks amazing, especially when you have a giant bundle of a couple hundred strands all bunched together and stuck to the aperture of a laser projector that is scanning a colorful abstract. As the pattern shifts around, various individual fibers light up, making for a very hypnotic effect. This would look amazing in the trees for a Halloween display.

Robin had a bundle of 200 strands, each 1 mm in diameter and ~ 5 meters long, stuck to the aperture of a 15 watt RGB projector, and it looked incredible. But we also tried it on a 7.5 watt projector, and then on a 2.5 watt projector, and even at the lower power it still looked impressive, and that was indoors with a good bit of ambient light. Outside in the dark it would be unreal.

Looking on Amazon, it appears that it's also sold as "Flash Point Optical Fiber", and several companies are selling it along with an LED light source. Robin said he found a 1 kilometer spool of the stuff for like $65 on Alibaba, but the thought of cutting 200 strands and gluing them together into a bundle sounds like a lot of work, so I'm leaning towards the pre-made stuff on Amazon. Thinking they would look cool at SELEM this year.

Adam

[absolom7691]

Not really the same thing as the twinkle lights, but just wanted to share something similar we saw at the recent UKLEM: "Sparkle Fiber".

Basically it's your typical cheap, plastic fiber, but it's got little "beads" on the strand every few inches or so. It looks amazing, especially when you have a giant bundle of a couple hundred strands all bunched together and stuck to the aperture of a laser projector that is scanning a colorful abstract. As the pattern shifts around, various individual fibers light up, making for a very hypnotic effect. This would look amazing in the trees for a Halloween display.

Robin had a bundle of 200 strands, each 1 mm in diameter and ~ 5 meters long, stuck to the aperture of a 15 watt RGB projector, and it looked incredible. But we also tried it on a 7.5 watt projector, and then on a 2.5 watt projector, and even at the lower power it still looked impressive, and that was indoors with a good bit of ambient light. Outside in the dark it would be unreal.

Looking on Amazon, it appears that it's also sold as "Flash Point Optical Fiber", and several companies are selling it along with an LED light source. Robin said he found a 1 kilometer spool of the stuff for like $65 on Alibaba, but the thought of cutting 200 strands and gluing them together into a bundle sounds like a lot of work, so I'm leaning towards the pre-made stuff on Amazon. Thinking they would look cool at SELEM this year.

Adam

Very intriguing! I am definitely going to check that out. Sounds like a really cool "practical" effect. It seems that video walls and LED screens are everywhere and it's nice to see some "non-digital" effects that can still really pop.

I'm sure this can bleed into a whole other discussion about the philosophies of how much computers and computer driven displays have encroached into decoration field but while I find the technology cool, it's overplayed and I tire of seeing entire venues covered in LED display walls. So, this would be an awesome and fairly simple effect to deploy!