Lighting: Parabolic Louvers vs. Egg Crate

[Goody04]

This topic came up in another thread and I thought it may warrant its own discussion for those that are interested. The older I get (currently 52) the more important good table lighting is. As some of you may know, I've built a couple custom lights. One for my 1950's AMF (similar to an Anniversary) and I recently built a custom light for my Gold Crown I. Both lights used the same lighting source: (8) 5000K 48" Fluorescent T8 bulbs each putting out 2600 Lumens at a CRI of 90 emitting through a couple chrome plated standard egg crate diffusers. When I posted my light in the aforementioned thread, members @DeadStick and @EL'nino pretty highly recommended a set of parabolic louvers to replace the standard egg crates I was using. The idea behind the parabolic louvers is the cells are formed in a way that direct the light to a more focused area compared to the egg crates and they also cut down on glare. I'm all for better lighting and improvements even though I'm not at all sensitive to glare. I play for hours on my table and have never felt eye fatigue. But hey, if the lighting is more focused and more importantly, brighter, I'm in. I went ahead and ordered a set from Amazon. They are more expensive compared to the standard egg crate diffusers at $120 shipped for the pair. I sourced the egg crates from Home Depot for $75 (pair) out the door when I built my light.

I'm not real convinced the parabolic louvers are an upgrade in brightness. Sure, there's less light around the rest of the room with them, but that was never a concern for me. I actually think the light is a little brighter with the egg crates. Due to the nature of the egg crates design, each bay of the light covers more table surface than the parabolic louvers. I tested this by covering one of the bays with cardboard. The egg crates clearly allow more light up/down table vs the parabolic louvers. I think this contributes to a little brighter playing surface. The pics below were taken with my iPhone with no filtering used. I think I'm going to return these and use the $120 to donate in my next Ring Game.

hey,
How much space did you allow in between your light and the louvers?
I know you did not use LED panels for your build. I am currently building a light and didn’t know if the LED panel could sit on the louver or if I should have a spacer in between. Any info is helpful, thanks.

 

[rexus31]

hey,
How much space did you allow in between your light and the louvers?
I know you did not use LED panels for your build. I am currently building a light and didn’t know if the LED panel could sit on the louver or if I should have a spacer in between. Any info is helpful, thanks.

I'm not sure of the distance between the fluorescent bulbs and the louvers and I'm not sure if LED panels can be placed on top of louvers. I'd reach out to the manufacturer to ask. I do know that if the LED's you are planning to use are not frosted, you may get a tiger striping effect on the table if you use louvers. A buddy of mine retrofit his fixtures for LED but he used the clear bulbs and he got that effect. He swapped them out for frosted and the issue went away.

 

[muskyed]

In my three flat panel 2x2 LED homemade light setup on the previous page I just laid the panels directly on top of the egg crate diffuser. I would not raise the light panels anymore than needed for your light box design. As Rexus said, you want frosted lights. The 2x2 led panels that I know of, all are a white covering. It's really an inexpensive and fantastic light option if you have any woodworking ability. About $225 gets you a fantastic light. I had a wood shop loaded with wood so mine ran me about $175.
Rexus's light costs more and more time to make, but is a really nice addition to his table.
Once you have a good light you will realize it should not be something that you worry about cost on, it is that important, not only to your shooting, but the overall enjoyment of your table.