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Joined 8 months ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2024

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  • They have an LED each in the top-right corner of the corresponding dot. The LEDs use different driving signals (much higher frequency and not just when the display changes) but are kept in sync with the slow-updating display to allow both technologies to complement each other: they do work in total darkness and faulty dots have LEDs as a fallback; the LEDs are half-brightness at night, full brightness at dusk and off in daylight.

    Also, they were significantly LESS expensive than a sufficiently luminous LED display in the 90s before superbright LEDs existed.

    As I said in another comment, they weren’t designed for ads but info signage, so they don’t actively catch attention, which is what you want to get a visually cleaner environment.



















  • I’m just guessing, we barely do Christmas lights in this country. People usually use a timed socket for ornaments in their window or wrapped around a tree outside. Light sensors obviously exist here, they are used as part of PIR units to control floodlights. Towns use installations on streetlights, controlled by a similar mechanism.

    Why would anyone use energy for a festive atmosphere at 2AM on mall parking lots? Even their streetlights usually shut down at midnight.