led dash lights
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
I don't know about the 1990 and newer dashboards, but the earlier ones use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to control the brightness. It will work with LEDs.
In fact, that's the only way to dim LEDs that works in a reasonable way. The brightness of incandescent lamps is dependent on how hot the filament gets. Usually you control this by varying the voltage applied to them (the dimmer rheostat on the headlight switch).
LEDs have a threshold voltage and they will not light until that voltage is exceeded. After they light the current must be limited or they will burn out. LEDs are dimmed by PWM. You can see this with the tail lights of many newer cars (especially Cadillacs) where moving your eyes back and forth will make them appear like dots as the LEDs turn on and off several times a second. The ratio of on time to off time determines the brightness. For more on this see this link:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...ull-story.html
In fact, that's the only way to dim LEDs that works in a reasonable way. The brightness of incandescent lamps is dependent on how hot the filament gets. Usually you control this by varying the voltage applied to them (the dimmer rheostat on the headlight switch).
LEDs have a threshold voltage and they will not light until that voltage is exceeded. After they light the current must be limited or they will burn out. LEDs are dimmed by PWM. You can see this with the tail lights of many newer cars (especially Cadillacs) where moving your eyes back and forth will make them appear like dots as the LEDs turn on and off several times a second. The ratio of on time to off time determines the brightness. For more on this see this link:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...ull-story.html
