We recently launched an article where we try to help users who suffer the same problems with the lighting and RGB control programs of each brand. Although it is not perfect as such, it is a first step towards an ecosystem that, for now, is far from being officially produced. This generates a debate both in forums and internally about where this RGB industry is going and, above all, users wonder: why is there not a single lighting control program?
The PC industry is an ongoing war that logically no manufacturer wants to lose. As is usual, if there is no specific standard that is a priority for a primary or secondary technology, each brand takes a different path in the search to differentiate itself.
As for the RGB lighting and control industry for PC and the manufacturers of plates or GPUs, there is a significant disruption in the arguments, since some implement and others follow them, all under two only standards that are not respected at 100 %.
The war of the LEDs will end without a winner and with many losers
The entire PC and LED industry is at constant war. Each manufacturer has chosen one of the standards or both if possible for their own benefit. The idea has been simple: create an individual ecosystem, personalized and focused on each brand with the aim of dragging users who have a product already purchased to achieve efficient synchronization with the rest of the components of that manufacturer.
It is a kind of obligatory loyalty that both ASUS , GIGABYTE , ASRock , Razer , Logitech and other brands have followed the table to start users, where they have had to install one or more lighting control software and where among these they are not come.
This causes such monumental anger that it is only comparable to the price that products that integrate RGB are obtaining, which in the end ends up forcing the average user either to dispense with LEDs or to lean towards one of the brands. This is a futile war that will end without victors and with many losers, where now it seems that a little light is glimpsing after the exchange of blows.
ASUS and Corsair show the way
If the adoption of the 4-pin 12-volt standard and the 3-pin 5-volt standard was a difficult thing for manufacturers to assimilate for the LED industry, Corsair went its own way without caring about anything or anyone.
Their connectors are their own, quite limited in terms of duplication of the systems and to top it off many times we need extra hardware that allows us to add or control more of their products. It does not seem that the Americans are going to change their strategy, especially when their system is complete, complex and works really well with iCUE, but what is clear is that they have to open up to the world.
The rest of the manufacturers try to do the same with other manufacturers such as those of SSD, RAM or sound cards, which implies more variety of products to include in their software, ergo more work and optimization to each version. For this reason, ASUS and Corsair are already working on a first mutual project that, of course, will respect their independent software. It is certainly not ideal, but it is the first step for two greats to set an example of what can be achieved by respecting the investment made previously and may lay the foundations for a future software where, who knows, more brands will be added to its development dividing expenses.
A single program to control RGB LEDs of any brand?
Perhaps it is a dream that never comes, especially since it implies admitting a defeat already known to all and flushing years and thousands of dollars in engineers and developers down the toilet. But you never know, the first step is that between brands end up giving support, whether they are motherboards, headphones, mice, graphics cards and more, where once stability is created, perhaps you can talk about a common program.
Perhaps an intermediary is needed (Microsoft with Windows?) To come to fruition, where a .dll repository can be created for each component and product, uploaded to the Redmond cloud and controlled from the operating system itself everything. In any case, this will not happen tomorrow or next year, or possibly in 2022.
They have to sit down now, talk, reach agreements and understand that the user wants to buy the product that best suits their needs without having to depend on a software external to each one that has a different brand to synchronize a lighting system that share the bus with others.
When brands understand that they have all lost, that there are no winners, perhaps this is the time where this happens and the entire industry will celebrate.
