Some computer setups knock your socks off with lighting. It can be tasteful, warm, welcoming and conducive to work without eye strain. It can be bright, inventive and dazzling, like fantastic decorations. Or, as in today’s MacBook Pro-based featured setup, it can be either one of those, depending on both choice of settings and time of day.
The light show in today’s workstation derives from two sources, or schemes. One involves two very different table lamps. The other involves LED light strips.
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A tale of two lighting schemes … and one beleaguered London football club
Maybe you noticed we were thinking of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities when writing the headline for this post. But why? Perhaps it had to do with the two lighting schemes evident in Redditor CantEv3n’s post, entitled “New Location of My Study/Procrastination Station.” Or possibly it seeped in from the very English argument going on in the comments about Premier League football (soccer) clubs, which actually involves two cities.
You can see the setup owner’s preference in the fat book’s title on the desk, as well as the framed jersey at right: Tottenham Hotspur, a north London club.
The very first comment — probably bewildering to many outside the U.K. — agreed. “Ha ha yes! COYS!” (COYS is slang for “Come on You Spurs.” Thanks, internet).
Other commenters put in votes for CTID (“City Til I Die,” for Manchester City) and CFC (Chelsea Football Club, another London powerhouse).
No one prevailed in the squabble, but at least no violence or profanity occurred. For the record, as of this writing the Premier League table shows Manchester City leading the league, with Chelsea at number three and Tottenham at number seven out of 20 sides.
But what about those colorful lights?
Not every comment in the post dwelled on sports, of course. “Ooooh the colors!! Can you share the lamp and how you do the colorful lights?” said one.
CantEv3n explained that the industrial desk lamp, purchased on Amazon, uses Edison bulbs, which make quite an impression. They’re colored and show the filament just like Thomas Edison’s originals. That desk lamp is behind the vertical monitor.
“The other lights are Govee LED Bluetooth strip lights that I control through the Govee app, which allows you to make different lighting schemes with multiple sets of lights,” they added.
Photo: CantEv3n@Reddit.com
The other lamp in the photos plays a role in the overall lighting effects, too. It’s a big tooth with a light shining upward from the base, making it glow in the dark. One person thought it might actually be a tooth hologram.
“I wish it was a real hologram, that’d be sick!” CantEv3n replied. “It’s just a lamp with a 2D plastic tooth design with lighting from the base. Gives the illusion of a hologram tho with the contour lines.”
Dual displays
CantEv3n runs two displays with their older MacBook Pro, both mounted on a Waldi dual LCD display arm. The larger screen is a 29-inch Viotek GNV29CB curved gaming monitor. The smaller one is a 21.5-inch HP Pavilion 22BW 1080p display. The Viotek is the more advanced of the two, managing 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution and a gaming-friendly refresh rate of 144Hz.
“The MBP on the stand is connected to both monitors. I am just using a couple of dongles with HDMI ports plugged into the USB-C ports,” CantEv3n said. “Its annoying that both HDMIs need to be plugged separately into the only two USB-C ports on the computer, but its the only way I could get the two displays can run as continuous extended desktops.”
Another Redditor recommended use of a Thunderbolt 3 dock, such as Anker’s, to broaden the MacBook Pro’s port possibilities to make peripherals connectivity easier.
And finally, if you love the wallpapers on the screens as much as one commenter did, note that they’re both stock Mac wallpapers. The vertical monitor shows “Big Sur Road” and the other the horizontal screen displays “Big Sur Mountains.” This article has links to huge archives that may help you find them.
Photo: CantEv3n@Reddit.com
Shop these items now:
Computer:
Displays:
- 27-inch Viotek GNV29CB Curved Gaming Monitor
- 21.5-inch HP Pavilion 22bw 1080p display
- Waldi dual LCD monitor mount
Input devices:
Lighting:
- Haitral Industrial Desk Lamp and Edison Light Bulb
- Fanrui Fantastic Illusion Tooth 3D Table Lamp
- Govee LED Strip Lights
Accessories and furniture:
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to info+setups@cultofmac.com. Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches or challenges.
