NZXT revealed the HUE+ LED Advanced lighting system. The updated HUE system does away with the previous dial control configuration in exchange for software-controlled adjustments managed through NZXT's free CAM software, which allows for far more intricate customization.
The old version of the HUE LED Lighting kit lets you adjust the light strips to practically any color under the rainbow, but whichever color was selected is what all of the lights in the kit would be set to. The HUE+, being software-controlled, allows for independent programming of each LED for near endless configurations.
The controller has the ability to handle up to four different strips per channel, and it has two channels for a total of up to eight strips on one device. Each channel can have a separately assigned lighting mode, of which there are eight from which to choose. There are effects that react to the load on the CPU and GPU, and other effects that react to music and game effects. Each of the pre-programmed modes offers a range of customizations including the speed and direction the pattern lights up.
The NZXT HUE+ includes four LED strips and four extension cables of varying length. The LED strips can be daisy-chained directly, or with the extension cables in between, allowing for placement anywhere within the computer case. NZXT said the LED strips include strong embedded magnets that will attach to any magnetic surface, but 3M adhesive is included for placement on non-magnetic surfaces such as a plastic bezel.
The NZXT HUE+ is controlled by the company's free CAM software. First released in 2014, CAM was first designed to be monitoring software for your PC's components. CAM has also been used as the management software for NZXT's Kraken all-in-one liquid cooling units, and over the summer it was updated to include support for the GRID+ fan controller. The latest release, version 2.1.8, adds support for the HUE+ Advanced Lighting kit.
NZXT is taking pre-orders for the $59.99 HUE+ Advanced Lighting Kit through the NZXT Armory website. Extra LED strips will be available in packages of two for $19.99. The extra strips are not available yet, but the company said they will be soon.
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