RGB Everything With Razer's Chroma Hardware Development Kit

You can make 16.8 million colors using red, green, and blue lights. It seems manufacturers can make approximately that many products with those lights, too, with RGB LEDs becoming nigh-ubiquitous in pretty much every product category. In case that isn't enough RGB goodness, you'll soon be able to buy Razer's Chroma Hardware Development Kit (HDK) and its Lightpack Expansion to illuminate your system with up to 64 LEDs.

Razer has an obvious fondness for RGB lighting. Its peripherals, systems, and other products are chock full of these many-colored LEDs. The Chroma HDK takes things another step further by giving you access to what the company described as "the world’s most advanced modular lighting system for PC gamers and enthusiasts" that "offers all-in-one color customization with precise control down to the individual LED."

That's a longer way of saying the Chroma HDK comprises a four-channel controller that supports up to 64 RGB LEDs. Two strips with 16 LEDs each are included with the kit; the Lightpack Extension offers you two more LED strips and extension cables. Those lights are controlled via Razer's Synapse software, naturally, and the company is testing a new Chroma Studio within Razer Synapse 3 to make that lighting management easier.

Razer said in its press release that Chroma Studio will allow you to "synchronize lighting effects across devices and also have the ability for certain effects to be displayed continuously across peripherals based on their physical position relative to the other." The idea is that you'll use the Chroma HDK in conjunction with other Razer products to bathe the room with the resplendent many-colored glow of several dozen RGB LEDs.

The idea is that all these RGB LEDs will make you feel more immersed in movies, games, and other forms of entertainment. Instead of limiting that media to a display, Razer's hardware and software will allow content creators to change your system's lighting to evoke a certain mood. Some games also use RGB lighting to make it easier to track ability cool-downs, health, and other in-game information critical to your success.

The Chroma HDK and Lightpack Expansion will go on sale in Q3 2017. The Chroma HDK will cost $80; the Lightpack Expansion another $29.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

  • zippyzion
    RGB everything? Yes please. I do love some customization.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    When do we start adding RGB to other tools and devices .... how about a hammer ? ... screw driver set ? How about my TV ? .... be nice to have LED trails rotating around my TV screen edge. Can't you imagine how much life working in a cube farm would be improved with each cubicle lit up like Christmas every day of the year ? It would be so entertaining driving in traffic with all the cars flashing different light patterns ... but what surprises me most is how come the tattoo and piercings industry hasn't jumped on this trend.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    RGB TV, already exists. Called BIAS lighting to take the average color on the screen and put it on the wall behind the TV. RGB ground effects for cars is totally a thing, replacing the old neon tubes of the olden days. Blacklight tattoos have been around a while, I doubt we could interleave tiny lights into a tattoo today, but there are certainly upcoming technologies that would allow that. I'm sure someone is already making RGB piercing studs and the like...
    Reply
  • king3pj
    I don't need all of this stuff but it would be cool if more developers made custom lighting profiles for my Razer Blackwidow keyboard and Deathadder mouse. The support is really cool in Overwatch and Diablo 3.

    In Overwatch the LED's on my keyboard and mouse change to match the color scheme of the character I'm playing as. The Q and E keys change color to let you know when their cooldowns are over. Diablo 3 changes everything to a red color scheme and the keys mapped to your abilities change to white when they are available.

    Sure, I don't spend that much time in game looking down at my keyboard to see when my abilities are available but it's a really cool touch. I know you can create your own profiles in the Razer Synapse program but I would love to see more developers create awesome profiles the way Blizzard does.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    20017988 said:
    RGB TV, already exists. Called BIAS lighting to take the average color on the screen and put it on the wall behind the TV. RGB ground effects for cars is totally a thing, replacing the old neon tubes of the olden days. Blacklight tattoos have been around a while, I doubt we could interleave tiny lights into a tattoo today, but there are certainly upcoming technologies that would allow that. I'm sure someone is already making RGB piercing studs and the like...

    None of which I am talking about so let's try and stay "in context" ... I am not talking about bias or mood lighting ... neither is the article. I am talking bling for the sake of bling that does nothing to improve the user experience. Darkening the room illumination to set a mood is one thing and again has nothing to do with what I was describing. Having flashing, pulsing flashing colors that distract from the user experience. Nothing was mentioned about UV reactive surfaces which may glow under specific lighting ... under skin lighting strips that change color, run up and down ya arms, change colors ... that's what I am pointing to... The Kardashians will feel so left out that there's a craze they are not involved with they'll soon have breathing RGB pasties under their see thru tops.

    And again, we are not talking about ground effects on a car ... the article is about "RGB everything" .... that would mean RGB radios and speakers pulsing to the music, RGB steering wheels, cigarette, lighters, door handles window trim...

    Here's just how sick it gets ... needed a new wireless headset and the G933 was available at a steal, great reviews... good user experiences but why do I need LEDs on my head ? Figured OK, I'll just turn off.

    Battey Life w/ no LEDs = 12 hours
    Battery Life w/ LEDs = 7 hours

    The person who decided this was a good trade off should be prohibited from ever using the title Engineer ... it's an insult to the profession.

    Reply
  • hoofhearted
    LED nipple piercings with BlueTooth so you can sync it Razer Chroma effects. That way everytime you use your Witcher sense, they glow.
    Reply
  • glytch5
    Just so everyone is aware, Razer made a big mistake in marketing and development here in my opinion. I had a long talk with them.
    THERE IS NO INTERNAL USB HEADER!
    Razer thinks you will somehow internally connect a standard 4 pin USB cable inside of your case...
    You need to buy a 4 pin internal female USB to Micro USB in order to use synapse and have the brick and LEDs inside the case. Majoy issue here.. Corsair got this right!
    Reply