Too bright CCFL

[whizkidd]

Is there a way to lesser the brightness of ccfl?

 

[gee]

electrically, not easily...

You could hit an auto parts store and grab some window tint film... might be the easiest thing to do.

 

[theshadow27]

...but you can do it electrically...

slightly reducing the voltage to the inverter (so 10 instead of 12) which should noticeably darken the tubes. you will not get very good control over it though, and it could decrease the life of the inverter. adding a 25 or 50 ohm resistor, or a couple small diodes would drop the voltage a little bit. at 5v (fan controller switch) my CCFLs barely glow.

the brightness of a CCFL bulb is directly linked to the current of the high voltage that is applied to it. to reduce this current, you need to add inline resistance to the high tension wires (prepare for the flame-age) by either using a resistor, or increasing the capacitance of the wire run (by adding more wire). both of these things have been covered in another thread (trying to avoid them, rather then cause them, but its the same thing):
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=882693