Light without shadows Illuminate the dart board: Completely happy with LED systems for your home
If you want to play darts at dusk or in the evening, you should illuminate your dartboard. And those are the options.
© stern.de / Jan Sägert
Floodlit games are not just something special in football. Even when playing darts in your own four walls, only a perfectly lit playing field brings the kick. The stern reveals how to get light on the dartboard and presents five current LED sets.
Darts is more popular than ever in Germany. No association organized in the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is as popular as the German Dart Association (DDV). The DOSB had almost 20,000 members by the beginning of 2023. And with the hype surrounding shooting star Ricardo Pietreczko, a few more are likely to have joined in the past few weeks and months.
Darts in the dark? Not a good idea
But the hype surrounding darts has other reasons. One of them: The hurdle to emulate the professionals in the hunt for the 180 could hardly be lower. A dart board, three arrows, a corner of space in the apartment. Game on! In the best case scenario, you don’t stand alone at the oche, but rather compete with friends, work colleagues or partners. Usually the first small successes don’t take long to arrive: Triple 20. Bulls Eye, check-out over a double field.
As with many other hobbies, most people only get to sit at the dartboard in the evenings. And then you may quickly realize that the normal room light is not enough to illuminate the pane evenly brightly. This is where lighting systems for dartboards come into play. The stern explains which variants of board lighting there are and what you should definitely pay attention to when illuminating the dartboard. In addition: Five current LED lighting sets in comparison.
1. Mission Darts TOR100 LED-Licht
Mission offers a very smart and probably most flexible way to illuminate the dartboard with its Torus 100 LED light. Instead of a ring, you just clip an LED arc to the board. This extends from nine to four, i.e. only over seven of the 20 segments of the entire disc. The two brackets, each with 14 LEDs, are fixed to the holder with two screws. When fully assembled, the lighting stands out about ten centimeters from the dartboard. The system is connected to the power supply via a plug. The cable with a simple toggle switch is three meters long. This is particularly interesting and important if the nearest socket cannot be found directly under the board. A serious (and very practical) difference to the lighting variants, which are sometimes much more expensive: The Mission Darts TOR100 LED light can be dismantled in no time and stored in a small bag.
The Mission Darts LED light performed well in the test. The white LEDs illuminate the dartboard right up to the bottom edge, with the lower double fields receiving visibly less light. Even the LED strip that is tilted outward by 25 degrees is not enough for this. Since the arc doesn’t extend around the entire board, you also have to live with some shadows. However, not on the target area, but only on the wall around the target. We didn’t find this to be a problem in the test. The metal clamp above the 20 segment also holds well, even though it is only clipped on.
2. Target Darts Corona Vision
A classic among current lighting systems for dartboards. The Corona Vision from Target consists of four metal feet with small magnets and a light ring equipped with 125 white LEDs. The system is installed just as quickly as the Mission LED arch. If the metal feet are attached to the steel ring of the board, the light ring just needs to be put on and clicked into place. When fully assembled, the ring stands out about 13 centimeters from the board. The 360 degree illumination prevents shadows from being cast on the window. In addition, correctly installed systems with all-round light shine through absolutely even illumination of every square centimeter of the pane. Small disadvantage of the Target Dart Corona Vision: The hit area for possible ricochets, so-called bouncers, increases with such an LED light ring. This makes it all the more important to additionally protect the area in front of the board with a dart mat.
3. Unicorn Solar Flare Surround
An additional two kilograms hang on the wall if you upgrade your in-house dartboard with the Solar Flare Surround from Unicorn. In return, hobby dart players get a stable surround made of aluminum, which can also be easily mounted on any standard dartboard without tools. Important: The collecting ring and LED surround do not get in each other’s way. As with the Corona Vision, the dartboard benefits from all-round lighting. Shadow games are therefore not to be feared. The LED surround protrudes at least 15 centimeters into the room. Unfavorable for boards hung on the wall behind a door. The floor covering in front of the dartboard is also a bit more dangerous because of the aluminum ring – especially for beginners who occasionally miss the target with the arrows. Keyword dart mat. Overall, a nice tool to refine the dartboard and extend the training time into the night.
4. QXMax Starterset mit LED Surround
For about the same money, you can get an LED system integrated into the surround from XQMax, along with a dartboard and four steel dart sets with three arrows each. To get straight to the point: This starter package is absolutely sufficient for darts beginners and occasional players. The disc is delivered including mounting material and three spacers. The surround for catching stray arrows consists of a slightly thicker outer part, on the inside of which a band with white LEDs has been placed. The inner ring is correspondingly thinner so that the dartboard is illuminated accurately. You can easily invite several friends to play, because in addition to the four dart sets, each with three 23 gram arrows, the QXMax darts starter set contains 18 replacement shafts, 18 additional flights as well as flight protectors and spring rings. To ensure that the first tournament runs according to the rules, a tape measure should be ready during assembly. The two most important numbers: The Bulls Eye hangs exactly 173 centimeters above the ground. According to the rules, the throwing line (also called oche) for steel darts is 2.37 meters from the dartboard.
5. Target ARC Cabinet Light
Finally, a space-saving lighting option from Target. The basic idea of the Arc Cabinet Light is similar to the Torus100 from Mission. With one crucial difference: Target’s system was designed so that the LED arc can only be mounted on a dart cabinet. The arm that holds this bow is screwed onto a small base that is glued to the top of the cabinet. The arc light, which is equipped with 24 LEDs, is pushed into the holder from above. According to the manufacturer, the white light from the LEDs reaches every field of the dartboard and illuminates the surface evenly and without shadows. The three meter long cable leaves room for reaching a socket that is a little further away. Adapters for plugs in other countries (Japan, USA, UK) are also included.
Dart players who can’t or don’t want to hide their board in a closet should check out the Target Arc Light. The only difference to the Target Arc Cabinet: The arm is not glued on, but rather fixed to the center of the dartboard with a knurled screw above the 20 segment. According to Target, the set is compatible with all brands of steel dart boards. Similar to the flexible and lightweight travel model from Mission, the Arc Light from Target can be dismantled in just a few steps, making it the second option for darting on the go when lighting conditions are difficult.
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