Asus takes its RGB game to the next level with a standalone LED controller

Have you ever been told you need to lighten up? Depending on your interpretation, you can do exactly that with Asus' new ROG Aura Terminal, a standalone RGB lighting control box that supports a whole bunch of LEDs.

It's a four-port controller, each of which supports up to 90 LEDs max, and a total of 210 LEDs throughout. The math doesn't add up there, so if utilizing all four channels, you can't have all of them beaming 90 LEDs.

What you can do, however, is mount LED strips to the back of your monitor for ambient lighting, and have it react to in-game events. Asus calls this Halo lighting, and along with the controller, unveiled it at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.

"Perhaps the most compelling application for the Aura Terminal involves matching ambient lighting with on-screen gaming. Dubbed Halo, this effect uses four addressable RGB strips affixed to the back edges of your monitor. Special software detects colors displayed along the edges of the screen and changes the LEDs to match, creating a dynamic glow that reaches far beyond the boundaries of your monitor. The reactive lighting enhances immersion, especially in colorful games like Overwatch, elevating the Aura Terminal above conventional RGB controllers," Asus said at the time.

The controller plugs into your motherboard's USB 2.0 headers to interact with the company's Aura Sync RGB utility. It also requires either a 4-pin molex connector, or plugging into a wall socket by way of a 45W power brick.

Asus includes two 30cm and one 60cm ROG addressable RGB light strips, plus three extension cables, some stickers, a couple of cable ties, and various cables.

The ROG Aura Terminal is up for preorder at OverclockersUK for £69.95. It's not clear when it will be available in the US and for how much.

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