Ever see one of those crazy automated light shows that blow up on YouTube? Typically, a person has thousands of Christmas lights set up and synched to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, LMFAO, the Grinch, Slayer and a slew of other musical selections. Tastes aside, these decadent displays do have one thing in common—and it’s not that each one uses standard Christmas bulbs. It’s that almost everyone rigs up their display using components from Light-O-Rama.

“I started using it and quickly found out it did most of everything I needed,” says long-time Light-O-Rama user Richard Holdman. “I use Light-O-Rama for all of my projects because not only are the products great and the software powerful, but the company has great service and is always staying on top of the technology that is used for Christmas displays.”

Light-O-Rama offers both hardware and software products for just about every type of display. One of the simplest is the Light-O-Rama ShowTime Software Suite for your PC. These pieces work in conjunction with a converter that can transform signals to the Light-O-Rama network protocol, as well as a controller. The controller facilitates fading, shimmering, twinkling, on/off functions and more. Newbies may want to start with something like the 16-channel starter package, which provides everything needed to control a 9,000 mini-light display. Oh, and unless you plan to have live music, you’re going to want to complement your Christmas light display with a pair of speakers.

$307 (starter package)
www.lightorama.com