Diwali 2026: The colorful lights that illuminate your home on Diwali are a beautiful sight. But have you ever wondered what technology is behind them?
Diwali 2026: Diwali is just a few days away. The festive spirit of Diwali is already visible across the country. People have started cleaning their homes and putting together decorative items. The most important part of Diwali decorations is the colorful strings of lights. As evening approaches, when these strings are lit on balconies and rooftops, the entire atmosphere changes. You may have noticed that these lights don't all burn in a uniform pattern.
Rather, they sometimes flicker rapidly, sometimes fade slowly, and sometimes move like a wave. We often leave them plugged in. But have you ever wondered what tells these tiny LED bulbs when to light and when to dim? Let us explain the technology behind these Diwali lights.
A small controller box does the job.
You may have noticed that just beyond the plug of each chandelier is a small plastic box with a button on it. This box is the brain of the entire chandelier, technically known as the controller or changer circuit. When you press the button on this box, the pattern of the lights changes. Inside this small box is a printed circuit board (PCB) and a tiny microchip.
This chip is pre-codived with code for different patterns, such as chasing, flashing, slow fade, or twinkling. The electricity supplied to our homes is AC, while LED bulbs run on DC. This box not only converts AC to DC, but also intermittently transmits the current through its chip. Each time the current stops and continues, we see the string flicker.
The wires are connected differently.
If you look closely at a chandelier, you'll notice that it contains not just one, but three or four intertwined wires. All the bulbs in a chandelier aren't connected in a single line, but are divided into separate groups, called channels. For example, the first, fourth, and seventh bulbs will be connected to one wire, while the second, fifth, and eighth bulbs will be connected to another.
This is called a mixture of series and parallel connections. When the chip in the controller box releases current in the first wire and blocks it in the second, half the lights come on and half go off. When this happens repeatedly in a hundredth of a second, it appears to our eyes as if the light is moving from one place to another. Because of this wiring, even if one or two bulbs in the middle go bad, the entire chandelier is saved from going out.
boxless fringe
You've likely seen chandeliers that don't have a controller box, yet they still flicker. These chandeliers use a special master bulb or bi-metallic strip. When current flows through it, the blade inside heats up and bends, cutting the connection and causing the light to go out. Once cooled, the blade reconnects, and the light comes back on. However, this is now an outdated technology.
Smart lights have arrived in the market.
Smart and pixel LED strings are all the rage in the market these days. Each LED bulb has its own microchip inside. These lights connect directly to your smartphone's app, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. The strings will flicker to the beat of whatever song you play on your phone.
