How to interpret the leds across the top of the DIY monitors

[Mikeie]

What does each of the Leds at the top of the DIY monitor mean . On the right are a number of leds that indicate the air quality. On the left is one led that occasionally lights up and it appears to be purple or mauve. What does this one indicate?

[Achim_AirGradient]

These are explained on the dashboard:
https://app.airgradient.com/dashboard/about

Then click on “Monitor Error Help”

[koppenhoefer]

I might mention, that in my own strange internal worldview,… 2 of anything means MORE.
When I see 2 GREEN lights on the top of my unit,
I feel that I am MUCH BETTER OFF than 1 GREEN light.

However, this is not the logic my AirGradient follows.
in fact 2 GREEN lights is WORSE than 1 green light.

I understand the logic,… but I can’t get beyond my knee-jerk reaction to seeing 2 GREEN lights and thinking,… ahhhh that’s much better!

[Achim_AirGradient]

There are a lot of color blind people out there and this is why we choose to increase the number of LEDs based on increasing pollution levels.

I understand your thoughts too. Maybe we should slightly change the color for each additional LED going on?

[MallocArray]

For me, the right to left layout of the LEDs is not intuitive. Maybe it is a cultural thing, but I’m using to reading and interpreting meters either Left to Right, or Down to Up, so the Right to Left makes it not intuitive at a glace.

[Nickduino]

@koppenhoefer

I might mention, that in my own strange internal worldview,… 2 of anything means MORE.
When I see 2 GREEN lights on the top of my unit,
I feel that I am MUCH BETTER OFF than 1 GREEN light.

However, this is not the logic my AirGradient follows.
in fact 2 GREEN lights is WORSE than 1 green light.

I understand the logic,… but I can’t get beyond my knee-jerk reaction to seeing 2 GREEN lights and thinking,… ahhhh that’s much better!

I see it as a gauge. Think VU meter or BMW service interval

Two green is more…more sound, more pollutant. But it’s still green because it’s safe.

[Achim_AirGradient]

Yes I think that’s the idea behind. We also wanted to make it color blind friendly. So the more LEDs shown, the more polluted the air. Even when you cannot distinguish the colors.

[Nickduino]

@Achim_AirGradient

Yes I think that’s the idea behind.

Now that I think about it, you could also consider it like a fuel gauge. 11 LEDs → plenty of “healthy air” and the LEDs turn off one by one while pollutant level increases.

It’s not strictly a gauge because nothing is physically dropping (except the air quality) but it might be the preferred solution for some people. Maybe you could add an LED logic parameter that could take the following values:

• “normal” (the way it works currently);
• “inverted” or “alternate” (the way @ koppenhoefer would like it, I imagine);
• if you really want to be a rock star, “custom”.

“Custom” would give us full individual control of the LEDs through the panel or Home Assistant. My customization (but I don’t own an AirGradient yet) would be to attribute an LED to every parameter measured (PM1, PM2.5, PM10, CO2, TVOCs, NOX, temp and RH. With HA, I would probably add O₃ and SO₂ from another source) with the color showing its status (green = all good, purple = you’re about to die). And no it wouldn’t be confusing because I would use a label maker to indicate what each LED is showing