The Morse Code Light effect turns your screen into a blinking light signal, flashing on and off in short and long pulses that spell out whatever text you type. You control how fast it blinks and whether it repeats, then let it run — as a way to practice reading Morse by eye, demonstrate it to someone else, or use as a scripted blinking-light prop.
Before you start
- A screen bright enough to read at the distance you need. A phone works up close; a monitor or TV reads further away. Larger and brighter is easier to follow.
- A plain-text message using supported characters. Letters, numbers, and standard punctuation only — anything else gets flagged and blocks playback until you fix it.
- Someone who can read Morse code, or a reference chart nearby, if the point is for the pattern to actually be understood. The effect only produces the flashes; it doesn't show a decoded translation to the viewer.
Set it up
- Open the Morse Code Light effect. It loads with a sample message already in place, not yet playing.
- Select the Custom tab in the controls panel.
- Replace the text in Message with what you want to send, or select one of the quick preset buttons (SOS, Help, OK, Hello, Test).
- Drag Speed to set how fast it blinks — lower if you or your viewer are still learning the code.
- Turn on Repeat Message if you want it to loop instead of playing once.
- Select Play.
- Select Go Fullscreen so the flashes fill the screen without any controls visible.
You'll know it worked when the screen pulses in short and long flashes matching your text, and the button you pressed now reads Pause.
To leave fullscreen, press Escape or move your mouse and select Exit Fullscreen.
What each control does
| Control | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Message | Text, no fixed length limit | The text to transmit. Letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and punctuation . , ? ' ! / ( ) & : ; = + - _ " $ @ are supported; lowercase converts automatically. Space separates words with the longer word gap. |
| Quick message buttons | SOS, Help, OK, Hello, Test | One-click presets that replace whatever is in Message. |
| Speed | 5–40 WPM (default 20) | How fast the pattern plays. Lower values give longer, easier-to-count pulses; higher values compress everything closer together. |
| Repeat Message | On/off (default off) | Whether the message loops. On adds a 2-second pause between passes; off stops after one play. |
| Play / Pause | Button | Starts or pauses the sequence. Disabled while Message is empty or contains an unsupported character. |
| Reset | Icon button beside Play | Stops playback and rewinds to the start of the message. It does not clear the Message text. |
| Brightness | 10–100 (default 80) | Overall output when the light is "on." Has no effect during the dark gaps between pulses. |
| Color | Color picker (default white) | The color of the flash. Morse Code has no color-temperature presets, so this is a plain swatch rather than named presets. |
Common setups
- Learning Morse code by eye. Message "SOS" or another short word, Speed 5–8 WPM, Repeat Message on. Slow enough to count dots and dashes as they happen instead of guessing after the fact.
- A demonstration or signal across a room. A short message, Brightness 100, Color set to white, Speed around 15–20 WPM, Repeat off so each pass is a single clean read.
- Background prop for a video or stream. A name, brand word, or quote as the message, Speed near the default 20 WPM, Repeat Message on, then Go Fullscreen so the blinking fills the frame.
- Checking your own translation. Type the phrase, read the Morse Code preview and the Duration/Characters readout under the field, then adjust Speed until the estimated duration matches how long you want it to run before pressing Play.
Troubleshooting
Play stays grayed out no matter what I type. The message contains a character outside the supported set — check the red "Unsupported characters" line under the Message field for exactly which ones. Common culprits are emoji, accented letters, and symbols like #, %, or *. Remove or replace them and Play re-enables.
Nothing flashes even though the button now says Pause. Color is likely set to black or another very dark shade. The "on" state is just that color rendered at higher opacity on the effect's black background, so a dark Color is indistinguishable from "off" no matter how high Brightness is. Set Color back to white or another bright hue.
The dots and dashes blur together and I can't tell them apart. Speed is too high for the eye to follow. Drop it toward 5–10 WPM, especially if you're still learning to read Morse rather than just watching it play.
Changing Speed while it's playing jumps back to the start. Adjusting Speed (or editing Message) rebuilds the timing sequence and restarts it from the first character — this is expected behavior, not a glitch. Set Speed before pressing Play, or expect a restart if you adjust it mid-run.
It keeps looping and I want it to stop cleanly. Repeat Message is on. Turn it off, or select Pause and then the reset icon beside it to stop and rewind in one step. With Repeat on, there's also a 2-second pause between passes — that gap is normal, not a freeze.
Reset didn't change my message. Reset only stops playback and returns to the beginning of the current message; it doesn't touch the Message field. Edit or clear the text box directly for a different message.
Next steps
For a scrolling text message instead of blinking light, try LED Banner. For a different way to hand someone information at a glance, see QR Code Generator.