Cold Cathode lighting

LEDs can be confusing, but check http://www.metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng before you totaly give up. Cold cathodes work fine in cars as long as you keep the vibrations down. your best bet would be to take the bulb out of the plastic tube that it comes in and glue it directly to the edges of your pannel. the commonly avalible CCFL (cold cathode flourecent lamp) are designed for computers, and do run off of 12v. they are 300mm long (~12"), and one inverter can run 2. that means that to surround the edges of your pannel you would need 6 (3 kits) for the first pannel and 4 (2 kits) for the second pannel. you can get cheap CCFLs here: http://xoxide.com/coldcathodes.html they cast a totaly diffrent type of light then LEDs, it is much brighter and more uniform. but compared to a standerd automotive neon - it is still nothing.

Here is another LED resistor chart you can use:

It is best not to drive the LED at the absolute maximum rating from an unregulated source.

These Values are for driving Single LED's only; LED's wired in Series or Parallel require different values. Desired Voltage  Desired Current  Source Voltage  Resistor Value 3.3~3.5v                20mA                     12V                      470 ohm .25W                                3.0V                       20mA                     9.0V                     330 ohm .25W                                3.5V                       20mA                     9.0V                     330 ohm .25W                                  3.0V                       20mA                     5.0V                     120 ohm .25W                                 3.5V                      20mA                      5.0V                     82 ohm .25W                                  3.0V                      20mA                      4.5V                     82 ohm .25W                                   3.5V                     20mA                       4.5V                     56 ohm .25W                                 3.0V                     20mA                       3.0V                     0~1 ohm .25W

Kenwood all the Way!