Patent ID: 7380791

Claim:
A device comprising: a rotatable reel for a gaming machine, the rotatable reel for supporting a reel strip around its periphery, the reel strip having symbols located along a central portion of the reel strip and having a border between the symbols and side edges of the reel strip; a first array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in a fixed position for backlighting the reel strip, the LEDs being controllable to selectively backlight portions of the reel strip, the first array of LEDs being mounted on a first circuit board that substantially faces a back surface of the reel strip; a second array of LEDs forming a l×N array of LEDs arranged vertically and mounted on a second circuit board substantially perpendicular to the first circuit board and along a first side edge of the first circuit board for illuminating a first side edge of the reel strip, the LEDs in the second array of LEDs being closer to the reel strip than the LEDs in the first array of LEDs, the LEDs in the second array not being behind any symbols on the reel strip; a third array of LEDs forming a l×N array of LEDs arranged vertically and mounted on a third circuit board substantially perpendicular to the first circuit board and along a second side edge of the first circuit board for illuminating a second side edge of the reel strip, the LEDs in the third array of LEDs being closer to the reel strip than the LEDs in the first array of LEDs, the LEDs in the third array not being behind any symbols on the reel strip; and control circuitry coupled to the LEDs in the first array, second array, and third array to control brightness levels of the LEDs, the control circuitry configured to control the first array of LEDs separately from the LEDs in the second array and third array, such that the LEDs in the second array and third array are controllable to highlight borders of the reel strip, and the LEDs in the first array are controllable to backlight one or more symbols on the reel strip.