I went back and looked over Empire/Return and yeah the strip is there and even lights up at one point!  I think it’s a case of 80s tech we had available (think of light up alarm clocks, those of you who had those in the day) versus the type of LEDs we have now that are just brighter on a general basis (also heightened by colouring gifsets).

also it looks like the strip isn’t there during Tatooine stunts at one point?