LED: Difference between revisions
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Early LED's did not give off that much light, but they were efficient and they would last many thousands of hours before burning out. As they got brighter, they started making their way into flashlights. The classic LED's were encased in plastic with a round head. As the LED inside gave off light, the rays were shaped by the round head to go straight ahead. Many keychain flashlights use a simple LED like that. These are usually named as 3 mm or 5 mm LED's. The Fenix E01 uses a 5mm Nichia LED. To get additional brightness, some flashlights would combine multiple LED's in the head of the flashlight and maybe include some kind of reflector to shape the light. | Early LED's did not give off that much light, but they were efficient and they would last many thousands of hours before burning out. As they got brighter, they started making their way into flashlights. The classic LED's were encased in plastic with a round head. As the LED inside gave off light, the rays were shaped by the round head to go straight ahead. Many keychain flashlights use a simple LED like that. These are usually named as 3 mm or 5 mm LED's. The Fenix E01 uses a 5mm Nichia LED. To get additional brightness, some flashlights would combine multiple LED's in the head of the flashlight and maybe include some kind of reflector to shape the light. | ||
High power LED's were developed to handle higher currents and produce brighter light. They lost the clear plastic shell and had to be mounted to a metal base to draw heat away from the LED before it could burn itself out. Lumileds Luxeon I was a 1-watt LED producing 30 to 60 lumens and was followed by the 3-watt Luxeon III (60-90 lumens, requiring more power than the Luxeon I). They also produced the K2 which could be driven at even higher currents for more output. | [[File:sscp7led.jpg|thumb|Seoul Semiconductor P7 multi-die LED]]High power LED's were developed to handle higher currents and produce brighter light. They lost the clear plastic shell and had to be mounted to a metal base to draw heat away from the LED before it could burn itself out. Lumileds Luxeon I was a 1-watt LED producing 30 to 60 lumens and was followed by the 3-watt Luxeon III (60-90 lumens, requiring more power than the Luxeon I). They also produced the K2 which could be driven at even higher currents for more output. | ||
To compete with Luxeon, Cree started producing the Cree 7090 XR-E in 2006 with various bins (P4, Q3, Q5). The XR-E produces twice as much light as a Luxeon III at the same voltage and current. Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) produced the Seoul SSC P4 using Cree's LED die. In 2007, Lumileds responded with the the small and very efficient Luxeon Rebel series of LED's. | To compete with Luxeon, Cree started producing the Cree 7090 XR-E in 2006 with various bins (P4, Q3, Q5). The XR-E produces twice as much light as a Luxeon III at the same voltage and current. Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) produced the Seoul SSC P4 using Cree's LED die. In 2007, Lumileds responded with the the small and very efficient Luxeon Rebel series of LED's. | ||