Nichia

Nichia is a Japanese LED company. Their low powered 5mm LEDs are still used in some flashlights.

For high power LEDs the Nichia chromaticity binning codes are now based on ANSI White quadrants. A bin of SW50 is an ANSI quadrangle of 5000K (SW45 is 4500K and so on). Forward voltage bins are L (2.7-3.1V) and M (3.1-3.5V).

The Nichia 119A and 219A series seem to be identical on the top, with the difference being the layout of solder pads on the bottom. The 219's solder pads match the Cree XP-G which is the same physical size of 3.5mm (the Nichia board is 0.2mm thinner) with nearly the same voltage, current, and output. There are at least three variations with different product numbers based on the color temperature:


 * The NVSSW119A and NVSW219A series LEDs are available up to a B14 flux bin.
 * The NVSW119A-H3 and NVSW219A-H3 have a neutral tint of 5000K and have a maximum flux bin of B12.
 * The warmer (2700-4500K) high CRI NVSL119A-H1 and NVSL219A-H1 have a maximum flux of B11 but a CRI as high as 92.

In 2012, Illumination Supply obtained a number of NVSL219A-H1 LEDs, which became a favorite of modders due to the high CRI (92 typical, 85 minimum) and 4500K neutral tint (Cree LEDs with such a high CRI typically have a much warmer tint) and pretty reasonable B10 flux bin. These same LEDs were also incorporated into some Malkoff drop-ins, a run of Xeno flashlights, and L3 Illumination's 1xAA twisty L10. Datasheets



The Nichia 119B and 219B were introduced towards the end of 2012. It is binned at 700mA and available in a neutral white version (NVSW219B with a CCT of 5000K) and a warm white version (NVSL219B with a range of CCT values from 2700-4000K). The highest CRI value is 92 typical (85 minimum) with a flux bin of D220 and SW45 tint. Datasheets.



The Nichia 119C and 219C were introduced in June 2015. While the flux bins are about the same as the 219B above (max bin for the 219C is D320), tests show that with proper cooling the 219C can be driven very hard to greatly increase output: 6 amps can yield over 1200 lumens. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be offered in the same 90+ CRI varieties as the 219B, but is available with a CRI of 83.