Advances in LED Product

From Barbizon e-newsletter – Advances in LED Product: Key Considerations

Advances in LED Product: Key Considerations LED light sources have inherent advantages in lifetime, maintenance, ruggedness, operational efficiencies and green power. Yet, until recently, they were unable to reach the levels of white light brightness and color wash capabilities needed for stage, studio, and public venues. Their lumen output was a fraction of that generated by tungsten-based PAR lights. They had a variety of performance issues compared to moving lights with CMY color mixing. These deficiencies contributed to LED products being used mainly for entertainment and architainment applications such as signage, cove lighting, bar back, accent and decorative lighting. This is now changing. Full-service LED lighting system manufacturers are extending technology in line with user demands.

From DMX-interfaced systems and dimmable fixtures to MR16 lights and LED bulbs Led by several well-known companies’ LED “brick” lights, these additive RGB color mixing fixtures provide the brightness and degree of color saturation to compete with conventional DMX-interfaced lighting systems – without the gels, filters, moving parts, battery packs and cables. Manufacturers have also made inroads with white light and color temperature brick lights. For example, the BF-SBL-WWW provides high output 92+ CRI illumination and uses CleanDim control technology for smooth 0-100% dimming. So, while halogen lighting systems are able to generate massive amounts of lumens, many applications either just do not need those levels of brightness or an alternative design incorporating a sufficient number of LED brick lights will suffice. For accents and effects, color changing and monochromatic LED light sources offer high performance in a small package (such as MR16 modules or Edison base bulbs). (Editor's note: Thanks to freelance writer Edward Disbrow and Boca Flasher for insights on LED's).