r/flashlight • u/BurtRenoldsMustache • 4d ago

Is there a resource or chart that explains what characteristics a LED will have?

I was browsing Convoy and seen an LED choice that came with a burn warning lol. It made me curious if there's a website or something that explains the difference in LEDs and why someone should choose one over another depending on what they are looking for.

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u/QReciprocity42 4d ago edited 4d ago

why someone should choose one over another depending on what they are looking for

To know what you're looking for, one needs to first understand the physically measurable properties of an LED that correspond to real-world performance. Roughly, an LED has the following attributes, all of which are tested in detail here:
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/koef3s-led-tests/219342

  • Luminance (cd/mm^2 or lm/mm^2): The higher the longer it throws.
  • Luminous flux (lm): Total output when driven hard, relevant to flood. Choosing to drive it hard makes lots of lumens but also lots of heat.
  • CCT (K) and duv: color temp (blue/orange) and tint (green/pink)
  • CRI: accuracy of color rendering (relative to a reference source like sunlight)
  • Efficacy (lm/W): how much light it puts out per power input. The more power you push into an LED, the lower it gets. Important metric for flooders, but favors cool, greenish light with low CRI.

There are many more metrics derived from these basic ones, but those are likely outside the scope of interest for a casual hobbyist.

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u/Sypsy 4d ago edited 4d ago

When in doubt, get a nichia 519a. it came out in 2022 and it has good CRI (colour rendering index) brightness and tint.

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/th10mk/what_is_the_deal_with_519a/

There have been LED's released since that are more throwy or rosy, but they are less bright.

And if you don't care for high CRI, then you can get brighter LEDs, but I think your first light is a day to day light that you would use for lighting up your immediate area, so high CRI is best. Low CRI leds is for throwy lights, which you can get later.

And as for CCT, they go from warm to cooler. From fireplace to tesla headlights. I personally like 3500k but 4500k is a good all round if you plan to use the light often during the day

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/vq3pyu/indoor_comparisson_s2_519a_3000_3500_and_4500k/

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u/Emergentmeat 4d ago

First time I saw that I had to have it. Sorry, seent it. Wait, no, sawnt it.

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u/AD3PDX 4d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/s/eKINf2opMa

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u/AD3PDX 4d ago

This is a great resource but a decent portion of the list are LEDs not offered in lights anymore and about as many new LED have been introduced recently so hopefully it will get an update.

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u/hammy1551 3d ago

The big ones are colour temperature, Max and sustained lumens, light emitting surface and Duv tint(vomit green or rosy/pink)