Whitest LED flashlight beam?

milkyspit

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I faced an interesting dilemma the other night. I wanted to work on modding a PC power supply unit in my living room while my son drifted to sleep on the sofa. The trouble was that the lights in the room were out (to help my son's sleep), so I couldn't see the colors of the various wires in the PSU very well. My solution was to grab an LED flashlight for this purpose; after all, they put out much whiter light than incandescents, right?

Actually, it wasn't quite so simple as that. ALL the LED flashlights, both 5mm and Luxeon, had some sort of color shift in their output, so I ended up trying all of 'em to see which allowed me to see the colors of the wires the most accurately. Turned out that my SL Prop 4AA LED gave the right combination of brightness and color purity for the task at hand.

I'm wondering what others' experiences in this regard have been since my choice of flashlights was obviously limited. (My wife would strongly disagree with this last statement, though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

Simply put, what in you folks' experience is the LED flashlight with the purest, whitest beam?

It also might be useful to ask the question for both high-end ($50 and up) and more affordable (under $50) LED flashlights, in the interest of finding some acceptable choices in each group.

This could be an interesting little mini-project if we all put in our two cents, so to speak. Thanks in advance, everyone! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

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My SureFire KL4 puts out a pure white light, especially when compared with my Space Needle II, which I thought had a nice white beam - but it has a slightly greenish tint when compared with the KL4, even though the Space Needle II is brighter. My Arc LSH-P also has a nice white beam, though dimmer than the KL4. The Arc has a 1.2 watt LS, and the KL4 has a 5 watt LS, so the difference is understandable. They both produce nice white beams though.

My Streamlight Pro Poly 4xAA has a pronounced blue tint to its beam, so I think it's out of the running. My InReTech TriLight has a greenish tint to its beam (especially in the corona) so that's out too. My SureFire KL1 has a slight bluish tint to the beam center, and the KL3 has a slight violetish tint to the beam center, so they're out as well.
 

Rothrandir

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arc lsh-p.

it's white, and so small it would work perfect for inside computers.
 

milkyspit

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[ QUOTE ]
The LED Museum said:
My SureFire KL4 puts out a pure white light...

My Arc LSH-P also has a nice white beam...


[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Craig! I've visited your site often and really enjoy it; now I finally get to thank you in person, sort of!

Those are both pretty expensive lights. I'm sure they're both excellent and have no doubt that what you say is accurate, but I'm wondering if there is anything below $50 that might also be a candidate? It would be great to identify things in both price ranges so people who can't afford the KL4 or the LSH-P could still get something good, speaking in terms of beam color. Is there really nothing in the lower price range?

BTW, hopefully your hair color (in your sigline) doesn't reflect the beam color of one of your test lights? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

carbonsparky

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The light from a white LED can look very white but is missing some of the color it needs to be true white. If it is a true light it will illuminate colored objects in their true color.

As a experiment, shine a white LED on a purple object. The red will not show up making the object look blue. If you shine it at a red object, it will cause the object to look washed out less vivid.
 

FNG

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I have a LSH-P for sale. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

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White LEDs *are* a phoney white color...but the red objects I shone one on seem to look OK to me. The only purple object I have handy at the moment is one of those Cetacea coily tethers, and it looked fine to me too.
Then again, the light I used was a SureFire KL4, because it happened to be handy. I'll have to try regular 5mm LEDs and see if I get different results.
 

The_LED_Museum

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[ QUOTE ]
milkyspit said:
Hi Craig! I've visited your site often and really enjoy it; now I finally get to thank you in person, sort of!
...
BTW, hopefully your hair color (in your sigline) doesn't reflect the beam color of one of your test lights? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Scott,

Thank you for the thank you. I'm glad to know you enjoy it and maybe even find it useful once you get past the toliet humour. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I dyed my hair for a Seattle parade last month - it's pretty permanent though so I ought to have it for most of the summer. It doesn't show up on my website unless I have to test a headlamp. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I need one of those Foam Head Fred things like Quickbeam has. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

O o, I'm going off topic now...better go cut off my hands and spank myself with them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 

franken2

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looks close between arc ls#2240 and my everled on 2AA. the arc is slightly bluish while the everled looks just a tiny bit greenish compared side by side against a white? wall. i think the everled is a great deal @$40 and versatile as well, but the arc ls is still my favorite. well worth the money spent /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

flownosaj

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there's my 5w's: L4 is the "whitest" of all my current led's, SNII is brightest but it's a second so I'll take the "off" color with pride /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


1w's: Arc LSL-P is the brightest with most throw in this catagory. New style KL1 is a nice balance of throw and is still less purple than the Arc. Old KL1 was a little more purple but not all that bad when compared to what others seemed to have. The McLux is king in whiteness and my MadMax and Badboy Q3's are similar when used with McFlood.


Not quite a 1w output and not a nichia is my Lambda Micro Illuminator. For a single AAA, it's very bright, adequate throw and a great balance between led and incan light. I wish all leds had color rendition like this one. Sunlight is the best way I can think of it--my wall looks the same color with this light and during the day. I've been using this one at work more and more often, but I don't want to mess it up.


standard nichias: never tested for throw, but definetly for color rendition.
Tops is my hand selected Photon III with new batt. Good beam, good color and bright. Got 'em on sale and I was giving loads of them away for presents, and of course I played with them...and of course I kept the best one.

Next is my Arc AAA LE--just a little less bright, and more mottled blue tint.

Then there's my Streamlight Stylus. Keep in mind I haven't changed the batteries in this thing in months and I use it every day at work. The color rendition is great, better than my photon, but it is just a hair dimmer than my Arc LE. If memory serves correctly, I believe it was a little brighter than the other two with fresh batts. It's not yet dim enough to warrant changing cells yet. In my opinion, this is the perfect penlight in production.

2 Standard Arc AAAs and 1 regular Photon III--dimmer and more blue than those above. Beams a little miffed.

3 Infinity Ultra G's--nearly the same as the above Arcs and Photon, but all definetly have a deeper purple tint that is more obvious than the light blue of the others.

Standard Infinity--dim...blue...good for finding your other lights with.


The rest of my led's are colored green, red, amber or blue, so they don't count.



Hope this helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


-Jason
 

wualta

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Human color vision is quirky and highly adaptable-- it doesn't require "genuine" white light to give the impression of seeing the whole spectrum of colors as long as there's a reference white or grey present.

And, I might add, as long as the colors emitted by the hypothetical white flashlight was uniform across the beam.

I think any LED flashlight would fill the bill as long as the corona was the same color as the hotspot, and this seems to be the case only with flashlights that use lenses, for example, the PT Impact.

I wouldn't want to guess as to whether any single-bulb LED would let you distinguish between deep ruby red and orange-red without actually trying it, though.

Walt Brand
 

e=mc²

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In the 5W category it's my L4, hands down! The snow whitest of all my lights combined.
Then in the 1W category, it would have to be one of my EverLEDs in a 4 AA Craftsman "turtle lite" but faceted knockoff. The other two everleds are the slightest bit yellower, but brighter. But I was in awe when I first received them, since the first one that I tried was the pure white one and they came out before the L4. But since acquiring the L4 (one of the lucky ones not having any tint whatsoever), I now have pure snow white. Makes HID look really blue by comparison. I have solicited the opinions of other "non-flashaholic" family members, and they all seem to concur.


Ed.
 

shankus

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My whitest is defintely my Lambda Megaclops. As the cells die it becomes a warmer white, but when they're fresh, it's very white (5w SE driven at ~10w).

Second is my Inretech Super6.

Sorry, both of them are >$50.
 

SilverFox

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Hello Scott,

The high priced lights have been pretty well covered, and I will just add another vote for the ARC LSH-P. Very white beam.

On the low priced end of things, I just took a look around to see what I had at hand. The PT Impact only has a slight blue tint, but it's beam is too focused for close work. I have a Pelican L1 that has a decent color. A few years back I got a 3 LED replacement head for a PT 20 or PT 40. It has a great color, but almost no throw. The room would have to be pretty dark for it to be useful. My favorite suggestion is this category would be the BB400.

By the way, for years I checked wiring in the dark with the very yellow beam of the Mag 2AA. I don't find a minor blue tint in the beam much of a problem.

Tom
 

Hoghead

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1 KL4 white & another KL4 yellow
5 ARC LSH-P, 3 of these are seconds & all are white.
MadMax + Q3 white
BadBoy 400 Q3L white
3 KL1 purple
1 L1 purple
I hope this helps. You use AA don't you? If so then you
want MadMax + Q3 & BadBoy 400 Q3L or ARC LSH-P with AA.
 

BentHeadTX

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Pure white,
The Micro Illuminator is very white, the sunlight comment applies...it looks that good. #2 would be the Brinkmann BB400 Q3L flashlight, tied with the mini-LGI. My wife's BB400 Q3L Minigag would come in 3rd, with a very slight greenish corona. My Streamlight with Nichias tends to lean towards a stronger bluish tin than the LS. The 5W Cyan is the greenest beam I have ever seen... very, very green with strong blue overtones. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
 

glen

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This makes no sense to me, since you could get a "great" or "average" LED with any brand it seems unless some company gets pre binned LEDS, or bins them themselves. From the posts I have read, You might get an L4 that is whiter than an ARC LS or vice-versa. Someone tell me what I am missing.
 

flownosaj

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Unless you have someone selling with a specified bin number, then yes, it's a bit of a guess on what you'll get. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes not. It's what has been called the "luxeon lottery."

The nice thing is that modders often list what's going into their light, such as the Q3 in the "sandwiches," R2 in the Micro illuminator or a handpicked for whiteness/brightness Charlie(aka Mr. Bulk) mod.
to all modders-/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Most manufactures don't care and you get what you get. Granted, it's not gonna be a junk Luxeon if you go with a reputable dealer, but it's not necessarily gonna be the best one either. I've had a surefire that was purple and one normal and now I've now got a KL4 5 watter that's the whitest one I own. I lucked out.

I personally will pay more for white--which is why most of my recent business has been going to the modders who will get you what you want. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

-Jason
 
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