What Will The Future Bring?

[r-s]

I hope for an EDC that will give 1, 10, 100, 350 and 1000 lumens with an adjustable focus from crazy spot to pure flood, and a good CRI and colour temperature.

I want the laser flashlight Louis Wu used in Larry Niven's Ringworld

Just think -- a pocket-sized light with a beam that could focus from wide-beam bright light, down to needle point cutting beam that would go through every imaginable substance, and a battery that never goes flat!

 

[r-s]

LED lumen efficiency will continue to increase, and as lumens go up, heat management will have to be better.

The more efficient the LED, the less heat it will put out.

At 100% efficiency, it would add no heat at all -- 100% of the electricity would come out in the form of light, with 0% in the form of heat.

 

[SemiMan]

Moderator please close. As predicted this thread has degenerated into CRAP.

Semiman

 

[r-s]

this thread has degenerated into CRAP.

Um... excuse me?

 

[SemiMan]

Not your post r-s, just the whole thread in general. There is about 1 post every month or two like this and it just degrades into meaningless drivel that has all been discussed about a 100 times.

 

[Frankiarmz]

I've already apologized for starting this thread, but as a newbie I was curious to hear some feedback from those in the know. I'm sure there must be some way to prevent this same Thread from appearing over and over again and at the same time giving us newbies some insight into the future. I understand now after being here a while that patience and reading posts by those in the know does serve to answer many questions and educate.

 

[jtr1962]

I've already apologized for starting this thread, but as a newbie I was curious to hear some feedback from those in the know. I'm sure there must be some way to prevent this same Thread from appearing over and over again and at the same time giving us newbies some insight into the future. I understand now after being here a while that patience and reading posts by those in the know does serve to answer many questions and educate.

Easy to do. Since this is the LED section maybe have a sticky FAQ written by several members who have responded ad infinitum in threads like this. If I had the time now I'd gladly start collecting relevant information and links to articles but unfortunately I've had some work lately, and when the work is done my carpal tunnel syndrome will keep me from doing much typing for a few weeks at least.

 

[guiri]

LED manufacturers need to take a little step back from the efficiency war and try to broaden the spectrum. Natural white needs some work in the LED domain.

Question. Why is spectrum or color temperature so important to you?

Me, I don't care as long as I have a lot of light, long burning time and reasonable size.

 

[guiri]

I really like what Nichia is doing with their LEDs.... more of that will hopefully spread across the industry.

I suck at this so can you explain briefly the above..?

Thanks

George

 

[guiri]

As far as flashlights are considered in my mind LEDs are now king (except for very high output lights).

I think that over the next few years reaching 1000 lumens per watt is a mark to hit. That coupled with batteries far superior to what we have now is a killer combination. Battery technology is also very important too.

What we have right now is great. As we all know very well most unlightened people still believe that a minimag running on duracell alkalines is the holy

Won't LED's spank bulbs in the future as a better technology? I mean, it IS possible to make them as bright as Xenon bulbs or not?

As for battery technology, I think that THIS is where they need more work and that's where the bottle neck is. We have kickass lights but that don't last all that long simply because they ARE too powerful for the little batteries. How about butane (or similar gas) powerpacks like they are going to do with digital cameras. Wouldn't that work?

As for the minimags, I'm surprised they still sell. To me now, they're like holding a candle.

 

[guiri]

Knowing how companies are, they'll probably hold something back that you want so you'll buy their next light.

I know that as soon as l.e.d.s become a viable option to replace fluorescents, fluorescents

So, let them hold it back and then someone here will make a custom light and we will be able to buy one

I'd love to see LED's replace fluorescent because I am tired of the high prices of them and the stupid prices of ballasts AND their size.

I'm raised abroad and not only are our ballasts MUCH smaller, they are also much cheaper and last more than a couple of years. When they finally go, they don't burn up and start stinking either.

I don't know how yall put up with this. To me it's a big scam. I don't suppose it has something to do with 110v vs 220? I know nothing about this stuff

 

[guiri]

The above is a quote and while it refers to your theory it makes me wonder

Franki, I'm with you on this one and have for many years felt that the scientific community take themselves way too seriously. Everything being absolute and certain.

Just because the evidence POINTS in the direction you want doesn't meant it IS so.

Scientists have been wrong sooo many times before and they will again. I think the laws of physics aren't really laws. We THINK they are but I don't think this is true. Time will tell if I'm right

 

[Frankiarmz]

Franki, I'm with you on this one and have for many years felt that the scientific community take themselves way too seriously. Everything being absolute and certain.

Just because the evidence POINTS in the direction you want doesn't meant it IS so.

Scientists have been wrong sooo many times before and they will again. I think the laws of physics aren't really laws. We THINK they are but I don't think this is true. Time will tell if I'm right

Thank you for your open minded attitude. We sometimes think we have all the answers only to discover we have only scratched the surface.

 

[IMSabbel]

Franki, I'm with you on this one and have for many years felt that the scientific community take themselves way too seriously. Everything being absolute and certain.

Just because the evidence POINTS in the direction you want doesn't meant it IS so.

Scientists have been wrong sooo many times before and they will again. I think the laws of physics aren't really laws. We THINK they are but I don't think this is true. Time will tell if I'm right

Well, i personally think that randomposters on the internet _contantly_ take themself too serious. For example by talking about stuff they dont know anything about.
Too bad science, especially cutting edge science, squarely falls into the "they know nothing about" area, which _never_ stops people to talk crap like:
-But once they thought the speed of sound was inpenetrable, so we will also break the speed of light
- Absolute zero cannot be the end. it has to go deeper.
- Hey! I got something with magnet that moves. I use the resources of Free Energy!!11
- I got that great idea for a perpetuum mobile. Because i am the smartest person in the world and nobody got the idea to glue magnets to flywheels before in history!!11
- Look at my antigravity device!! it can fly up just by being charged with electricity!!11

If i got a € for every, erm, person blogging stuff like that as his personal contribution to the world of science on his livejournal, i would be typing this from my private submarine. Most of them dont even have the grasp on basic things like the fact like the definition of temperture and absolute zero, or how volume integegrals over an dipol field are not initite, even though "the field never ends, so it has to be infinite if you count that stuff far away" (yeah, i had one idiot use that (or similar) wording. I guess they dont teach calculus where he came from..

The thing is, the _real_ problems of modern science are rarely even touched by crackpots, because they are simply ignorant of it.
I know this sounds reactionary and anti-web2.0 hip, but how just accepting reality as told by people who actually know their stuff? Because as a scientist, you dont spend many years trying to get a level of knowledge that enables you to start tackling the bleeding edge problems just to decieve the general public about stuff you learned back in the undergrad days.

 

[guiri]

Thank you for your open minded attitude. We sometimes think we have all the answers only to discover we have only scratched the surface.

Generally I think that's the sign of arrogance and again, being complacent I think and wanting things to be the way you THINK they are. Ie, scientists.

This also happens in many forums (ie, DPReview.com) where people think they know everything.
Very knowledgeable people there but also very rude and quick to harass people. Not so here. I've seen some of it but it's more knowledge than rudeness

Have you seen the movie No way out with Kevin Costner? I always use it as an example of what I tried to say earlier

 

[guiri]

See, I dont know as much as you guys and I"m not as smart as you are but a lot of that is common sense.

It always frustrates me to no end when they tell me that the speed of light is 300 000 km per second. How the F do you measure that when you have nothing that goes this fast?

Let's not get into the whole universe or creation or god discussions.

I have no problem that people believe what they want to believe but geez, at least acknowledge that there MIGHT be something else or other options..
Isn't that the intelligent thing to do?

 

[guiri]

Reminds me of a comic book I was reading many years ago. Two planets at war with each other and finally, the big bomb and one of the planets blows up.

Next scene, a scientist looking through his microscope going, what the hell..?

Turns out their whole universe fit under his microscope..take that scientists

 

[SemiMan]

Moderators, I ask you once again.... PLEASE CLOSE THIS THREAD.... as predicted it has degenerated into everything that is bad about a public forum.

Guiri, I suggest looking up how the speed of light is measured. It is really quite simple. Actually electronics today are fast enough that pretty much anyone could buy the electronics and make a crude speed of light measurement tool and get pretty close to the actual value. That said, will we ever make an "object" go faster than the speed of light? Quite possibly, but we don't know how to do it today.

That said, there will never ever ever ever ever ever be a flashligh that puts out 1,000 lumens per watt. The definitions of lumen and watt are fixed, as are the conversions. It is not open for debate and it is not a matter of what we know and don't know, it just is.

In terms of cost of flourscents .... $3.00 - $5.00 for a 3,000 lumens bulb that lasts 20,000 if not 40,000 hours (>90% lumen output).... that does not seem expensive. I have no problem (Canada or U.S.) buying a ballast for said bulb well under $20 and it will power 2-4 of said bulbs. One can't compare the many old magnetic ballasts in place to a modern ballast that is easy to obtain. You can buy dirt cheat ballasts of course, but you can buy good ones too. You get what you pay for.

Semiman

See, I dont know as much as you guys and I"m not as smart as you are but a lot of that is common sense.

It always frustrates me to no end when they tell me that the speed of light is 300 000 km per second. How the F do you measure that when you have nothing that goes this fast?

Let's not get into the whole universe or creation or god discussions.

I have no problem that people believe what they want to believe but geez, at least acknowledge that there MIGHT be something else or other options..
Isn't that the intelligent thing to do?

 

[Gomer]

It always frustrates me to no end when they tell me that the speed of light is 300 000 km per second. How the F do you measure that when you have nothing that goes this fast?

Just because you can't fathom it, doesn't mean it is impossible to measure.
I in essence measure the speed of light almost every day doing cavity ringdown spectroscopy.

 

[saabluster]

Moderators, I ask you once again.... PLEASE CLOSE THIS THREAD.... as predicted it has degenerated into everything that is bad about a public forum.

I have to agree. But "I don't mind" these threads being opened all the time as technology is changing lighting so fast these days there just might be something new on the horizon. They do have a tendency to degenerate VERY quickly though.