Arc Light; white vs. turquoise

[Gandalf]

I just received my 2 new Arc Lights, white and turquoise. (Couldn't make up my mind....)
There is a *huge* difference in light output! I've seen those nice comparison photos, but they don't seem to show the marked difference betwen the white, and turquoise lights that I see! I have to admit: the white Arc Light is a marvel of economy of size and output, and uses the cheap AAA batteries. Indoors, it provides ample light for most purposes. But out of doors, where there is often some ambient light, and my eyes are generally not completely dark adapted; the white Arc Light didn't provide enough light to look through the glove box of my car, for example; but the turquoise one was moe than adequate. At a rough guess, the turquoise one seems to put out about 3 or 4 times the light of the white one; and the lens of the turquoise one seems to focus the light, to a certain extent, which doesn't seem to be the case with the white LEDs. Like everyone else, I'm on the waiting list for a white Arc-LS. Now, I may switch to a turquoise one...
While the color of objects is somewhat distorted by the turquoise light, it's not nearly as severe as what I see with my green CMG Infinity; I don't much care for that much color distortion. Input appreciated!

 

[Mike]

I was hoping someone would do that comparison. Thanks!

 

[Chris M.]

Yes the white and turquoise AAA-Arcs do have very different light outputs. The turquoise one is brighter simply because its LED is brighter. They clock in at something like 7000mcd peak beam intensity (at 25mA) even with that broad 45 degree-plus beam. Whites are only 5600mcd (at 25mA) and in a 15-20 degree beam. My gen.2 turquoise is very green tinted in comparison to some other turquoise LEDs I have (been fitting some into a garden light this evening- look good it does) but is about the same as the Photon one, with a slightly wider beam. My white one is a lot less violet/blue than the prototype (generation 0

?) and its cool white beam, although softer at the edges, is a lot narrower than the turquoise. I still find it useful when colour recognition is essential but yes, the turq. one is superior for navigating the house or even outdoors- and the wider beam is great up close cos it illuminate a bigger area.

As for the LS version, well I don`t know if the advantage of Cyan over white will be that much. True, the coloured Luxeon Stars (well, red and blue- it`s all I`ve got right now) seem brighter than the (new) white one I have as well (very very purply tinted) but they all share the same lens (except the white, it has a different one designed to make a more even colour beam- but the beam angle is about the same) so they`ll all illuminate fairly similar areas. The Cyan one may loook brighter than blue or green as its spectrum is broader than the more monochromatic (but not entirely) blue and green, and its cool colour is more pleasent than the hot amber or red colours (which are a little bit more efficient).

I still don`t have a Cyan Luxeon Star- but will post side by side results with all the colours as soon as they all arrive here (whenever that will be- cos I`ve not ordered them yet). That should give a good idea to what the different colours of Arc LS will perform like.

 

[Wingerr]

I've got several Arc AA lights, and in comparing the turquoise with the white versions, and yep, the turquoise beam pattern is spread much wider than the white LEDs. I couldn't really say the effective brightness is much higher for the turquoise, though; I find the white better because of the accurate color representation. I have a photographic light meter, and the white ones registered a nominally higher level than the turquoise ones; consistently. Could be the spectral response of the solar cell in the meter, but I'm not sure.
Functionally, the white is best, but the turquoise is cool for a spare, and for toy/signaling purposes, I'd say. And like Chris said, it'd probably be good for walking around in the woods, since the greenery would be brighter due to the predominantly green output. If you had to have only one (can you imagine??), then I'd vote for white-

I did notice one of the white ones had a significantly lower output than the others; apparently a defective one- if you find it's not bright enough to look at a glove box, but the turquoise one is, perhaps it's not putting out full intensity-