Brightest 5mm LED

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Fallingwater

Fallingwater

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 11, 2005
Messages
3,323
Location
Trieste, Italy
I've been swapping out the LEDs on cheap chinese flashlights with some "20.000 mcd" ones I bought from eBay.
Results have been good (brighter and whiter beams), but today I tried a swap and found out the chinese manufacturers have caught up. My LEDs are whiter than the one I removed, but not brighter. Actually they are a bit dimmer.
I am, therefore, in need of something better.

What are the brightest, most efficient emitters that can be had in the 5mm format and that run from typical 5mm current and voltage? Also, where can I get them in non-industrial amounts?
Thanks.
 
I have found that most 5mm white LEDs can obtain the same or similar brightness, but the mcd rating goes up as the light collection dome gets taller. In other words, as the collected light gets focused to 30 degress, 20 degrees, 10 degrees, etc... the mcd rating goes up because more of the usable light gets focused out the front in a tighter circular pattern (Radiation Patten). Problem is the beam of light gets much tighter as well.

I bought some 10mm leds that claimed 30,000 mcd at a certain Vf. Problem was that the light out the front was so focused that they really weren't very useful.

I'm sure nichia white leds are as high up there as 5mm leds go.

Bud
 
When this subject comes up, JELED's 50/55k mcd LEDs are a common answer. I've got some of these myself (via Ebay) and while the color and beam pattern aren't great, they are pretty bright. You can buy the JELEDs in amounts of 50, possibly 25, on Ebay. I've also got some of DX's 5mm LEDs, I can't recall if they're rated at 14k or 20k, they have a nicer beam and color, but they a bit dimmer as well.
 
How to identify the wide angle and mcd rating of any LEDs that already assembled on flashlight? (without having to measure it manually of course) Is there any certain marks to identify it? (like the color rings of resistors perhaps)
 
I've searched on eBay, but I can find neither JELEDs nor Nichia LEDs.

Is there any website that sells them? Note that I'm in Italy, sites that only sell in the US (or that have ridiculously high international shipping fares) are of no use to me.
 
Fallingwater said:
I've searched on eBay, but I can find neither JELEDs nor Nichia LEDs.

Is there any website that sells them? Note that I'm in Italy, sites that only sell in the US (or that have ridiculously high international shipping fares) are of no use to me.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to one of their 55k LEDs auctions, and they ship anywhere. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Brightest-5...ryZ66954QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

P.S. - there is also a seller, I think it is BestHongKong, that sells a 5mm LED that is listed around 36-38k that I'm guessing will also be one of the brightest 5mm LEDs out there, and I think it will have a nicer beam and color compared to the 55k JELED.
 
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Fallingwater said:
Whoa, thanks! They are much cheaper than I was expecting - that auction is for FIFTY of them for just 13 euro!
And I found another auction at his shop for the same thing, but two euro cheaper!
They're mine! :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I should have mentioned that they vary in price depending on the auction, so look around before buying. I suspect that the Nichias would cost a fair amount more and are also not as bright from results I've seen. I will again mention that while they are bright, they don't have the most pleasant looking beam. Compared to a nice, pure white 5mm LED like those that I have used from DX, the JELEDs will have some obvious blue and yellow in the beam. In practical use it's hardly something that you'll even notice, it's more of a 'white wall' cosmetic issue. They also seem to perform better when overdriven compared to a lot of other 5mm LEDs. I would like to test out some of BestHongKong's LEDs that are rated around 35-38k, they weren't the brightest but are still quite bright and I believe they'll have a nice beam. I just don't need 50 of them, I still have about 40 JELEDs that I haven't used yet. ;)
 
I think Nichia NSPW500DS leds are the most efficient 5mm leds at the moment. However they are very new and i havent seen them being sold individually yet. If anyone knows where i could get them in small numbers i would like to know.
 
The Nichia rigel 0.5w series is very good.

They can be found in the gentos range of lights. The 1AA headlamp is unusually bright for a 0.5watter. It is one of my EDCs now.
 
Jarzaa said:
I think Nichia NSPW500DS leds are the most efficient 5mm leds at the moment. However they are very new and i havent seen them being sold individually yet. If anyone knows where i could get them in small numbers i would like to know.
Click to expand...

Edit - The LED that I was thinking about as possibly being brighter than the JELED is the Nichia in the Photon Rex (it uses 4 of them). From what I read when info on it was first released, supposedly the LED was initially going to be exclusive to that light, and I don't believe it can be bought anywhere right now so I didn't mention it. It claimed to be twice the brightness of the Nichia CS as I recall. I don't know if it's the same Nichia as you mentioned, and I don't know any tests or specs of the LED so I have no idea how it compares to the JELED. If it is better than the JELED in efficiency, it goes without saying that I'd be interested in it.
 
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What about the new Nichia NSPW500GS-K1? The spec sheets show a 10% improvement over the NSPW500DS.
 
Also take note that even though a product may be be brighter spec-wise,
tint does matter especially for 5mm's since blue/violet tints generally tend to give a perception of less brightness.
 
Aren't the Japanese Nichia's currently the best brand of 5mm LED and the brightest on the market today? They're a huge company with significant cash reserves devoted to R&D, and they're also listed on Nasdac.

I think the NSPW500GS-K1 is the brightest that money can buy today, much brighter than the 5mm clones you find on ebay, but it could be hard to find these Nichia's since Photon Microlight new light - the Photon Rex, is supposedly going to utilize them, and have bought all the first batches. It's going to be at least 2X brighter than the already twice as bright Photon freedom! :paypal:
 
Well, the Jeleds should now be on their way to me. Usual HK-Italy shipping time is 2-4 weeks :( so it'll be a while before I can report on them.
 
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