Koito's new red phosphor

[Alaric Darconville]

I really don't see any benefit to vehicle headlights. Any CRI > 80 is pretty much meaningless.

It's not CRI I'm after, it's a sensible CCT. Something in the 3000-to-3500 K range.

 

[-Virgil-]

I really don't see any benefit to vehicle headlights. Any CRI > 80 is pretty much meaningless.

Talk to off-roaders and you'll get an earful (or two) about inadequate CRI from LEDs and HIDs making it difficult to drive safely on the trail because it's impossible to tell apart the shades and tints of grey, brown, beige, and green that can mean the difference between solid ground and deep puddle, clear trail and boulder, etc.

 

[ssanasisredna]

Talk to off-roaders and you'll get an earful (or two) about inadequate CRI from LEDs and HIDs making it difficult to drive safely on the trail because it's impossible to tell apart the shades and tints of grey, brown, beige, and green that can mean the difference between solid ground and deep puddle, clear trail and boulder, etc.

We both know how much the average off-roader knows about CRI or lighting .... and is likely whining about not being able to tells "shades" because they are using 5000-6000K HIDs or LEDs with <80CRI and have no clue what a good >80 CRI LED in the <= 4000K range would even look like in an off-road situation, let alone something in the 3500K tuned for gamut area and not CRI. It's sort of crazy as Lumileds developed the "neutral white" CCT range that flashlight people now swear by for automotive applications to give more contrast in the real world .... but marketing wins over performance as long as you meet regulations.

 

[ssanasisredna]

It's not CRI I'm after, it's a sensible CCT. Something in the 3000-to-3500 K range.

I would be happy just to get back to a sensible 4000 at this point.

 

[-Virgil-]

likely whining about not being able to tells "shades" because they are using 5000-6000K HIDs or LEDs with <80CRI and have no clue what a good >80 CRI LED in the <= 4000K range would even look like in an off-road situation, let alone something in the 3500K

Right...but it's not like they have a choice, it's because those 5000K-6000K, heavy-on-the-blue LEDs are what's available; the kinds of LEDs that would give better light quality are not (so far) used in lights for vehicles. To try and move this thread back to topic, that's why the Koito and Seoul Semiconductor announcements are promising. They suggest that the quality of light from LED vehicle lamps might get some more attention paid to it, which is overdue.

It's sort of crazy as Lumileds developed the "neutral white" CCT range that flashlight people now swear by for automotive applications to give more contrast in the real world .... but marketing wins over performance as long as you meet regulations.

Unfortunately true. I'm hoping some of the research ongoing right now into what's being called "human-centric lighting" will wind up providing some solid basis for better-quality light from LED headlamps on the demand side, while things like this Koito red phosphor and the Seoul Semiconductor SunLike purple-chip LEDs help out on the supply side.