What is the best LED???

[AKCamper]

So somewhere I missed the class on all the cool new LEDs and what the differences are between them, so here it is.
What Is the difference Between the Cree XR-E Q5 , Q whatever, the P4, P7 and so on.
I have heard that the P7 creates a very wide beam but i havent really heard anything about the others. If and one could shed some "lite"(lol, ok that was a pretty bad pun) on this i would appreciate it.

 

[LED_Thrift]

You might try the forum here in the "Beyond Flashlights" section titled "LED" that discusses the different LEDs. Here: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=91

 

[Gunner12]

Define Best.

Seoul makes LEDs with the model name P4 and P7. P4 is also a Flux bin for the Cree XR-E model of LEDs. P7 is not. The Seoul P7 is essentially 4 Seoul P4s wired in parallel and because of the larger emitting area, it takes a larger reflector to give a narrow beam.

The Cree XR-E R2 is currently the best binned Cree LED out. The Seoul P4 U2 bin is currently the highest flux single die Seoul LED that I've seen used around here. As for the Luxeon Rebel, the 100 bin still seems to be the top and I'm not sure about their TFFC K2s.

 

[AKCamper]

This is probably a stupid question, but what does "Binn or Binned" mean?

 

[kurni]

This is probably a stupid question, but what does "Binn or Binned" mean?

"Bin" = "category".

LED is categorised by its brightness and tint (colour). Some manufacturer also categorise by voltage at 350mA.

Cheers,
Kurni

 

[Marduke]

A "bin" is like a grade. Each LED has a model, but the manufacturer has no idea how good they actually are until after the production run and each individual LED is tested to see how bright it is, and what tint it has.

For example, Cree (the company) decides to make a run of their popular XR-E led's (the model). After they make them, they bin them in flux bins (brightness) of something like P4, Q2, Q4, Q5, or R2 (least to most bright), and further into tint bins (color tint of beam) such as WC, WG, WH, 5A, etc.

A full chart of most of the popular LED's is found here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=156772



BTW, cross posting is against the rules

 

[Cemoi]

What about the Luxeon Rebel?
The homepage of the Luxeon Star website says they are "new".

 

[Fallingwater]

They haven't been "new" in a while.
They present problems for heatsinking (being very small), and the 100-bin had technical problems that could greatly shorten its lifespan. After the recall, the rebels have pretty much faded from the scene.

Some people like the new K2s (I think they are defined "TFFC", but I may be wrong).

 

[Cemoi]

They present problems for heatsinking (being very small)

Even the star version?

After the recall, the rebels have pretty much faded from the scene.

So they simply call "new" the post-recall units?

Some people like the new K2s (I think they are defined "TFFC", but I may be wrong).

No, there were some "TFFC" affected by the recall according to this thread.

 

[Oznog]

Right- the K2's had the same problem. If Luxeon is being straight with us, it was not a general, vague problem but "nonconforming die epoxy" which was replaced when the problem was discovered and the new ones are fine.

If Future Electronics stocking level is a useful metric, Rebel supplies are not very high especially in the higher quality bins. Since mfgs generally do not produce lower quality bins on purpose but simply put the underperforming products off the line into them, then it may be accurate to say their manufacturing so far has not been as good as anticipated.

There is no problem with thermal design on Luxeon Rebels. You may be unable to thermal-epoxy one onto aluminum with great reliability and low thermal resistance, but using one of the intended Stars should yield a similar thermal resistance to any other Star-mounted product.

 

[Marduke]

However the fact remains that Lumileds cannot reliably produce Rebels over 50-70 bin in any significant quantity.

 

[Fallingwater]

This prompts the question of why they bother producing them at all.
After the recall they have been thoroughly blown into the weeds by Cree and SSC, so they stand no chance of gaining back a significant portion of the market. Why keep making rebels at all? One would think they'd be better off concentrating the resources in researching the next generation LuxeonWhatever LEDs, hopefully having learnt from their mistakes.

Perhaps they've just put their entire stock of pre-produced Rebels through testing, trashed those that didn't pass the nonconformity whatever test, and are selling what's left?

 

[customlight]

By far the best LED is this ONE
Which is made by OSRAM.

 

[Marduke]

By far the best LED is this ONE
Which is made by OSRAM.

Which is less than HALF as efficient as modern emitters? :shrug:

 

[Fallingwater]

By far the best LED is this ONE
Which is made by OSRAM.

What are you basing this claim on? It's powerful, but a current SSC P7 will blow it into the weeds.