What will LED technology have in store for us next year ??

After seeing so many mega cool torches (ie, small & bright & affordable ) this year ..... what will they come up with next .... ?? !!

I don't know but it seems like there's alot just around the bend. Makes me hesitant to invest much now.

In store for next year? Divorce and poverty probably

Aren't Lumileds about to release a new LED ? K2 or something...if i remember correctly, more lumens ?

Brighter LEDs that use less power; which in turn causes everyone here on CPF to buy every flashlight ever made all over again because the new LEDs need some special circuit that none of our current lights have or can be modded to use.

Maybe a 150 lumen led the size of a Surefire E2e that's rechargable. That would be a fantastic edc light, in the 200 or less range.:wow:

What's on the LED horizon? Three possible trends appear in my crystal-ball:

1. PRICE DROPS -- The roll-outs by cost-effective, increasingly-popular upstarts like Pentagon, DigiLight, Fenix, Dorcy, etc., will accellerate retail pricing pressure on the big boys. Surefire's battle to eliminate on-line/non B&M discount (civilian) sellers could eventually backfire... especially if Iraq winds down and military sales take a hit. The offshore (i.e., China, Korea) lower labor-cost advantage will drive this trend harder, despite global run-ups in materials (metals) costs.

2. MORE CONSUMER CHOICES -- In an effort to hold the line on price/profit erosion and retain market share, cutting-edge manufacturers will introduce more sexy new models to stimulate consumer demand. Get ready to be dazzled. I wouldn't even be surprised to see Surefire introduce some relatively low-cost (for them) line that capitalizes on their "brand-power." The G-2's popularity is a good example.

3. LEDs GO MAINSTREAM -- It's already started, with Target/WalMart, etc. introducing the Joe Sixpack demographic to low-end Inovas, River Rocks, etc.. In addition to slowly pulling Joe-6 away from MagLights -- thus pressuring Mag to finally introduce some LEDs -- this trend will enhance certain (but not all) LED component and light manufacturers' profit margins. That, in turn, could spur more R&D/new product development -- especially in the popular-priced flashlight market.

Aside from pure LED technology, Batteries and Auto Headlights are overdue for some technological breakthroughs. Perhaps consumer products will also see tangible benefits filtering down from hush-hush military R&D projects like DARPA, etc..

Beyond all the above, the widening "popularization" of LEDs will accellerate general consumer interest in ALL illumination tools -- AND CPF! If ya think it's hard logging on here now, you ain't seen nothin' yet! More system crashes and upgrades, anyone? (Poor Sasha!)

The Golden Age of Illumination Technology is a-comin', folks. What a great time to be a Flashaholic!

Be prepared. Increase those credit-card limits!

thought I read somewhere that there was some LED that had an effeciency of 120 lumens per watt rather than the 70 lum / watt

L.E.D. said:

thought I read somewhere that there was some LED that had an effeciency of 120 lumens per watt rather than the 70 lum / watt

Click to expand...

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=98424&highlight=purple
Factory being built. No mention if the LEDs will be 20mA 3/5mm or 350mA+ watt rated units.

Right now, I'm more interested in the overall flashlight designs rather than the LEDs themselves. Streamlight and Dorcy have shown that you can still do new things with the Luxeon I, and the proliferation of R bins has allowed this old technology to produce more light without increasing the power consumption and heat load. The general trend towards reflectors and better throw is good, too.

No doubt this is naive of me to say ..... but I think 2006 could be the year my Flashaholic obsession could be cured !!

Finally, my ultimate EDC could become a reality .....

Mega Small - Approx Jil DD Size (& Quality)
Mega Bright - 100+ Lumens at Max
Multi Level Brightness - HDS Style
Long Runtime - Several hours at max, much much longer at lower levels
Costing no more than $100

I think progress will continually be made. The 130 lm/watt number, well I think that's in a laboratory, as almost all breakthrough news come from, but there's no doubt we'll see further efficiency increases. Progress comes at a fast enough pace that even if we shorten existing LED lifes down to thousands of hours (due to overdriving or poor treatment), we still can't wear them out fast enough. Heck, I still own an overdriven Lux I and it has yet to require replacement due to degraded output. I do welcome the entry of economical torches which exposes the average Joe to LED technology. Two to three years ago, people were unfamiliar with high powered LEDs, now more are familiar with them due to availability of Luxeon based torches at places like Wal-Mart and other discount brick and mortar chains. This will continually put pressure on high end manufacturers like Surefire which is a good thing. Though prices will probably not decrease much, you'll get more for what you pay for.