high dome??low dome??side emitter??

first thing first, I KNOW what they mean

this is what i want to ask, if i wanted a light of THROW only, no side spill, which one of the luxeon should i choose? HD, LD or SE?

i seen picture of low dome and side emitter having some super throw although there is no sidespill and the hotspot is bigger.

but most picture i see for high dome is all tight small spot but with some good sidespill,which i don't want.

yes i like to throw, not the flashlight but the photons they give out coz anylight can throw quite far.

Might be better off looking into a lens of some type. Don't have any specific suggestions, just a thought. I'm sure someone else here will have more experience.

You did not mention the host-light.

Because if a Minimag, then a HighDome and the suitable acrylic ball gives the best throw possible (check the "guide to minimag modding"-tread)

Maybe inside a larger light a larger acrylic ball will give same (better?) results.

Low domes are uncommon. I don't know between the high-dome and the low-dome which is throwier, but without question, the side emitter is the floody one of the three. Side emitters cannot easily be made to throw. Since virtually all common Luxeon equipped flashlights use the high-dome emitter, most relfectors including McGizmo's excellent line of relfectors are designed to optimize the light from a high-dome.

IMO, go with a high-dome when looking for throw.

Bernie

Also, most flashlights have a spot/sidespill beam because they use a reflector. If you want a beam with little or no spill, you need to use some lenses instead of a reflector. Lenses can create a projector-type beam. Also, an acrylic ball, when placed at the right focal length from the emitter will produce a tight spot with almost no spill. Reflectors and so-called collimators (not actually collimators at all) will all produce spillbeam.

The Inova XO is an example of lenses producing a spot beam with NO spill. It uses what they call their TIROS (Total Internal Reflection Optical System) optics. I am not aware where you can get similar optics. See the review of the XO at: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_xo.htm

Bernie

well, as the innova was mentionned....
I happened to have the smaller innova X1, which might use the same "great" optics to give a beam without sidespill (which i really HATED). So I am to mod it, and by disassembling I got the impression that this "great" beam produced, is just a waste of output.
Why?
There is the led, some space away, at focal point, there sits the lens. The room around (=the inside of the barrel) is blackened, so NO spill from the led will be reflected and thus does not come out front.
But it is still wasted.

A polished Barrel will give the same beam AND the sidespill --> would make a much better light.

It remembers me of these "aspheric optic" lights from Docter (4aa light with projecor optics like car headlamps). All the spill light there is also just cut away --> wasted.

http://dmcleish.com/CPF/E2-5W/index.html

http://dmcleish.com/CPF/1Watt-turbo/index.html

here are two example of side emitters having some nice beam!

In the end it will depend on the optical system you are deploying together with the LED ... photon management is always made with all parts in mind, and for your throw-only application you'll depend not only on the LED but also on the optic, lens or reflector available.
The LEDs themselves aren't throwers in either case.

That said ... most photon management system are centered around the HD LED these days. I think.

bernie

chesterqw said:

http://dmcleish.com/CPF/E2-5W/index.html

http://dmcleish.com/CPF/1Watt-turbo/index.html

here are two example of side emitters having some nice beam!

Click to expand...

I stand corrected. A 1W side emitter can be made to throw when overdriven 85% in a $100 Turbo Head. LOL! Seriously, I'm impressed. It should be noted however, that a high-dome emitter in the same turbo head would produce better throw still.

Bernie

ooo...now i get it, it is the head that counts dang ... i like that BIG hotspot coming out from the side emitter but that $100 head... oh man...

chesterqw said:

ooo...now i get it, it is the head that counts dang ... i like that BIG hotspot coming out from the side emitter but that $100 head... oh man...

Click to expand...

Excellent conclusion. In standard refelctors, throw is a function of total light emitted (torch lumens) and most importantly, emitter diameter to reflector diameter ratio.

If you hold T-lumens and emitter dia. constant, you can improve throw by increasing reflector diameter. If you hold relfector and T-lumens constant, you can improve throw by reducing emitter dia. (that's why a LuxV doesn't throw as well as a LuxIII -the emitter is bigger). If you hold relector dia. and emitter dia. constant, you will improve throw by putting out more light. A bigger refelctor is easiest. One of the reasons that side-emitters are floodier, is that the built-in optical diffuser makes the effective emitter diameter larger.

Bernie

FirstDsent said:

If you hold T-lumens and emitter dia. constant, you can improve throw by increasing reflector diameter. If you hold relfector and T-lumens constant, you can improve throw by reducing emitter dia. (that's why a LuxV doesn't throw as well as a LuxIII -the emitter is bigger). If you hold relector dia. and emitter dia. constant, you will improve throw by putting out more light. A bigger refelctor is easiest. One of the reasons that side-emitters are floodier, is that the built-in optical diffuser makes the effective emitter diameter larger.
Bernie

Click to expand...

And if you hold T-lumens, emitter dia. and reflector dia. constant, you would get more throw by using a reflector with a smaler focal length (a more "flat" reflector) - like using a McR-27 instead of a McR-27L.

Using a reflector, the HD LED is the best thrower. If you want no spill, a lens like what the Inovas or Auroras use is best. A 5 degree or less collimator will work also since collimators are knows for having little sidespill.