Cree at over 100 Lumens/Watt next year

:rock: If you think, like I do, that the Cree XR-E is exciting read this.


I know a lot of you are aware of the last Cree's lab achievement but for the ones who missed it

This is what Mark McClear, the Cree's solid state lighting director, said in a recent interview with journalist Bob Metzger .

"Historically, there is roughly a one-year time lag between developments in Cree's research labs and turning that breakthrough into a commercial product. Recently, the company produced laboratory LEDs with an efficacy of 131 lm/W. "If historical trends continue, next year should see a commercial XLamp device with efficacy above the 100 lm/W range,"

For the whole article see:
http://compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/magazine

Now that is REALLY exciting, don't you think?
The fun is just begining! :rock:

I've already decided not to buy any more flashlights until this time next year. Unless someone is clearing out their inventory, I'll be saving my dollars for those 100lm+/w Crees.

I could go for a 100 Lumen 1 Watt little LED light

We are not talking 100 Lumens ligth but 100 Lm/W.

The LED output will likely be 200 to 250 Lmn at 2.xx Watts.

I for one would really like to see colored version of the XR-E.

Just like computer world
You can wait for next generation always
But, you can't enjoy the benefit of the current result
I will buy what I want and hate to wait
The tech will bring us to more than 500 lumens/W someday
but, for me, I am happy that I can really touch the 70-80 lumens/W

Buying now without the waiting is "nice" but....buying now when the technology improvement curve is so steep,in fact practically vertical, has such a short-lived satisfaction..... which is less than "nice".

The X-E can provide more than decent light now (or as soon as mass produced flashlights become available). I would buy what I need today and if later I decide that my light is not good enough for what I use it for (I doubt that), I will upgrade the LED. It won't be that expensive or that complicated and it will be better than to wait with no light.

There will be improvement for certainly a few more years to come but think about it, how much light do you really need? Do you really want to light up a whole stadium with it? Let's be reasonnable and use our lights sensibly. Think about your needs and when you find something that match them, buy.

If everybody was thinking that way we would very likely still be watching TV in black and white on 12 inch round screen.

Calina said:

Do you really want to light up a whole stadium with it?

Click to expand...

YES!



:lolsign:

Calina said:

"Historically, there is roughly a one-year time lag between developments in Cree's research labs and turning that breakthrough into a commercial product. Recently, the company produced laboratory LEDs with an efficacy of 131 lm/W. "If historical trends continue, next year should see a commercial XLamp device with efficacy above the 100 lm/W range,"

Click to expand...

Funny but I remember saying exactly that in one of the Cree threads. All I can really say is wow. A few years back it was optimistically predicted that we would cross the 100 lm/W barrier maybe in 2009 or 2010. Some of the pessimists even said we would never cross it.

100 lm/W equals the best HIDs but LEDs are much easier to work with in terms of driver circuits plus they scale down with no loss of efficiency. If Cree should reach over about 105-110 lm/W (the efficiencies of the largest HIDs) in a commercial product next year then we'll be in uncharted territory. There has never been a white light source with an efficiency over 110 lm/W.

2.5 watt, 250-300 lumen LEDs? Yes, they're coming sooner than we think! :rock:

and i thought buying the XR-E would consume my appetite for lumens... this is very interesting indeed

jtr1962 said:

Funny but I remember saying exactly that in one of the Cree threads. All I can really say is wow. A few years back it was optimistically predicted that we would cross the 100 lm/W barrier maybe in 2009 or 2010. Some of the pessimists even said we would never cross it.

100 lm/W equals the best HIDs but LEDs are much easier to work with in terms of driver circuits plus they scale down with no loss of efficiency. If Cree should reach over about 105-110 lm/W (the efficiencies of the largest HIDs) in a commercial product next year then we'll be in uncharted territory. There has never been a white light source with an efficiency over 110 lm/W.

2.5 watt, 250-300 lumen LEDs? Yes, they're coming sooner than we think! :rock:

Click to expand...

A while back it was the "fact" that LEDs would never touch incans. In the last few days it was the "fact" that they would never touch HID for throw.

I can remember the fact that the PC will never touch the mainframe and at best be a means of timesharing with them.

Now if they could do something about the poor color spectrum of so called "white" LED's, I'll really be impressed!

Before anyone pronounces the early demise of the XR-E, please note that nowhere in the article does Mr. McClear indicate what type of LED produced the miraculous 131 lm/w. Personally, I imagine it was a 5mm. Typically, power LEDs lag a couple years behind 5mms in efficiency. Rather than the XR-E catching up with its smaller brethren, I would guess that the little guys are simply moving further and further up the lumen ladder. The XR-E will probably be the standard (for Cree at least) in power LEDs for a while. This 131 lm/w monster is more what I would expect to see in the next Arc AAA.

OUPS!

Perhaps I get excited too easily.
Martini is right. Even though this is not a 5mm LED. The results are based on the EZBright chip at 20 mA .

EZBright if I'm not mistaken is the same chip on which is based the Cree XR-E.

Just did a quick check...

Quote:
Cree, Inc. , a market leader in LED solid-state lighting components, today announced LED efficacy test results that set a new benchmark for the LED industry. Cree reported results of 131 lumens per watt white LED efficacy, confirmed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Tests were performed using prototype white LEDs with Cree EZBright™ LED chips operating at 20 mA and a correlated color temperature of 6027 K. End quote

Maybe we will have to wait just a little longer, then maybe not !!
It is possible that 130 Lm/W at 20 mA would reasonably translate to 100+ Lm/W at 350 mA.

Someone will always want to buy your older flashlights. Hey, anybody want to buy a Mag 2D with a UYOK LED? :laughing:

I'd like to see a quad die XR-E :rock:

That would destroy a luxeon V.

Yes, LED may provide over 100 lumens/W
but, don't forget that LED is very hard to put together
So far, 1 W can be 131 lumens/W
But 2W may reduced to be 90 lumens/W
Think about 10W becomes 50-60 lumens/W
How can it compare the total output with HiD or Sodium ?

just to put in my 2 cents worth, not that it's worth anything


This is impressive news. actually seeing this technology in an affordable available to the "masses" flashlight is another story. Results in a lab are one thing, getting results in the field a whole nother enchilada.

Though we have already seen cree in custom hihg end expensive lights I predict more than a year before you see this in something like Fenix or especially a Surefire , though I could be proven wrong. Taking things into account like a company like Surefire, they must have vested in Lumamax Leds and as such would have to stick with them until stock/contracts etc run out. I doubt they can just dump a whole platform and jump to another without establishing new relationships and performing exhaustive testing and development. I am not positive but did any maufacturer ever incorporate the K2 in any lights ? maybe they did I cant remember .

But I guess we will see . one things for sure even though it may not initially cost more for a Cree , when they do come out large scale a premium will be demanded for them in a flashlight so i probably wont be able to afford them for quite some time to come.

Is this too pessamistic?

Were the Cree OK with their name being used? (Native North American Tribe).