Are Low Dome Emitters done??

I have noticed so many new emitters coming available within the last year that it is hard to keep pace with who/what is best. I have just also noticed I have seen no low dome style emitters anywhere or for that matter none of the plain old 1 watters anymore.

One of the first real performers I bought was an old ARC LSL that had the low dome and optic combo. It was a beautiful tint with a nice mix of flood and enough throw for around the home type stuff. Of course I later moved over to high dome emitters and never looked back however I wonder if there is still any who like the low dome pattern.

I also wonder with the much better emitters coming out these days if Seoul or even Cree offers a lowdome and if so has anyone sampled any of them?

While I am asking I also never see any side emitters either.....I wonder with the better dies available now how something like a Cree side emitter and a good reflector would perform. These may already be available however I found nothing on a search.....just curious if todays market only takes to the standard high dome beam pattern.

I am not that familiar with the old low dome emitters. I am guessing they had a pretty much smooth 180 degree output? (cosine of angle).

Right now the Seoul SemiConductor and Cree are what everyone is using thanks to the high efficiency (standard now is about 80 lumens @ 350mA @ ~3.3v). My understanding is that Seoul buys the actual chips from Cree, then does their own phosphor coating and packaging. Expect similar brightness from each.

The SSC LEDs are probably similar to the low domes with ~180 degree output. The Cree's have a little bit of magnification for ~120 output. One thing I personally don't like about the SSC's is that they have a soft silicone 'lens' which tends to attract dust if not enclosed.

Luxeon (Phillips) is just starting to put out their Rebel line which is extremely small. Not quite available yet in quantity.

So there is a snapshot of the current LED maelstrom :thumbsup:

The lowdome emitters were basically the same die with the exterior dome being lower and more flat than the higher more cone shape high dome versions. The standard observation between the two were the lowdome was more flood while the highdomes threw better.

If I remember correct the lowdomes were more pleasing to view as they appeared more subdued and less artifacts to bother with. I just kind of forgot about the old lowdome emitters however just found an old one hidden away in my luxeon stash and it got me thinking.

I still enjoy using my LSL with its low dome. It does give a nice even flood making it a very useful beam.

Geoff

I recently swapped the low dome luxeon star on my Streamlight Jr luxeon with an SSC. The beam profile is very close to the original. I've never really cared for the beam with the lambertian luxeon when paired up with most optics (NX-01, 05, fraen). I always found the image of the die distracting, however the silicone dome appears to give a more diffuse beam and the image of the die isn't as pronounced. Same floody beam and power consumption, just brighter - love it.

I haven't seen an updated equivalent to the old side emitters.