XR-E R2 vs Q5

I have two Nitecore EX-10 lights that are supposed to have different LEDs. One is the EX-10 Q5, the other is the EX-10 R2. Should I be able to see a difference in the appearance of the Q5 to R2 by looking at the LED or just by the light output?

The reason I ask, is that I have a 4Sevens Quark 123 Tactical R2 that has a totally different shaped LED. The light coming out of the Quark 123 R2 has a much different beam color than the others.

Regardless of the LED, beam tints (color) are a lottery. Unless you specifically order something like a Nuetral or Warm tint there are tint variations in all LED's at present. Also a Q5 emitter on the hot side and an R2 emitter on the low side could be the same brightness.

Hope this helps.

Bill

To the naked eye it would be very difficult to tell the difference between an XR-E Q5 and an XR-E R2, especially if the tints are the same.
The jump from Q5 to R2 was not that big.

The Quark 123 Tactical R2 uses a Cree XP-E emitter, which is a totally different emitter.

The specs do not indicate the tint. Does it look whiter or yellower than your EX10s?

Black Rose said:

The Quark 123 Tactical R2 uses a Cree XP-E emitter, which is a totally different emitter.

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I think this is your confusion.

As Black Rose says, the Quark Tactical uses the XP-E which is a different emitter and has a slightly different beam pattern than the XR-E.

Your XR-E Q5 and XR-E R2 should look exactly the same.:thumbsup:

Dang - once again you guys are spot on!!! It is the difference in the XP-E and XR-E chips. DOH!!! Too many codes and acronyms.

To the naked eye it would be very difficult to tell the difference between an XR-E Q5 and an XR-E R2, especially if the tints are the same.
The jump from Q5 to R2 was not that big.

The Quark 123 Tactical R2 uses a Cree XP-E emitter, which is a totally different emitter.

The specs do not indicate the tint. Does it look whiter or yellower than your EX10s?

Click to expand...

The Quark 123 Tac R2 has a very warm color (a bit more yellow than the Nitecore's). My second Quark is the standard version and seems to have the same LED. Very similar color.

Really like the tone of the Quarks, but I find that I like playing with the Nitecore. The piston drive and the Ramping is addicting. Glad it is the time of year where we have so much darkness. Fun way to get through the winter months. "Take two LED lights and call me in the spring."

Packet,
Hi. I don't mean to be pedantic so please give this idea a minute.
The tint of the stock emitter in any light can be a lottery. i.e. there is no Nitecore tint, no Quark tint. Tint can be very important and this is why many people get into modding, they source selected emitters and replace them into their favorite lights so they can enjoy the design features of their lights.
So there isn't a Quark tint, per say. You want to get to even more codes to read the bin of the emitters (Cree xre R2 WC).

Black Rose said:

To the naked eye it would be very difficult to tell the difference between an XR-E Q5 and an XR-E R2, especially if the tints are the same.
The jump from Q5 to R2 was not that big.

Click to expand...

Our eyes have a logarithmic response to intensity, so the difference needs to be pretty significant to notice.

Linger said:

Packet,
Hi. I don't mean to be pedantic ...

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But isn't that good, because we're after specific - and correct - info? Being overly pedantic might be bad.

Hitthespot said:

Regardless of the LED, beam tints (color) are a lottery. Unless you specifically order something like a Nuetral or Warm tint there are tint variations in all LED's at present. Also a Q5 emitter on the hot side and an R2 emitter on the low side could be the same brightness.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Click to expand...

I have 3 different Quark with XP-G and they all look the same greenish color. The color is idential when shown next to each other on the same white wall. I like the XP-G for indoor use due to its floody output but I don't like the color at all.

Linger said:

Packet,
Hi. I don't mean to be pedantic so please give this idea a minute.
The tint of the stock emitter in any light can be a lottery. i.e. there is no Nitecore tint, no Quark tint. Tint can be very important and this is why many people get into modding, they source selected emitters and replace them into their favorite lights so they can enjoy the design features of their lights.
So there isn't a Quark tint, per say. You want to get to even more codes to read the bin of the emitters (Cree xre R2 WC).

Click to expand...

Yeah, I realize there isn't a tint per light mfg. I was using the two different lights as examples of why an R2 binned LED would have such different characteristics (shape, brightness and color). I would expect an R2 LED to have the same shape (here it was XR-E vs XP-E) and the color would also be similar (again a difference in XR-E R2 vs XP-E R2).

Packet-Storm said:

Yeah, I realize there isn't a tint per light mfg. I was using the two different lights as examples of why an R2 binned LED would have such different characteristics (shape, brightness and color). I would expect an R2 LED to have the same shape (here it was XR-E vs XP-E) and the color would also be similar (again a difference in XR-E R2 vs XP-E R2).

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if I'm reading you correctly, but it seems that you may be confusing tint (color) bins and flux bins.

XR-E, XP-E, XP-G = the packaging / size

Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, R2, R3, R4, R5 = the flux bin (how bright it is, nothing to do with color)

WC, WD, WJ, WH, 3A, 4C, 5A, etc. = the color/tint bin (nothing to do with brightness)

Many manufacturers do not specify the tint bin. I.e. if you see "XR-E R2" and "XP-E R2", there's nothing there which specifies that they have to have the same or different tint/color.

However, if you see "XR-E R2 WC" and "XP-E R2 WC", you know they'll be about the same color. Or if you see "XR-E R2 WC" and "XR-E R2 5A" [Though these probably don't exist], you know the WC will be blue-ish and the 5A more orange-ish.

Take a look here: http://www.cree.com/products/pdf/XLampXP_B&L.pdf, page 9-11 for tints.

It just so happens that warm tints tend to be in the lower flux bins.

Packet,
I figured you already understood, which is why I qualified that the casual, though incorrect, insinuation that brands determine tints light was the target of my correction. As TorchBoy kindly affirmed, even though you already understood the lurkers may have gotten the wrong impression.

Good post Hoongern

hoongern said:

It just so happens that warm tints tend to be in the lower flux bins.

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Lets take this a step further: there's a causal relationship between warm tints and lowered flux bins - Cree gobs on more phosphors, reducing output, to limit the higher wavelenghts and favour the lower end of the spectrum. When the emitter is off, the increased phosphors are visible on as the face of warm tints as a visibly darker colour(deeper yellow, or more orange depending on tint). The spectral outputs reveal that the emissions aren't translated towards 3k or 4k (same output just shifted warmer); rather the peaks of the cooler 6k 7k wavelengths are looped off at the top, hidden under the warm tinted phosphor loads.