Yes, that was then, and now, after seeing swhs's pics, I'd say: just take it as it is. Even if there was a chance of gaining brightness, you would not profit from it, unless you could broaden the beam pattern or add some lumens to the top of the beam.
The light patch seems bright enough for many riding conditions, so much so that swhs mentioned people turning to 'low' when riding close to retroreflective signs and posts.
I wouldn't say the chances for improvement are zero, but then Uzzi's question was also about "two (or more) XP-Gs". I don't see how adding emitters would help, the reflector of this lamp is (obviously very well) designed for single die packages.
Indeed. Reflectors have been designed for specific LEDs. Changing the LEDs with a different type will change the beam pattern, which means there could be artefacts or too much light close up. More light further away is not really needed for normal use, perhaps for high speed descents but even car headlights don't shine much better/further than this light. At least, that goes for the car headlights I've looked at closely since starting the tests with the Philips light. Some are actually much worse, with large distracting artefacts in the beam.
What the Philips light shows, is that we're coming to a point where you don't really need more light, but attention should go to other things:
- Neutral white or even warm white are less annoying to oncoming traffic, easier on the eyes for the rider using it too, and they may be better in the wet (I've done a few short tests with cool vs. neutral, I'm going to test warm white soon).
- Perhaps optimize the beam slightly to remove the problem of reflective posts on the side of the road just reflecting too much which is almost like someone shining a torch in your eyes. I will make some pictures of this too. This may be difficult for various reasons that take too long to explain here. Perhaps this will simply be solved (or at least improved), by mounting the light lower (fork crown height, which is the usual place where dyno lights are positioned), I'm going to check that too.
- A little more light near the front wheel, i.e. just iron out small imperfections in the beam.
Btw, on my webpage I've made some additions and mentioned some possible competitors to this light:
1. B&M IXON IQ, IXON IQ Speed (obviously completely outclassed, because even the Edelux is outclassed)
2. Dosun D1, but I've put a link on my website to a Japanese website with beamshots which show the unevennes in the beam. So I doubt it's better. I doubt it's even close. I don't know what else is being said on that page btw., Google translation produces ununderstable rubbish.
3. B&M Big bang: Too expensive, HID = bluish and fragile.
So, at the moment there is no real competition.
Btw, USB cable: I have some, I think the right ones, but I have to look where they are...
Btw2, the latches of housing are probably strong enough. I think if those are damaged in a crash, the light would have had such a shock that something else is damaged beyond repair anyway. This because of the way the bottom section fits into the top section, and because the latches are placed in the right direction so that in most cases, there is no force on them (think about that when considering what can happen in a crash or if you drop it, by looking at the housing and how something can move in a crash against it, or the loose light itself is dropped).