LED tint/color change due to reflector?

Does anybody know if the reflector can cause the colors of a white LED light source to split into its constituent colors?

I ask this because I noticed quite a few people complained about their quark neutrals exhibiting greenish yellow hotspots and purplish spills. Maybe the reflector is causing the colors to split.

My Quark 123-2 XPG neutral white from 2010 has a slight yellow hotspot but the spill on the perimeter is more neutral (rather bluish white)

js82 said:

Does anybody know if the reflector can cause the colors of a white LED light source to split into its constituent colors?

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Yes.

So if it can, does anybody who have a new neutral quark wanna try removing the reflector portion and checking to see how the tint looks? I'm trying to do it with my neutral X but I'm having a hard time removing that portion. I accidentally removed it before but now it won't budge.

Nevermind. I managed to force it open. The light coming out of the LED really is a nasty yellowish green tint that then gets focused forward by the reflector.

I wouldn't think a reflector could do what is described. Refraction is what causes color separation (in a prism, rainbow, etc) and not reflection.

So you do think it is rather the glass lens, than the reflector, right?

gcbryan said:

I wouldn't think a reflector could do what is describe

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Yes it can. Ask Steve Ku. I got an E-series drop in for my E1e and it was a horrid shade of greenish yellow when in the light. Out of the light (no reflector), it was a perfect neutral white as it should have been.

If it's splitting the colors it has to be refraction and therefore would have to be the lens. If the reflector just has a tint to it then that's another possibility but that's a terrible reflector in that case.

js82 said:

Does anybody know if the reflector can cause the colors of a white LED light source to split into its constituent colors?

Click to expand...

Problem is that the LED is not white. There is no such thing. The emitters in out lights are actually blue. They have a phospher coating to make them appear less blue. The coating is actually a yellowish color. Yellow and blue make green.

js82 said:

Does anybody know if the reflector can cause the colors of a white LED light source to split into its constituent colors?

I ask this because I noticed quite a few people complained about their quark neutrals exhibiting greenish yellow hotspots and purplish spills. Maybe the reflector is causing the colors to split.

Click to expand...

yes i noticed that too, my p7 mag looks a bit wamer with splattered reflector, with smooth the tint is cooler.

That's an interesting theory js82. The T6 XM-L in my new Zebralight SC600 has a greenish/yellowish hotspot with a slightly cool spill. I was able to filter it with a magenta filter and it looks MUCH better know, but I am curious as to why the beam is not all the same color.

By the way, do be VERY careful when handling your reflector, as they are easily damaged. Do NOT attempt to clean it.

Also, when cleaning the front cover glass, remember that they are often coated with a special anti-reflective material that can be marred by heavy handed cleaning, so use care with cleaning that as well. I use eyeglass tissue.

tre said:

Problem is that the LED is not white. There is no such thing. The emitters in out lights are actually blue. They have a phosphor coating to make them appear less blue. The coating is actually a yellowish color. Yellow and blue make green.

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Yes, the substrates do emitt light in the royal blue spectrum, but when it strikes the phosphor, it will exhibit fluorescence (aka electrons jumping down in less than 10^-8 seconds) and re-emitt light in the same manner as the spectra from a black body radiation (aka no line absorption across the spectra), without the infrared. So LEDs are NOT made from just two colours, they have a continuous spectrum, with a slight peak in the blue part.

IMO most likely just that the LED emits different tints at different distances from the center. XM-L's have a distinct yellow band at the edges, but in a reflector that yellow gets thrown into the center so when you look at a whitewall beamshot, the outside edge is usually most blue/violet.

...I don't think refraction is the right word to be using with a reflector. I'd also tend to think that the reflector is not changing the LED's color.

Thank you for the advice regarding cleaning the lens and all. I'm not gonna do that. All I did was remove them to see the tint of the bare XM-L.

In the case of this quark neutral xm-l, hellokitty is right. The sides of the LED emit yellow light while a nice white light comes out of the center. And it's because the reflector is reflecting the yellow side lights to the center that the spill is more white.

but lol, what's with the hellokitty username?