FINALLY... warm white Luxeons shipping

FINALLY....

"Lumileds Lighting is now shipping a warm white version of its high-brightness Luxeon LEDs, becoming the first manufacturer to deliver a warm white emitter in production quantities. The new product opens the door for significantly greater use of solid-state illumination in interior and task lighting applications by overcoming the resistance of lighting designers and consumers to the cooler blue tones of conventional white LEDs...."

Surprise... They're batwings!!!

What a sales pitch for the off-color 1w low dome parts! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My understanding, and I'm far from being an expert, is that the phosphor technology is quite different. Also, I think Lumileds is trying to expand the types of markets it penetrates, hoping to crack architectural, home illumination, etc. I think the 'warms' will eventually supplant the 'cools'. Just my humble opinion....

Here is a link to a thread on a closely related topic, warm white bin codes and part numbers:
New bin codes

I find this funny. "Warm" led's. Isn't one of the main points and benefits of LED lighting is that it isn't nasty yellow orange tinted like incandecents. Seems to be ironic if you ask me.

I'll bet a nickel that in 12 months' time, more than 50% of Luxeons shipping will be 'warm'.

I am sure the cool white colour is prefered by some. In Japan and here in south east Asia, people do prefer daylight colour fluorescent lamps over warm white ones. I can understand the need for cooler tones in the tropics (here) but less sure about Japan, which can get pretty cold in winter. Preference aside, the warm white Luxeons do have an advantage: CRI is 85, not 70. Why this is so I cannot say. This is Lumiled's own claims.
I also think that it is not so much the yellow colour of incandescents that most people object to, it is more the drop in CCT (correlated colour temperature) as the battery runs down that they find objectionable. We rather prefer a light that decreases in output without change in CCT. In any case the CCT of the warm white Luxeons are supposed to be 3200K, about that of halogen video lights. Not as warm as most fluorescent lamps which are 2700K-2800K.

Of the warm vs cool white LEDs that I've seen
(non-Luxeon), the cool whites (same manufacturer)
have appeared to be significantly brighter. This seems
to hold true with fluorescent lamps also. I don't
know if it's the efficiency of the phosphor or the
eye's higher sensitivity in the greenish-blue range,
or both. It makes me wonder if these WW Luxeons
are going to have the same issue, whether the
difference in brightness is real or perceived.

FWIW, the article linked in the first post of this thread says an "average" output of 20 lumens. The current datasheet for the "cool" 1W luxeons lists a "typical" of 25 lumens. I don't know if we are comparing apples to apples though. The datasheet "typicals" are under specified test conditions that generally would not reflect those of a typical application. The "average" might be refering to different conditions [though I would not bet on it].

Not just the dimming getting worse color, but I don't like incandencets color even at normal power. They don't get white unless you're overdriving them and the bulb is about to flash... And to me white LED light seems brighter than yellow tinted dingy light.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif Just kind of seems to be going backwards if you ask me...

But I DO like incandescent colored lights. I would never give up my little halogen desk lamp for an array of luxeons as the color would be too glaring on my desk or reading in bed at night. I've experimented with sticking some of my luxeon lights up to see what the color looks like in those applications and I don't like it.

I have plans for some very nice lighting fixtures in my living room and will be trying out these warm luxeons as the cool white ones just won't do in there. The family would not like them.

I for one am looking forward to getting some of these to experiment with and see if they are indeed more yellow/incandesent, or just recycled greenies /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't like cool white when used in a headlamp, since it backscatters light in your eyes. The more humid it is, the worse the effect. It's like everything you're looking at appears against a fuzzy bluish haze.

Compare to an amber if you get a chance. It's like night and day in terms of clarity. Problem with amber, though, is it's not white enough. "Warm" luxeon appears to be a comprise. If it simulates an incandescent, I'll prefer it over cool white in a headlamp. I wouldn't prefer it anywhere else, though, nor would I want it to replace the bluer 5mm LEDs in a headlamp for up close work.

Seems to be a personal preference. Also it seems since we are most used to warm colored lights we tend to stick with those. If say florecents were the dominant light throughout history it probably would be different. I can understand the harsness a bit, but in that case I just turn the brightness down. Call me crazy but I don't like amber fog lights. It tends to make the road look dark to me and the grass glows. I'd rather have white light make the lines in the road pop out... I guess snow would reflect more or fog, but I don't notice it or focus on it.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

[ QUOTE ]
phyhsuts said:
...Preference aside, the warm white Luxeons do have an advantage: CRI is 85, not 70...

[/ QUOTE ]
Two or three years ago, Nichia was advertising that their white LEDs (5mm, 3mm, and SMD) had a CRI of 85. Maybe they went down the toliet since then. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif