How much more headroom is there?

silentlurker · Feb 16, 2014

LEDs came a long way from when I first got into the hobby in, oh, the late 90's. Back then, LEDs were bigger and less efficient, and we'd get only a few lumens from a big LED. Nowadays LEDs are many times more efficient with the power they're given.

At a certain point I imagine it'll be impossible to get more light out of a battery of given capacity. How close are we to that limit, given current LED technology?

jtr1962 · Feb 16, 2014

We're about halfway there. Typical power LEDs nowadays achieve about 100 to 160 lm/W, depending upon how hard you drive them. The current efficacy record in the lab is 276 lm/W. The maximum theoretical efficacy for white light is 300 to 400 lm/W, depending upon CCT and CRI.

martinaee · Feb 16, 2014

I'm assuming those current records were done under very controlled and probably ideal settings. I wonder where it realistically will be able to get to in consumer lighting leds. Is getting past that record of 275 lm/W in everyday leds possible?

Yoda4561 · Feb 16, 2014

Well the MKR can do 200 lumens per watt at low power levels, and it's available to consumers. At the drive levels we like to use in flashlights I figure it'll be 5-10 years before we can break 250 lumens per watt.

Fresh Light · Feb 16, 2014

I think more important for enthusiasts would be lumens per mm2. This goes pretty well with increases in efficiency, but I'm not really sure of the direct relationship. Some of the Luminous chips could take incredible currents and be amazingly bright, but never match the lumens per watt of the Crees.

Mr. Tone · Feb 16, 2014

jtr1962 said:
We're about halfway there. Typical power LEDs nowadays achieve about 100 to 160 lm/W, depending upon how hard you drive them. The current efficacy record in the lab is 276 lm/W. The maximum theoretical efficacy for white light is 300 to 400 lm/W, depending upon CCT and CRI.

I hope we will see the tech get close to what is theoretically possible someday. With an LED that efficient it will be hard to get drivers to give us a good moonlight mode!

How much more headroom is there?

silentlurker

Newly Enlightened

jtr1962

Flashaholic

martinaee

Flashlight Enthusiast

Yoda4561

Flashlight Enthusiast

Fresh Light

Enlightened

Mr. Tone

Flashlight Enthusiast

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