What is the different between these two leds?

The Nichia LED will have less output than the Cree, but when hiking around outside, the browns and greens will look richer and closer to how you would see them during the evening hours of the day.

daniel0315 said:

I got my headlamp yesterday.
But I notice that the leds is nichia high cri leds not Cree.
The servie of the shop said is better than cree leds.
I do not any thing about this cri leds.
Do you guys know somethig about this?
And what is the difference between these two kinds leds?
Should I refund the headlamp?

Click to expand...

There is not enough information to know.

Nichia is a brand, not a specific LED, as is CREE.

The CRI of the LED indicates that it has a better ability to show colors more accurately, so, SOME Nichia LED are very good at color rendition (Nichia 219 for example)...but so are some Cree, etc.

Generally, the better at color rendition, the dimmer....because power is used to create light emissions across more of the spectrum, so the over all brightness is less.

So, for most people, the question would be if you want more accurate color, or a brighter torch that might have less accurate color rendition.


As you seem to have it, I'd try it out, and see what YOU thought. Nichia and Cree are both good COMPANIES, so, its possible you'll like what you have.

daniel0315 said:

But I notice that the leds is nichia high cri leds not Cree. The servie of the shop said is better than cree leds.

Click to expand...

You got lucky and have the LED that will show more realistic color when you look at things that have reds, including your hands, meat, and plants.

high CRI nichia on left, Cree on the right


high CRI Nichia:


Cree Led below:


Notice how much more of every color the high CRI has. When you shine the light on something with any of these colors in it, the color that bounces back is closer to sunlight spectrum. An LED with very little red, cant show red things, they look brown, because the wavelength is missing, so cant be reflected back to you..

It usually takes newbies hundreds of dollars and multiple lights, before they discover High CRI.. you got lucky, you skipped Kindergarden, and are now swimming in the deep end of the pool. Enjoy it!

post pictures, tell us what you got

warning, this forum will cost you money, you wont return lights, you will just buy more of them so you have choices to explore.. enjoy the journey, there is no one destination, your goals and needs will change as you go along..

As other have said. The Nichia Hi CRI has what most consider better color, its a nice quality warm light, closer to sun light. The cree would have put out more lumens though. I personally go for brighter lights rather than color. Someone saying it is better is deffinitly opinion, But a lot of people go for color and 50% would say you got the preferred LED. A question you can ask your self on what one you would rather have is would you rather have a brighter light? Or a more natural color light? It also kinda depends on what the light is for, if you want a super throwing spot light I would go for the higher output over the color. But if its just to be able to see where your walking or what your doing (like a head lamp) I think the more natural color is a fine choice.

SuPpAvIlLiN said:

As other have said. The Nichia Hi CRI has what most consider better color, its a nice quality warm light, closer to sun light. The cree would have put out more lumens though. I personally go for brighter lights rather than color. Someone saying it is better is deffinitly opinion, But a lot of people go for color and 50% would say you got the preferred LED. A question you can ask your self on what one you would rather have is would you rather have a brighter light? Or a more natural color light? It also kinda depends on what the light is for, if you want a super throwing spot light I would go for the higher output over the color. But if its just to be able to see where your walking or what your doing (like a head lamp) I think the more natural color is a fine choice.

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+1 Well said.

After some post, I feel little more segregated for liking an preferring CW.
I just don't get the low brow remarks made (skipped kindergarten?) when some folks are describing the choices.
Lay it out, move along.
Thanks,
Have a great day

Personally, I find the tint on the LED matters much more than CRI.

My Nichia 219 high CRI lights produce beams with great CRI and the tint looks good when compared to CREE 1A or 3C tint. But when I put those same Nichias next to my lights with CREE 4D or 5A2 tint, the CREE LEDS blow the Nichias away. The 219s look washed out and dull in comparison. And that's just the tint... the CREEs are also capable of producing far more output.

I own quite a few flashlights with 92 CRI 4500K Nichia 219a and 5000K 219b. But given the choice I'd definitely go for a CREE with one of my preferred tints.

"...CREE 4D or 5A2 tint..."


I can understand this. - These tints are below (but still along) the BBL, and so away from the horrid 'Green'

3C and 1B Suck! (for instance) - They are failures, and will show us all of the 'Green' that should not be really there. - That which we were never meant to see.

Have a look:

http://toykeeper.net/torches/cree-tints.jpg

Thanks for this,

Makes sense to me - Thank you for this!

-Chuck

Fireclaw18 said:

Personally, I find the tint on the LED matters much more than CRI.

My Nichia 219 high CRI lights produce beams with great CRI and the tint looks good when compared to CREE 1A or 3C tint. But when I put those same Nichias next to my lights with CREE 4D or 5A2 tint, the CREE LEDS blow the Nichias away. The 219s look washed out and dull in comparison. And that's just the tint... the CREEs are also capable of producing far more output.

I own quite a few flashlights with 92 CRI 4500K Nichia 219a and 5000K 219b. But given the choice I'd definitely go for a CREE with one of my preferred tints.

Click to expand...

thanks for expanding my understanding that LED preference depends on application. The OP asked about a Headlamp, I dont think throw is as important as high CRI for that application.

but I agree that tint matters, and is independent of CRI
for example, I have a 219a with 87 CRI, measured, that is warmer than the 219b with 88 CRI. Even though both measure 4400K (note neither reaches the 92 CRI claimed, nor the 5000k claimed), the 219a LOOKS more white than the 219a. My personal preference for a headlamp would be the 219a. I dont know of any off the shelf headlamps with high CRI Cree LEDs. I suspect they would be more blue, and lower CRI, but I guess it comes down to naming actual products and their actual specs.

and, apology to anyone offended by my kindergarden comment. I was projecting about my own stages of newbieness. Im totally infatuated with high CRI since I learned about it. But I use my lights as camp lights and headlamps, not for high intensity, nor throw. Different horses for different courses..

Thanks Jon.

I'm happy we get a choice in some things, win-win all around.
👍
Apology about low brow remark, it was not accurate. In some threads though that shoe fits better.

Of course, he doesn't say which Nichia, or which Cree, might be in there.

TEEJ said:

Of course, he doesn't say which Nichia, or which Cree, might be in there.

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True.

But for the sake of argument I'm assuing that the CREE is probably a standard XPG/2 or XML/2 with tint such as 1A or 3C, and that the Nichia is a high-CRI 219A 4500k or 219B 5000k.

Those are the typical Nichias and CREE leds found in non-budget flashlights these days.

The typical 92 cri nichias that you see talked about around CPF are the SW45 binning, which ranges from 4200 to 4700 kelvin, so they average out at around 4500k, and this applies to both the A and B.

twistedraven said:

The typical 92 cri nichias that you see talked about around CPF are the SW45 binning, which ranges from 4200 to 4700 kelvin, so they average out at around 4500k, and this applies to both the A and B.

Click to expand...

Interesting. All my 219A are in the 4500k range and all my 219B are in the 5000k range.

But then again, I didn't buy mine inside a flashlight. I got them all from Mountain Electronics or Illumination Supply.

The 219B in my Eagletac I had, and the 219B in the L3 Illumination I have are both probably in the 4200-4500 range, they're both rather pinkish/tannish next to my 5000k Luxeon T emitter in my Zebralight.

Nichia does have a tint binning that's 4700 to 5200, but its CRI is only 85.