Brightest ARC AAA?

Hi, is the turquiose brighter than the white AAA? If so, how does it compare to AAA LE?

Yes, turquoise is brighter than white. A white LED is just a blue LED with a phosphor coating that converts blue to white, with some necessary losses. So single-color LED's are more efficient than white ones.

Arc AAA standard and AAA LE are the same brightness. LE has a warmer color.

The brightest Arc AAA's are the ones that have been converted to Luxeon emitters by LEDMODS ASAP and others. They show up on BST sometimes. Battery runtime is much shorter than the stock versions, of course.

Can someone provide figures as to how much brighter the turquoise is?

While I agree that the turquoise is brighter without a doubt. I see better with white.

For example, I went to my dark garage where I have some things stored in coffee cans. I could read the labels better at 10 feet or so with the white light that with the turquoise. The turquoise sheds more light, but it is not as useable to me.

I guess one might get accustomed to it.

Jerry

I think it also depends on what you are going to do with it. I have both and keep the turquoise on my key chain. It's much brighter but I can't see color with it. But I would recommend buying them both. Any one ever heard that before? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

This is a conflict I've been having with myself. I've been buying evryone I know aaa's as gifts and it's a difficult choice to make between the two. What I've determined is that outdoors I prefer the turquoise for walking around, when hiking at night , etc. The white I prefer indoors for looking into cabinets, under the couch etc. My opinion could change and is a work in progress. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Hm, so that mean Arc AAA, Turquois Arc AAA and Arc AAA LE all have same run time?

What about reading map? Can turquoise read map well?

Runtime should be approx the same for all of those. White is best for maps. Monochromatic light makes the colored lines on the map vanish or all look the same color.

I got around 11,700mcd on my turquoise Arc AAA, but it has a wider viewing angle (35°-45°) than is typical for LEDs in flashlights; and wider viewing angles always equal lower mcd readings.

TLM: What's the mcd reading for white?

I believe it is 20,100mcd or 20,800mcd or some such horse puckey...let me check the website and see...BRB...
OK, the Arc AAA LE is 20,100mcd, and the Arc AAA PE (the 2003 edition) is 20,800mcd. I don't have measured brightness readings for the AAA standard (I got them before I got a photometer), but they should be around 20,000mcd for the white version. Just a guess, mind you, but an educated one.

I'm confused TLM...
It sounds like the metered brightness of the white AAA's (20,000mcd) are higher than the turquoise(11,700mcd), which goes contrary to the posts stating that the turquoise is brighter...
Is this a perception thing, or is the photometer just not able to read turquoise light as well?

jpeg, to measure the total brightness you need an integrating sphere test or something similar, not a measurement of one point in the center of the hotspot. The turquoise apparently makes a wider beam than the white, so the hot spot is a little dimmer, but the total output is more.

I have both in hand, in fact I made another head with 5mm white led from ISP which is 8000mcd at regular current compared to Nichia 6400mcd.

Though I see the Turquoise brighter overall, the white is more useful as edc. I just can't get correct color with something else than white light.

When compared to the 5mm white from ISP, it brings a classic issue of flood against throw.

led from ISP has 20 degree viewing angle and it has very even and nice white color tint similar to that of LSH-P. It also has a little better throw with tight beam.

I really like the smooth and even tint plus a bit of throw, but at times I wished to have a little more flood. Currently my edc is based on the led from ISP.

DJP

The turquoise is perceptually brighter by a substantial margin and is very easy on the eyes and doesn't kill night vision at night. I understand that this color is more easily seen because of the physiology of the the retina but I'm not qualified to enter into a detailed discussion regarding the reasons. The green is approximately as bright but I have found the turquoise to be much less harsh and more pleasing in actual use than the green. HOWEVER, be prepared that the turquoise beam is not as smooth as the white and has many artifacts (rigs, dark spots, etc). ALSO it is of NO use if you have to distinguish colors, as previously mentioned. It is a great walk-around light and I use it in the woods when I am fortunate enought to talk my wife into letting me go camping. I like it a lot but would choose a white one if I chose to carry only one.

No worries, I'll get the turquoise AAA and use my ARC LSH-P and the ARC4 for backup... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

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Crash said:
The turquoise is perceptually brighter by a substantial margin and is very easy on the eyes and doesn't kill night vision at night.

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I have heard conflicting reports on this,
and just found a great reference on color
and night vision here.
Looks like turquoise is not good so good for NV... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
-J

[ QUOTE ]
jpeg said:
I'm confused TLM...
It sounds like the metered brightness of the white AAA's (20,000mcd) are higher than the turquoise(11,700mcd), which goes contrary to the posts stating that the turquoise is brighter...
Is this a perception thing, or is the photometer just not able to read turquoise light as well?

[/ QUOTE ]
The turqoise Arc has a wider beam than the white Arc, and wider beams always read lower on the light meter, even if the turquoise LED produces more total light than the white LED does.
I'd really need an integrating sphere to compare the two LEDs, but I don't have one, can't afford one, and don't have anywhere to set one up here. So that'll have to be up to somebody with deeper pockets and a larger space with which to work. Oh, and an integrating sphere. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

A picture is worth...



An avg Turquiose vs my brightest white AAA, a CPF edition.

Hope this helps.

Randy

If you want a REALLY bright ARC AAA, send yours to Led Mods ASAP. The result is fantastic. Very bright and white. Very close to a LSH, but with less runtime. Make sure to ask for the half-ball lens. People cannot believe how bright that little light is. One guy, who was familiar with ARC AAAs, pulled out a fresh Photon and was prepared to show me up with his little demon. He was shocked by the LM_ASAP, which rendered his beam just about invisible.