Roogalator
Newly Enlightened
As will be readily apparent when you read these questions, I know precious little about electronics in general and LEDs in particular. Nevertheless...
1) Are there significant differences in the efficiency of various LEDs? By efficiency I mean the percentage of energy consumed that produces light versus the percentage consumed that produces heat.
2) Using the aforementioned definition of efficiency, are LEDs getting any more efficient with newer technologies?
3) Given the increasing energy density of batteries is the heat generation of LEDs going to be the limiting factor in flashlight output as technology advances?
Part of what drives my curiosity about this is that having to restrict run time to avoid overheating significantly limits a flashlight's usefulness to me, and I'm wondering if there are improvements on the way. I understand that flashlight design and choice of materials can mitigate heat buildup to a degree. But it seems as though there are hard limits on high output runtimes even with the best designs.
1) Are there significant differences in the efficiency of various LEDs? By efficiency I mean the percentage of energy consumed that produces light versus the percentage consumed that produces heat.
2) Using the aforementioned definition of efficiency, are LEDs getting any more efficient with newer technologies?
3) Given the increasing energy density of batteries is the heat generation of LEDs going to be the limiting factor in flashlight output as technology advances?
Part of what drives my curiosity about this is that having to restrict run time to avoid overheating significantly limits a flashlight's usefulness to me, and I'm wondering if there are improvements on the way. I understand that flashlight design and choice of materials can mitigate heat buildup to a degree. But it seems as though there are hard limits on high output runtimes even with the best designs.