Red Luxeon Emitter Question

woodbender · Sep 18, 2002

Most everything I see regarding light mods here use white luxeon leds, which happens to be what I used in my two mods. My question is what would be the advantage/disadvantage of using a red one? I see many lights that offer a red lens as an accessory, which is supposedly for better night vision. Do red lenses actually make it easier to see at night or does it just help with eye fatigue over longer periods of use? Thanks...Jeff

star882 · Sep 18, 2002

Pros:
lower vf voltage
better night vision
Cons:
bad color rendering
appears dimmer than the other luxeons

woodbender · Sep 18, 2002

I am planning to play around with a 1 watt one, but I'm also planning at some point to try a 5 watt red emitter and run it at a lower voltage. Even running a 5w at less than spec should give an output much better than a 1w.

On your cons: could you better explain what you mean by bad color rendering, and how much dimmer in appearance is it in your opinion?

Silviron · Sep 18, 2002

If I'm reading the Luxeon 5W data sheets right, there ARE no Red, R/O or Amber 5 Watt units being made.

I mentioned this on a couple of other threads, and don't think anyone has corrected me. Anyone know for sure one way or the other?

vcal · Sep 18, 2002

Originally posted by Silviron:
If I'm reading the Luxeon 5W data sheets right, there ARE no Red, R/O or Amber 5 Watt units being made.

I mentioned this on a couple of other threads, and don't think anyone has corrected me. Anyone know for sure one way or the other?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I don't know the answer to that one either, but IMO it's really unfortunate if they won't be offering the Amber 5W.

Why?...-because of it's utility as far as night vision acuity (less glare) and it's lower forward voltage. Obviously, I'm a big fan of the amber emitters for efficiency and output per Volt-giving more flexibility as far as designing your own mods.

I still realize that the Red/Orange, and the Cyan Luxeons appear to have brighter output though...

Lux Luthor · Sep 18, 2002

I use the red for seeing through brush. The green leaves don't reflect red much but tree bark does. Actually, the red/orange is even better for this, with a bit better color rendering as well.

woodbender · Sep 18, 2002

As far as the 5w goes in red, I was just going by the future catalog I got at the office today. It has the 5w red listed for side-emitting and lambertian pattern. I know that just because it is in the catalog doesn't mean jack, but I figured it might be available eventually.

Red Luxeon Emitter Question

woodbender

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star882

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woodbender

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Silviron

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vcal

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Lux Luthor

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woodbender

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