Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mcd?

I can't see how having a greater number of LEDs can improve a light's throw. Each LED, after all, can throw only so far, and in a clustered head--12 LEDs, 16 LEDs, 32, and so on--there's no optic or reflector to funnel the collective output through a narrower corridor.

Yet this can't be, for surely a bright flood surely would throw farther than a less bright flood.

Comments?

my guess is the more leds ya have ,ya could spread em out a little more and ya will have more throw but im probaly wrong

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

Now that I think of it, as long as the additional LEDs are installed in the same-size head, they will add to the number of photons directed over the same arc, thereby adding to the throw.

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

side spill will over lap, as will the main beam. So you will have a brighter wider spot with a cluster of several leds vs say one super bright led. The throw can be made the same with the less bright leds by putting more together, and you'll have a wider spot.

Think about the tri-lux mods. They can throw pretty good and the side spill is very bright and can "throw" more than the side spill of one lux in a mag reflector. One luxIII with a 20mm reflector won't throw as far as three luxIII's in 20mm reflectors. The beams will over lap.

Now the beams will spread out more at distances, and won't stay a super sharp aligned beam as well as a single luxeon in a large reflector. Think of the multiples as having a beam angle of a cone, spreading out more and more, and the single lux in a large reflector of having a more laser straight beam that doesn't spread out as much...

I know you're talking about 5mm leds but this should help too....

I'd say to answer the topic, I'd say MAYBE, because at close distances you're going to be close on brightness, but afar the setup with more leds is going to spread out more. To have the same amount of throw with the 10kcmd as the 50kmcd does, you'll have to have more than 50 of them... The setup with more leds will have a larger hotspot though and may be more usefull in some situations.

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

More photons going in the same general direction will always "throw" further, but that's just brute force. A very dim light source can throw amazingly far with good collimation (example: lasers - high intensity, low overall output) - to the point that improving collimation with a wide-beam or omnidirectional light source is usually a better solution than simply upping the lumens.

There's a balance to be struck. As lights such as the X1 prove, even the best collimation with a diminutive light source will only get you so far.

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

A lot of problem with throw is getting a lot of parallel focused beams of photons on a small spot that continues on out. The more LEDs the larger the angle between the center of them all which makes a parallel beam less possible at greater distances thus hampering throw.

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

A light with one 5mm LED will throw as far as a light with ten (or more) identical LED's. The only difference is that you'll be able to see the reflection of the light at a greater distance with multiple LED's. Here's the reason...for every doubling of distance the light becomes one quarter as bright. The photons from a single LED will travel as far as the photons from a multi-LED light, but since there are more photons coming from the multi-LED light, they will give the illusion of greater throw. In other words, you'll more likely be able to detect ten photons bouncing off a wall a hundred feet away than than you will a single photon.

Re: Will 10 x 50,000 mcd throw like 50 x 10,000 mc

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Paul_in_Maryland said:
Now that I think of it, as long as the additional LEDs are installed in the same-size head, they will add to the number of photons directed over the same arc, thereby adding to the throw.

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Paul,
I think what you said is a good explaination - its just not the most efficient way of increasing your throw, and that is why your throw is not dramatically increased (as compared to other methods).