Why do LED lights still suck and why do I still use incans or HIDs, your opinions or disagreements please.

jtr1962

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Incans themselves were copying gas lighting's light spectrum, so incan fans have no room to criticize LEDs.
Actually that wasn't intentional. It was just a byproduct of physics. We currently lack any materials suitable for a filament which remain solid at temps much over about 3400K. For a practical lamp which lasts more than a few hours you need to be a few hundred degrees under that. End result is incandescents emit a light similar to gas lights, although this wasn't intentional. If we had filaments which could operate at 5000K or over, my guess is those would have dominated simply because they would have been much more efficient (i.e >75 lm/W versus 10 to 20). The light would still be black body radiation with 100 CRI, but now much closer in appearance to sunlight.
 

defloyd77

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Actually that wasn't intentional. It was just a byproduct of physics. We currently lack any materials suitable for a filament which remain solid at temps much over about 3400K. For a practical lamp which lasts more than a few hours you need to be a few hundred degrees under that. End result is incandescents emit a light similar to gas lights, although this wasn't intentional. If we had filaments which could operate at 5000K or over, my guess is those would have dominated simply because they would have been much more efficient (i.e >75 lm/W versus 10 to 20). The light would still be black body radiation with 100 CRI, but now much closer in appearance to sunlight.

I've heard multiple times on TV and on some YouTube videos over the years that the reason they went toward the filament instead of "taming" the carbon arc lamp to a more daily use friendly output was the end goal was something similar to what people were used to and that was gas lighting and candles. Thusly they went the route of the filament.
 

defloyd77

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That has always been my personal favorite color temperature for LED's

In that case, I'd recommend the 4500K dedomed 519A. That's what I have in my D1 and it's a nice, warmer neutral color temperature with a beautiful tint.

I'm a 4000K guy and don't typically like to go warmer, but I have no regrets getting that LED.
 

turbodog

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I'd recommend a dedomed 519A, probably a 3500K would be closest to an incan.



Oh I love this sentiment. "LEDs are trying to be incans." Incans themselves were copying gas lighting's light spectrum, so incan fans have no room to criticize LEDs.

This is all an attempt to copy the sun. So be sure to get your target adjusted appropriately.
 

jtr1962

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I've heard multiple times on TV and on some YouTube videos over the years that the reason they went toward the filament instead of "taming" the carbon arc lamp to a more daily use friendly output was the end goal was something similar to what people were used to and that was gas lighting and candles. Thusly they went the route of the filament.
I'm pretty sure also that getting carbon arc to work in a consumer product wouldn't have been cost effective, or even possible, with the technology of the time.

BTW, candles are just awful as far as being useful for doing anything besides avoiding bumping into walls. Small wonder it was common back then to rise at dawn and sleep not long after sunset.
 

turbodog

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Clearly, but the emission spectrum is similar. LEDs are always lacking in red, which affects brown (dirt, leaves, etc) a lot.

Your eyes will adjust to the color temp... they have auto white balance. But they can't manufacture red emissions.
 

defloyd77

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Clearly, but the emission spectrum is similar. LEDs are always lacking in red, which affects brown (dirt, leaves, etc) a lot.

Your eyes will adjust to the color temp... they have auto white balance. But they can't manufacture red emissions.

The emission spectrum is nothing similar, that's why they have different color temps. I can't begin to count how many times I went to school with mismatched black and navy socks due to the incan bulbs we used to have. A lot of good that 100 CRI did. You know that blue light LEDs produce incan guys like to think is going to murder everyone in their sleep? Yeah, not so prominent in incan lights.

Good LEDs these days come much, much closer to the sun's actual output and leave much less to be surprised about when you step into natural daylight. Yuji for example makes damn good daylight white LEDs with pretty damn good amounts of R9. It's a shame that only Sofirn has dabbled into using Yuji's daylight LEDs and those were only 5MM low powered ones. Nonetheless, the output that thing puts out is really a sight to behold. Some of their higher end LEDs are 98 CRI with 95+ R9.

With all that being said, if you could capture and store sunlight itself for nighttime illumination, it would look way too cool at night with all of the other lights humans encounter at night, including the moon and stars, which are about 4000K, just like incans and other warm lights look sickly yellow during the day.
 

turbodog

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Yeah, it's _very_ similar to sunlight. There are no huge spikes nor gaps like fluorescent or led.

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ampdude

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Notice how one is high in the blues while the other is very low? Nothing at all alike other than the smooth nature of their spectrum. That's why incans give people a hard time with telling navy from black.
I've actually never noticed that. But then I remember about a year ago everyone at work was telling me something was light blue and I thought it was gray. I could see the blue in it, but apparently not as well as I should have. I know I'm far from color blind.
 
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