# Colour Cree XB-D



## Optical Inferno (May 24, 2012)

Just read an e-mail from my Cree rep. mentioning colour Cree XB-D LEDs in the works. If technology performance characteristics are on par with the white ones that are already available should be pretty sweet.

He couldn't get me any preliminary spec. sheets, but if and when I do I may be able to post them for the community.


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## mds82 (May 24, 2012)

Oh thats good news, i was expecting to see a color XT-E first. If you can get a datasheet for that it would be wonderful.


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## A10K (May 25, 2012)

Finally, something to replace the red XP-E as the most powerful red LED for flashlights? Good thing I only ordered 2.


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## Shadowww (May 26, 2012)

A10K said:


> Finally, something to replace the red XP-E as the most powerful red LED for flashlights? Good thing I only ordered 2.


Hey, there's PT-54 which can handle up to 9A drive current. And some people managed to fit them in flashlights, even small ones.


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## A10K (May 26, 2012)

Ah, indeed you're right. Any idea what its equivalent binning/Lumens per W is at lower driver currents? .........
Whoa, thread derail...
To stay on topic, I'll give the cheeky answer that there already IS a colored XT-E.... its royal blue. It actually predates the white one by a good while.


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## mds82 (May 29, 2012)

I know i'm personally looking for a XT-E Blue ( not royal) for a project i'm working on. the XP-E Blue is good but definitely needs a future replacement


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## mds82 (Jun 6, 2012)

any update with this?


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## Optical Inferno (Jun 6, 2012)

According to my guy they are releasing the information in end of June. Which means that places like Digikey ans Newark won't have these LEDs till about the end of summer. I hope to get samples by the end of July.


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## mds82 (Jun 8, 2012)

I just heard something similar too: 
Samples – end of this quarter
Volume production -end of next quarter


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## Optical Inferno (Jun 28, 2012)

Just a little update as Cree is finishing their Q2... In an uncharacteristic move, Cree does not have any preliminary datasheets available yet despite mentioning the LED at the beginning of the year. My Cree now says datasheets mid Q3 samples end Q3 production mid to end Q4. 

He also stressed that the efficiency that the XB-D has may not translate to the GaP LEDs (red, amber, etc...) but the blue and royal blue should be just as good. The royal blue will make it really interesting for the remote phosphor guys in their designs and help push up fixture efficacies.

He also mentioned that Cree is getting Gen 2 versions of the XP-G, XP-E, and XM-L out towards Q4. These will be similar to the MT-G2 in that we could see a 20-30% increase in light output. But I guess that is for another thread...


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## mds82 (Jul 2, 2012)

thats disappointing there isnt early information available for the XB-D Color


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## tobrien (Jul 3, 2012)

I'll be on the lookout


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## Optical Inferno (Aug 21, 2012)

Unfortunately after discussing this thread at length with a Cree rep, they have requested that I stop posting about this topic until the product is released. I don't completely understand why as I have not signed a NDA and everything I post has no datasheet values (nor would it have ever). 

Nevertheless...to maintain the cooperation that I get from my Cree rep. I will have to comply with their request. All I will say is watch the Cree website for the rest of the year as it will get interesting regarding this particular LED. When the product is released we will have to discuss it at length.


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## SemiMan (Aug 21, 2012)

Optical Inferno said:


> Unfortunately after discussing this thread at length with a Cree rep, they have requested that I stop posting about this topic until the product is released. I don't completely understand why as I have not signed a NDA and everything I post has no datasheet values (nor would it have ever).
> 
> Nevertheless...to maintain the cooperation that I get from my Cree rep. I will have to comply with their request. All I will say is watch the Cree website for the rest of the year as it will get interesting regarding this particular LED. When the product is released we will have to discuss it at length.



While Cree may have the best InGaN technology, they do not have anything really substantial on the AlInGaP front used for RED leds unless something new is in the works. Right now Osram is probably best for REDs with Lumileds being up there and even Epistar based REDs (Epistar does not make LEDS).

Semiman


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## WeLight (Aug 23, 2012)

I would love to discuss the latest Cree leds on this forum but have given up due to two bans by the mods. It seems the line between information and spam has become increasingly blurred since i first brought Cree XRE to the forum in 2005. I would suggest as a community you need to consider the forum rules with respect to information flow


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 23, 2012)

SemiMan: in the hobbyist field, Luminous red big chips have been gaining popularity for sheer output, and can even be found relatively cheap through other sources, don't forget about them! ;-)

WeLight: All I ever see the community say about Cutter isn't how they get treated unfairly or how they were banned, but how everybody knows that if you want a specific bin of a specific Cree, you go to Cutter. Shirk off the bans, nobody really cares about them anyways. Whatcha got?


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## WeLight (Aug 23, 2012)

I hear you, I was really speaking in a broader context beyond Cutter, many suppliers attempt to engage here but its the purist vs the capitalist, I understand the desire to have a line in the sand but it would make more sense to allow a little more levity on those that actually contribute to the flow of knowledge. I will be talking a lot about XBD in colour but will avoid further comments at this time as I say to avoid the ban as I enjoy the site


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 24, 2012)

Yeah, I'm excited to see if they have made some efficiency improvements beyond just increasing the surface area for GaAs LEDs too. We've all seen and heard all the hype about advancements with GaN, but red and yellow LEDs need some lovin' too! I wonder if building up one of those faceted anti-internal reflection doodads on top of their current chips would provide any gains. Anyways, it's nice to see you posting again  I just remember thinking it was cool seeing Cree's listed distributor page, they had the usual big-name suppliers, but then also this very down-to-earth, lighting-specialized distributor who is actually a member here! You don't see the head of Farnell or Digikey or places like that here, because they don't care about LEDs; they just sell them. But now I'm continuing this off-topic discussion, I too will stop.


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## WeLight (Aug 24, 2012)

Thanks Appreciate that, the forum has been good to us with respect to customers so always enjoy the engagement. I will say colours are never sold in the kind of volume as white so dont always get the respect and Cree dont really own colour the way they own white. The big thing I guess is as long as efficacy gains continue to be matched with smaller form product like XBD, this will drive cost lower, faster


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## Optical Inferno (Sep 28, 2012)

Don't know if anybody saw it yet, as it isn't on the home page for Cree.... the XB-D colour information and datasheet is up at cree.com.

I've got a few samples of the red...WOW... all I got to say at this point. Still testing.


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## tobrien (Sep 28, 2012)

Optical Inferno said:


> Don't know if anybody saw it yet, as it isn't on the home page for Cree.... the XB-D colour information and datasheet is up at cree.com.
> 
> I've got a few samples of the red...WOW... all I got to say at this point. Still testing.



so I assume the red is much better/brighter/powerful than the XP-E red?


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## Optical Inferno (Oct 1, 2012)

tobrien said:


> so I assume the red is much better/brighter/powerful than the XP-E red?



The performance is similar to an XP-E as can be seen in the datasheet. The incredible thing (and I say this every time I light one up) is the lumen density. The LED is so small yet produces some crazy light.

I'll bet all the remote phosphor guys are going to love the royal blue version. Now...come on amber.


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## tobrien (Oct 1, 2012)

Optical Inferno said:


> The performance is similar to an XP-E as can be seen in the datasheet. The incredible thing (and I say this every time I light one up) is the lumen density. The LED is so small yet produces some crazy light.
> 
> I'll bet all the remote phosphor guys are going to love the royal blue version. Now...come on amber.



gotcha, thanks! 

what uses do the amber LEDs see??


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## Optical Inferno (Oct 2, 2012)

Emergency Vehicle Lighting. I design for a company. Also, could be used in turtle safe streetlights as the amber wavelength deters them for some reason.


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## tobrien (Oct 2, 2012)

Optical Inferno said:


> Emergency Vehicle Lighting. I design for a company. Also, could be used in turtle safe streetlights as the amber wavelength deters them for some reason.



haha i totally forgot about the emergency vehicles. I was racking my brain trying to figure out and overlooked something so simply as EMS vehicle lighting haha.

i had no idea about turtles, though, that's really cool!


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## bshanahan14rulz (Oct 2, 2012)

Don't forget traffic lights and cars. They too use amber lights (although I'm not sure about the wavelength requirement for traffic lights)

Also, ditto about the turtles; didn't know that, cool! I guess that's why the TMNTs lived in the sewers: to avoid the sodium lamps


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## hank (Nov 3, 2013)

A year went by, can you post any further information about the Cree color LEDs?

I'm particularly looking for info on the amber ones -- those are likely for "turtle safe"lighting, but also avoid some human health issues that white LEDs compromise. So far the amber haven't been nearly as inexpensive to operate so the financial pressure is strong on cities to remove the current amber sodium lights and replace them with the blue-white LEDs. But there are health issues for people getting a lot of attention, e.g. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0067798


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## mds82 (Nov 4, 2013)

http://www.cree.com/LED-Components-and-Modules/Products/XLamp/Discrete-Directional/XLamp-XBD All the info you need is there


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## SemiMan (Nov 4, 2013)

Not much to say. Cree does not make their own AlInGaAp die for red/amber. Its Epistar die. They may just buy better bins.

Semiman


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## SemiMan (Nov 4, 2013)

Optical Inferno said:


> Emergency Vehicle Lighting. I design for a company. Also, could be used in turtle safe streetlights as the amber wavelength deters them for some reason.



Star Warning or the one up in Bolton I can't remember the name of?


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## SemiMan (Nov 4, 2013)

Xb-d has smaller effective source size does it not?


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## Optical Inferno (Nov 11, 2013)

SemiMan said:


> Star Warning or the one up in Bolton I can't remember the name of?



SWS Warning Systems Inc. no affiliation with SWS Star Warning. They are a rip-off that sells Star Headlight.


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## hank (Mar 24, 2015)

I just found the ambers available (at "kiwilighting" of all places). Amber is used for "turtle safe" because they don't see that color and because they hatch out on the Florida beaches at moonrise and head toward the brightest bluest light they can see. Which ought to be the moon (moonlight is "sky blue" color). When CFLs and LEDs in "white" lights started to be used along the coast, the baby turtles headed toward them and died.

It's not just turtles -- people and algae and much else also use that same blue light sensitivity biologically -- to reset the body wake-up clock.

That's why "no blue" or "low blue" lights are used so much lately to treat insomnia.

Works for me and many of my friends. I make amber flashlights a lot. Very excited to find these XB-Ds available on 8mm, 10mm, 12mm boards along with the larger sizes.


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