648 x 5mm LED's or 324 x 10mm LED's

[Jamtastic3]

Hi BR.

Looking around in the cheaper end of the LED market (like most of us will have) and I'm interested in these two units, but which one do you think would be brighter or generally better? I'm thinking of using them as eye candy at back of stage facing into the audience.

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_led_leiste_324_10_rgb.htm

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_led_leiste_648_5_rgb.htm

 

Cheers!

[Wol]

Well I'd guess that the one with 648 LEDs in will be brighter than the one with 324 LEDs in!

 

The size of the LED is just the size of the bit of plastic they stick on the front. In my experience, 5mm ultrabright LEDs are a lot easier to come by compared to 10mm versions. A lot of people think "Larger: Must be brighter", but thats not necessarily the case. To face into the audience though, you don't necessarily need a really bright fixture to achieve a "ooo, look. Flashy LED" effect, so you might get away with a less bright fixture.

 

The one with 648 also has 8 separate controllable cells, compared to the other which only has 6 from what I can tell. So it depends if you want the extra resolution since the length of the units is near enough the same, or if you'll generally be using them all on one colour, or wouldnt be fussed if you had 2 less cells per unit.

[madorangepanda]

The unit with fewer, larger LEDs has higher power consumption if that's anything to go by.

[Ashley R]

Well if your useing them as a wash light. I would go with the 10mm, as I have found that the bigger the LED the longer the throw.

 

and also I find that the 10mm LED is useually the best value for money as chinese manufactures for example will charge $60 for a Panel that has 600x 5mm LED's compared to only $40 for the same sized panel that only has 300x 10mm LED's.

[Jamtastic3]

See this is the thing...

 

I always went under the impression that bigger 10mm LED's were just that little bit better than smaller 5mm LED's

[Brian]

It's impossible to say 5mm is brighter than 10mm or vice-versa. It depends entirely on the chips used inside the LED. If it's eye candy you're after then go for the unit that offers the greater range of effects and/or the best beam angle for your application.

[ramdram]

Ref the brightness aspect, and purely out of academic interest, would you have to consider the AORD issue?

 

AORD has been mentioned in BR fairly recently, but for anyone who has not come across the post:

 

safety.dept.shef.ac.uk/ir/Artificial%20Optical%20Radiation%20Directive.pdf

 

The relevant blurb ref theatrical applications is below, last on the list:

 

HSE Identified light sources where aversion response should ensure safety but staring at

for long periods or being in close proximity could be a problem

• High pressure mercury floodlights

• Desktop projectors

• Interactive whiteboards

• Vehicle headlights

• Medical theatre and task lights including foetal transilluminators and x‐ray viewing

boxes

• UV insect traps

• Spotlights, effect lighting and flashlamps used in entertainment

 

To my mind if there were problems for cast members then we would all know of them by now (or perhaps some old stagers keep quiet on the grounds of possible loss of work?). However, we see (groan) new lighting technologies and new ways of exploiting them in perhaps ways the original "inventors" never envisaged.

[Mexi]

I find it very hard to understand LEDS by the catalogue pages. I have 5mm and 10mm led lanterns. The 10mm give a higher light output but have a much tighter beam angle (sometimes making them less useful than the lower output 5mms). I understand there is a problem measuring lumen output of LED's but that beam angle can be quite critical.

[lightsource]

I find it very hard to understand LEDS by the catalogue pages. I have 5mm and 10mm led lanterns. The 10mm give a higher light output but have a much tighter beam angle (sometimes making them less useful than the lower output 5mms). I understand there is a problem measuring lumen output of LED's but that beam angle can be quite critical.

 

LED's brightness is usually measured in mcd's, and yes the beam angle is also important as it's fixed.

 

There's also the wavelength issue as well, which determines the final colour of the chip.

 

General LED's can have a light output of as little as <10mcd to well over >10,000 mcd. An LED is based around wavelength, viewing angle and output (mcd) these are the main factors that need to be considered.

 

The overall LED diameter is less important than the other factors combined.