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LED RGB Light Source
In General, LEDs as “light
engines” have several advantages:
- Useful life at least 50X longer
than Halide (100x longer than Halogen).
- They are more efficient (less
power consumed per unit of output) when compared
to Halogen, Halide, or Xenon.
- They can be electronically controlled
(pulsed and/or dimmed)
When combining Red, Green, and Blue diodes in the
same array, independently controlling the output
of each creates millions of different output colors;
a recipe which can be repeated across any number
of discrete units.
- They take up less space; they
weigh less, they can be digitally controlled using
simple circuitry.
- Units could be made available
for UV, IR, and narrow wavelength applications.
Of course, the LED “Light
Engine” is not a panacea for the shortcomings
of traditional fiber illumination sources. LEDs
also have the following disadvantages:
- Their output is affected by heat.
If the heat is not controlled, light output diminishes.
More heat is generated, further diminishing output;
the system eventually fails.
- It’s very difficult to
get daylight color (5600K) white balance.
- They are not efficient light
couplers; much of their power never enters the fiber.
- As a discrete unit, the diodes
are not bright enough; they must be made into arrays
and groupings which make the resulting heat output
and operation more difficult to manage.
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