Lumileds – LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming

Lumileds LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming

Breakthrough in mid-power LEDs signals end to flux variation in linear dimming applications

Lumileds has made a breakthrough in mid-power LED operation with the introduction of the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming family, which delivers perfect flux consistency from LED to LED across the entire dimming range from 100% to 1% intensity.

By achieving consistency down to deep dimming levels, Lumileds has solved a long-standing problem in lighting control. LEDs offer the freedom to adapt a luminaire’s light output to the functional, aesthetic, physiological and psychological needs of the user, and the most widely used of these control functions is dimming.

But in any typical reel of supposedly identical traditional LEDs shipped to a luminaire manufacturer, the flux (brightness) of one, or a string of LEDs, when dimmed will be visibly different from the flux of its neighbor, even though both are connected to the same driver.

This visible flux variation when dimming is unacceptable to end users, but alleviating the problem can be difficult. Today, luminaire manufacturers go to elaborate lengths to eliminate the variation within a luminaire. Now the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming LEDs relieve the fixture manufacturer of the need to apply work-arounds.
 

Goodbye to the Shading Effect in Linear Fixtures

The flux variation of standard LEDs when dimmed is clearly visible in applications which are comprised of many LEDs. An example is a linear lighting fixture, which is typically comprised of multiple mid-power LEDs, often supplied in a standard 3030 footprint. The visible shading effect produced by the mix of brighter and darker LEDs is highly unattractive, and gives the user the impression that the fixture is faulty. From a specifier’s point of view, it is also difficult to guarantee the total light output from the fixture over a range of dimming levels.

To avoid the visible shading effect, fixture manufacturers have either had to implement complicated engineering fixes that increase design complexity, add production cost, and reduce manufacturing throughput, or to laboriously test every incoming shipment of LEDs and allocate them to flux bins, at the expense of production efficiency and inventory flexibility.
 

A dimmed linear array using standard mid-power 3030 LEDs (above) and the latest LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming LEDs from Lumileds (below)
 

The new LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming LED eliminates the need for any such work-around, offering perfect flux consistency from LED to LED, over a range from the rated driving condition to deep 1% dimming, and over the whole LED’s lifetime. As well as flux consistency, the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming also offers color consistency to within 3 SDCM at any given CCT value.

These new LUXEON LEDs also benefit from a consistent forward voltage value of 2.71V ±0.05V, which helps fixture manufacturers by narrowing the operating-voltage range that the driver has to cover, thereby simplifying the system’s power design.

Demonstration Program

Future Lighting Solutions and Lumileds have created a simple demonstration program showing the LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming LEDs in dimming operation.