Suggestions about superbright RGB led

Other Hardware LEDs and Multiplexing
1

Hi, I need a superbright RGB LED that is:

  • cheap enough
  • bright enough (maybe around 1W total would be good, or a bit more..)
  • wide degree (like 140º, not the usual 30º... I need a very diffused effect)

I found this one on sparkfun: Triple Output High Power RGB LED - COM-15200 - SparkFun Electronics
It's good and it already has the heatsink mounted.
But I need something far cheaper if bought in quantities.

Any suggestions?

2

superbrightleds.com, look around.

3

I have purchased several of the same RGB LED's that you linked to. I purchase them from ebay for 1/10 of the price listed on that site.

4

Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pcs-3W-High-Power-RGB-Led-1W-Per-Color-6-Pins-/221117493348?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337ba13064

5

fair enough. I ordered one from superbrightleds.com but when I'll order big quantities the ebay links (from china) are actually cheaper.. nice
thanks

6

It somewhat depends what you are going to do with these LEDs. You get what you pay for to some degree. f you are using these LEDs side by side and want them to have comparable light output then things get more expensive.

The LED manufacturing process is not a discrete process and produces LEDs within a relatively wide range of light outputs. The range is so to speak sliced into sections and any LEDs that fall into that section of similar light output go into that bin, which gives that process it's name. Binning. So getting LEDs out of a higher Bin usually yields a higher light output with the same drive current but also at a higher expense.

The cheap stuff on ebay is usually from the lower bins which also cover a greater range of light outputs so these LEDs my have perceivable differences in brightness.

What quantities are you speaking about ?

What do you want to illuminate ? a 350mA LED can illuminate quite a bit. I use 5 700mA LEDs with fading colors in my project trippylighting.com, so they are not all at 100% duty cycle and that provides enough light for my living room.

7

Are you planing to drive the LEDs using an Arduino? If so you'll need an external supply and LED drivers which add to the cost.

8

In terms of viewing angle, the LED that you've linked to on hte Sparkfun site obviously does that but most LEDs reflow soldered onto a star MCPCB actually have that sort of viewing angle and require optics if a narrower beam is desired.
Another source of that sort of LED would be http://www.ledsupply.com/led-catalog.php