EEVblog #1303 - New Lab LED Panels

Dave finally found some high CRI, 5000K, low glare LED ceiling panels. Or has he? Will they measure up?

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[deadlylover]

CRI Ra is the average CRI. These days in the flashlight enthusiast world we focus on the CRI R9 red component, you can have an average of >95 but the R9 would still only be 50 or so. Colour temperature is only one part of it as well, we nutsos really care about the deviation from the blackbody locus which is the "green" or "rosy" tint and not just warm or cool.
One tip if anyone wanted really nice LED strips for DIY stuff is to look for ones made for horticulture applications. The Nichia Optisolis LED series is pretty damn beautiful as is their medium/high power E21A, they have R9 bins of over 80 but they test in the 90+ range.

[MagentaJoe]

My mom is the owner of the company that makes those! I am glad you finally found them and hope you enjoy using my mom's vibe.

[ChrisSmith-tcdf]

"IP44 rated, suitable for wet areas" - you never thought that you would ever need that - did you?

[marksponge]

We put 5 dim-able LED light panels in our kitchen/lounge when we did our renovations. The builder and electrician both shook their heads and thought we were crazy. But man are they great, heaps of light.

[DrDremelchausen]

1am. I am doing pancakes and watching EEVblog. Life's beautiful.

[vkhau]

"for those playing along at home", I think we are all playing along at home atm.

[Einsteinro]

Open one panel please... I am curious how the leds are arranged.
Thank you in advance.

[ekaa.]

LED are commonly binned. The best bins go for premium prices, and the less desirable are less costly.

[TimDykes]

Late last year we had our office fitted out with LED panels, I think we had 40 of them. 40W, 5000K >80CRI. All supplied and installed with underpowered drivers causing massive flicker issues that caused eye problems for staff. I think it was 30W drivers for 40W panels. Installer and local supplier both denied any understanding of the wrong drivers and insisted they were correct leaving us out of pocket to purchase the correct ones (which cost the same as the wrong ones just had higher wattage and specified low flicker) Think ill spec the panels and drivers my self next time and these vibes look good. Not leave it up to the local electrician!

[barrybadass]

I wanted to see inside the LED panel, Don't turn it on take it apart buzz.

[orgnlphiller]

90CRI is specifically manufactured. They us a different phosphor blend to achieve that, similar to CCT. After that they get binned for colour point, voltage and light output.


Blending phosphor for higher CCT usually results in lower CRI. Increasing the CRI at higher CCTs usually ruins the efficacy (lm/W), that's why 5000K/90CRI is hard to find.

[ElektronikLabor]

That pattern on the panel in 6:05 is important for the low glare rating (UGR<19). They reduce the amount of light that shines to the sides. If you compare two panels with different glare ratings, you find out that the panel with better rating has a narrower angle of beam

[iamdarkyoshi]

So I've been under a rock recently, but what's going on with lab moves?

Also, you should take a look at and discuss UV lights for disinfectant use, china's been shitting out normal UV LEDs as disinfectant lights, Clive's been taking a look at them but it'd be cool to hear from you too

[daniturn]

I think now you have told us all info needed they may sell a few more of these thank you

[MrJef]

Apparently one can find LED modules with CT ~5000K and excellent CRI of Ra=99 and Re=99. Would be a nice mod for existing ceiling panels ;-)

[proyectosledar]

Why you need to match 5k? What happens if you use different?

[mostlymotorcycles.]

Dave your a perfectionist. who would have thought there would be so much involved in some studio lighting.

[redsquirrelftw]

What I find hard about shopping for LED lighting is that they don't always tell you everything. Home Depot sells panels like this but they don't really show all the details such as if it's flicker free etc. I'd almost have to bring a camera to the store to film the display ones to see if I get flickering.

[ianmelzer]

High Pressure Sodium Light: CRI 24
Low Pressure Sodium Light: CRI -44

[fangzhou]

This driver is a single stage PFC flyback architecture, which inherently has lots of flicker. On the secondary side that big TO-252 Chip is a flicker reducer, it work by absorbing all the pulsing peak voltages and only allow the lowest sustained voltage to get though. Typically about 2% of power will be lost on that flicker reducer, so it get super hot. Another problem is that this type of solution typically just reduce flicker, there will still be about 1 or 2% of flicker in the output light. A quality isolated driver will use boost PFC + flyback dual stage. It cost slightly more but is truly flicker free, not just free from 100/120Hz, but also no flicker when there is a momentary power line dip.