| Amperage |
The strength of an electrical current measured in amperes.
The higher the amperage number, the higher the ability to place
more devices on a circuit that will be driven by that amperage.
Top of page |
| |
| Amp |
The basic unit of electric current adopted under the System
International d'Unites; "a typical household circuit carries
15 to 50 amps
Top of page |
| |
| Bulb |
It is not a LED. A bulb is a light bulb, a flashlight bulb,
a MR16 or E27 light bulb. A LED light bulb is a finished product
that has the LEDs installed, electrical components installed
and is ready to be used by the consumer. A LED light bulb is
screwed in place, twisted and locked in place, pressed into
sockets or contact terminals. This is a LED bulb.
Top of page |
| |
| Bulb Base |
The part of the bulb that is used to set it into place and
to make contact with electricity. There are many types and sizes.
Most common are E26/27, USA and European standard household
size, or medium base as it often is called. The 26 or 27 equates
to the diameter measurement in millimeters of the threads of
a screw-in bulb base. This type of bulb also includes the PAR
20, PAR 30 and PAR38 types, and a few others. There are MR16
and MR11 type base LED bulbs as well as GU10s.
Top of page |
| |
| Chromaticity |
Chromaticity tells you what the lamp itself or a neutral surface
illuminated by a lamp will look like. Chromaticity sets the
"tone" or atmosphere of a room: warm, cool or something in between.
Chromaticity (sometimes called color temperature) is usually
measured in Kelvin. It can also be defined by using x and y
coordinated against a standard chromaticity scale developed
by the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE). Here
is a Chromaticity Graph that is commonly used
Top of page |
| |
| Color Rendering Index (CRI) |
Also CCT or Correlated Color Temperature. It is a measure
of the quality of light. It is a measurement of the amount of
color shift that objects undergo when lighted by a light source
as compared with the color of those same objects when seen under
a reference light source of comparable color temperature. LED
light CRI values generally range from 60 (average) to 90 (best).
High CRI equates to sharper, crisper, more natural colored pictures
while at the same time reducing glare.
Top of page |
| |
| Color Temperature |
A measure of the color of a light source relative to a black
body at a particular temperature expressed in degrees Kelvin
(K). Incandescent lights have a low color temperature (approximately
2800K) and have a red-yellowish tone; daylight has a high color
temperature (approximately 6000K) and appears bluish (the most
popular fluorescent light, Cool White, is rated at 4100K). Lamps
with color temperatures below 5000K tend to be more yellow/red,
lamps rated between 5000 and 6000K are viewed as white, while
lamps above 6000K tend to have a blue cast.
Top of page |
| |
| Dimmer |
12vdc only. Used with LED lights powered by 12vdc - never
110/120vac. PWM built-in, as is an On/Off Switch. Will dim majority
of 12vdc LED lights and a few 12vdc LED bulbs such as MR16s
with the proper transformer/power supply. Dimmers are part of
our LED control products.
Top of page |
| |
| Foot-Candle |
The unit is defined as the amount of illumination the inside
surface of an imaginary 1-foot radius sphere would be receiving
if there were a uniform point source of one candela in the exact
center of the sphere. Basically, it is the amount of light that
a single candle would provide to a 1ft. radius sphere.
Top of page |
| |
| Full Spectrum |
A light bulb or lamp that produces a light spectrum that covers
the entire range of visible light (400-700nm) without gaps in
its spectral output. White LEDs are inherently a full spectrum
light source.
Top of page |
| |
| Intensity |
Is a measure of the time-averaged energy flux or amount of
light striking a given area. For bulbs alone this is measured
in terms of lumens while for lighting fixtures it is measured
in lux (lumens/sq. meter).
Top of page |
| |
| Kelvin Color Temperature |
A measure of the color of a light source relative to a black
body at a particular temperature expressed in degrees Kelvin
(K). Incandescent lights have a low color temperature (approximately
2800K) and have a red-yellowish tone; daylight has a high color
temperature (approximately 6000K) and appears bluish (the most
popular fluorescent light, Cool White, is rated at 4100K). Today,
the phosphors used in fluorescent lamps can be blended to provide
any desired color temperature in the range from 2800K to 6000K.
Lamps with color temperatures below 5000K tend to be more yellow/red,
lamps rated between 5000 and 6000K are viewed as white, while
lamps above 6000K tend to have a blue cast.
Top of page |
| |
| L.E.D. |
LED means light emitting diode. LEDs are a solid state device and do not require heating of a filament to create light. Rather, electricity is passed through a chemical compound that is excited and as a result, generates light.
LEDs are not bulbs or lamps in the true sense of the word and
application. LEDs require a lot of work to make them ready to
be used by the consumer. They need to be placed on a circuit
board or other material which will allow electricity to pass
through it at a specific voltage and current, and with components
required to operate them at specific voltages such as 12vdc,
24vdc or 120vac. They do not come ready to plug into a 12volt
or 120 volt power source. These are LEDs.
Top of page |
| |
| LED Bar |
Refers to a solid strip of material on which LEDs have been
soldered, along with resistors and other components which a
specific product requires to make it operate at the stated operating
voltage. The Bars are usually an enclosed strip of LEDs. Enclosures
are plastic, or aluminum, or metal composites with various types
of lens/cover plates.
Top of page |
| |
| LED Cluster or Array |
A group of LEDs set in a square, rectangular or linear pattern,
and formatted to be operated at a specific voltage. They will
always include two wires called leads. One is positive, the
other negative.
Top of page |
| |
| LED Drivers |
Current control devices which replace the need for resistors.
LED Drivers respond to the changing needs of a LED or a LED
circuit, and supply a constant amount of power to the LED as
its electrical properties change with temperature.
Top of page |
| |
| LED Lighting |
A general term used by those who do not know the specific
type or category of LED lighting they are after. LED lighting
includes LED bulbs and fixtures, flashlights, strips, clusters
and other LED light sources.
Top of page |
| |
| LED Strip |
LED Strips are usually printed circuit boards with LEDs soldered
to the board. The strip can be rigid, or flexible and without
any enclosure to protect the LED and circuit.
Top of page |
| |
| Low Voltage |
With LEDs, that means 12vDC 24vDC or 48vDC, as opposed to
110/120vac which is high voltage. With LEDs, low voltage is
commonly 12vdc; sometimes at 24vdc. To run these low voltage
lights, power will have to be sent to the light through a power
supply/transformer/adapter that is hooked up to 110/120/240vac
power lines. The actual voltage reaching the light will be at
12vdc.
Top of page |
| |
| Lumen Maintenance |
How well a LED light bulb is able to retain its intensity
when compared to new. Typically a high power smd LED bulb will
retain 70% of its intensity for 40,000-50,000 hours. That means
a good quality LED bulb will run 8 hours a day for 13 years
at 70% of its new condition. No other light source can do this.
Top of page |
| |
| Lumens |
The unit of luminous flux in the International System, equal
to the amount of light given out through a solid angle by a
source of one candela intensity radiating equally in all directions.
Used to measure light bulbs as stand alone light sources. Lighting
fixtures are measured by lux output which is lumens per square
meter.
Top of page |
| |
| Lux |
Typically used to measure the light intensity produced by
a lighting fixture. The higher the lux reading the more light
the lighting fixture is producing over a given area. Known as
lumens per square meter
Top of page |
| |
| mA |
| Stands for milliamp. 1000mA equals 1.0 amp. All LEDs run on current and current is measured in milliamps. All LED products have a mA rating at which they are to be powered at. |
| |
| MCD: or Millicandela |
Is used to rank/denote the brightness of a LED. 1000mcd is
equal to one Candela. The higher the mcd number, the brighter
the light the LED emits.
Top of page |
| |
| Nanometers or nm |
Used to measure the wavelength of light. The lower the wavelength
for example, 400nm, the bluer and stronger the light source.
Longer wavelengths above 600nm are red. Above 680nm, they fall
into the InfraRed category, which is colorless to our eyes.
White LEDs have no specific wavelength. They are measured by
the color of white against the chromaticity scale.
Top of page |
| |
| PCB/Printed Circuit Board |
PCB/Printed Circuit Board are made from various materials
including fiberglass and aluminum. The pcb has an electrical
circuit imprinted in silver etching. That circuit says how the
LED will operate. The pcb is also the platform by which LEDs
are employed in various applications. It can be a rigid board
or flexible to twistable.
Top of page |
| |
| Power Supply |
Power Supply and Transformer and Voltage adapter apply to
the electrical conversion of 110/120/240vac line power into
12vdc which will then be applied directly to the LED light product.
Power Supplies are rated according to the current/amperage load
capacity each will handle. It is an electrical or electro-mechanical
device.
Top of page |
| |
| PWM |
Pulse Width Modulation with regards to LEDs means that the
LED will be pulsed or strobed at a rate so fast that the eye
will see the light as being constantly on. In fact it is not.
This pulsing or turning the LED on and off lowers the potential
heat stress on the chemical that makes the light, thus allowing
the LED to perform longer than anticipated. This is why we strongly
recommend a dimmer/PWM with every purchase of a 12vdc LED product.
Top of page |
| |
| RGB |
stands for Red, Blue, Green, the 3 primary colors that make
white light and all other colors. It can be a pre-programmed
7 color automatically changing LED bar or strip that is non-adjustable.
It also means a RGB color changing system that allow adjustment
of color change frequency, strobing, chasing and other action
modes.
Top of page |
| |
| SMD/SMT |
A type of low profile LED that is surface mounted to a PCB.
These type LEDs are very powerful and range in lumen output
from 35 up to 170 lumens. With the latest LED technology being
applied today, these have shown to have the most promise in
delivering light levels and coloring that we are used to having.
Those smd LEDs we talk about, use and sell are in the .5 watt,
1 watt, 3 watt and 5 watt power range. When you see a 7 watt
or 9 watt LED light, it will contain 1 watt LEDs x 7, or 1 watt
LEDs x 9, or 3 watt LEDs x 3.
Top of page |
| |
| SSL |
SSL means Solid State Lighting. It does not use heating of
a thin fragile filament to create light. Rather, it uses electrical
current passing through a chemical which will get excited and
thus emit light.
Top of page |
| |
| Task Lighting/Lamp |
A LED light used to specifically light a particular area used
for work or reading. Typically found in the form of a desk,
floor, or clamp-on lamp, it can be a high powered LED light
in any form.
Top of page |
| |
| UV-A |
(380-315 nm), also called Long Wave or "blacklight" because
it is invisible to the human eye. Can cause skin irritation
and fading of fabrics.
Top of page |
| |
| UV-B |
(315-280 nm), also called Medium Wave radiation. Can cause
severe damage to the skin and human eye through exposure.
Top of page |
| |
| UV-C |
(< 280 nm), also called Short Wave or "germicidal" for
its ability to destroy even bacterial life forms. Extremely
hazardous to all life forms due to its ability to cause immediate
damage to cellular DNA.
Top of page |
| |
| View Angle Degree |
Also referred to as directivity, or the directional pattern
of a LED light beam. The expressed degree dictates the width
of the light beam and also controls to some extent, the light
intensity of a LED. View angles range from 8 to 160 degrees,
and are provided through the use of optics, special lenses made
to collimate light to into a desired veiw angle.
Top of page |
| |
| Voltage |
The rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces
a flow of electricity (amperage) in a circuit. The difference
in electrical charge between two points in a circuit is expressed
as volts.
Top of page |
| |
| Voltage Regulator |
A device which limits or controls and stabilizes the voltage
being applied to a using unit such as LED lights and motors.
Regulators also take higher voltages than required and reduces
it to the working voltage that makes a specific product run
correctly. In many instances a lack of a Voltage Regulator will
allow higher voltage than a product can work with and will cause
irreparable damage.
Top of page |
| |
| Volts |
The International System unit of electric potential and electromotive
force, equal to the difference of electric potential between
two points on a conducting wire carrying a constant current
of one ampere when the power dissipated between the points is
one watt.
Top of page |
| |
| Waterproof |
Meaning the LED product can be submerged into calm water but
there is a limited depth as stated for each specific product.
Most aluminum bodied LED products will not do well in salt or
acidic water.
Top of page |
| |
| Watts |
The unit for measuring electrical power. It defines the rate
of energy consumption by an electrical device when it is in
operation. The energy cost of operating an electrical device
is calculated as its wattage times the hours of use. In single
phase circuits, it is related to volts and amps by the formula:
Volts x Amps x PowerFactor = Watts.
Top of page |
| |
| Watt per LED |
It can be confusing when two watt numbers are used
in product specifications. For the application to smd high
powered LEDs, the 1 watt, 3 watt, 5 watt, etc, refers to the
power consumption of that specific LED installed in that product.
The watt numbers expressed as light output are a comparison
to an incandescent light bulb light output, for example; a
60 watt light output is equal to a 60 watt incandescent light
bulb.
Top of page
|
| |
| Weatherproof |
Meaning the product will take water splashing and high humidity
without deterioration to the LED or circuit. LED product cannot
be submerged into water.
Top of page |
| |
| White |
White is defined by Kelvin Temperature or Degrees Kelvin. Most will say that a Kelvin Temperature of 6000k plus is white with a bluish tint. And let's say that 5000k -5500k is daylight/sunlight white. At 4200k-4500k, it is called cool white. At 2800-3300k, it's warm white, which is the color temperature most incandescent light bulbs emit.
From 5500k on down the scale, the color becomes "warmer" due
to the dominance of red and yellow hues. In the opposite direction,
whites will have cooler colors like blues and green becoming
more apparent, thus they are called cool whites.
Top of page |
| |
