LEDs offer many advantages over traditional lamps
LEDs are everywhere! LEDs, short for Light Emitting Diodes, are solid-state semiconductor light sources that are rapidly replacing traditional lamps in many applications within the aerospace, automotive, and commercial manufacturing industries, with increasing adoption in architectural, commercial, and municipal lighting design. The reasons for this change are the many advantages LEDs impart versus traditional incandescent or neon lamps. LEDs are small in size, have low power requirements, high reliability, low self heating, can be switched on or off rapidly, and they are shock resistant. As LED use increases, so too does the amount and scope of specifications written regarding LEDs, placing an ever increasing importance on accurate verification of key output characteristics onto user and manufacturer alike.
Challenges of LED measurement
LEDs present certain measurement challenges inherent in their design such as their narrow viewing angle, near-monochromatic output, and limited wavelength selection. This is further complicated by the confusing use within the industry of various measurement units for qualifying LED output such as candela (both spherical and beam), candlepower (older term for candela), foot-candles or lux (illuminance), watts per square centimeter (irradiance), and lumens or watts (power). Color, once a subjective human perception, in an attempt to define and standardized its use, has become a complicated LED specification to measure with terminology like color coordinates, color temperature, dominant/complementary wavelength, Color Rendering Index (CRI) and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT).
Meet the challenges head-on
International Light Technologies has a full complement of powerful, easy to use, and highly accurate LED measurement systems and tools to meet these challenges head on including a full line spectroradiometers as well had hand held and research grade light meters covering from the UV (200-nm) out to the IR (1700 nm). ILT systems are calibrated in our in house NIST traceable lab and include IS017025 accredited calibrations. Systems are available for measuring discrete LEDs and LED modules for spectral output, absolute intensity, total flux (power), color, wavelength verification, irradiance, radiance and more.