A possibly dumb LED Question

K

Kris Krieger

Guest
Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that are
about 2X wider than I need/want.

TIA!

- Kris K.
 
Kris Krieger wrote:

Can a cool-white LED
Click to expand...
You mean high colour temperature ?


be "softened" in color by shining it through a colored
thin plastic film,
Click to expand...
Probably. Can't see why not. No different to theatre gels.


or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?
Click to expand...
Oh it WILL reduce the brightness.


The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that are
about 2X wider than I need/want.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's the bit they don't tell you when they're boasting about their new
ultra-efficient LEDs. They're unsuitable for home illumination.

Graham
 
On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:11:26 -0600, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in>
wrote:

Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that are
about 2X wider than I need/want.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you are looking for, but it sounds as though you'd
like a diffuser. Try a piece of wax paper to start. See if that gets
closer to what you are looking for. Or a piece of glass with a ground
surface to it (etched with HF acid might work okay.)

Diffusing will definitely disperse some of the light, though. And you
already don't like the effect of too-wide a dispersion, so I may be
way off base.

Jon
 
"Kris Krieger" <me@dowmuff.in> wrote in message
news:Xns9BD471D6CAD14meadowmuffin@216.168.3.70...
Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a
colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other
simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that
are
about 2X wider than I need/want.

TIA!
Click to expand...
Maybe consider an RGB LED cluster and adjust color temperature as you wish
electronically. Here's a product for aquariums:
http://www.alibaba.com/product/royalaquarium-101402518-100624425/Aquarium_RGB_LED.html

You could also add some yellow light from other LEDs to the cool white one.
Any sort of filter will reduce efficiency.

Paul
 
Jon Kirwan wrote:
On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:11:26 -0600, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in
wrote:

Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that are
about 2X wider than I need/want.

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but it sounds as though you'd
like a diffuser. Try a piece of wax paper to start. See if that gets
closer to what you are looking for. Or a piece of glass with a ground
surface to it (etched with HF acid might work okay.)

Diffusing will definitely disperse some of the light, though. And you
already don't like the effect of too-wide a dispersion, so I may be
way off base.

Jon
Click to expand...

Another 'trick' is to take some sandpaper,and rough-up the surface of
the LED,giving it a sort of "frosted" finish.
 
On Mar 20, 1:11 pm, Kris Krieger <m...@dowmuff.in> wrote:
Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear?  Or via any other simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that are
about 2X wider than I need/want.

TIA!

- Kris K.
Click to expand...
smear petroleum Jelly on it, or dot the top with clear nail polish.
otherwise, try spitting on your finger and mixing some dust with it,
and wiping that on it (which has the added bonus of being easy to
clean later).
 
Jon Kirwan <jonk@infinitefactors.org> wrote in
news:r1t7s4pgjl3uqqdgrvpn4b6tcqalftg63g@4ax.com:

On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:11:26 -0600, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in
wrote:

Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a
colored thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any
other simple method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that
are about 2X wider than I need/want.

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but it sounds as though you'd
like a diffuser. Try a piece of wax paper to start. See if that gets
closer to what you are looking for. Or a piece of glass with a ground
surface to it (etched with HF acid might work okay.)

Diffusing will definitely disperse some of the light, though. And you
already don't like the effect of too-wide a dispersion, so I may be
way off base.

Jon
Click to expand...
Thanks for those ideas - the wax paper is probably a good place to start
before I muck-up an dactual LED <L!> That's a good idea for using something
on-hand, cheap, and nondestructive to see the real-world effect on the light,
thanks! :) I'm thinking of putting a tube inside the body of the lamp but
here too, the wax-paper idea is really clever - I could just rig it into a
tube to get a rough idea of the appearance before investing time and money.

- Kris
 
"Paul E. Schoen" <pstech@smart.net> wrote in
news:49c444fc$0$29986$ecde5a14@news.coretel.net:

"Kris Krieger" <me@dowmuff.in> wrote in message
news:Xns9BD471D6CAD14meadowmuffin@216.168.3.70...
Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a
colored
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear? Or via any other
simple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that
are
about 2X wider than I need/want.

TIA!

Maybe consider an RGB LED cluster and adjust color temperature as you
wish electronically. Here's a product for aquariums:
http://www.alibaba.com/product/royalaquarium-101402518-100624425/Aquarium
_RGB_LED.html

You could also add some yellow light from other LEDs to the cool white
one. Any sort of filter will reduce efficiency.

Paul
Click to expand...
I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether a blue
light plus a yellow might just give me green. Someone else on either this
list or on sci.electronics.design mentioned that a red LED made red items in
the environment "pop" unnaturally, so I didn't consider red. Maybe orange
would be better?

- Kris
 
Grouchy <zoagria@mac.com> wrote in news:924f7a18-7999-4e10-b0fb-29115a650c32
@z9g2000yqi.googlegroups.com:

On Mar 20, 1:11 pm, Kris Krieger <m...@dowmuff.in> wrote:
Can a cool-white LED be "softened" in color by shining it through a color
ed
thin plastic film, or thin tinted piece of clear?  Or via any other sim
ple
method that doesn't reduce the brightness too much?

The warm-white LEDs are either way too dim, or have viewing angels that a
re
about 2X wider than I need/want.

TIA!

- Kris K.

smear petroleum Jelly on it, or dot the top with clear nail polish.
otherwise, try spitting on your finger and mixing some dust with it,
and wiping that on it (which has the added bonus of being easy to
clean later).
Click to expand...
Those are clever ideas, too, thanks!

- Kris
 
On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether a blue
light plus a yellow might just give me green.
Click to expand...
no, it'll give a light that appears white.
 
"Jasen Betts" <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote in message
news:gq9ef7$jid$3@reversiblemaps.ath.cx...
On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether a
blue
light plus a yellow might just give me green.

no, it'll give a light that appears white.

Right. A red and green LED combine to make yellow, and R+G+B = white. It is
Click to expand...
additive, which is different than mixing paints, which is a subtractive
process.

Paul
 
Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote in
news:gq9ef7$jid$3@reversiblemaps.ath.cx:

On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether
a blue light plus a yellow might just give me green.

no, it'll give a light that appears white.
Click to expand...
Oh! OK, that's pertty cool - also interesting, since some of the non-white
LEDs have rpetty high millicandela ratings for fewer V and/or mA.

Thanks! :)

- Kris
 
"Paul E. Schoen" <pstech@smart.net> wrote in
news:49c8448b$0$29978$ecde5a14@news.coretel.net:

"Jasen Betts" <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote in message
news:gq9ef7$jid$3@reversiblemaps.ath.cx...
On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether
a blue
light plus a yellow might just give me green.

no, it'll give a light that appears white.

Right. A red and green LED combine to make yellow, and R+G+B = white. It
is additive, which is different than mixing paints, which is a
subtractive process.

Paul
Click to expand...
THat's what got in the way of my thinking - I'm mroe of a paint/glass type
(pigments and inks), so it can be a bit confusing to "switch gears" so to
speak. Thanks for the additional info! :)

- Kris
 
Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote in
news:gq9ef7$jid$3@reversiblemaps.ath.cx:

On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether
a blue light plus a yellow might just give me green.

no, it'll give a light that appears white.
Click to expand...
Thanks! A couple people have taken the time to set my thinking straight on
this <g!>, and I appreciate all the info :)

- Kris
 
"Paul E. Schoen" <pstech@smart.net> wrote in
news:49c8448b$0$29978$ecde5a14@news.coretel.net:

"Jasen Betts" <jasen@xnet.co.nz> wrote in message
news:gq9ef7$jid$3@reversiblemaps.ath.cx...
On 2009-03-23, Kris Krieger <me@dowmuff.in> wrote:

I've seen referenced online to color-mixing, but was wondering whether
a blue
light plus a yellow might just give me green.

no, it'll give a light that appears white.

Right. A red and green LED combine to make yellow, and R+G+B = white. It
is additive, which is different than mixing paints, which is a
subtractive process.

Paul
Click to expand...
THanks for all the info and clarification, it's much appreciated :)

- Kris
 
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