The Pantone Matching System® colors for printing ink on paper form probably the world’s most famous index for use by graphic designers and other design professionals. The system categorizes 1,867 solid colors that printers can exactly reproduce using Pantone matching instructions.
Graphics designers, then, have a huge palette of colors to work with. But what about their counterparts in lighting design? How can designers of architectural or entertainment lighting schemes achieve full expression when LEDs are typically supplied in fewer than 10 colors?
The answer is that they can achieve an infinite variety of color effects by mixing light from multiple LEDs. And their task has just been made easier with the launch by Lumileds of an extended range of LUXEON Rubix white LEDs, bolstering an already wide selection of LUXEON Rubix colors.
The announcement is significant for architectural and entertainment lighting because the Rubix LEDs are so well adapted for color mixing. The Rubix LEDs share a common 1.4mm x 1.4mm footprint, so different colors can easily be mixed in different luminaires that share the same board layout and electrical circuit design. The only exception is the Red LED, which has a 1.4mm x 1.8mm footprint. The small size of Rubix LEDs enables reduced spacing, which results in better optical mixing: this is what allows lighting designers to work with a broad palette of mixed colors.
The most remarkable feature of the Rubix LEDs is their high current capability in such a small package, which means they can produce very bright light from a small area, for high lumen density – a key requirement for applications such as theatrical lighting that has to throw light long distances. The small footprint and light-emitting surface of the Rubix LEDs also makes it easy to couple their light into a small optic with a beam angle as narrow as 10°.
The new products introduced by Lumileds give even more scope for imaginative color mixing by adding new white LEDs to the existing range of Red, PC Amber, Lime, Green, Cyan, Blue and Royal Blue colors, as well as a 5700K white.
The new white Rubix LEDs are in various color temperatures: 6500K, 5000K, 4000K, 3000K and 2200K at minimum 80 CRI, a 6500K at 70 CRI, and a 2700K at 90 CRI. These Rubix white LEDs can carry a maximum drive current of 1.6 A – for the color LEDs, this is 3 A (except Red, 2.4A).
So now the color mixing options are multiplied even further, allowing luminaire manufacturers and their customers in the lighting design community to give full rein to their artistic and aesthetic vision.