Contents
Introduction
Most LED lights are pretty bad. Better LEDs can be found in video/cinema applications, or for museum exhibits. Photographers do not care much about LEDs as they do not tend to use continuous lights.
Most household lamps use E26/E27 sockets, and the most common bulbs are A19, A21, and A23. Every lamp will take A19, many will take A21, but A23 is larger and requires thorough investigation whether it's supported by indoor lamps.
Power and energy
LEDs are pretty energy efficient, but the power density is pretty low. If you need high power, incandescent or halogen is the only way to go. In general, this means you need more LED bulbs for household applications, and it's very likely new lamps supporting more bulbs are required. LEDs with more accurate color tend to have less power and be less energy efficient than other LEDs.
Light output
How many lumens do you need? My incandescent lights have the following specs:
| - | Manufacturer | Type | Power | Luminous Flux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philos | Incandescent | 300 W | 4850 lm | |
| Osram | Halogen | 150 W | 2870 lm | |
| Philips | Halogen | 105 W | 1980 lm | |
| Philips | Incandescent | 40 W | 405 lm |
Color rendering
The the most common standard is CRI. Unfortunately, CRI is pretty useless, but consumer manufacturers frequently only specify CRI. You want something with CRI over 95. An important color not taken into account by CRI is R9. You want something with R9 over 90.
A much better standard is TCLI. You want something with TCLI over 90.
TCLI results
- TLCI Results as supplied by Alan Roberts
- Television Lighting Consistency Index 2012 (actually results are from 2018)
- Indie Cinema Academy LED database
Notable manufacturers
Notable products
| Manufacturer | Product | Color Temperature | Luminous Flux | CRI | R9 | TCLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waveform Lighting | Ultra High 95 CRI E26 A19 10W LED Bulb for Home & Residential | 2700/3000K | 800 lm | 95 | >90 |