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Author Topic: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings  (Read 8018 times)

Earl Teigrob

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2019, 02:45:12 PM »

Jeff, thank you for your feedback. That's the price for 2 fixtures, BTW,  not one. I get them for $72 each with the volume discount. I hear you that it is a gamble. That's why I try to do my research and get feedback like yours. These look solid, but looks can be deceiving. I wish this light had a bunch of reviews on this light already...but for the most part their lights get high reviews.

Glad to hear our input is useful.  As far as the ebay and direct from China lights go...  It's a gamble.  Several members here such as Steve Garris have had excellent luck with the very cheap generic fixtures.  If that's the route you'd like to go I'd suggest searching the forum for his suggestions.  I personally choose to use at least lower-end name brand fixtures such as Chauvet SlimPar Pros and above - it just aligns better with my business model. 

Either way, I'd never spend $123-180 per fixture on LED Pars from AliExpress.  $30?  Maybe, if it fit what I needed.  For the same $123-180 you're in SlimPar territory, and I'd take one of those anyday over a generic fixture.  Output quality aside, I know I have a warranty that will be honored and replacement parts that will be available - two things that are very scarce with direct from China fixtures.  I vote to either get the $30-60 lights that Steve often recommends or spend the budget you have now on something from a reputable supplier.  Hope this helps!
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Rob Spence

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2019, 03:02:30 PM »

Note the spec says nothing about brightness.

Watts is heat, not light.


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rob at lynxaudioservices dot com

Dealer for: AKG, Allen & Heath, Ashley, Astatic, Audix, Blue Microphones, CAD, Chauvet, Community, Countryman, Crown, DBX, Electro-Voice, FBT, Furman, Heil, Horizon, Intellistage, JBL, Lab Gruppen, Mid Atlantic, On Stage Stands, Pelican, Peterson Tuners, Presonus, ProCo, QSC, Radial, RCF, Sennheiser, Shure, SKB, Soundcraft, TC Electronics, Telex, Whirlwind and others

Earl Teigrob

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2019, 03:27:17 PM »

Watts is power. In electrical terms, this current (I) * Resistance (R). Power can be consumed as light, heat, energy, work, ect. LEDs convert more of the power to light then the old bulbs did, thats why they are more efficient and run cooler.

In the old days when you bought a 100w incontinence bulb, you know about how bright it was going to be. Same wtih LED's in general

The bottom line is that for a given wattage, the same type of LEDs produces around the same light output, give or take a little.

In the case of LED lights, wattage gives you a good idea of about how bright the light is going to be.



Note the spec says nothing about brightness.

Watts is heat, not light.


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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2019, 04:47:24 PM »

But not how bright the 'stage' will be lit.  The 'beam' angle has as much to do with it as the power.
The effective brightness changes by the inverse square of the change in beam angle; twice the angle has 1/4 the brightness.
( That pesky inverse square again! )
That's why you need to look at the lux at x meters to really make a valid comparison or evaluation.
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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2019, 04:58:56 PM »

Watts is heat, not light.
This is roughly true, however considering LEDs of similar vintage - technology within the last couple years - efficiency should be similar, meaning that a 200 w LED fixture will create approximately twice the lumens that a 100w fixture would (and twice the heat).  If you're designing a space shuttle and need to know the absolute answer you'll get an integrating sphere and measure everything.  Short of that, comparing power consumption is as good or better than anything else.

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Rob Spence

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2019, 06:39:29 PM »

This is roughly true, however considering LEDs of similar vintage - technology within the last couple years - efficiency should be similar, meaning that a 200 w LED fixture will create approximately twice the lumens that a 100w fixture would (and twice the heat).  If you're designing a space shuttle and need to know the absolute answer you'll get an integrating sphere and measure everything.  Short of that, comparing power consumption is as good or better than anything else.

I buy that from reputable companies using known LEDs.

At the bottom of the pile you may find a 100w fixture half as bright as another.


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rob at lynxaudioservices dot com

Dealer for: AKG, Allen & Heath, Ashley, Astatic, Audix, Blue Microphones, CAD, Chauvet, Community, Countryman, Crown, DBX, Electro-Voice, FBT, Furman, Heil, Horizon, Intellistage, JBL, Lab Gruppen, Mid Atlantic, On Stage Stands, Pelican, Peterson Tuners, Presonus, ProCo, QSC, Radial, RCF, Sennheiser, Shure, SKB, Soundcraft, TC Electronics, Telex, Whirlwind and others

Jeff Lelko

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2019, 06:55:05 PM »

At the bottom of the pile you may find a 100w fixture half as bright as another.

And that's another reason why I personally don't use direct from China lights - the consistency between units can vary greatly.  If this is a route that you (Earl) still would like to pursue, I'd at least suggest buying from Amazon if possible - somewhere that has a generous return policy so that you're not stuck with dysfunctional units should some be DOA or out of family with the others. 

$72 isn't bad.  Is there anything in particular besides wattage that brought you to these particular units?  What's been said already is correct in that the photometric data is what you should be comparing - not wattage.  Should said data not be available you can get a ballpark idea of brightness from wattage, but other factors such as beam angle also need to be considered.  As far as reviews go, DOA issues aside you have to take them with a grain of salt, as you don't know the credentials or expectations of the people reviewing them.  I could say that a $30 generic light is great if I'm just a parent wanting something cool for a child's birthday party, whereas if I'm a theatrical lighting designer I'd probably have much different feelings about the same light!  All food for thought though. 
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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2019, 09:43:34 PM »

There are a few things that effect the cost of LED fixtures;
Build quality - the likelihood of a long life.
LED quality - the better the consistency in color and output between individual LEDs, the more it costs.
Support - can you call someone with problems?  Can you get parts?

IMHO you get what you pay for.

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Nothing can be made idiot-proof; only idiot resistant.

Events.  Stage, PA, Lighting and Backline rentals.
Chauvet dealer.  Home of the Angler.
Inventor.  And now, Streaming Video!

Len Zenith Jr

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2019, 11:57:36 PM »

One of the biggest differences between cheap lights and more expensive ones are not in the LED's themselves but the electronics that control them. Where you notice this the most is in the dimming curves of cheap vs pro lights. The cheap ones tend to go down in steps then suddenly cut out, the pro ones are much more smoother.

Also, Chinese lights rarely have any CSA/UL listing which might matter a lot if this is an install. Inspectors/insurance companies may have a big problem with that.

If you go with the lights in the link you provided with the aluminum housing I would also be opening them up to make sure that the aluminum shell is grounded. Chinese lights often fail to utilize the ground plug on the IEC connector inside the unit. A fault inside the light could energize the housing and potentially the entire truss without it.

Just a heads up so you know what you are getting into.
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Noah D Mitchell

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Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2019, 10:50:14 AM »


In the old days when you bought a 100w incontinence bulb, you know about how bright it was going to be.


I interrupt your discussion to ask where one might purchase 100w incontinence bulbs.


Asking for a friend.


Carry on.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Understanding LED Par Light Wattage Ratings
« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2019, 10:50:14 AM »


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