Friday, December 21, 2012

What One Needs To Know About LED Light Panels

By Brandi Little


LED light panels are a revolutionary technological development that has greatly changed the way display systems work. These panels are made up of numerous diodes that emit light to display video images. The numerous advantages associated with these lighting systems have resulted in their increased popularity in many fields. They are used in billboards for advertisements, for general illumination, in store signs and for stage lighting among other uses.

A typical panel is about 8 mm thick but the other dimensions are variable. The largest dimensions are 48 by 105 inches. Whenever there is a need to create a larger display system than this, the smaller panels are placed side by side and connected. Designs can also be customized in other ways to meet specific customer preferences. These may include changing the shapes, redesigning into letters, logos, cut-outs and so on.

The plate is made up of semiconducting materials that are embedded with impurities. This is done so as to create a p-n junction. As electric current flows from the p end to the n end, the diodes light and the screen lights up. Since the p end is the anode and n the cathode, current cannot flow in the reverse direction. The flow is facilitated by electrons and holes.

There two main LED types available in the market: the conventional and the SMD type. The former type operates using discrete diodes. The SMD (surface mounted diode) type comprises diodes that are fixed on a firm solid surface. For both types, three color types are used: blue, red and green. These three colors are mixed to produce the full spectrum of colors needed for display. There are other systems that use either a single color or two colors.

There are four main types of installation methods that can be used. They include the suspended, mounted, recessed built-in installations. In the suspended type, cables are used to hang the light source on a ceiling. Wall mounted installations are used for displays less than 10 sqm and are fixed on walls either indoors or outdoors. Recessed installations are designed to be used indoors such as bedrooms as well as in business interior spaces. Built-in installations are those that that are used to replace the frame of ceiling tiles.

The design of panel will depend on whether will be used for indoor or outdoor lighting. The main consideration taken into account is the difference in ambient brightness. Most indoor designs are built based on the SMD technology. Outdoor designs, in contrast, predominantly use the conventional LEDs. For the indoor displays, a minimum of 600 candelas/square meter is necessary. Outdoor systems require much more than this.

The panel is very energy-efficient. The brightness is high enough at a voltage of just 12 volts. They are also durable with a life expectancy of about 70,000 hours. The main downside is that the efficiency decreases steadily as current is increased. This phenomenon is known as droop. The other advantages include the high initial price, high voltage sensitivity and temperature dependence.

LED light panels continue to undergo various improvements aimed at maximizing the benefits. The technology has allowed users to get displays that are not only high performing but are also cheap to maintain. The displays can be dimmed simply by the use of a knob making it suitable for use in both brightly-lit and dark environments. Power requirement are very low and some designs even use DC current in form of camera batteries, AC adaptors and snap-on batteries.




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