Success with LED and SPS

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

Nice shot Brad... Gives me hope for LED one day. I mostly im scared of the transition as matching the light up perfect is near impossible when changing any lighting.

Darryl, matching the color of the visible light is easy, I have it looking just like my Radiums. However, the corals don't believe it
Once technology figures out how to replicate the spectrum AND do away with the disco effect, I think LED will be a no brainer.
Mostly the colors are stable and 95% of what they were, except for a couple of pieces. One is due to spectrum, the other, intensity.
But, if I were to win the lottery and set up my dream tank, it would run MH for sure.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

But, if I were to win the lottery and set up my dream tank, it would run MH for sure.

As exiting president of LWL i'm in full agreement there too.

So how have you gotten your SOLs to look like your radiums? What did you add? Out of the box there's no way.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by lastlight

So how have you gotten your SOLs to look like your radiums? What did you add? Out of the box there's no way.

well, they don't physically look like mogul bulbs, but the visible color looks like the color I had with them. I guess it still has that missing piece, but very close. I love the color of the light, just wish the corals loved it as much.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

well, they don't physically look like mogul bulbs, but the visible color looks like the color I had with them.

Oh I thought your issues was coral coloration and appearance of the light to your eyes. It's just the actual coral coloration.

To me the SOLs light output looks a bit flat compared to a Radium but everyone's eyes are different.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Oh I thought your issues was coral coloration and appearance of the light to your eyes. It's just the actual coral coloration.

To me the SOLs light output looks a bit flat compared to a Radium but everyone's eyes are different.

The flat look is perhaps the component missing. The color of the tank is almost identical, or my eyes have adjusted and told me it is.
But yes, it's just a bit of pop missing from the coral colors that really gets me. Not enough to toss the lights, but enough that I still miss my Radiums. I have one on my frag tank, so when I need my MH fix, I just go sit in front of that tank

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

so when I need my MH fix, I just go sit in front of that tank

get that same feeling you do when warming your hands around a campfire.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

AND do away with the disco effect, I think LED will be a no brainer.

I think they could do this today. Create a unit with an LED pod distribution like the GHL Mitras with each pod housing a tightly packed LED array like the Kessil.

replace LED pods here..



with this in each pod..



That will be the killer LED light. Unfortunately it is probably cost prohibitive today

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by kien

I think they could do this today. Create a unit with an LED pod distribution like the GHL Mitras with each pod housing a tightly packed LED array like the Kessil.
That will be the killer LED light. Unfortunately it is probably cost prohibitive today

Agreed. I think that would be much closer. And very expensive

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by kien

I think they could do this today. Create a unit with an LED pod distribution like the GHL Mitras with each pod housing a tightly packed LED array like the Kessil.

That will be the killer LED light. Unfortunately it is probably cost prohibitive today

While in theory that makes sense in reality it's not necessarily true. The kessil doesn't have the same amount of colors in the GHL so while you may think the kessil is better at color blending it's not really the same. While the pods in the GHL may look pretty basic apparently they were designed specifically for maximum color blending and efficiency.

Light distribution

A homogeneous illumination is as important as a high light performance. Our engineers determined the best possible arrangement of the LEDs and design of the reflectors through extensive computer simulations and practice tests. With the goal to achieve an optimized illumination the LEDs have been arranged in 2 x 3 evenly spread clusters and all LEDs in one cluster are placed with a minimal clearance to each other. Additionally the clusters had been brought to the edge of the lamp as near as possible. The results are convincing:

Ideal mixing of the single LED-colors, the light in the aquarium has no disturbing color spots
Uniform illumination over a wide area
Efficient heat dissipation over the heat sink

Also consider the spread, the kessil is pretty tight which probably aids in the blending, if you widen the optic to be more comparable to other fixtures you may lose what you've gained. The Kessil is just a multichip LED which may or may not be the way the industry will go, in the end you're still looking at different colored light sources, packing them closer together may not make a difference and only cost you more in efficiency. Cost wise multichips are available and realistically cheaper than multiple single LEDs in terms of watts/$.

[kien]

Originally Posted by sphelps

While in theory that makes sense in reality it's not necessarily true. The kessil doesn't have the same amount of colors in the GHL so while you may think the kessil is better at color blending it's not really the same. While the pods in the GHL may look pretty basic apparently they were designed specifically for maximum color blending and efficiency.

ya I wonder what a kessil would look like with more colours. That would be interesting for sure. Honestly I don't quite understand why there is a red channel ? Is it just to add that particular spectrum? I found (to my eyes) that the addition of the red and green channel made the light look worse and I had to turn them both OFF to make the light pleasing.