Understanding lights LEDs’ lifetime

[XTAR]

One of the great advantages of the LED is its reliability and long operating life. The light output of an LED tends to gradually decrease over the extended period of time, compared to a halogen or incandescent light source which fails abruptly. And the accepted norm for LED lifetime is L70, which means at the point when the light source is at 70% of its initial output. So when you see a 50,000 hour lifespan LED, it would imply 5.7 years if the light is operated for 24 hours in a day.

With LED technology developing, its lifespan increases and the 70% figure of L70 could reach the duration exceeding 60,000 hours. This leads the industry to adopt additional ratings, such as L80 (80% of initial lumens) and L90 (90% of initial lumens). In other words, a LED rated at 50,000 hours L90 would retain 90% of its light output at 50,000 hours, whereas a LED rated at 50,000 hours L70 would only retain 70% of its original output.

As LEDs continue to develop, their performance and quality keep improving. And your next LED flashlight can be more durable and reliable.

 

[Eric802]

That's interesting information - thanks!

 

[-JD-]

Thank you for that explanation.

For the average consumer that does an occasional night dive, even a 1000 hour L90 would be effectively a "lifetime" dive light that is more likely to experience outright failure (flood or other component failure) of some sort before LED output degradation has significance.

I would think that dive pros, pro photo/videographers, cavers, and commercial divers on the other hand, would really benefit from having that information.

@XTAR will you start incorporating the L90s for your lights in your literature?

 

[XTAR]

Thanks for your kind comment! We will certainly give this feedback to our product department for their consideration.