An LED strip light is a flexible circuit board populated by surface mounted light-emitting diodes and other components that usually comes with an adhesive backing. Traditionally, strip lights had been used solely in accent lighting, backlighting, task lighting, and decorative lighting applications.<\/p>\n
An\u00a0LED strip light<\/b>\u00a0(also known as an\u00a0LED tape<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0ribbon light<\/b>) is a flexible circuit board populated by\u00a0surface mounted\u00a0light-emitting diodes\u00a0(SMD LEDs) and other components that usually comes with an adhesive backing. Traditionally, strip lights had been used solely in accent lighting, backlighting, task lighting, and decorative lighting applications. Increased\u00a0luminous efficacy\u00a0and higher-power SMDs have allowed LED strip lights to be used in applications such as high brightness task lighting, fluorescent and halogen lighting fixture replacements, indirect lighting applications,\u00a0ultraviolet\u00a0(UV) inspection during manufacturing processes, set and costume design, and even growing plants.<\/p>\n
Beginning in 2021, LED lighting in the form of\u00a0“Flex neon”<\/i>\u00a0is starting to replace\u00a0neon sign\u00a0lighting.<\/p>\n Variables in strip lighting consist of water resistance, color, adhesives, choice of SMD, driving voltage, control type, and whether it is constant current or constant voltage layout.<\/p>\n Uncoated LED tape is not considered to have any resistance to water ingress, but may be rated as\u00a0IP20\u00a0for some physical ingress resistance. Such tapes are generally low voltage and safe for skin to touch but can be shorted by fine metal objects. Water resistant strip lighting is covered in a heat conducting epoxy or silicone to protect the circuitry from direct contact with water, and can be rated IP65, IP67, or with suitable sealed connections IP68. Both coated and uncoated LED tapes have a two sided adhesive backing to stick to walls, desks, doors, etc.<\/p>\n The most common design differences are in how individual LEDs are controlled, specifically differences in color and whether or not each LED is addressable.<\/sup><\/p>\n Correlated color temperatures of white light<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n color temperature, or any of several monochrome colors covering the range of the visible spectrum (generally from 400-700 nanometers in wavelength).<\/sup><\/li>\n Blue LED strip light<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n LED strip designs are available populated with many different types of SMD, not only in different colors and addressable or non-addressable, by different shapes, sizes, and power levels. The most common\u00a0types of SMD are: 3528, single colour, non-addressable, very low power; 5050, containing three LEDs allowing for RGB and addressable strips as well as higher power levels; 2835, a newer single-color SMD having the same surface dimensions as the 3528 but a larger emitter area and a thinner design with an integrated heatsink allowing for higher power levels; 5630\/5730, a newer replacement for single-color 5050 SMDs which can operate at slightly higher power levels and have high efficacy. Less common designs may have 3014, 4014, 7020, 8020, or other SMDs. In addition to the LED SMD type, the quantity of LEDs per foot (or meter) is also an important factor in determining the overall power and brightness.<\/p>\n LED strip lights most commonly operate on 12 or 24 volts of\u00a0direct current\u00a0from a power supply, sometimes referred to as a driver. USB strip lights operate on the standard 5-volt direct current used by USB devices. Mains voltage LED strips are also available. These have the advantages of being usable in much longer single runs without a brightness drop along the length, but are less flexible and heavier due to higher voltage and current ratings and thick coatings for shock safety and high IP ratings in their intended outdoor positions, with limited cut points. No separate power supply is needed, although there must be a rectifier between the mains supply and the end of the LED strip<\/a><\/strong>. The most common PCB designs use multiple parallel circuits consisting of passive dropper resistors in series with a certain number of LED SMDs, to operate at a certain current and power level with the expected input voltage. This design is referred to as constant-voltage and is rather sensitive to small variations in input voltage and to the voltage drop that occurs along long lengths of strip when driven from a single power input. Alternative design is the “constant current” design where each parallel circuit of several SMDs includes a small\u00a0integrated circuit to provide a fixed current to that group of LEDs, within a wide range of applied voltages. This allows the strip to operate at the same power level and brightness along its entire length, or with some variation in the driver voltage.<\/p>\n Any customizations require an LED controller to adjust brightness, color, or individual LED activity. This can be done with an included controller or customized with a\u00a0microcontroller.<\/sup><\/p>\n ‘Neon’ or ‘flex’ LED tape refers to LED tape constructed in such a way to emulate neon lights. The LED tape is embedded on the side of a silicone filled, plastic C-channel; the silicone both diffuses the light from the LED tape and directs it out to one side, 90 degrees to the direction the SMD LEDs face. This design allows the lights to be bent in what appears to be the opposite direction to how regular LED tape can be bent, allowing one to spell words and create pictures with it much like neon signs.<\/p>\n Some LEDs are rated as having a 120\u00b0 beam angle,[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0directed “up”, i.e. perpendicular to the mounting surface. ‘Side View’ or ‘Edge Emitter’ SMDs are designed such that light is emitted parallel to the adhering surface (i.e., 90 degree difference to typical tape design). These allow the construction of LED strips which\u00a0wash surfaces within less space or accent edge profiles such as signage.<\/p>\nDesign<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Beam angle<\/span><\/h3>\n
Dimming<\/span><\/h3>\n