LED Chip Styles: What's Best for Your Application?

LED lighting has come a long way since its introduction, becoming more compact and cost effective with each new technological advancement. When choosing the right lighting for your application, it helps to understand the evolution of LED chip styles and the differences between them.

 

 

Double In-Line Package (DIP) LEDs

This familiar design has a chip inside a hard plastic ball head with 2 straight parallel connection pins. On average, DIP LEDs can output 3-4 lumens per LED. Although this design is still used today in some products, such as accent lighting (e.g. rope lights), it is far less efficient than newer LED chips due to its optical attenuation and lower CRI.
For example, 3mm dip diode, 5mm dip diode, with round hat or straw hat. Today, there are more advanced styles of LED chips for home, commercial and industrial use.

 

Surface Mount Device (SMD) LED Chips

Surface mount diode (SMD) LED chips are the next major development after DIP. SMDs produce much higher light output than traditional LEDs and use much less power. Using RGB, they can create up to 16 million color combinations and are less expensive to maintain.

 

3528 SMD LEDs

This medium output LED is often found in low voltage LED strips. It uses 1 light emitting diode. Each chip outputs about 7 lumens and produces a smooth, bright light. Less heat is emitted, so they are safer than halogen lamps.
3528 SMD-type LED chips are typically used for feature or accent lighting, such as under cabinets and by stairs. Dual power 3528 SMD can be used for general lighting LED tapes to replace halogen bulbs or fluorescent tubes.

In order to achieve higher reliability and more power options, 2835 LED and 3030 LED have gradually become the mainstream of the market and are favored by more and more customers. The power is from 0.2W to 1W, and the color is from monochromatic light to bichromatic light. For example, the best-selling 3030 dual color temperature products are widely used in film and television lighting.

5050 SMD LED

This 3-LED design, also known as a "tri-chip", produces a high output LED lamp that is three times brighter than a 3528, with approximately 22 lumens per chip. Multicolor 5050 LED strips require an RGB LED controller to operate.

LED 5050 SMD lamps are used in homes or businesses as bright accent lights, sign lights, task lighting and recessed lighting.

While providing traditional low-power 5050 LEDs, we are also committed to high-power products. Nowadays, how to achieve greater power in a smaller package size is particularly important. For example, our EMC 5050 LED, under the condition of a rated power of 5W, can still reach 160-170lm/W efficiency or even higher.

 

LED Chip-on-Board COB

Chip-on-Board (COB) is the latest development in LED lighting. It uses multiple diodes, typically nine or more, bonded together directly on a substrate and packaged together as a single lighting module. 

MOONLEDS is able to provide replacement Citizen, Cree products with the same size, luminous surface, current, voltage, as well as brightness and efficiency. Power from 2W to 300W can be achieved. At the same time, customized types of COB products are also available, for example, different substrate materials requirement, aluminum, ceramic, copper, etc.

In addition to high-power LED floodlights, spotlights, downlights, track lights, studio lights, COB LEDs are used in small devices such as cameras, smartphones, and some intelligent lighting.

COB LED lamps are often used as a solid-state replacement for older metal halide lamps in high bay lighting. You'll see them used in loading docks, factories, warehouses, delivery areas and other industrial applications.

 

The Future of LED Technology

Other LED chip styles you may hear about in the future include multi-chip-on-board (MCOB) for LED bulbs and tubes; multi-chip and cup-on-board packages (MCCOB), and more. LED technology continues to evolve, and over time, newer production methods and designs will emerge where LEDs can produce brighter light while consuming less and less energy.

 

Please follow MOONLEDS to find more types of led lights, and we welcome your inquiry.