Bench Talk

LEDs have become ubiquitous and used in a variety of applications because they’re small, energy efficient (lm/W), robust, reliable, and feature-full. Mid-power LEDs are finding a niche in general illumination applications where size and uniformity take precedence over raw optical output power.

As engineers, we need to ensure that future lighting designs make greater use of external shielding and electronic controls to optimize when, where, and how much light is displayed. Our design goals will subsequently reflect not just attention to the raw light output, but how the light is properly contextually bracketed to meet the needs of the biological environment—human, animal, and plant—to also minimize light pollution.