What’s the difference between Lux and Lumen #4 - LED Driving Lights & Spotlights.

What’s the difference between Lux and Lumen #4 - LED Driving Lights and Spotlights.

Ok, so we have covered a few different aspects and applications where the Lux and Lumen differ depending on the type of light.

And just to summarise the difference between Lux & Lumen, “LUX is the light intensity over an area, the lumen is the measured brightness of the light source, or, one lux is one lumen per square meter”.

Today I will focus on LED Spotlights and Driving Lights so you can get a better idea of which light will best suit your need.

There are a couple of factors to consider for driving lights and spotlights, The size of the light, The type of lens and reflector, The depth of the reflector, & The type of LED chip.

The Size of the Light.

Obviously, how much room you have will determine the size of the light you can fit. In saying this, bigger is better, as you will get more light coverage.

If you can only fit a smaller light on, the best one we have seen in the smaller sizes is the 5” 80W LED Driving Light.

It is not a pencil beam style light, but a driving beam, (around a 30 degree angle) and will give you distance and width and add twice as much than your high beams, and give you a maximum light efficacy (how much lumen gets through the lens), and maximum lux, (how much light area you get on the road).

The Type of Lens and Reflector

Generally, you will get three types of lenses and reflectors, an open style reflector, where the light source is directed by the reflector, an optical lens, optical lenses can be from the light source itself, and/or is projected like a magnifying glass forward out of the lens, and the last type is a hybrid lens.

Most modern led driving lights use hybrid lenses, (our 5” 80w LED Driving Lamp uses hybrid lenses).

A hybrid lens uses both optical lenses + reflectors to maximize the direction and amount of light that is directed onto the area in front of the vehicle, to give you the best lux of light.

This means a good hybrid lens will give you more lumen over a given area than a standard reflector style lens will.

The Type of Led

It really goes without saying that a CREE, Osram, or Phillips LED light-source will help give you a better lumen and lux of light when used correctly in your light.

In saying this, it is also the type of lens the led is using that will directly relate to how much light gets onto a given area. 

For example, if I use a CREE XHP70 in a reflector style housing, because the CREE XHP70 is an optical led, it defeats the purpose of putting it onto a reflector, it would be much better being used in a “projector” lens.

Some companies still think, “lets put the brightest led in”, but it simply does not have any extra benefit, you need to deal with a company that has quality optical and lighting engineers to get the best lumen and lux from your light source.

The Depth of the Reflector

The last thing I will go over is the depth of the reflector.

The reflector these days is usually used as an added aid to the direction, distance, and beam angle of the light.

For example; In our Black Diamond 7” 135w LED Driving Lights, it has less amount of reflectors, but they are deeper and wider than a comparative light such as our 7” 140w LED Driving Light.

The Black Diamond 135w also use a different led than the 140w, the black diamond use a 15W USA Made Luminus LED, while the 140w use a 5W CREE XT-E LED.

So, how does this affect the lumen and lux?

You will get more distance out of the Black Diamond 135W (about 30% more) than you will the 140W, but you will get more light area with the 140W.

Horses for courses.

That’s it for today, give us a call or send us an email if you need more information.

Lex.

Tel: +61 2 9698 2543

Email: info@arcoimports.com

What is the difference between lux and lumen?

There are a lot of ideas in the mind of a buyer about Lux and lumen in regard to how people view it when they want to buy one of the LED or HID lights in the list below, check out more detailed information on the web pages in the links below for the different type of light.
To put it simply, LUX is the light intensity over an area, the lumen is the measured brightness of the light source, or, one lux is one lumen per square meter.
For further technical reading have a look HERE
There are key differences in measuring lumen and lux of the products below. So that you get a better understanding of what you want to look for when you go to buy one of the following products, click on the links below for more specific information related to the products, including prices, and more detailed information related to the differences of lumen and lux of each product.

1. LED Headlight Bulb Kits.
2. LED Driving Lights.
3. LED Headlights.
4. LED Work Lights.
5. LED Light Bars.
6. HID Xenon Conversion Kit Upgrade Bulbs.
7. HID Spot Lights, and HID Driving Lights.

All of these different types of lights vary greatly in the type of lenses, sizes, and qualities, and we have written information on how the lumen and lux are measured, or affected by each different type of light.
Here is a list of some key differences that will directly reflect the lumen and lux of each type of light, and why we have to break it down for you in each section on the website, (otherwise this would be a book, not a post ;)

How Lenses affect lux and lumen measurements?

Lenses and reflectors differ greatly, such as a small high beam spot reflector in a car, a projector lens headlight, a standard size euro beam reflector in a normal modern car, the size and depth of reflectors in driving lights and spotlights, the types of lenses of led headlights, the types of lenses and reflectors in light bars, beam angles of lights, and the spread of light.
These differences in lenses will affect the Lux of each type of light. They all vary significantly and will impact on how much light you get on the road or field, and where it is in terms of the area of light and the brightness of the light. This is why you need to know the real facts about the difference between lumen and lux in relation to the different types of lenses used in each light so that you have a more informed view of what you need for your application.

What's the "real" lumen of an led light?

We all want the best engineering, but remember, people lie, and people mislead.
I saw one product on EBay once claiming their led headlight bulb produced 20,000 lumen per bulb, and this was in 2017. This was a blatant lie, but consumers don't know this, and most think, "oh it’s brighter and cheaper, I'll buy that one and try it". They end up with a bulb that produces 1000 lumen and say, "led bulbs for headlights are rubbish", it is bad for the industry because you can get a high quality LED bulb that significantly enhances your vision at night, and so in most cases, they are a much safer option than standard halogen.
I can tell you honestly today coming into 2019, No LED Headlight bulb will have more than a "Technical Lumen" of 4000lm per bulb in a single beam (1x low beam light for example).
Our latest Can-Bus compatible led headlight bulb is one of the brightest, and it is only 3500LM per bulb, (7000 Lumen Low Beam (2x single beam bulbs), 7000 Lumen high beam. The total "technical" lumen when you have high and low beam on will be 14,000 lumen.
And in regards to driving lights, probably the best and brightest "LED Chip" we have seen used in driving lights are the specially designed 15W USA Made Luminus led's, (each led has a technical rating of 170 Lumen Per Watt) are used in our Black Diamond 7" Spot/Driving Lights.

How do the electronics affect the lumen and lux rating of a light?

The last thing I will mention in this post about how to interpret lumen and lux for driving lights, headlight bulbs, work lights, and light bars, is concerning the "real lumen and lux" of the lights.
The actual real lumen and lux of the above mentioned lights are governed largely by the electronics, thermal management technology, and the light efficacy of the product, (how much light gets through the Led's lens and the products lens, and onto the road).
Everyone uses technical lumen in the marketing these lights, but I can tell you that when you add up thermal management electronics, drivers, lenses, and all the other factors, you can halve it or more to get the real lumen of the product.
And the light area on the road? Or the lux measurement? Most suppliers measure at 1lux as a standard "go-to" in their charts, but in reality, the light you really see when your driving along that matters is around about 100lux.

Summary and contact information.

If you want to talk to one of our experts for more information you can call us in Australia on 1300-775-359, or visit our website at www.pro-vision-lighting.com.
Lex Boyle, Director,
Pro Vision Lighting & Electrical.
Email: info@pro-vision-lighting.com