It has a lot of lumens.
Wow, it’s bright with 200 lumens.
150 lumens for $5? That’s crazy-good value.
Oh the humanity, so many lumens!
I LUV the lumens!
OMG, so many lumens!
Lumens, lumens, lumens!!!!!!!
So what is a lumen?
Thursday, January 16, 2014
What is a Lumen, What is Lux, and More LED Flashlight Technical Mumbo Jumbo
It has a lot of lumens.
Wow, it’s bright with 200 lumens.
150 lumens for $5? That’s crazy-good value.
Oh the humanity, so many lumens!
I LUV the lumens!
OMG, so many lumens!
Lumens, lumens, lumens!!!!!!!
So what is a lumen?
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7 comments:
Just as with flashlights, most lighting fixtures have their ratings and photometric info in a variety of different metrics, and is often confusing as to what their actual output it. I appreciate this article that gives a relatively in depth but complete explanation of how the metrics work and how the ratings relate to actual variables in the output.
I have to admit that I have been guilty of the example at the beginning of the article of assuming more is better and spouting off numbers without really understanding their meaning. This article provides a brief but in depth explanation of all the different metrics of light, which is good, but I felt that it could have elaborated more or maybe shown some sort of diagrams to make the information a bit clearer. It's good to know that some metrics, like LX actually describe the throw of the light and not the overall intensity. I could see how it would be easy to see a low LX and think that the light is not very bright when it actually means that it is flood and not spot illumination.
I agree with Chris and Philip in that this is a very helpful article to discuss something that probably leads most people astray. Like Philip, I have often times bought a flashlight, or not bought one, based on information that I thought to be correct. It is definitely nice to have the topic cleared up a little bit more by this article, but at the same time I feel as if they could have gone a bit more in depth to describe each term more. Perhaps they could have discussed the metrics more with examples of specific types of everyday lights or flashlights that the typical user would use.
I couldn't have stumbled upon this article at a more opportune time. I recently started looking for a new flashlight after my old one had finally seen its last day. In my search I seem to be running into the same thing. Each manufacturer boasts high lumen low price advertisements. In fact the one that I most recently found and kind of liked boasted a 600 lumen light for only $40. This deal really caught my attention. Luckily I figured that I should keep searching before I invest in a good light. Then I read this article and realized the error of my ways. I always knew that there are other important factors to lights but always thought that the higher lumens always meant better. Thanks to this article I can continue my light search and find the best light possible.
Its too bad that manufacturers of lighting products can't agree on a standardized set of information to give to consumers. Something akin to product information on food items would be pretty cool! It seems like every theatrical fixture gives a different set of photometrics that is not readily comparable with those of other units. Although I was familiar with the concept of lumens, the article did clear up what OTF meant for me. A very straightforward, informative article!
As someone who isn't particularly interested in seeing graphs when it comes to (FINALLY) learning what lumen is i am incredibly happy i stumbled upon this article. I have a very hard time understanding how LEDs work and how the amount of lumens correlates to the workings of a light fixture. I tend to do what a lot of others do and just think if its more lumens it must be better. This article shed some much needed light on subject for me.
Well I had a general idea of what Lumens and Lux were but now I have actually read a definition. But while I know what those terms mean I still do not know what those terms look like. It is one thing to know that "1 lx = 1 lm per square meter" but how bright is that in practice. I think the only way to actually learn how bright a lumen looks is to see in in person.
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