Sparky Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 I have been looking at converting my Gauges to RED/BLUE/GREEN leds. but am a ibit confused at the MCD (Luminous Intensity per LED) rate. can somebody please explain and compare MCD in a layman sense. Specifically...how MCD compares to a normal 2watt bulb/ 5watt maybe? how would a 3000MCD RED LED compare to a stock 12 volt instrument gauge? whew! sorry for this garbage post...but google searches are coming up negatory.....and all the guys at readioshack looked at me like i was crazy! ugh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 ...milli-candellas (1/1000ths of a candella). Candella is a measurement of light intensity. So, 3000mcd would be the same as 3 candellas. How bright is that? I dunno - probably 3 times brighter than 1 candella I just looked it up, and 1 candella is a universal (english and metric) unit that represents the luminous intensity of a 'theoretical candle'. I think that you can take this somewhat literally - 3 candellas would be about the same brightness as three candles, like you would have at your dinner table, for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudge Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 1 candle/3 candle is a more accurate description, because "3x" the light does not actually go 3x the distance. I forget the law its called, but basically twice the light will go 1.5x the distance or somewhere thereabouts. Kind of like surface area of bone versus mass when you talk a 5 foot person versus a 6 foot, the ratios are very different, non-linear scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bang847 Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 find them cheap somewhere? the cheapest place i can find is here.. http://www.eled.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oltmann Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 Originally posted by Mudge:I forget the law its called Inverse square law = 1/R^2. I don't think you can compare candelas in LEDS to candelas in incandescent bulbs because LEDs are not isotropic sources. They only put out light over a narrow angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudge Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 There was a recent update in the world of LEDs (I was supprised it was news that actually anyone cared about), where LEDs now can use something like 1/5th of the power for the same output. I am assuming its a patent that wont be shared until the 7 years are up, and I dont know the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dan0myte Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 So there's your simplistic answer. Stare directly into a candle, then times that light by 3 and you have a 3000mcd LED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 Thanks for the link BANG - I've been looking fomr someplace like that! Sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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