8 Key Points for Choosing COB Light Sources for Lamps

With the continuous development of lighting technology, COB packaging technology has attracted more and more attention in the industry. COB light sources have the characteristics of low thermal resistance, high luminous flux density, uniform light emission, and good color consistency, and have been widely used in LED lighting products. At present, under the extreme pursuit of products in the high-end application market, the market of COB packaging has been continuously upgraded, from simply pursuing high light efficiency to pursuing color quality.

However, to create a good lighting effect, it is not enough to have a good COB. How to make COB and lamps perfectly match is the key. Therefore, when doing lighting design, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the configuration of light sources and lamps. To choose a suitable COB light source for lamps, you need to master 8 key points:

1. Determine the application scenario of the lamp, such as hotel lighting, catering lighting, or women's clothing store lighting. Each subdivided scenario has different COB LED light source requirements for lamps.

2. Determine the color temperature and color rendering index of the lamp, or the color point of the light. It is very important to determine the light color with the highest expressiveness according to the specific application. You can refer to the Oulant COB application guide to select the best matching light color.

3. Determine the power and luminous angle of the lamp. The design of the application scenario determines the layout and number of lamps used. The height and the illumination requirements of the ground and work surface determine the choice of lamp power and luminous angle.

4. After the above determination, it is time to select the COB. First, determine the COB that corresponds to the required power and luminous angle of the lamp. Large angles are matched with large luminous surface COBs; small angles are matched with small luminous surface COBs. For example, 30W below 15° is suitable for 9mm luminous surface COB, 20W is suitable for 6mm, 15W is suitable for 4mm, and 10W is the best for 3mm. Among them, 4mm and 3mm can reach angles below 10°. If the application is a large angle, an angle above 24° and within 20W can consider a 9mm luminous surface, 30W considers a 12-14mm luminous surface, and 40W-50W considers a 19mm luminous surface.

5. The heat dissipation of the chip inside the COB is closely related to the size of the light-emitting surface. The current density of the COB with a small light-emitting surface is large, requiring higher heat dissipation conditions. The current density of the COB with a large light-emitting surface is relatively small, and the heat dissipation requirements are relatively lower. However, heat dissipation under high power and high current conditions needs to consider using a large light-emitting surface as much as possible to ensure light efficiency and reliability.

6. The choice of COB brand. Each brand has its own strengths. Some brands are strong and have high terminal recognition. Some product lines have full power (such as Cree in the United States), some have good color consistency (such as Hontel in the United States), and some have high light efficiency (such as Citizen in Japan). The choice of COB should be combined with the positioning of its own lighting brand. For example, different COB products should be selected for positioning when making circulation lamps and engineering.

7. Optical matching is indispensable when choosing COB. This work should be carried out at the same time. The quality of a lamp and the effect presented in the on-site application are largely determined by the matching of COB and optical devices. It is very important to ask each COB brand and each model for the most suitable optical device combination. Of course, it is best to develop optical devices for each lamp for the project.

8. After the COB LED and optics are confirmed, the heat sink of the lamp is installed to test whether the overall heat dissipation design is reasonable. If it is unreasonable, it is necessary to adjust the heat dissipation structure or reselect the COB and optical solutions. However, in principle, after the COB and optics are selected, the heat dissipation design should be modified to match the former.