Like many on this forum, I have been waiting for LED projectors to hit the light output and cost levels that will make them a no brainer purchase, thereby avoiding most of the issues (replacement, dimming, recalibration) of lamp-based projectors. I was therefore a bit disturbed to see a short article today in Lawday regarding an FTC lawsuit against one of the major producers of LED lighting (house lighting, not projector lighting) asserting that, despite a stated lifetime of 30,000 hours, the LED bulbs are losing 80% of their brightness within 1,000 hours. The FTC suit also claims the company was vastly overstating the light output of their LED bulbs (big surprise there!
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The relevant language from the article is: "The FTC is alleging that American LED manufacturer, Lights of America, is overstating the effectiveness of LED lightbulbs (light-emitting diode bulbs). The consumer protection agency said it used Lights of America's own testing data to prove that its claims were overblown. Light intensity is measured in lumens, and one bulb promoted as producing 90 lumens allegedly tested at 43 lumens, less than half what the company claimed. The company also claimed that one of its lantern bulbs could replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb, which produces about 400 lumens. The LED bulb allegedly only produced 74 lumens, well short of what was promised. Lights of America also claimed in its promotional materials that its LED bulbs would last 30,000 hours. But independent testing showed the bulbs lost 80 per cent of their light output after 1,000 hours."
While I know (or at least I hope) that these "made as cheaply as possible" white home lighting LEDs are not at all the same thing as far more expensive projector LEDs, it does give me pause that LED technology may not be as "immune" to degradation as the marketing departments have led us to believe.
).The relevant language from the article is: "The FTC is alleging that American LED manufacturer, Lights of America, is overstating the effectiveness of LED lightbulbs (light-emitting diode bulbs). The consumer protection agency said it used Lights of America's own testing data to prove that its claims were overblown. Light intensity is measured in lumens, and one bulb promoted as producing 90 lumens allegedly tested at 43 lumens, less than half what the company claimed. The company also claimed that one of its lantern bulbs could replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb, which produces about 400 lumens. The LED bulb allegedly only produced 74 lumens, well short of what was promised. Lights of America also claimed in its promotional materials that its LED bulbs would last 30,000 hours. But independent testing showed the bulbs lost 80 per cent of their light output after 1,000 hours."
While I know (or at least I hope) that these "made as cheaply as possible" white home lighting LEDs are not at all the same thing as far more expensive projector LEDs, it does give me pause that LED technology may not be as "immune" to degradation as the marketing departments have led us to believe.
