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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg XLamp® XM LED breaks a barrier ("")

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/LED.jpgMike Sirach - - April 14, 2010

Cree, Inc. a market leader in LED lighting, announces a breakthrough new lighting-class LED platform, the XLamp® XM LED. This new single chip LED delivers record-breaking efficacy of 160 lumens per watt at 350 mA. The LED also delivers 750 lumens at 2 A, which is equivalent to the light output of a 60 W incandescent light bulb at less than 7 watts.

“This new platform continues Cree’s well-established record of turning R&D innovations into products,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. “We continue to set the pace for LED performance, establishing new benchmarks that make you wonder why anyone would consider last-century’s energy-wasting technology.”

A cool white XM LED driven at 350 mA can produce 160 lumens at 160 lumens per watt. The new platform has a larger footprint than Cree’s XP family and also offers the unique combination of very high efficacy at very high drive currents. At 2 A, an XM LED produces 750 lumens at 110 lumens per watt. The thermal resistance of the XM platform is 2 degrees C per watt— an industry-leading technology breakthrough and a 350 percent improvement over Cree’s flagship XLamp XP-E LED.

Commercial availability is targeted for Fall 2010....

Awesome! Maybe soon I can finally convert my bike-lighting system to LED. I'm currently throwing 1200 lumens from a single halogen bulb, and would probably still need two of these emitters to come close to my current system (assuming the 750lm rating is genuine) due to optics losses. But I could downsize from a 14.4V/4.2Ah battery pack (weight about 2 pounds) to a 6V/2Ah pack weighing less than 1/3 pound and costing a mere $25 while gaining a bit of runtime.

Here is a 900 lumen (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.30864). I have bought a lot from DealExtreme.

Oh thanks, I forgot about the MagicShine 900. Duh. That light is widely seen in the biking community as being by far the most lumens/buck out there, though considerably short of 900 actual lumens. Most estimates I've seen are that the thing really throws 500-600 lumens. But still very respectable, and this one product is revolutionizing the previously ridiculously overpriced world of bike lighting.

I've avoided buying one because I was somehow under the impression that it threw too broad a beam for street use, but just poking around on bike forums it looks like I was mistaken. A lot of people are complaining it's not as wide as they like for mountain biking (which usually demands a somewhat broader beam), a problem rectified by the new (3 emitter) MagicShine 1200: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36018

I might have to finally get myself a MS 900 just to see if I like it -- and if I do, maybe a second one.

Improved luminance could be significant, if only to switch to home projection.