Demystifying LED Terminology: 12 Words You Need To Know

1. SSL – This stands for Solid State Lighting. Most other forms of lighting actually flicker heavily. If you have a super high-speed camera and film in a studio with fluorescent bulbs, then the action will flicker. When slowed down, you can actually see the refresh rate of the lights. This means the lights are pulsing at a pace that the human eye cannot see. Solid State Lighting, however, is light being omitted from the LED diodes constantly, with no refresh rate. Super slow motion productions need to use LED lighting in order to have a smooth slow motion film without a strobe light effect.

2. Efficacy – Efficacy is power. There is personal efficacy, where you feel like you have power over a situation. There is medical efficacy when a treatment cures a patient. Efficacy in the lighting world means that the light is bright. It is measured in lumens per power unit, or watt in this case. It’s the brightest a light can be at its wattage.

3. Lumens – this is simply the measurement of the light being emitted. There are two separate ways to measure lumens: initial lumens and mean lumens. Initial lumens are the overall output of the LED light, while mean lumens is the output of the light at 50% power. Mean is a mathematical term for the middle of a group of numbers. In this case, it represents the light at 50% power.

4. Ambien Light – Ambient light can come from the sun or other outside sources like street lamps. It is the measure of the amount of light already present in a space. A space with a lot of windows will inevitably have a lot of ambient light. A space in the American Southwest will have more natural ambient light than a space in the Northwest. Designers work with ambient light to bring about the most cost effective and attractive lighting package.

5. Cove – LED lights can be very compact and customizable. They can be made into strips, rope or tape and put behind other objects or architectural recesses. This highlights the recess as a cove, with the ambient light pouring out around it. Cove lighting can be used behind paintings or underneath the bed to make it look like it is floating on light. Cove light, when used properly, can make a property look stunning.

6. Soft Light – Soft light is LED lighting that is used like ambient light. It softly lights up a space or an object without shining directly on it. It can give a space an ethereal feel, and when used properly can enhance the ambience of a room.

7. Hard Light – Hard light is used to directly shine onto an object to draw the eye. Hard lighting can be used on prized possessions such as a grand piano or ornamental motorcycle.

8. Beam Angle – By controlling the beam angle, a designer can turn an LED light into soft lighting or hard lighting. The beam angle with LED lights can be set very easily, unlike incandescent lights.

9. CRI – The color rendering index of a light allows the designer to know just how much color a light allows the eye to see. Some lights can dim color while others amplify.

10. Diffuser – LED light is more intense than traditional lights. Diffusers, such as a frosted or gridded lens, make the light softer on the eye.

11. Color Temperature – The hotter the light than the whiter the light. Cooler lights make more yellow light.

12. Digital Addressable Lighting Interface – Is a digital control for the power of the light.