Better lighting with quantum dots. A brilliant solution

[Animeabe]

cost in production?

[omansn]

Colored LED technology is rapidly progressing. Why wouldn't mixing LEDs of varying wavelengths (so they become congruent to the suns spectrum) be a simpler and easier solution?

[promethiusrising]

doesn't this do the same thing as "gels" used in the lighting industry?

[catch153]

@promethiusrising I believe gels would absorb the undesirable wavelengths of light allowing only the colors you want to go through. They seem to be saying that the quantum dots actually recalibrate the light to a different wavelength giving it a more pleasing color without wasting energy by absorbing some of it into a gel filter.

[gilgamesh1962]

Interesting technology, I bet these can be very useful in hydroponic farms, some plants grow better under certain wavelengths of light, so it could be possible to "concentrate" all the light into that wavelength(s), effectively giving you "more bang for the buck"... If LED lighting keeps coming down in price, the Idea of Urban Farming, may become a lot more practical.

[xboxmod1]

this is the future people

[LickumBottom]

I replaced most of my standard bulbs with CFLs years ago. When practical LED lights become available, I will use them to replace my CFLs. Hurry up please.

[allamericanboys2001]

This is the best thing! I can't wait to see it's theatrical applications.

[fixingbraincell]

i think Cellophane is enough to change the color of led light. lol.

[christheferal]

@fixingbraincell unfortunately it's not energy efficient though, because you'll have to increase the brightness of the LED in order to achieve the same brightness.

[kkonstantinosss2]

@christheferal That's bullshit!

[christheferal]

@kkonstantinosss2 Um, what's bullshit? What I said? Instead of saying "that's bullshit", could you please explain why I (apparently) got something wrong?

[kkonstantinosss2]

@christheferal Sorry I'm learning to type in Dvorak so I was bored to answer. It is completely energy efficient. The light is not filtered out but instead it is simply converted into a different wavelength. Different wavelengths seem to be less bright but they aren't For example 532nm green seems many times brighter than a light wave of 640nm with the same amplitude (brightness) It will be nearly as bright. It is also better for out eyes than the sickening white. It is still the same LED.

[christheferal]

@kkonstantinosss2 Yes. That's exactly what I was saying... lol. I was replying to fixingbraincell who said that cellophane was enough, I was explaining that that's essentially less energy efficient.

[bonds911]

@christheferal lol your an idiot this saves 5 times more enrgy so it must be efficient ahaahah i know i spelled some shit wrong so dont try that shit aint workin gon me okay

[christheferal]

@bonds911 I'm not sure if you're replying to the wrong person or you've misread my comment. I said that this is more energy efficient. Someone else thought there was no difference between this and using cellophane and I just explained above that this technology is more energy efficient.

[obone01]

Eh. I'll just use orange cellophane.

[bummers]

Can we just use an orange tint filter instead?

[CJCruiser]

that's what i thought at first, but tints only block light. so you have full spectrum light and put orange plastic in front of it and it blocks all colors except orange. With this, you put blue light into it, and get full spectrum, very cool.

[xboxmod1]

no. . .

[hughtub]

@bummers Filters block parts of the spectrum so decrease the light transmitted; this morphs the bluish parts of the spectrum into orange/white.

[christheferal]

@bummers You can, however it won't be nearly as bright.

[kkonstantinosss2]

@bummers We can't use a filter because if the light we want is simply not there we will just filter nothing!

[mutatron]

LEDs may be great at producing light, but they suck at producing heat. When is someone going to develop an LED bulb that is efficient at producing heat?

[boxfervor]

Part of the problem with incandescent bulbs was that the energy was being wasted in heat and not light. Lightbulbs are suppose to be for light not warming.

Now, I think you are referring to traffic lights and winter. There are ways to stop snow buildup by installing guards or other methods.

[stuartrmiller]

Great idea!! Many questions unanswered though: Do the quantum dots have a shelf-life? Do they degrade after some months/years, or last a long as the LEDs do? What about disposal .. are they recyclable and/or do they damage the environment if put in the trash?

[The1Terrorist]

@stuartrmiller I've had some experience (a year) synthesizing quantum dots, and I can assure you that they are extremely harmful to the environment (and very toxic unless carefully handled) since they typically are synthesized from cadmium, selenium, and various corrosive and pyrophoric solvents. Yes, they do degrade after a few months, but there are many ways scientists have made them last longer (e.g. coating, shelling), but not as long as LEDs--yet!

[fuunguus]

I hate light. Only good for reading and other tasks that need light, if you want to be comfy turn the damn lights off/down, don't need no quantum crystals to do that.

[tory888]

CFLs are useless in most situations, and they're more or less all we can get over here in the UK. They take eaches to reach full brightness and even then are still too dark for applications, such as reading, that require a large amount of light.

[CJCruiser]

you're using cheap CFLs, and since when do you need a halogen lamp to read a book?

[tory888]

@CJCruiser Not just a halogen lamp, but anything to prevent eyestrain (I read a lot)

[017524062]

What in hell are "eaches"?

[KarlPGeiger]

Incandescent bulbs are not "unchanged for 200 years."  Work began in 1850 and culminated in 1879 with the first practical commercial model, a stretch of only 131 years.

[2caring]

I just hope the light blub does not become little modern music formats, where we feel a intense need to get the latest format every five or ten years.

[anozir]

As long as they fit the same socket, I'm for whichever one saves me money!

[soloxsi]

Nice