Glossary of LED Terms

ANSI – American National Standards Institute

Binning – A process by which LEDs are sorted in order to maintain proper color consistency between individual LEDs.

CCT (Correlated Color Temperature ) – A number assigned to a given light source that represents the color temperature of a black body radiator which to human color perception most closely matches the light from the lamp.

CFL – Stands for Compact Fluorescent; An energy efficient lamping source.

CRI (Color Rendering Index) – A measurement, from 0 to 100, of a light sources ability to reproduce the colors of objects accurately.

Die-cast – A term that refers to the process of forcing molten metal, under great pressure, into a die or form to give it a specific shape. A very efficient process, excess material can be reused for future casting.

Diodes – Semi-conductors similar to a computer chip that emit light when electricity is applied to them.

Efficacy – Measures the efficiency of a light source by comparing lumens to wattage.

Energy Star – A United States government program created in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and green house gases. What began as a voluntary labelling program has grown into one of the largest efforts worldwide to promote energy efficient consumer products.

Foot Candle – Measurement of light at an illuminated object; equal to the amount of light one candle generates one foot away.

Heat Sink – A device or substance used for absorbing and dissipating excessive or unwanted heat.

HID – Stands for High Intensity Discharge, also referred to as Metal Halide lamping.

Incandescent – Traditional lamping widely used in residential and commercial applications. Incandescent bulbs have a low manufacturing cost but a short lifespan and poor energy efficiency.

Kelvin – A unit increment of temperature.

LED – Light Emitting Diode.

Lumens – A metric equivalent of foot candles. Measures how much light gets to the object you want to light. Equal to one foot candle falling on one square foot of area.

Lumen Maintenance – Compares the amount of light produced from a light source to the amount of light output at a given time in the future. Example: If a luminaire produced 1000 lumens of light when it was brand new and now produces 700 lumens of light after 30,000 hours, then it would have a lumen maintenance of 70%.

National Electric Code (NEC) – A part of the National Fire Codes NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) outlining the United States standard for the safe Installation: of electrical equipment and wiring.

Photometrics – Measurement of light intensity.

Semi-conductor – A material that has an electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Devices made from semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics.

Solid State Lighting – A type of lighting that uses semi-conductor light emitting diodes (LEDs) or organic light emitting diodes (OLED) as sources of illumination rather than incandescent, plasma or gas lamp sources.

UL Listing – UL stands for Underwriters Laboratory, it is a trusted resource across the globe for product safety certification and compliance solutions.