When did LED strip lights come out?

Flexible strip of surface mounted light-emitting diodes

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LED strip light

Several LED spots being reflected as continuous lighting strip

TypeLED &#; strip light

First production 

Early s

An LED strip, tape, or ribbon light is a flexible circuit board populated by surface-mount light-emitting diodes (SMD LEDs) and other components that usually comes with an adhesive backing. Traditionally, strip lights had been used solely in accent lighting, backlighting, task lighting, and decorative lighting applications, such as cove lighting.

LED strip lights originated in the early s. Since then, increased luminous efficacy and higher-power SMDs have allowed them to be used in applications such as high brightness task lighting, fluorescent and halogen lighting fixture replacements, indirect lighting applications, ultraviolet inspection during manufacturing processes, set and costume design, and growing plants.

Design

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Correlated color temperatures of white light

Variables in strip lighting consist of water resistance, color, adhesives, choice of SMD, driving voltage, control type, and whether it is constant current or constant voltage layout.

Uncoated LED tape is not considered to have any resistance to water ingress, but may be rated with an ingress protection code as IP20 for some physical ingress resistance. Such tapes are generally low voltage and safe for skin to touch but can be shorted by fine metal objects. Water resistant strip lighting is covered in a heat conducting epoxy or silicone to protect the circuitry from direct contact with water, and can be rated IP65, IP67, or with suitable sealed connections IP68. Both coated and uncoated LED tapes have a two sided adhesive backing to stick to walls, desks, doors, etc.

The most common design differences are in how individual LEDs are controlled, specifically differences in color and whether or not each LED is addressable.[1]

• Single color, non-addressable: Every LED on the strand is a single white colour, typically ranging from K to K in color temperature, or any of several monochrome colors covering the range of the visible spectrum (generally from 400-700 nanometers in wavelength).

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• Dynamic tunable white (often described with CCT), non-addressable: Allows the user to adjust the color temperature output from a single strip light. They are manufactured with alternating LEDs of different color temperatures, so half of the LEDs are a lower temperature and half are a higher color temperature, allowing the strip to produce any specific color temperature between the two color temperatures of the LEDs.

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• Multicolor, non-addressable: Each LED is capable of displaying red, green, blue, or all three (white), driven by three input power rails. All the LEDs display the same colour at any one time, but the colour can be manipulated by varying the voltage applied to each of the three power inputs.[

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• RGB, addressable: Multiple colours and addresses. Each LED has its own chip meaning they can be individually triggered for chasing, strobing, and colour changing.

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• RGBW, non-addressable: The combination of single color and multicolor (4 LED-chips) in a single module
• RGBCCT or RGBWW: The combination of dynamic tunable white and multicolor (5 LED-chips) in a single module

Blue LED strip light

LED strip designs are available populated with many different types of SMD, not only in different colors and addressable or non-addressable, by different shapes, sizes, and power levels. The most common types of SMD are: , single colour, non-addressable, very low power; , containing three LEDs allowing for RGB and addressable strips as well as higher power levels; , a newer single-color SMD having the same surface dimensions as the but a larger emitter area and a thinner design with an integrated heatsink allowing for higher power levels; /, a newer replacement for single-color SMDs which can operate at slightly higher power levels and have high efficacy. Less common designs may have , , , , or other SMDs. In addition to the LED SMD type, the quantity of LEDs per meter is also an important factor in determining the overall power and brightness.[5]

LED strip lights most commonly operate on 12 or 24 volts of direct current from a power supply, sometimes referred to as a driver. USB strip lights operate on the standard 5-volt direct current used by USB devices. Mains voltage LED strips are also available. These have the advantages of being usable in much longer single runs without a brightness drop along the length, but are less flexible and heavier due to higher voltage and current ratings and thick coatings for shock safety and high IP ratings in their intended outdoor positions, with limited cut points. No separate power supply is needed, although there must be a rectifier between the mains supply and the end of the LED strip. The most common PCB designs use multiple parallel circuits consisting of passive dropper resistors in series with a certain number of LED SMDs, to operate at a certain current and power level with the expected input voltage. This design is referred to as constant-voltage and is rather sensitive to small variations in input voltage and to the voltage drop that occurs along long lengths of strip when driven from a single power input. Alternative design is the "constant current" design where each parallel circuit of several SMDs includes a small integrated circuit to provide a fixed current to that group of LEDs, within a wide range of applied voltages. This allows the strip to operate at the same power level and brightness along its entire length, or with some variation in the driver voltage.[citation needed]

Any customizations require an LED controller to adjust brightness, color, or individual LED activity. This can be done with an included controller or customized with a microcontroller.[1]

LED strips can also be used to resemble the appearance of traditional neon lights. The LED tape is embedded on the side of a silicone filled, plastic C-channel; the silicone both diffuses the light from the LED tape and directs it out to one side, 90 degrees to the direction the SMD LEDs face. This design allows the lights to be bent in what appears to be the opposite direction to how regular LED tape can be bent, allowing one to spell words and create pictures with it much like neon signs.[6]

Beam angle

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Some LEDs are rated as having a 120° beam angle,[7] directed "up", i.e. perpendicular to the mounting surface. 'Side view' or 'edge emitter' SMDs are designed such that light is emitted parallel to the adhering surface (i.e., 90 degree difference to typical tape design). These allow the construction of LED strips which wash surfaces within less space or accent edge profiles such as signage.[citation needed]

Dimming

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LEDs can be dimmed efficiently using pulse-width modulation (PWM). This strategy rapidly switches the LEDs on and off, typically 500 times per second, by changing the voltage from zero to the designed value in an "on-off" fashion. The LED sees its drive as a square wave. The relative width of the on and off portions of the square wave can be varied so that the LEDs are on or off for relatively more or less time to change brightness.[8] Addressable LEDs do this dimming internally given a data signal which specifies which colour LEDs to turn on, while non-addressable LEDs require an external PWM controller.

Applications

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Video of a bias lighting system with an LED strip light mounted all around the edges at the rear side of a flat screen television set, for extending the picture on the screen to the surrounding walls

Strip lights are designed for both indoor and outdoor use depending on whether they are water resistant. Since the strip is flexible and can be divided at any point between LEDs, it is extremely versatile and can be used in a number of installations. Outside of traditional lighting, strip lighting is extensively used in DIY projects or lighted clothing. The ability to power strip lights off of a USB device or battery pack makes them extremely portable. Examples include computer lighting, costume lights, toys, workspace lighting, monitor and display ambient lighting, and alcove lighting.

Popularity

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During the early s, LED strip lights gained popularity among users on the social media platform TikTok.[9][10]

References

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The history of electric lighting dates back to the late s and the invention of the light bulb. Although it would still be decades before the average home enjoyed electric lighting as a matter of course, the utility and convenience of this invention would come to change the way people lived, allowing us to squeeze more hours of activity into every day.

Of course, we can improve nearly every invention, and lighting is no exception. In , a scientist name Nick Holonyak, Jr. working for GE created the first light emitting diode (LED), or at least the first practical, visible model similar to the ones we use today. Incredibly, he did this while attempting to create a semiconductor laser.

At the time, he probably didn&#;t know what his invention would become. He likely never imagined that one day LEDs would be the premiere, energy-efficient form of home and commercial lighting. With the first LEDs selling for over $200 each, they certainly weren&#;t in the price range of most consumers. And yet, Holonyak anticipated that LEDs would one day replace traditional incandescent bulbs. In a interview he stated that he just didn&#;t expect it to take so long for LEDs to catch on.

How did the LEDs we use today evolve from their humble beginnings and how did they go from the go-to for digital clocks to the bulbs, rope lights, and strip lights that are now as common as gas lamps once were?

How LEDs Work

Before we can understand how LEDs became so popular, it&#;s important to know how they work, mainly because they are so different from incandescent lighting. Incandescent lights, for example, pass electrical current through a filament that heats up and glows, giving off light.

A light emitting diode, on the other hand, is a semiconductor that releases photons (light) as a side effect of forcing the movement of electrons with electric current. As such, it creates no heat. All you have to do is get near an incandescent bulb that has been on for a while to feel the heat it puts off. LED bulbs have no such issues. They also require a lot less electricity to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb.

Even with the advantages inherent to LED technology, however, it would still be many years before these lights became popular for common lighting products we use today. Why did it take so long to conceive of using LEDs in light bulbs, televisions, and strip or rope lights?

Holonyak&#;s Invention

Holonyak first devised the LED as a laser technology that just happened to produce visible light. The low-intensity infrared light he originally conceived is still used today. If you have a remote for your television or other home electronics, you&#;ve seen it in action.

Unfortunately, there weren&#;t a lot of practical applications for LEDs at the time because they were so expensive to produce, and initially, only available in red. Commercial development continued throughout the s, with advances made in the colors. However, the products were too expensive and inefficient to effectively appeal to a consumer market.

T. P. Pearsall

In the mid-&#;70s, T. P. Pearsall was experimenting with new semiconductor materials to find ways to adapt LED technology for use in optical fiber transmissions for telecommunications. He ended up creating the first LEDs that paired intense brightness with higher efficiency.

Even so, it would still be quite a while before LEDs left the realm of indicator lamps and commercial applications. It would be many years before LEDs became a viable consumer light source. Why? Perhaps because no one saw a real need to improve on incandescent lighting. Maybe it just took longer than anticipated to develop inexpensive and energy-efficient consumer models.

LEDs Today

The good news is that the slow progression of this technology has finally paid off. Today, we enjoy LED options not only in clocks and remote controls, but in TVs and computer monitors, as well as in every light fixture.

Additionally, we have products like rope and strip lights that we can hook up to sensors, dimmers, and other controls for both practical and aesthetic purposes. It took decades for LEDs to reach the superior status they enjoy today, but thankfully consumers now enjoy the safe, efficient lighting only LEDs can provide.

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