The Bottom Line, COB LED Strip Lights
Seamless, micro dot light lines that provide a continuous “no-dotting” style impression. COB LED tape lights are simple to specify and effortless to install. Spotless as standard means aluminium LED profiles are also now an optional extra. The end result? Seamless LED tapes save time in design, preparation, purchasing and installation and are brighter, more efficient with longer lifetime capacity.
What is COB LED?
COB flip chip LEDs are like F1 racing cars, they’re built for peak performance in a bare bones chassis. Now compare that to the SMD 5050 which stands for “Surface Mount Device 50mm x 50mm”, it has a heavier plastic reflector that surrounds the LED diode and is then covered by a phosphor coating. The “flip chips” keep things simple, just an LED chip, a thin phosphor film layer and solder connection pads. This new, super trim design means they can be snuggly butted together for compacted, seamless lighting.
What are COB LED Tape Lights?
Seamless COB LED tape lights are the latest revolution in flexible LED tape strips. COB which stands for “Chip on board” technology solves two key problems, the first is light diffusion and second is thermal management. So let’s look at the first, the seamless tron looking light line effect that makes COB strips so appealing. So desirable infact that we’re confident to say that seamless LED strips we believe will ultimately become the dominant flexible tape strip style as time moves on.
How do I connect COB LED tape strips to a power supply easily?
In this video we show you how to connect a 10mm wide 2700K COB LED tape light (5-watt per meter, 12V) using a combination of COB tape to 2 core cable and 2 core cable to 2 core cable push connectors.
Slimline, spotless lighting for the smallest of places.
A big complaint in traditional LED strip lights is spotting or “hotspots” which is often ghastly and unsightly. Hot spots are where the brightness of the LEDs stands out in contrast to the dark surrounding patches. This leaves a uniform pattern of contrasting light and dark spots which are noticeable especially on reflective surfaces. COB LED tape solves that by providing a seamless illuminated light line throughout the entire strip.
Typical SMD strips will usually provide a great lighting result especially in accent or indirect applications. However if the strip is too close to a surface or front facing hot spots are noticeble. COB LED strip lights will never have this issue.
What colour temperatures are available?
More Efficient, Handles The Heat
Now let’s move on to another major advantage, thermal management. When looking at any LED technology, be it down lights, wall mounted LED luminaires or even IP rated exterior LED lights they all have one thing in common. One thing that an LED manufacturer aims to resolve as the number one priority, that’s getting heat off the LED as fast as possible.
Heat dissipation is extremely important for LEDs. But why? Because the more heat on the LED diode the greater the chance of premature failure over time. It also means that the LED and overall design is inefficient. What we want is less heat more light, or simply put a more efficient energy conversion state. Light > Heat.
Economical lighting made easy.
Moores law means more light. As technological advancement accelerates at lightning speed so to does innovation in LED strip lighting.
As time goes on the interest in a seamless visual integration for homes, offices and commercial building will increase. We envisage architects, lighting designers, integrators, electrical contractors and trade professional alike increasingly utilising indirect or direct seamless LED lighting throughout their projects. That makes COB LED tape lights an ideal choice for any application.
Sometimes the greatest gifts to the world come in the smallest packages. This small yet mighty technology supercedes all generations before it. In time seamless LED strip lights will rise to prominence as the all arounder LED tape light that delivers on all fronts. A true luminary, relentless in it’s pursuit to be the best. Slimline as standard, like a mouse these strips can fit into the smallest of holes. Flexible, adaptable, bright and brilliant are just some characteristics of seamless COB LED light strips.
Cost Savings With Seamless Strip Lights
Expense, that dreaded word. But what if you could save on expenses? Maybe you could see the word in a more positive light. In the past in order to create a perfectly diffused visual effect, typically you would need both an LED tape strip and aluminium LED profile together. This adds to expense both financially and in the form of time invested with initial design, procurement and installation required on every new project. Seamless strips trim the fat, ensuring an economically viable light line that delivers on it’s initial promise. A smooth, continuous light line out the box. That’s not to say profiles can’t still add aesthetic value to your lighting project but it does mean you now have a more economic option.
Major Advantages of COB LED strip Lights
Your time is your most precious resource, why waste it? Seamless LED strips offer a convergence of benefits. The biggest being time saved overall in designing and delivering on your professional lighting project. Get in touch with us today to discuss your needs on 0116 406 2959 or email us at sales@uprisemed.com
Brighter & More Brilliant
At either 5W, 9W or 15W per meter COB LED strip lights are efficiently brighter. A whopping 1080lm/M (10W/M) for 6000K! That’s an incredible light output. Check out our range of 5W per meter 2700K 12V COB LED tapes or 10W/M 3000K / 4000K / 6000K 24V COB LED strips
Fit And Forget
Once you’ve installed a professional grade COB LED strip light in your environment you can expect continuous life of 50,000 hours. 3 year warranties are not uncommon in the world of COB LED strip technology.
Life Expectancy
50,000 hours of continuous life, that’s a long lived investment that will pay off daily.
Investing in any LED technology comes with a level of risk. If I invest in this LED product today will it last later? This is one question on most people’s minds when setting out to buy an LED solution. Next generation COB LED tape lights have been designed with enhanced thermal management and usually come with a 3 year warranty.
Run longer lengths in one go
Being able to run a continuous LED strip at distance is handy as it maximises installation parameters. This helps remove stress whilst installing, helping to overcome challenges. Despite so many LEDs a 24V 10W per meter COB LED strip can be powered upto 7M without return power or “power injection” however a 5M run is recommended.
A 12V or 24V Powered LED Tape Strip?
Low voltage LED lighting systems are becoming increasingly more popular especially in new home builds and home offices. 24V is needed due to sheer amount of LEDs and components such as diodes within COB LED strip circuitry. Traditionally flexible LED strip lights come in either 12V or 24V. With the trade off being 12V LED strips usually having shorter cut points (for precision fitting) and a shorter powered distance maximum and 24V having larger cut points but also allowing for a longer powered run.
The construction of COB
COB LED strips are high-density LED strips made by COB encapsulation, which reduces thermal resistance of the high-density strip circuity system. This greatly improves the life of the LED, improving light flux density, reducing glare and keeping the light uniform so there is no dark patching.
Natural vs Manmade Lighting Colour Temperature Chart
The above chart shows a typical kelvin chart from warm to cool light. You can see the positioning of familiar manmade light sources (top), natural light sources (middle) and typical flexible LED tape lighting temperatures (bottom).
Sunrise-Sunset visuals from around the world
My dream was to travel the world location scouting in search of the world’s most epic, natural lighting visuals as one day I’d like to be a film director. The above images show sunsets around the world, giving an accurate idea of kelvin gradients in real life. Witness some of the most awe inspiring moments you’ve ever seen. With details of locations to boot so you can make plans to see them for yourselves.
These inspirational light scenes make for great natural colour referencing. From the romantic yet mysterious feel of the Louvre, Paris at night to defending Macedonia’s, Skopje Castle from the onset of darkness. Camels traversing cable beach over at Broome, Western Australia. To the island waterways of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Add some spiritual enlightenment into the mix with temples from Bali, Indonesia and Chiang Mai, Thailand along with the donated Egyptian Temple, the Temple of Debod in Spain’s capital Madrid. A scene for every adventure, from modern cities to aged castles, great lakes and natural beach wonders.
Fast lighting delivery, did you know..
The speed of light in a vacuum travels at a constant, finite 186,282 miles per second. To put that in to perspective a world traveler, moving at light speed would circum-navigate the equator roughly 7.5 times in a single second. That’s one experienced traveler!
If light hits your eye that fast, we’re sure you’ll agree it’s better it be the best kind of light! Seamless.
The philosophy of light in cinematography
Lighting plays an exciting and important role in films and media. Helping to create emotion, emergency and a sense of drama throughout a scene. The use of warm and cool white lighting is absolutely vital to the art of story telling. So vital in fact that you’ll be hard pressed to find a film that doesn’t make use of blues, cool whites, warm whites, ambers and every light tone in between to evoke emotion in a scene. Understanding these principles can help you in your lighting schemes.
Tron (2010)
The web, a digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they fell upon the page. What did they look like? Glyphs, Squiggles, did the context make sense? I kept dreaming of an article I thought I’d never see. And then.. One day, it got done.
Tron was way ahead of it’s time in my humble opinion and yet I absolutely adore this movie for it’s futuristic outlook and unique environments. Each scene slowly building towards an epic final destination, a tight, perilous road (bridge), one we all must take to ultimately succeed.
It’s philosophical use of seamless cooler and warmer shades to highlight the two opposing sides really helps highlight what’s truly at stake. The battle between bad and good, pride, ego, greed and refusing to admit mistakes vs higher principles such as love, honour, sacrifice and looking upwards towards the spirit of the father. That timeless unknown, just beyond the reach of the human condition. Faith.
1917 (2019)
This film is a masterclass in film making. It’s seamless one shot approach takes you through a journey that will have you on the edge of your seat from moment to moment. The use of cool and warm light tones throughout the movie helps bring this epic to life.
The intense, emotionally gripping sequences are undeniably some of the best directed in film making. Truly original from the onset it follows the journey of two brave soldiers out to get a message to one of their brothers that will potentially save 1600 lives from a trap.
The strategic realism of the situation really hits home as the story develops and the emotional payoff is definitely worth the wait. Witness some of the most awe inspiring, carefully crafted light visuals you have ever seen, one scene in particular takes lightography to unprecedented levels. You’ll know it when you see it.
The use of warm, amber rich visuals and cooler white shades to emphasise hopelessness throughout is testament to the subconciously powerful use of light for dramatic effect. This is by far one of my favourite films of all time. It’s a visual marvel in it’s own right.
It’s a truly masterful take on the proverb “For Want of a Nail“, something all people and Kingdoms should never forget if they want to preserve and re-expand their culture.
The Hobbit, The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)
History shows that those who ignore the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. As a testament that sometimes the smallest of men can overcome the greatest of obstacles. The Hobbit, Desolation Of Smaug, the second in a three part trilogy has our group of heroes come face to face with a manifestation of chaos itself, Smaug the dragon. Things are about to get lit.
Looking at the use of light from a more practical view. Immediately, the use of cool whites and rich, warm whites and amber glows can be noticed across several scenes. The contrast use of these white shades really help set the scene subconciously for the forces of light and dark, dark and light interchangeably. Typically you’d imagine warm whites to be positive and cool whites to be negative, hot vs cold. But here we have a dragon as warmly illuminated and the heroes often shown in a colder light. This yin yang perspective helps to show that nothing is fully bad nor fully good. That there is light in the darkest of places and darkness hidden within the brightest lights.
So why is it that this film hits home? It would appear that orc’s, magicians, elves, dwarves, hobbits and even dragons don’t exist, at least not in this age. And yet something about this film appears so very real, as if it’s a memory fragment of a long forgotten past or an artistic abstraction of something quite familiar. Perhaps it’s the metaphysical and relatable use of light vs dark or good vs evil. The philosophical and archetypical imagery throughout this film creates a deep routed sense of awe and wonder. Whether you believe dragons existed in the past or not doesn’t matter. We’ve all faced dragons in our daily lives, greed, lust, immorality, those people that cause pain and who rarely blame themselves for anything allowing arrogance and pride to consume them. Whether within or outside of ourselves, we face chaos every day. In the words of Gandalf “I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
J.R.R Tokien | All That is Gold Does Not Glitter | Kinetic Typography
To face greed in ernest, toss false pride aside and be truly satisfied.
The cycles of time reveal everything that was, is and will be. And to be heroic is to stand up for what’s right for the good of all. Not just for material gain but that of the spirit.
So what do these three films have in common apart from the intelligent use of cool and warm white lighting across scenes? They all show the heroes journey. A group of people confronting chaos itself, each facing off against the dragon of their era. To discover the light within themselves and do what’s necessary to stop evil in it’s tracks. Here lies the truth and the truth often lies dormant.
Discover The Light, Protect Life (Cinematic)
Why? The real why to buying beautiful lighting.
Why does anyone do anything? Why would someone want to invest in such seamless beauty in light? One continuous length of illuminated brilliance. Like a long straight road filled with nothing but awe inspiring moments, it’s not the destination but the journey. So why? Because people want to make things truly beautiful for the people they love. And sometimes the hardest decisions require the greatest of sacrifice. To put yourself on the edge of uncertainty in the pursuit of meaning. And to make things more beautiful than before so the world can keep moving forward.
You're a shining node in a glowing network
Everything is interconnected, you’re no exception. That means that the decisions you make will ripple in eternity. When you look at a seamless LED strip light, you’re not just looking at a light. But thousands upon thousands of shining lights, each contributing their time, energy and desires to support the people they care about.
The strip you’re looking at is more than you could imagine. A culmination of every day people, production workers, delivery men, communicators, designers and leaders. People who spend months at a time on oil rigs away from their families, people who collect rubber from trees, copper & plastic workers who work tirelessly day in day out. The outliers, the tinkerers and inventors, the creators that move things forward. Introverts and extroverts of all kinds, all working in harmony to bring something special to the world. And you, the visionary. Who’s here now, investing you’re precious time to help move things forward.
You’re looking at centuries of societal development and incredible infrastructure developed with laws to keep people safe. That’s years of hard work, sacrifice and the utmost desire to keep things right. People of all walks of life flexibly navigating the challenges of each and every decade. And a history that should not be forgotten. Don’t forget who you are and where you came from. It’s for you the brave and the bold to shine a light in dark places.
Why use seamless COB LED strips over other LED strip lights?
Solving a trifecta of problems within LED strips means seamless COB LED tape lights are now the new kids on the block. With great upside and limited downside it’s extremely likely they will become the market standard sooner rather than later.
LED spotting is a common problem with traditional flexible LED strip lights. COB LED tape solves that by providing a seamless lighting experience throughout the entire strip.
Life Expectancy – Investing in any LED technology comes with a level of risk. If I invest in this LED product today will it last later? This is one question on most people’s minds when setting out to buy an LED solution. Next generation COB LED tape lights have been designed with enhanced thermal management and usually come with a 3 year warranty.
Mental Wellbeing – Did you know SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) affects around 15 million adults, or 6.8% of the U.S population. SAD is equally common in men and women and starts usually around age 13. In accordance to a 2007 ADAA survey, 36% of people who have a social anxiety disorder reported the onset of symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help.
87% of lighting designers who have worked with LED strips said they would seriously consider proposing and switching to COB LED strip lights in the future.
Summary - Benefits of COB LED strips lights
- Seamless continuous light line effect
- Save money on additional LED profiles
- Time efficient design and installation
- Eco-friendly, low energy consumption
- Flexible and easily cuttable for versatility in fitting
- Available in multiple colours for environment styling
- Waterproof options available.
Traditionally, LED tape lights which are known as SMD LED tapes have the LED chips separated within an SMD LED chip package. SMD stands for “Surface Mounted Device”. What this means is each LED chip is an individual light source that until recently were widely separated throughout the length of a strip. This isn’t an issue in accent style installations where there is a mixing chamber but it is for front facing or “bare” strip stick down applications such as kitchen pelmets, shelves or in cabinets. Especially in areas where reflective surfaces are present. This is because you can see the reflections of each isolated light source which looks dissatisfying, harsh on the eyes and ultimately visually unclean. Because each LED on an SMD strip is separated you will often see dark spacings or shadowing which is not ideal.
So what’s so revolutionary about seamless COB LED technology? As we’ve acknowledged SMD chips are spaced apart from each over leaving a series of uniform shadows. But COB LED strip lights on the other hand are different, beautifully different. The COB LED chips are so perfectly aligned together they give the impression of one continuous light source throughout. Flexible, seamless light in the palm of your hands. The secret is a special packaging adhesive that also includes some silicon to protect the LED chips. This homogeneous marriage of chip and silicon adhesion is what allows for amongst one of the most beautiful looking lighting technologies we’ve ever seen. We’re excited about seamless LED strip lights and you should be too.