What is LED lights?

[serephenia]

Can anyone tell me whats the difference between LED lights and regular lights? Thanks.

[bluong1]

LED stands for Liquid Emitting Diode. There is no bulb inside, when the electric current flow through the diode (and the current should be in the right direction, you can't swap + or -) the light is emitted (quantum effect when electron combines with a proton inside the transistor). In a regular bulb, it's an Ohm effect, i.e., the molecules of the filament colided by electron then vibrates and creates light. LED can be found mostly on the centered window brake light.

May I remind that N/A Mazda3 won't get LED taillight.

[Number Eight]

It actually stands for Light Emitting Diode, and the main difference between an LED and a regular bulb is that the LED only uses about 25% of the power that the bulb would use.

[NetRage]

Something N/A Mazda3 should have.

[911GT2]

It also creates a more directional light pattern than a conventional incandescent bulb.

Which is why it's so sharp in appearance, very little scattering.

And btw, a diode in itself is a electronic circuit element that allows current to pass in only one way. A light emitting diode is a combination of a semiconductor and a diode. When current passes in the correct direction (dictated by the orientation of the light in a circuit), the electrons in the semiconductor become "excited" and give off light.

Wanna see one? Your monitor's got one and so does your printer and PC.

EDIT: ****, to actually answer your question, an incandescent light bulb (what's usually used) is just a resistor that heats up and gives off light when current is passed through it.

[serephenia]

Thanks everyone for replying

[Number Eight]

Oh, and I forgot one of the more important aspects. LEDs ignite and reach full brightness instantly, while bulbs have a small delay. You can imagine how this would come in handy on brake lights.

[paradiddle911]

Also, in terms of safetly and speed.

LED Lights take 1 millisecond to illuminate while...

Regular Bulbs take 250 milliseconds to illuminate.

I am not sure on the exact calculation, however from what i remember at highway speeds (100kph/62mph) you have 6 feet extra notice.....(i am to tired to calculate this right now, however it is something significant).

LED lights are also never supposed to burn out (unlike regular halogens/bulbs) - Plus they look way cooler - like on an S-Class, or A8 or all the other nice cars they come on.

Most spoilers though do have LED lights, and if you watch someone brake, you can see the time difference in illumination between the spoiler and regular bulbs!

Cheers,

K

[bluong1]

at 100km/h, the car goes 6.944m in 250 ms. It's about 23 ft. I have read the delay is around 170-200 ms. 20ft is what LED can bring at Hwy speed. Notice that most of the modern cars are equipped with the LED center stop light. The LED life expectency is around 10 years, probably more than the car life.

[Slalom]

its too bad the CHMSL on the 3 hatch is not even LED anymore like it was on the P5... Mazda is saving some coin there to offset the added features...