|
As Jeff points out, the creation of the blue LED was crucial to developing white LEDs. Both methods of producing white light require the blue LED. Combining blue with red and green LEDs creates white light, as well as converting blue to white light using a phosphor.
My assumption is that the phosphor energy conversion involves more loss than combining red/green/blue LEDs to produce white. I would further assume phosphor is the cheaper way to manufacture the light as only 1 PN junction has to be made rather than 3. Don't have time at the moment to research these assumptions, but I'm eager to learn.
I don't see the LED going away anytime soon. What else rivals the efficiency, longevity, and cost? Adjusting intensity using PWM is very efficient.
|