Low power high brightness LEDs - where from?

[akis]

Sometime ago I bought a bunch of LEDs on ebay. Some of them achieve ridiculously high brightness at only 0.5mA. Others require a good 10mA or more to match them. For a battery operated device (say a bedside lamp) obviously the 0.5mA would be ideal.

Would anyone know where I can source those ultra bright, ultra low power LEDs? (other than random ones from ebay)

[Zepnat]

Here's my suggestion, actually produces visible light in a completely dark room at less than 1uA.
At the other extreme, reflowed onto a copper PCB and run at 5 amps produces a stupid amount of light.
Best tint ever in my opinion, slightly warm pinkish neutral white. I bought 10.


 http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10003889/1588300-cree-xm-l2-t6-4d-1200lm-4300-4500k-led-emitter

[Corporate666]

It sounds like you're interested in light output for power in... or lumens per watt.  You won't find much better than Samsung 561B's or other equivalent 5630 size LED's like the Seoul STC or ST9 (I forget exactly).

Saying "it was really bright at only 0.5ma" would likely have more to do with viewing angle than anything.  There isn't much magic in white LED's.. and generally the stuff you see in 5mm (especially on eBay) is total shit and should be avoided.  Stick with Samsung/Seoul/Cree/Nichia/Philips and the other brand names, especially if you're looking for efficiency.

[akis]

I was hoping to be able to identify the manufacturer of these "special" LEDs so I can buy them outside of ebay.

From what I can see they are 5mm, red, green, yellow/orange, blue, diffuse, and at 0.5mA produce as much light, if not more, than the "normal" 5mm LEDs which typoically are driven by 10mA- 20mA.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Look for "low current LEDs"