LED track light history

the development of contemporary track lighting（From halogen track lights fluorescent track lights to led track lights）

Posted on by admin
12
Aug
LED contemporary track light are one of the most important lighting fixtures in commercial lighting spaces. It has the characteristics of flexible installation, convenient adjustment, and light effect accumulation, so it can produce important key characterization effects. Perhaps this article can not be traced back to the earliest invented rail spotlights, but it can mainly introduce the history of the change of track lights in the past 10 years from the classification of light source types, and related application problems.
First generation halogen track lightWhen the concept of accent lighting began to appear, LED contemporary track light came into being.Looking through the early works of Teacher Liang Zhitian, you will find that small track spotlights are very common. If you are a small partner who has been in business in recent years, you may rarely see halogen track lights in the country. According to the matching light source, there are several commonly used halogen track lights: lamp cup (MR16) type, aluminum cup type (also known as QRIII or AR111), PAR bubble type, and QT32 type.​

QT32 track lights (photographed in the Guangdong Provincial Art Museum), many children should have seen this goods. Advantages of halogen track lights:1. The lamp body is compact and the structure is simple (light body + electric appliance + replaceable light source), and the price is cheap.

2, the color rendering is good, and the light has a very good twist, so that the subject is scattered and luminous.

Shanghai Museum Sculpture Hall, ERCO halogen spotlight lighting effect
Halogen source track lights for home use applications.Disadvantages:1, the heat is large, for light sensitive objects, the lighting needs special protection.

2, high energy consumption, short life, for commercial space operation and maintenance, the cost of electricity and the cost of replacing the light source often need to be high, which is the most eliminated by the halogen track lamp in the years of 2010-2013 by the rapid replacement of LED products important reason.

In the 2011 Japan Lighting Exhibition, a manufacturer made an intuitive comparison of the power consumption of various types of track lights with electricity meters.PS: In the domestic commercial business, the application of halogen track lights has rarely been seen, and it is almost extinct. However, in Europe and Japan, attention has been paid to local stores, and halogen track lights still account for a certain proportion.
The second type of fluorescent track lightsProducts that use fluorescent light sources for track lights are relatively rare, because fluorescent light sources are large-area light-emitting, so it is difficult to achieve key lighting effects. However, for some special places, such as wall washing requirements, fluorescent lamps are the best choice in the past when optical solutions are not developed. The H-tubes are often used to design a wall-washed product. Of course, due to the limited light source, the past The effect of washing the wall must not be the same as today.
Han Meilin Art Museum, fluorescent track light
Thinking of this picture: The original design is definitely the same color, but when a museum enters the later operation, the light may be handed over to the electrician. After the bad light, the light source is guaranteed to be “lighted”, and the light will not be paid attention to. The effect is gone.In-stream ads: Dalko Darkoo has a variety of matching track lights to achieve a uniform continuous wall washing effect, can be connected in the background.
The third category of metal halide track lightsThe metal halide track light can be said to have been the sales of the indoor commercials in that era, clothing chain stores, shopping malls, furniture showrooms and stores, it is the first choice, and the amount is very large, accompanied by the expansion of the brand stores, the metal halide lamp is Visible everywhere. Metal halide lamps also have different types of light sources, not G12, G8.5, PAR30, PAR20, etc.
Generally, the same product, the manufacturer will design the CDM-T version and also design the PAR light source version, the PAR light source is E27 screw type, and the illumination angle has been designed.
In the clothing store and home showroom of the metal halide lighting era, the photos have a sense of time?
Metal halide lamps have several notable features:1, high light efficiency, high power, is to create “is better than the next door to compete in the brand store” artifact!2, long life, compared to the halogen light source that will be replaced for an average of six months, the life of the metal halide lamp is enough for the store to use a decoration cycle;

But it also has several hard injuries:1. The metal halide lamp has a long startup time. It needs more cooling when restarting. It can be turned off immediately after it is turned off.2, the poor quality of the metal halide light source is prone to color drift (still different from the color difference we are talking about now)

3, high light efficiency, low power selection (conventional 35W and 70W and 150W 3 kinds of power), does not support dimming, so it is difficult to achieve diversified effects.

4, metal halide lamp electrical appliances are divided into two kinds of electronic and inductive, the magnetic ballast body is large, not beautiful, and the inductor is easy to have noise.

The fourth type of LED track lightsAfter experiencing the above three kinds of lighting products, LEDs have begun to emerge in the early 21st century. At about 2006-2008, some enterprises have begun to try. After 2008, they have set off intensive LED promotion, application and replacement. LED track lights have also undergone years of changes.The earliest LED track light: replacement for halogen lamps

At the beginning, LED technology is not outstanding, color rendering, light efficiency can not be the same as today’s products, but in the trend of energy saving and environmental protection, everyone can easily accept this new product, but at the price of the transaction It is also prohibitive.

The earliest batch of LED track lights, manufacturers have introduced a light source with a light source, you can see from the picture, there is no concept of integrated design LED products.In the early days, the LED modular light source group was equipped with the lamp body of the original metal halide lamp structure, and the electrical configuration was modified to become the LED track light.Second generation LED track light: SMD type (single light source type)

Slowly, the technological advancement of LED chips upstream, promoted to lighting application manufacturers, coupled with the introduction of foreign integrated LED products, a new generation of LED track lights debut. This stage of LED track lights can be said to be a crazy growth era. R & D engineers and quality testing are also facing great challenges. On the one hand, the heat dissipation and optical design of LEDs are themselves relatively less contact in the past. It requires a lot of exploration and experimental testing; on the other hand, the technology update of LED is too fast, often a product has not yet been mass-produced, and a new light source has come out.

Some of the earlier LED track spotlights, optical solutions often have two, one lens, or a combination of single lenses.Returning to the application effect, the LED track lights at this stage are not so significant in terms of energy saving, and the color rendering is not good, but due to the intensive market promotion, customers are willing to try such new products and For the trend, some of the larger chain brands are relatively cautious.
In 2013, a men’s clothing store using LED track lights, across the screen, we can all feel the distortion of color.
Third generation LED track light: COB typeWhen the COB light source appears, the application manufacturer finds that the newly-packaged LED with small volume and high power is easier to design, and in the same volume, the luminaire can achieve higher power to meet higher lumen value. The demand is the most mainstream LED track light in modern commercial lighting space.Of course, the optical design of COB-type track spotlights has undergone several changes, and several different types exist in the market.

Single reflector type (this class is also the earliest), reflector + light guide column type, lens type. Each has its own characteristics and advantages. For example, the reflective cup type product has high utilization efficiency. The lens type COB orbital spotlight has a relatively good uniform transition of the spot, and the lens can be made thinner, thereby reducing the length of the lamp body. (Because of space reasons, these three categories cannot be elaborated)

Lens type LED track light base structure split
Lens + Light Guide Optics, Dalco Early ProductsMain features of COB track spotlights:1, the power range is large, there are 3W, 5W such small power products to meet the needs of restaurants, home space; there are 25, 35W such large power products to meet the store lighting needs;

2, the color temperature range is wide, from 2400K, 2700K to 5000K, 6000K, the color temperature is diverse and can be customized, breaking the color temperature limit of 3000K, 4000K of metal halide lamps, which can meet the needs of more subdivided fields;

Color rendering is also better.

Disadvantages:1. COB light source products are difficult to achieve ultra-narrow angles. Because of its large light-emitting surface, it is difficult to concentrate the light. Conventionally, the minimum angle that COB-type track spotlight manufacturers can make is about 10° (except for individual museum-level products).2, COB light source products are prone to sub-spots, and the spot cut-off line is tough. (Of course, special optical processing, such as adding an optimizer, to eliminate side spots)

After so many years of development, LED track lights have a variety of more powerful performance, such as a very flexible installation, low-voltage magnetic, or hidden track type.
The application of LED track lights is not only in commercial shops, but also in the style of no main lights, the application of the family is more and more extensive.
Of course, no matter how the product changes, the core, the lighting effect requirements will not change, so what kind of optical device is particularly important.

History of the development of rail spotlights

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