(NIST: Gaithersburg, Maryland) -- The lack of common measurement methods among light-emitting diode (LED) and lighting manufacturers has affected the commercialization of solid-state lighting products. In a recent paper, “New Practical Method for Measurement of High-Power LEDs,” Proc. CIE Expert Symposium on Advances in Photometry and Colorimetry (CIE x033:2008, 102-106, 2008) Yuqin Zong and Yoshi Ohno, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), proposed a new, economical method to allow LED and lighting manufacturers to obtain accurate, reproducible, and comparable measurements of LED brightness and color.

The new method for measuring the optical properties of high-power LEDs will allow manufacturers to accurately obtain and compare data. By mounting the LED on a temperature-controlled heat sink, the researchers can test the LEDs at their normal operating temperature which is important to commercial manufacturers, and at high speed, important to LED manufacturers.

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