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Waveform Lighting Blog


Recent Posts
Human Centric Lighting

Do high CRI LED lamps have a lower M/P ratio?

With the proliferation of LED lamps, there has been quite a bit of concern over the potential negative effects of the ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Color quality considerations when switching from halogen to LED

Halogen lamps were a very popular lighting technology which offer numerous benefits over incandescent lamps. In addition to longer lifetimes...Read More

Color Science

Introducing TriplePlayâ„¢ Fixture Compatibility for T8 LED Tube Lights

T8 LED tube lights c...Read More

Human Centric Lighting

Do 5000K bulbs give off a blue hue?

5000K is commonly considered to be one of the standard color temperatures for "daylight calibrated" light sources. While this may be an obje...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Electrical Principles Behind LED Strip Length Limitations

LED strip lights are extremely popular due to their versatility. The ability to cut LED strip lights to any desired length is certainly a hu...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Lux and Kelvin - An Overlooked Relationship Between Illuminance and Color Temperature

When planning lighting for a space, many people take a disjointed, two-step approach in determining their lighting needs. The first step is ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Why Can't These Light Bulbs Ship to California? An Overview of the California Energy Commission's Title 20

The State of California has historically been a leader in promoting energy efficiency at the policy level, oftentimes by requiring manufactu...Read More

Color Science

How Wildfire Smoke Affects the Daylight Spectrum - A Technical Analysis

In recent months, wildfires have ravaged the western United States, causing widespread devastation and damage. Smoke from the wildfires has ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Aluminum Channels for LED Strip Lights - Are They Worth It? An In Depth Look

One of the most popular accessories for our LED strip lights include our ...Read More

UV-C Technology

How to Determine UV-C Irradiance Requirements for Disinfection Applications

With the rapid growth of UV-C LED applications in germicidal and disinfection applications, there is a growing need to quantify and determin...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Does Color Rendering Matter? 80 CRI vs 90 CRI vs 95 CRI

Color rendering is a difficult aspect of lighting, because it ...Read More

UV-C Technology

What is the Difference Between UV-A and UV-C?

Ultraviolet light is almost as diverse as the various colors of the visible spectrum. Yet, when we think about ultraviolet, we tend to forge...Read More

UV-C Technology

4 Things to Consider Before Purchasing UV-C Sterilization Systems

With the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, sterilization and disinfection are likely top-of-mind for many people. One popular disinfection...Read More

UV-C Technology

Can UV Lights Kill Coronavirus?

With the COVID19 pandemic rapidly spreading throughout the world, we all want to do everything we can to keep ourselves and our families saf...Read More

UV-C Technology

An Introduction to UV-C LED Lighting for Germicidal, Sterilization and Disinfection Applications

Ultraviolet lights have shown great promise in providing effective sterilization and disinfection of surfaces. Not all UV lights are effecti...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Are LED Lamps Considered Universal Waste? How To Dispose of LED Lamps Properly

LED lamps are the latest innovation in energy-efficient lighting and offer exciting benefits ranging from electrical efficiency to novel lig...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Dimming LED Strip Lights and LED Bulbs using Smart Lighting Systems

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in smart lighting systems that allow users to control their lights via smartphone apps and ho...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How Hot Do LED Strips Get? Is It Normal?

You might often see LED technologies being touted for having lower heat output and higher efficiency. So, you might be surprised to observe ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Should I Choose 4000K LED Lights? An In-Depth Look

When shopping for LED bulbs, you'll come across "warm white" or "soft white" bulbs, which typically have a color temperature rating of ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Which LED Light Color Temperature Should I Choose?

When searching for LED lights, you'll come across the option to choose a color temperature. You might see it described as color tempera...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Why Your Lighting Looks Bad - 5 Potential Reasons

If you've ever wondered why your lighting just doesn't look good, you're not alone. With the proliferation of energy-efficient lighting, con...Read More

Color Science

Understanding UV-A Irradiance, and Requirements for Various Applications

Ultraviolet lights are indispensable tools for various specialty applications, ranging from industrial processes such as UV-curing of inks, ...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

We Replaced T5HO Fluorescent Grow Lights with LED T5HO - Here's What Happened

T5HO fluorescent grow lights have been around for some time, and have been a popular option for providing plants and seedlings with sufficie...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Connecting LED Strips in "Series" vs "Parallel"

You've decided to use LED strip lights for your next project, or you may even be at the point where you're ready to wire everything up. If y...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What is the difference between CCT and CRI?

Before energy-efficient lighting became mainstream, choosing a light bulb was quite straightforward. The 40-watt bulb not giving you enough ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Choosing Between 2700K and 3000K

When searching for home and residential LED lighting products, you will oftentimes come across a choice in c...Read More

Color Science

What is the Difference Between 365 nm and 395 nm UV LED Lights?

If you're looking for some UV-A blacklights, you may come across two specifications - 365 nm or 395 nm. What does that mean, and which one i...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Can You Operate a 12V LED Strip at Less Than 12V?

When you search for LED strip lights, you will most likely come across ...Read More

Color Science

Everything You Need to Know About UV Flashlights

UV flashlights are great tools for seeing and observing things that are normally invisible. But with so many choices and technical terms, it...Read More

Human Centric Lighting

Diagnosing and Resolving LED Flicker Issues

Perhaps you see some vertical lines in your smartphone camera shots, observed some strobing in moving objects, or simply ...Read More

Color Science

Top 4 Things to Consider Before Buying UV Blacklights

UV blacklights are great devices with a wide range of applications in the arts, industry, and scientific research. Unlike regular white ligh...Read More

Human Centric Lighting

Are LED Lights Safe? Are They Harmful to Your Health?

LED lights are rapidly becoming the standard lighting technology in many applications, and in many areas have become the only option as inca...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

FilmGrade New Product Releases (October 2018)

Waveform Lighting announces several new additions to the FilmGrade family of LED products designed for film & TV. Lim...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

How to Connect Hybrid CCT Tunable LED Products

In recent years, white LED products with "tunable" or "CCT adjustable" features have grown in popularity. Particularly in applications such ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Troubleshooting LED Strip Problems

LED strips come in a very wide variety of sizes, ...Read More

Color Science

Why High CRI is Always Less Efficient

As an industry leader in high CRI LED lighting products, one of our challenges has been explaining to our custom...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Daily Light Integral (DLI) Calculator

Daily Light Integral (DLI) is a measure of the aggregate amount of PAR light that a surface receives over the course of a day. It is a very ...Read More

Circadian Matching

Difference Between 5000K and 6500K Bulbs

When searching for "daylight" or color-balanced LED lights, you may frequently come across two different color temperature options: 5000K an...Read More

Color Matching

What is D50 for graphic arts & printing?

A consistent and standardized light source is of critical importance for professionals in the graphic arts and printing industries. The reas...Read More

Human Centric Lighting

Everything You Need to Know About Full Spectrum Lighting

The term "full spectrum light" gets used frequently, and oftentimes erroneously, as there is no single agreed upon definition. ...Read More

PCB Designs

Using a 12V LED Strip in a 24V System

You may be familiar with the differences between 12V and 24V DC systems and the various ...Read More

Human Centric Lighting

Blue Light, Melatonin and Circadian Rhythms

Many of us now live in a world where we have access to electricity 24 hours a day. However, a growing body of research indicates that exposu...Read More

Color Science

LED Strip Light Wire Gauge & Voltage Drop Calculator

When powering LED strips, voltage drop is commonly explained by insufficien...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Powering LED Strips With a Battery

LED strips are flexible and versatile lighting products, but require a power supply to illuminate. What if you want to use the LED strips in...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Convert PPF to Lumens - Online Calculator

PPF (mol/s):  ...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Convert Lumens to PPF - Online Calculator

Lumens:         ...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Convert PPFD to Lux - Online Calculator

PPFD (umol/s/m2):  ...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Convert Lux to PPFD - Online Calculator

Lux:             ...Read More

Color Science

How Do Meanwell HLG LED Power Supplies Work?

If you're working on an LED project, you'll undoubtedly require a power supply. Meanwell HLG series products are frequently recommended as a...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How to Connect An LED Strip to a Power Supply

If you're new to LED strip lights but are eager to get them up and running, the most critical step is figuring out how to provide the approp...Read More

PCB Designs

When and Why do LEDs Need Current Limiting Resistors?

If you're working on any circuit involving LEDs, you may have come across warnings or recommendations to always use a current limiting r...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Ultimate Guide to E12 LED Bulbs

Having trouble finding E12 candelabra bulbs? Unsure what E12 exactly means? Our guide walks through each of the definitions and helps with y...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Everything You Need to Know About A21 Bulbs

What does the term A21 mean? The term A21 is used to describe the overall shape and dimensions of a light bu...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Are E26 and A19 the Same Thing?

When shopping for light bulbs, you may come across the terms A19 and E26. If you're confused about whether they mean the same thing, read on...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Everything You Need to Know About A19 Bulbs

What does the term A19 mean? The term A19 is used to describe the overall shape and dimensions of a light bu...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

E26 vs E27 Bulbs - Interchangeable? Not Necessarily!

You may be wondering if E26 and E27 are the same or interchangeable, and if you can use an E26 bulb in an E27 socket, or vice versa. Before ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What is an E26 Bulb, and What Does it Look Like?

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. If you're loo...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Everything You Need to Know About Under Cabinet Lighting

Under cabinet lighting is a very convenient and useful lighting application. Unlike a standard screw-in light bulb, however, installation an...Read More

Color Science

Everything You Need to Know About LED Shop Lights

LED shop lights are great lighting options for lighting a small work area or workbench. Before you move forward with a purchase, read our gu...Read More

Color Science

A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing and Installing LED Tube Lights

Replacing your fluorescent tube lights with LED retrofits can be a confusing and daunting process. We've put together this guide to demystif...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Can you install an LED bulb that exceeds its fixture or socket wattage rating?

A common question we receive is: "I have a 60-watt equivalent LED bulb, but the socket I want to install it into says [MAX 50...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Top 4 Things to Consider When Buying LED Spotlights

In recent years, you may have found that the halogen bulb you've been buying for years is no longer available at your local hardware store. ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How to choose a BR30 LED lamp

You may be looking to replace some of the older lighting in your home, and come across a form factor called BR30. What does this mean and ho...Read More

Color Matching

Top 4 Things To Consider Before Buying 6500K Daylight LED Bulbs

Are you looking for Daylight White LED bulbs? Unsure about whether 6500K is the best color temperature? Read our 4 point guide before making...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

An Introduction to Flicker Free LED Strip Dimming

LED strips are a new and versatile light source that has been gaining quick adoption in the film and photography lighting industry. With...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

Introducing FilmGrade SmoothDim technology - gradual and smooth LED dimming

When working with LED dimmers, you may notice that some provide a very smooth and gradual dimming curve, while others will be more abrup...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

Why CRI R9 is so important for skin tones - a spectral analysis

In a prior post, we discussed the general importa...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

The shortcomings of using only CCT in film & photography lighting

Many lighting professionals will obsess of color temperature, commonly abbreviated CCT, because it is one of the most prominent color sp...Read More

Film & Photography Lighting

Translating duv to plus/minus green gel

Duv is an important metric that characterizes the "shift" in either the green or magenta direction. It is important because color temper...Read More

Color Science

Luminosity curve data (CSV/Excel format)

You can find the luminosity curve data in text format from the following link here....Read More

Color Science

Calculate CIE 1931 xy coordinates from color temperature (CCT)

CIE 1931 xy coordinates can be approximated using color temperature (CCT). Simply plug in the CCT value into our online calculator....Read More

Color Science

Calculate Illuminant D SPD and CIE 1931 xy from color temperature

Illuminant D can be calculated from color temperature using our online calculator. Simply input the CCT and you will be able to download...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Micromoles to moles conversion and definition

A micromole is a unit of measure defined as 10-6 (one-millionth) of a mole. The symbol for micromole is commonly umol or μ...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

What is the difference between PPFD and PPF?

If you're looking to understand how grow lights compare, you likely have come across the metrics PPF and PPFD. However, y...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What is the difference between lux and lumens?

If you're looking to understand a light bulb's brightness, you may see two metrics that may confuse you - lux and lumens. Both are related t...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

Optimal distance between plants and LED grow lights

What is the optimal distance between plants and LED grow lights? This is a common question among indoor growers who are trying to maximi...Read More

Horticultural Lighting

What are full spectrum LED grow lights?

LED grow light technology is relatively new. One of its advantages is the ability to produce a multitude of different emission spectra....Read More

Color Science

Color accuracy in lighting: artificial and natural lighting

In our various discussions about color rendering and lighting quality, we oftentimes reference color accuracy. But what does it mean to be "...Read More

Color Matching

What is D65 and what is it used for?

What is white? A seemingly simple question can have many answers, depending on who you ask. And for many applications, the ex...Read More

Color Science

Color matching function (X, Y, Z) values by wavelength (CSV/Excel format)

We have the color matching functions for each X, Y and Z available for download here. Click here to start the ...Read More

Color Science

Calculate Duv from CIE 1931 xy coordinates

The Duv of a color point in a chromaticity coordinate system can be used to describe its distance from the black body curve. Duv can be ...Read More

Color Science

What is CRI? The ultimate guide to the Color Rendering Index

Color Rendering Index (CRI) is an often misunderstood metric of color quality. Yet, for any application where color appearance is important,...Read More

Color Science

Calculate color temperature (CCT) from CIE 1931 xy coordinates

Color temperature can be approximated using just a pair of xy coordinates from CIE 1931. Use the formula below, or simply plug in the x ...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How to Dim LED Strip Lights

LED strip lights are great lighting tools for any project. But sometimes, you will want to have some level of dynamic control over the brigh...Read More

Color Science

Color consistency in lighting products

For white LED lights, color consistency can be a critical but often overlooked quality that can make or break a project. Read on to learn ho...Read More

PCB Designs

What is the difference between LED package types such as 3528, 5050, and 2835?

When searching for LED products, you may come across different 4-digit designations for LED types. When you first come across these code...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What is the CRI spec on LED strips?

While looking at LED strip specifications, you may have come across the metric called CRI. Unlike color temperature, CRI is related to color...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What does LED density on an LED strip mean?

While shopping for LED strips, you may come across a number called "LED density" or a designation such as 300 LEDs. What does this mean? Thi...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Do LED strip lights require UL listing?

If you've worked with electronics and lighting, you will undoubtedly have encountered the familiar UL marking. As a low voltage product, how...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How long do LED strip lights last?

You may have become drawn to LED strip lights because of their long lifetime claims. But how long do they actually last? How is lifetime def...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What is LED strip voltage drop?

When working with high power LED strip projects, you may have observed firsthand or heard warnings about voltage drop affecting your LED str...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

What LED strip light color temperature should I choose?

During your search for a white LED strip, you may have come across color temperature ratings. Not sure what it means or what to pick? Read o...Read More

PCB Designs

LED Strip Light Internal Schematic and Voltage Information

This article goes over the inner circuitry and workings of an LED strip light. This information...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How to choose LED strip voltage

While searching for an LED strip light, you may repeatedly come across a voltage rating. But are you unsure what exactly it means? Do you kn...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

How to choose a power supply for your LED strip project

LED strips, unfortunately, are not as simple as traditional incandescent light bulbs when it comes to installation and set up. Because they ...Read More

PCB Designs

Things to know about flexible LED strip substrates

When you look at and compare flexible LED strip types, you probably focus on the color temperature, LED count and pairing the correct po...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Getting started with LED strip lighting for your home

LED strip lighting is a new type of lighting technology that has never existed before. As LEDs technologies have developed enough to be capa...Read More

Color Science

CRI/Ra TCS spectrum data (CSV/Excel format)

We have published the CRI or Ra TCS (test color sample) spectrum data in 1 nm, ...Read More

Color Science

What is the difference between CRI and Ra?

When comparing lighting products, you will undoubtedly come across the metrics CRI and Ra to describe color quality. You may assume that the...Read More

Color Science

What is CRI R9 and Why is it Important?

CRI R9 is one of the test color samples (TCS) used in the calculation of extended CRI. Ma...Read More

Color Science

CRI/Ra test color samples (TCS)

The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a widely used metric to describe color accuracy and fidelity. It is calculated as an average score on 8 c...Read More

Color Science

How to calculate the daylight spectrum (D illuminant)

Measuring and characterizing the daylight spectrum can be challenging due to the fact that many factors affect it, including time of day, se...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Advantages of a 24V LED system vs 12V

If you are considering purchasing lights for or installing a low voltage lighting system, you will likely have come across both 12V DC and 2...Read More

Home & Residential Lighting

Pros and cons of a 12V LED system

If you've been shopping around for an LED strip or other LED product for RVs and vehicles, you are likely aware that these products do not r...Read More

Color Science

What is the difference between the black body and the reconstituted daylight spectrum?

The black body spectrum is a spectral plot of a "theoretical object" that emits radiation (black body radiator) at a particular temperature....Read More

Color Science

Black body and reconstituted daylight locus coordinates by CCT (CSV/Excel format)

Below you will find the coordinates in both CIE 1931 xy and CIE 1976 u'v' for both the black body locus and daylight locus, listed by 10K an...Read More

Color Science

How to open MYD and HAAS files for lighting photometric tests

If you've worked around LEDs and LED lights for awhile, you've undoubtedly come across lighting photometric reports. ...Read More