Ok so I got this idea not while showering, but because I’m very high. The story does come from my bathroom though! I have a night light in my bathroom, and I was looking at the night light as I turned off the bathroom light. I’m a big nerd so I remembered that the things that detect light levels are actually diodes wired in reverse. I thought it would be funny to make it flicker by reflecting the light back on the diode, but it didn’t work. That’s when I had this realization
Constant voltage LEDs use something called Pulse Width Modulation, or PWM, to simulate dimmed lights. That’s basically what you’re describing.
I knew that dimmable LEDs exist now, but I didn’t know why they worked. Cool!
Like some motors they operate best at a certain duty cycle.
The issue with some really cheap ones is that it’s obvious.
It’s also why, if you’re so inclined at Christmas time, led string lights on trees are hard to photograph since you’ll catch some of them on while others are off at the time of the photo.
Duty cycle does not refer to the frequency of the flicker.
The frequency on a PWM light doesn’t change, it’s the same for the full range of control. What that frequency is, is determined by the controller generating the PWM signal, not the light.
PWM can be done at different frequencies. Cheap PWM controllers can only manage lower frequencies, those are the kind you notice and have trouble with in pictures. Good ones will run at frequencies so high, the fact they aren’t actually on continuously, will only matter in extremely high speed photography.
This is because a PWM controller can achieve the same reduction in brightness at any frequency. What matters is the fraction of time that the LED is lit each pulse. If you run the system at 1000Hz, half brightness means the flicker is 1000Hz, because you are sending 1000 pulses that are 0.5 milliseconds long. 75% brightness would mean the pulses are 0.75 milliseconds, but the number of pulses, and thus the frequency, is still 1000Hz. The flicker is the same.
Even at 99% brightness/duty cycle, a PWM light is still blinking at whatever frequency the controller is running at. Only at 100% does it not flicker, as 100% duty cycle means the controller simply keeps the light on continuously.
No matter what LED you use, they don’t usually care what the frequency is, nor what duty cycle you are at.
I’m not sure what you mean by motors running best at a given duty cycle, either. Sure, there is an efficiency peak, but the whole point of PWM is to be able to run something at any duty cycle you desire (resulting in the desired brightness for lights, RPMs for motors).
Thanks for clarifying. You’re right. It’s the duty cycle of the driver of the LED right?
And as for the motor analogy it is optimal efficiency which I thought did apply to led lifetime vs brightness output but I’m always open to be corrected.
Thanks for taking the time to break it all down for me.
Heat does affect diode lifetime. So brightness/duty cycle certainly does affect how long it’ll last, because more energy going through means higher temperatures.
But with any light/fixture that has sane heat dissipation, it’s not worth worrying about. LEDs will last decades in most scenarios.
I hate the flickering Christmas lights. They give me headaches.