LED - Creativyst(R) Glossary of developer terms.

Light Emitting Diode - A small solid-state light bulb. Often used as the emitter for single pixels on the wall displays used in call center readerboard systems. Because they don't burn out like normal light bulbs, LEDs are used in applications where reliability and longevity are required. They are most efficient when emitting red light, though green and even blue LEDs are now common as well.

White LEDs are actually a combination of Red, Green, and Blue LEDs and are sometimes used as area lights. Their efficiency is improving, but is still not as good as fluorescent lights. Specifically, at this writing, the most efficient LED bulbs produce about 35 lumens per a watt. By comparison old-fashioned incandescent bulbs produce 12-15 lumens per watt. But CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) produce about 50 lumens per watt.

Does that mean CFLs are the best choice? Not necessarily. CFLs contain a variety of real pollutants that, unlike CO₂, are toxic to life on earth. The worst of them is about a 20th of a gram of mercury per each bulb. They also, of course, contain phosphors. If you accidentally drop a compact fluorescent lamp and it breaks, it will cost you approximately $2000.00 USD to properly clean up the mess (at this writing). Whatever you do, if you break one of these babies, don't use a vacuum cleaner to clean it up. That will spew toxins that cause brain damage into the air you breath and increase the cost of cleanup by an order of magnitude.

All good reasons to choose LEDs over CFLs, even though they aren't quite as efficient. LEDs are solid state devices that can be thrown away in the trash if and when they ever burn out. They probably wont break if you drop them (solid state remember) but if they do, just pick up the pieces and throw them away. They have estimated life spans of 50,000 to 100,000 hours so it may be a while before you have to throw them away (5 to 11 years if kept on 24/7).

	Light Emitting Diode - A small solid-state light bulb. Often used as the emitter for single pixels on the wall displays used in call center readerboard systems. Because they don't burn out like normal light bulbs, LEDs are used in applications where reliability and longevity are required. They are most efficient when emitting red light, though green and even blue LEDs are now common as well. White LEDs are actually a combination of Red, Green, and Blue LEDs and are sometimes used as area lights. Their efficiency is improving, but is still not as good as fluorescent lights. Specifically, at this writing, the most efficient LED bulbs produce about 35 lumens per a watt. By comparison old-fashioned incandescent bulbs produce 12-15 lumens per watt. But CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) produce about 50 lumens per watt. Does that mean CFLs are the best choice? Not necessarily. CFLs contain a variety of *real* pollutants that, unlike CO₂, are toxic to life on earth. The worst of them is about a 20th of a gram of mercury per each bulb. They also, of course, contain phosphors. If you accidentally drop a compact fluorescent lamp and it breaks, it will cost you approximately $2000.00 USD to properly clean up the mess (at this writing). Whatever you do, if you break one of these babies, don't use a vacuum cleaner to clean it up. That will spew toxins that cause brain damage into the air you breath and increase the cost of cleanup by an order of magnitude. All good reasons to choose LEDs over CFLs, even though they aren't quite as efficient. LEDs are solid state devices that can be thrown away in the trash if and when they ever burn out. They probably wont break if you drop them (solid state remember) but if they do, just pick up the pieces and throw them away. They have estimated life spans of 50,000 to 100,000 hours so it may be a while before you have to throw them away (5 to 11 years if kept on 24/7).
	OLED