A history of the blue LED

[Tony L]

A fascinating look at a design changed the world and eventually brought us LED lighting, high-performance computer screens etc (and ugly bright blue lights in the front of high-end audio). One can’t help but admire the determination and stubbornness of Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura.

 

[Vinny]

But only the UV LED gave us an LED that emits white light.

 

[allthingsanalog]

The colour of LED that never should have been invented!

Linn seem to be heavily invested in Blue LED's for some reason.

The frosted LED's are much nicer though than the ultra bright clear ones.

 

[Paraheadache]

I had my Advantage monos changed to soft yellow/amber at the last service.

 

[Roog]

The colour of LED that never should have been invented!

Linn seem to be heavily invested in Blue LED's for some reason.

The frosted LED's are much nicer though than the ultra bright clear ones.

Agreed, we waited so long for it, but now it’s here it’s over used! :0)

I watched that, I thought the story was really interesting.

I have a guitar pedal which uses them and they are so bright they are a distraction, black electrical tape helps!

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Fascinating video, thanks. I generally swap out any blue LEDs for purple, or pink. A string of Christmas lights is a cheap source of LEDs, I find.

 

[davidsrsb]

Unless you want to watch the equipment instead of listening to the music, avoid blue or white LEDs

 

[cj66]

...or just pop in extra resistance, plus 10k will make a significant impact on brightness.

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

Intriguing stuff - thanks for posting.

 

[Minio]

...or just pop in extra resistance, plus 10k will make a significant impact on brightness.

Plus infinity resistance is good too...

 

[paulfromcamden]

Aside from being horribly bright I don't really get the use of blue LEDs.

Green means 'on' or 'play'. Red means 'standby' or 'recording'. What does blue mean?

 

[Barrymagrec]

Aside from being horribly bright I don't really get the use of blue LEDs.

Green means 'on' or 'play'. Red means 'standby' or 'recording'. What does blue mean?

It means brighter for less current.

They use a very bright blue LED on the later Quad 99 tuners - garish and not good in my opinion.

I used to work with someone who had a masters in Physics. He said that years before he used to explain to people why there could never be a blue or white LED. We were working on an LED light source for film scanning at the time.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

...or just pop in extra resistance, plus 10k will make a significant impact on brightness.

I use a small pot, and adjust to my preference.

 

[Qwin]

Blue seems to be everywhere and at a brightness level I find uncomfortable.
I usually end up adding a resistor to calm them down.
Yes a small pot makes a useful tool to establish brightness/resistance required.