The ten-year history of track lights
When the key lighting concept began to manifest, spotlights came into being.
When looking at the early works of Mr. Liang Zhitian, you will find that small track spotlights are very common. If you are a small partner who has been in the industry in recent years, you may rarely see halogen track lights in China. According to the matching light source, there are several commonly used halogen track lights: lamp cup (MR16) type, aluminum cup type (also known as OR111 or AR111), PAR bulb type, QT32 type
Advantages of halogen track lights:
1. The lamp body is small and exquisite, the structure is simple (lamp body + electrical appliances + replaceable light source), and the price is cheap.
2. Good color rendering and excellent brilliance in the light perception, so that the illuminated object emits a sense of luster.
shortcoming:
1. The heat is large, and the light needs special protection for light-sensitive objects.
2. High energy consumption and short lifespan. For commercial space operation and maintenance, the cost of electricity and the cost of frequent light source replacement are high. This is also the most rapid replacement of halogen track lights by LED products in the years 2010-2013. important reason.
PS: Nowadays, the application of halogen track lights is rarely seen in the domestic commercial industry, and it has almost disappeared. But when I was on business in Europe last year, I paid attention to local shops, and halogen track lights still accounted for a large proportion.
Track lights using fluorescent light source products are relatively rare, because the fluorescent light source is a large area of light, so it is difficult to achieve the key lighting effect. But for some special places, such as wall washing requirements, in the past when optical solutions were not developed with LEDs, fluorescent lamps were the best choice. H-tubes were often used to combine and design wall-washing products. Of course, due to the limited light source, the past The wall-washing effect is certainly not the same as today.
Metal halide track lights used to be the best-selling products for early indoor commercial lighting. It is the first choice for clothing chains, shopping malls, furniture showrooms and stores. It is the first choice, and the amount is huge. With the expansion of various brand stores, metal halide lamps are indeed everywhere.
The light source of the metal halide lamp also has different types, such as G12, G8.5, PAR30, PAR20 and so on.
Generally, for the same product, the manufacturer will design the version of the CDM-T metal halide lamp and also design the PAR light source version. The PAR light source is an E27 screw type, and the luminous angle has been designed.
The metal halide lamp has several notable features:
1. With high light efficiency and high power, it is an artifact that creates "just to be brighter than the competitive brand store next door"!
2. Long lifespan. Compared with the halogen light source that needs to be replaced in an average of half a year, the life of the metal halide lamp is enough for a shop decoration cycle.
But it also has several flaws:
1. The metal halide lamp takes a long time to start, and it needs to be cooled when restarting, and it cannot be turned on immediately after it is turned off.
2. Low-quality metal halide light sources are prone to color drift (somewhat different from the chromatic aberration we are talking about now)
3. The luminous efficiency is very high, the power selection is small (conventional is 35W, 70W and 150W 3 kinds of power), does not support dimming, so it is difficult to achieve diversified effects.
4. There are two types of electrical appliances for metal halide lamps: electronics and inductors. Inductive ballasts are large in size, unsightly, and inductors are prone to noise.
After experiencing the above three lighting products, LED has begun to emerge in the early 21st century. In 2006-2008, some companies have begun to try, and after 2008, there has been an intensive LED promotion, application, and replacement wave. LED track lights have also undergone several years of changes.
The earliest LED track light: for the replacement of halogen lamps.
At the beginning, the technology of LED was not outstanding, and the color rendering and luminous efficiency were not the same as today's products. However, under the trend of energy saving and environmental protection, everyone easily accepted this new product, but it was attributed to the price of the transaction. , And it is prohibitive.
For the first batch of LED track lights, many manufacturers have put out light sources for the lamp holders, and there is no concept of integrated design of LED products.
Slowly, the technological advancement in the upstream of LED chips has been promoted to lighting application manufacturers, coupled with the introduction of foreign integrated LED products, a new generation of LED track lights have appeared on the scene. LED track lights at this stage can be said to be an era of crazy growth, and R&D engineers and quality inspections are also facing great challenges.
On the one hand, the heat dissipation and optical design of LEDs themselves are tasks that have been less contacted in the past and require a lot of exploration and experimental testing.
On the other hand, LED technology is updated too quickly, often a product has not yet been mass-produced, and new light sources have already come out.
Returning to the application effect, the energy-saving effect of LED track lights at this stage is actually not so significant, and the color rendering is not good. However, due to the intensive promotion of the market, customers are willing to try such new products and use them. For the trend, some large-scale chain brands are relatively cautious.
When the COB light source appeared, the application manufacturer found that such a new LED product with small volume and high power in a centralized package, it is easier to design the product, and in the case of the same volume, the lamp can achieve a higher power to meet a higher lumen value It is the most mainstream LED track light in modern commercial lighting space.
Of course, the optical design of COB track spotlights has also undergone several changes, and there are several different types in the market.
SLR cup type (this type is also the earliest), reflector cup + light guide cylinder type, lens type. Each has its own characteristics and advantages. For example, the reflector-type product has high utilization efficiency, the lens-type COB track spotlight has a relatively better light spot transition, and the lens can be made thinner, thereby reducing the length of the lamp body.
Main features of COB track spotlight:
1. Large power range. There are low-power products such as 3W and 5W to meet the needs of restaurants and home space; and there are larger power products such as 25 and 35W to meet the lighting needs of shops;
2. The color temperature range is wide, from 2400K, 2700K to 5000K, 6000K, the color temperature is diverse and customizable, breaking the color temperature limitation of metal halide lamps 3000K, 4000K, and meeting the needs of more subdivided fields;
3. The color rendering has also improved better.
shortcoming:
1. It is difficult for COB light source products to achieve ultra-narrow angles. Because of its large light-emitting surface, it is difficult to concentrate the light. Conventionally, the minimum angle that COB track spotlight manufacturers can make is about 10° (except for individual museum-level products)
2. The spot of COB light source products is prone to secondary spots, and the cut-off line of the spot is hard. (Of course, special optical processing, such as adding an optimizer, can also be used to eliminate secondary spots)
The current COB technology has advanced and can be applied in different subdivisions, including various display venues. The application effect is also very good.
AC-type drive-free LED track lights are new products that have appeared in recent years. They will be seen in some foreign applications and exhibitions. There are also domestic manufacturers producing them. At this stage, most of them are mainly exported, and less domestic applications. I won’t talk more about it here. If you are interested, you can pay more attention.
Regarding track lights, there is still a lot of content to be discussed. This article can only let you sort out a thought first, and we will extend some issues later. Of course, there is one point that needs to be particularly emphasized. The classification of the first and second generations in this article is only divided according to the time of day. It does not mean that the newer products are better than the old ones.
For example, a single light source type track spotlight, due to its small light-emitting surface, has an irreplaceable advantage when doing high-end refined museum exhibition lighting. It will take time to verify whether the latest AC drive-free track lights will be accepted by the public.
