COB LED Strips stands for “Chip on Board,” or “COB,” is a term used in the world of LEDs to describe the process of putting the LED Chip itself in a package that is directly attached to the circuit board (PCB). The LEDs in flexible strip lights also called “Chip on Board” lights, are sometimes called “flip-chips.”
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Flip-chip LEDs are very easy to make compared to other types of LEDs. Take a look at a typical SMD (Surface Mount Device) LED. The LED chip is held in place by lamp beads, and a phosphor coating protects the chip from the outside world. The COB LED strip has a “Flip Chip” that removes all the parts that aren’t needed, leaving just the LED chip, a yellow phosphor cover layer, and connection pads.
The pros and cons of COB LED Flex Strips
After you understand the basics of how this new COB-led strip is made, you can determine its pros and cons.
Advantages:
There is not even a single LED light point because there are no aluminum profiles.
A common complaint about LED strips is that they have light spots along their length. A lighting dot is a spot of light in the strip that shows where the light is coming from. A smooth light source is better than one with faults because it gives off a softer, more pleasing light.
Because the bigger diodes are so close, the light from SMD flex strips is spread evenly over the lit area. If the light source is too close to the surface, or if the strip is visible, the human visual system will be unable to avoid the hot spot.
When working with a COB flex strip with 480 chips/M, it can be hard to find the “hot spots” of each chip. Down this strip, the light from it is even and soft. The human eye is more drawn to it, and the environment is better lit when the light is even, and there are no bright spots. The only practical way to see the light source is from the back of the strip, where the flip-chip LEDs are easier to see. To know each led on the strip, the brightness must be reduced to about 5%.
Because the diodes are so small and the weight is spread out evenly along the strip, it can bend much further than other flexible strips. Because these diodes are small and close together, the strip’s surface is never the same. Setting up the strips is easy because there won’t be any loose SMD LEDs to worry about.
Because the chip on a COB strip is soldered directly to the FPCB, it does not have a gold wire. The gold wire inside standard SMD LED beads is the cause of many problems. Because the gold wire is so small, it is easy to break. This is why the chip doesn’t light up.
The COB strip’s circuit is made up of three chips, connected one at a time in parallel, then in series, and then in series again to make one step. Even if two chips inside this one-step strip go wrong, it can still burn. So even if only one or two of the 480 COB chips in a square meter don’t light up, this won’t cause dark spots or make the fixture less useful. Unlike the standard SMD strip, a CUT, this one will only light up if all of the lamp beads are good enough, making a dark area.
Wide degree lighting
The light from a COB light strip can be seen from 180 degrees, while a standard SMD light strip can only be seen from 120 degrees.
The downsides:
The biggest problem with COB-led strips is that the colors are complex to keep the same. Simply put, there is no COB-led strip binning machines on the market now. All current makers of COB-led strips occasionally sample to check color accuracy. Even worse, it’s hard to be sure that every COB-led strip is within a 3-step color tolerance.
The current efficiency of COB-led strip lights is only about 120LM/W. Therefore, there are better choices than the COB-led strip if you want better lighting efficiency.
Using more than 15W per meter of COB led strip’s maximum power is not advised. If the power goes above 15W/m, the chip’s heat becomes tough to dissipate because of the high density of chips per unit of length. This will make COB-led strips last less long.
COB Flex Strips: What Makes Them Different
The benefits and drawbacks of COB flexible light strips should be clear by now, so let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of this product. Some of this may sound familiar if you’re already familiar with LED strips. Still, some critical distinctions throughout this strip type warrant a trial run with the guidelines provided below before you commit to COB strips.
Splice and Join
This strip can be slit using a COB-led strip cutter, as our other strips can. Please only make cuts at the pre-marked 50mm (24) / 25mm intervals on the strip (12V). You can modify the strip’s length to fit your needs or create spaces as necessary. The snipped strips can be reused and are ideally linked through soldering, but we offer COB strip connectors if that’s impossible.
Dimmable
Like traditional SMD led strips, COB led strips can be dimmed.
You can utilize a DALI, Triac, PWM, or 0-10V dimming power source to achieve dimming with COB-led strips.
Conclusion
COB-led strips are a good choice if you want to light up a room without making hot spots. However, only a conventional SMD-led strip is a viable option if you require high lumens, high luminous efficacy, or rigorous color constancy, such as 3-step Macadam color tolerance or 2-step Macadam color tolerance.
Looking at the use of light from a more practical view. Immediately, the use of cool whites and rich, warm whites and amber glows can be noticed across several scenes. The contrast use of these white shades really help set the scene subconciously for the forces of light and dark, dark and light interchangeably. Typically you’d imagine warm whites to be positive and cool whites to be negative, hot vs cold. But here we have a dragon as warmly illuminated and the heroes often shown in a colder light. This yin yang perspective helps to show that nothing is fully bad nor fully good. That there is light in the darkest of places and darkness hidden within the brightest lights.
So why is it that this film hits home? It would appear that orc’s, magicians, elves, dwarves, hobbits and even dragons don’t exist, at least not in this age. And yet something about this film appears so very real, as if it’s a memory fragment of a long forgotten past or an artistic abstraction of something quite familiar. Perhaps it’s the metaphysical and relatable use of light vs dark or good vs evil. The philosophical and archetypical imagery throughout this film creates a deep routed sense of awe and wonder. Whether you believe dragons existed in the past or not doesn’t matter. We’ve all faced dragons in our daily lives, greed, lust, immorality, those people that cause pain and who rarely blame themselves for anything allowing arrogance and pride to consume them. Whether within or outside of ourselves, we face chaos every day. In the words of Gandalf “I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
J.R.R Tokien | All That is Gold Does Not Glitter | Kinetic Typography
LED strips have been a trendy DIY lighting solution for many applications for many years. That’s why we are so interested in the latest LED strip technology, flexible COB led strip lighting.
What is COB?
COB stands for Chip on Board in the LED field, which basically means that the LED chip is packaged directly on the circuit board (PCB). “Chip on Board” LEDs for flexible strip lights are sometimes referred to as flip-chips.
Flip Chip LEDs are basically a bare-bones approach to LED construction. Take a look at an ordinary SMD (Surface Mount Device) LED. It has a Lamp bead holder that package the LED chip and then covers it with a phosphor coating. The ‘flip chip’ that makes up the COB LED strip removes everything from its design, except for the LED chip, yellow phosphor cover layer, and connection pads.
What is COB LED strip light?
COB LED strip light or COB LED tape light, which is LED Chips directly attached to the FPCB(Flexible Print Circuit Board), is a continuous and dotless led strip light. So, COB LED strip light is also called continuous led strip light or dotless led strip lights.
COB Vs SMD led strip?
COB led strip beam angle is 180 degree, SMD led strip beam angle is 120 degree.
COB led strip is better flexibility than SMD led strip.
COB led strip is uniform light, dotless.
COB means chip on board, COB led strip don’t has gold wire, but SMD led strip has gold wire.
How is COB LED flexible strip manufactured?
Expanding Chips
Die bonding
Resistors onto FPCB
Reflow-High temperature over 65 degrees for finished PCB with chips and resistors
Fluorescent Powder glue mixing
Drop the mixing glue on the surface of chips and resistors by auto glue machine
Put glued cob led strip into the oven
QC-testing the cob led strip after cooling
Soldering the PCB into 5 meters per reel or the length as customer request
Aging test, QC test, packing, then shipping
Advantages and Disadvantages of COB LED Flex Strips
Now that you have a basic understanding of how this new COB led strip is produced, it’s time to see its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
No LED lighting dot, even without aluminum profiles.
One of the biggest complaints about traditional LED strips is the lighting dot throughout the strip. A lighting dot is a bright area through the strip where you can see where the light is coming from. Light is more soft and attractive when it looks like a smooth light source rather than a lighting dot mess.
With SMD flex strips, the larger diodes are squeezed close enough so that the light is spread out and consistent across the illuminated surface at a distance. But if the light is too close to the surface or the strip itself is visible, the hot spot is an obstacle that the human eye cannot ignore.
With a 480 chip/M COB strip, it is pretty challenging to pick out any hot spots on the COB flex strip. This strip shines a soft, uniform light from end to end. Even light with no lighting dot is more attractive to the human eye and gives off a steady light even in the narrow places. The only natural way to see the lighting dot is to look at the back of the strip, where it is easier to see the individually placed flip-chip LEDs. You can only see the individual led if you dim strip down to about 5% brightness. This makes COB flex strips ideal for applications where
The led strip itself cannot be hidden from view.
The surface being illuminated is within 2 feet of the light bar.
Reflective surfaces like granite/glass are all around.
Those applications where you want an excellent neon effect.
More flexibility
These strips are much more flexible than other flexible strips because of the small size of the diodes and the uniform weight distribution. These diodes are so small and closely spaced that no point of the strip is the same. This uniformity makes it easy to set up the strips without planning around a SMD LED sticking out where you don’t need it. This extra flexibility will make it easier for them to fit into tight areas and turn corners in your application.
More stable, fewer problems
COB strip is the chip directly attached to the FPCB, does not come with gold wire. Traditional SMD LED strip, very many problems are caused by the gold wire inside the LED beads. Because the gold wire is too small, it is straightforward to be broken, leading to the chip not being illuminated.
The circuit design of the COB strip uses three chips, first in parallel, as a group, then each group, and then in series to form one step. Even if a group of two chips inside the bad, this one-step strip can continue to light. And COB a meter of chips how big 480, even if 1-2 chips do not light, will not produce dark areas, will not affect the use. While the traditional SMD strip, a CUT, as long as there are lousy lamp beads, this one cut will not light, so there will be obvious to see a section of the dark area.
COB LED strip circuit diagram SMD LED strip circuit diagram
Wide emitting angle
The traditional SMD light strip luminous angle is 120 degrees, while the COB light strip luminous angle is 180 degrees.
Anti-vulcanization
Because COB LED strips, chip on board, do not have the gold wires of traditional SMD LEDs, so they will not be vulcanized. In the chip inside the SMD LED lamp bead, one electrode is connected to the LED bracket with gold wire, and the other electrode is connected to the bracket through silver glue. But silver reacts very easily with sulfides to form silver sulfide. As a result, the blackening and luminous flux of the LED are reduced.
Stronger anti-static capability
COB LED strips have stronger antistatic ability than traditional SMD LED strips.
Disadvantage:
Difficult to maintain the consistency of color
Because there is no COB led strips binning machines on the market. At present, all COB led strips manufacturers are only sampling to ensure color consistency. So, COB led strips are difficult to ensure that 100% are within the 3-step color tolerance.
Lower luminous efficiency
COB led strip light efficiency, currently only about 120LM/W. If you need higher light efficiency, COB led strip is not suitable.
Lower power
The maximum power of COB led strip, only recommended doing 15W / m. Because the number of chips per meter is too much, if the power exceeds 15W / m, the chip’s heat is brutal to dissipate. COB led strip life will be shortened.
SMD encapsulation procedure – Binning
Characteristics of COB Flex Strips
If you’ve been listening, the advantages and disadvantages of COB flexible light strips should be obvious, so now let’s get into some specific details about this sort of strip. If you’re acquainted with LED strips, then lots of this may sound familiar, but there are some differences during this form of strip, so it’s best to test out the guidelines below before using COB strips.
Cut and Connect
COB led strip can cut this strip just like our other strip lights. Please only cut along the cut marks marked on the strip every 50mm (24) / 25mm (12V). This allows you to cut the strip to a custom size or add gaps to your application. The cut strips can be used again and are best connected by soldering, but if this is often not an option, our COB strip connectors also are available as an option.
For more information, please visit 5mm Ultra Thin Flexible Led Strip.
Dimmable
Flexible COB led strips are dimmable as well as regular SMD led strips.
You can use DALI, triac, PWM, 0-10V dimming power supply to use with COB led strips to achieve dimming.
Color Options
White light: K, K, K, K, and other custom color temperatures are available
Colorful light: Red, green, blue, yellow, pink, etc., are available.
Tunable white, RGB, RGBW are all available.
Mono cob led strip
CCT cob led strip
RGB cob led strip
RGBW cob led strip
addressable cob led strip
Voltage Options
5V(volt) cob led strip light
12V(volt) cob led strip light
24V(volt) cob led strip light
48V(volt) cob led strip light
Length Options
5m cob led strip
10m cob led strip
50m cob led strip
100m cob led strip
COB LED Strip Sample Book
COB LED Strip Video
Tunable White COB led strip
RGB COB led strip
RGBW COB led strip
Dim To Warm COB led strip
48V COB led strip
Solderless COB LED Strip Connector
COB led strip connector
L shape COB led strip connector
IP grades
We offer a variety of options for waterproof COB led strip.
IP20 none waterproof, IP52 silicone drop, IP65 silicone sleeve, IP67 silicone sleeve, and other various waterproof ways are available.
IP52 silicone drop IP65 silicone tube IP67 silicone filling
COB led strip light applications
Architectural
Furniture & wine cabinet
Holtel renovation
KTV & KTV bar
Parking
shopping mall
TV
How to install the COB led strip light? (step by step)
Clean the surface where you wish to put in the COB led strip light.
Cut the scale of the COB led strip light you would like to put in.
Tear the 3M backside of the COB led strip light.
Paste the COB strip light where you would like to put in.
Connect the ability supply with COB led strip light.
If you wish to attach the COB led strip light, you’ll be able to solder or use the cob led strip connector.
FAQs
Conclusion
If you need a light effect without light spots, you can try COB led strips. If you need strict color consistency, such as 3-step Macadam color tolerance or 2-step Macadam color tolerance, or if you need high lumens, high luminous efficacy, then you can only consider the traditional SMD led strip.
LEDYi Lighting is a professional cob led strip light manufacturers and factories. We offer customized solutions, OEM, ODM service. Wholesalers, distributors, dealers, traders, agents are welcome to purchase in bulk.
All of our LED strips and LED neon flex go through high-tech laboratories to ensure the utmost quality. Besides, we offer customizable options on our LED strips and neon flex. So, for premium LED strip and LED neon flex, contact LEDYi ASAP!
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What is COB led? What is an SMD led?
Difference between LED Light: COB and SMD
LED lights are constantly improved to bring about better use, greater versatility and more efficient use of power. The different models of LED lights are highly popular compared to traditional incandescent lights, mainly because they can last for about 25 times longer with less energy use.
LED lights come in a variety of models. Start comparing COB vs SMD LED Lights, or before you look at the difference between LED light COB and SMD.
You can choose between SMD Vs COB types, for example, depending on your needs for energy efficiency and versatility. The COB vs SMD LED Lights differ in terms of their features and semiconductors.
SMD vs COB: What is SMD?
SMD, or “Surface Mounted Device” LEDs, are the most common LEDs in the market. The LED chip is permanently fused to a printed circuit board, and it’s highly popular due to its versatility. You can find it in light bulbs and string lights, and even in the notification light on your mobile .
The SMD LED chips come in a variety of sizes. SMD LED can accommodate chips with complicated designs, like the SMD , which is 5mm wide. The SMD , on the other hand, are 3.5mm wide. The SMD chips are small, almost close to the design of the flat, square computer chip.
One of the distinct features of SMD LED chips is the number of contacts and diodes they have.
SMD LED chips can have more than just two contacts (which makes it different from the classic DIP LED). There can be up to 3 diodes on a single chip, with each diode having an individual circuit. Each circuit would have one cathode and one anode, leading to 2, 4 or 6 contacts in a chip.
This configuration is the reason why SMD chips are more versatile (comparing SMD vs COB). The chip can include a red, green, and blue diode. With these three diodes, you can already create virtually any colour simply by adjusting the output level.
SMD chips are also known to be bright. They can produce 50 to 100 lumens per watt.
SMD vs COB: What is COB?
One of the most recent developments in LED, COB or “Chip on Board” technology is a step forward more efficient energy use.Like the SMD, COP chips also have multiple diodes on the same surface. But the difference between LED light COB and SMD is that COB LEDs have more diodes.
COB chips typically have 9 or more diodes. COB chips also only have 1 circuit and 2 contacts, regardless of the number of the diodes. This simple circuit design is the reason for the panel-like appearance of COB LED light (SMD light, on the other hand, appears like a collection of smaller lights).
But unlike SMD, COB LED lights can’t be used to create colour changing bulbs or lights. This is because there are only 2 contacts and 1 circuit. Multiple channels for adjustment are required to create the colour changing effect. Because of this, COB LED lights are efficient in single-color applications, but not in more versatile technology.
Another aspect of the COB vs SMD LED Lights difference is in the use of energy. COB is known for better lumen-per-watt ratios and heat efficiency. This has a lot to do with the design of COB LEDs, and the cooling ceramic substrate of the chips.
Before, heavy duty technology like spot lights and flood lights made with LED were non-standard, because you’d need multiple LED sources to produce that kind of high lumen output.
But now, COB chips can produce a large amount of lumens with less energy. You can find it in all kinds of bulbs and applications, such as the flash of your mobile or point-and-shoot camera. Its range is higher with a minimum of 80 lumens per watt.
We all know that LEDs are capable of longer lives, use less energy, and don’t create as much heat as incandescent bulbs. However, there are subcategories of LEDs as well, like Cree or COB LEDs. These lights provide users with the benefits of common LEDs so what’s the difference when looking at Cree vs COB LED lights?
What is the difference between Cree vs COB LED lights? The differences are minimal but there is enough of a difference to choose between them. Cree LEDs are simply LED lights that utilize a Cree Chip. The lighting community praises Cree for the chips they use for many reasons. However, the most common reasons include high performance output, lifespan, and stability. You can look at the chip to see if it is Cree or not. A Cree chip uses a square chip that is divided into rectangles. Cree chips can provide your LED with 370 lumens of light which is another reason why these chips are so popular. You will find Cree chips in a few various places like emergency lights, portable lighting, vehicle manufacturers, and both outdoor and indoor lighting. That means that Cree LEDs are LEDs that use Cree chips.
COB LEDs are Chip on Board LEDs. These LEDs have multiple diodes each having its own chip that controls it. However, the diodes and chips are placed closely together on a single panel which produces a single light source. The best way to think about this is in terms of a Light Bright. Remember those toys we played with as kids? They had colored pegs that light up when you place them on the panel. You could place one colored peg on the board and get a small source of light. Plug in multiple pegs next to each other and you get a panel of light.
To understand the difference between Cree vs COB LED lights we should cover the difference between the chip and the panel. The chip is what powers and controls the LED Diode. Think of a diode as a tiny light bulb. A COB LED has many diodes on one panel that creates a seemingly single diode that is much larger in size. That large size allows COB LEDs to produce a light with wide coverage. The chip on the other hand is what controls the diodes telling it how bright to shine and is capable of changing colors as well (if the diode is capable of color changing). The question is, if COB LEDs have chips and Cree is a brand of chips, couldn’t you just have Cree COB LEDs? The short answer is yes.
Yes, Cree makes COB LEDs using its chips to power the diodes. However, there is still a difference between Cree vs COB LED lights. Currently, Cree LEDs include green and blue LED chips that have elevated levels of luminousness. You will find Cree LEDs in backlighting, general lighting, electronic signals, and even signs. COB LEDs are larger in size since they are entire panels of diodes. The heat levels are also different. Cree LEDs produce a fair amount of heat for a single chip but can disperse that heat easily. COB LEDs produce a similar amount of heat but as a harder time dispersing that heat. That means Cree LEDs may have a longer lifespan than COB LEDs depending on how much use they get.
SMD is the elder brother of SMD & SMD. It got bigger sizes than SMD, but with lower power, around 0.1W per chips. It becomes out of market during the popular of SMD.
& are nearly the same format without significant difference. This size of LED chips got high power (0.5-1W, typical 0.5W) and brightness, with the advantage of large size. It is not common in the usage of LED strip light. However, it was quite common used in High Voltage LED strips.
Substrates, LED chips, resistants, and connecting cables, sometimes with back tape, that are all the necessary parts of the strips light. This is the basic type of LED strips, we called it Raw Strips. Even you can see the soldering pads and also you can touch them. However, thanks to the low voltage design, it's still very safe to use this raw strips.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of IP68 Silicone Neon Flex. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.