Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I think you both misinterpreted my question. Looking at colleen c's picture, is each LED in the array a discreet LED with a discreet output or is the output measured for the whole chip? It is unclear to me, reading page 2 of the Cree data sheet that colleen c linked to, whether the output is measured for each LED in the array or for the whole device. At 700mA, they say that the lumen output for an XM-L T6 is 280 lumens. If the whole chip is the "LED", then would the total output at 700 mA be 280 lumens or if each LED is putting out 280 lumens at 700 mA, the total light output would be close to the 1800 lumens listed by some manufacturers.
Like I said above, I've run the 900 and 1000 lumen Magicshines next to the Crees I have. The Cree has a narrower beam but they are far brighter than the Magicshines. They seem too bright for the reflector to be the only reason for the output.
I'm quite sure the Cree specs are talking about the whole LED... its all one chip, under a single bubble lens.
can you remove the reflector and lens entirely from your other Cree lights? I know you can on the magicshine style, just unscrew the bezel and the reflector lifts out. compare the brightness without the reflector assemblies and you'll have something more consistent to compare. XXX lumens in a 10 degree spot will be MUCH brighter than the same XXX lumens in a 30 degree spot (9 times as bright as its 9 times less area).