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A comment on LEDs from Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy. Parent comment

Re:LEDs from Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy by amluto on Friday March 03, 2023 @04:57PM (#35015599)
Without some kind of driver, the light flickers strongly at 120Hz. For sensitive people, the effect is extremely unpleasant.

One can get perfectly nice drivers and perfectly nice LEDs for less than $25 all in. Sure, many people prefer paying less for a screw-base lamp, but the result is not as good.

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Re:LEDs from Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy by CapstanRoller on Friday March 03, 2023 @06:48PM (#35016552)
LED filament bulbs do indeed use a driver circuit. Some use a voltage above mains [1] while others drive the LED chain around mains voltage but in a smoother regulated way [2].

Sometimes there's just a basic dropper cap circuit, though. Those flicker but not too badly. The LED design in these is different than in a discrete LED, with the phosphor being quite thick and having a distinct slow fade/afterglow when switched off. I think in this case they basically use the phosphor to smooth out flickering instead of electronics.

[1] https://youtu.be/t3HpPikRDeY?t=279

[2] https://youtu.be/nMc6mjE9Y1s?t=447

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