- LEDs were discovered in the 1920s and originally were red. Orange light came soon thereafter, and the common blue LED found in many CD players, laptops and mobile phones was produced a few years later. Although white light is possible, true white light still is being worked on. It is possible it will be available in the near future.
- True white light is different than normal white light. True white is defined as having a color-rendering index over 80 and a color temperature between 4,000 and 6,500 Kelvin. LEDs that emit white light normally are blue LEDs filtered through a yellow phosphorus screen.
- To create true white light, a high-performance green LED needs to be developed. Green light combined with the already existing high-performance blue and red LEDs would allow the creation of every color visible to the human eye. Currently, the combination of blue light with yellow phosphor allows us to recreate the color spectrum, but true white light would produce more vibrant colors.
- LEDs provide more light for less power than other traditional light sources. Developing a true white LED source would allow for more efficient home lighting, flashlights, automobile lights and various other areas that currently use traditional light sources. Current white LEDs put out 15 to 19 lumens per watt, as much as standard incandescent bulbs. True white LEDs, in theory, could improve that number.
- When the world will have true white LEDs is debatable. Some sources, such as the researchers at the University of Dayton, say the technology should be available within a few years. Other say the technology simply can't be created. The U.S. government has provided millions of dollars in grant money for research, including a $1.8 million research grant to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and most estimates place true white LED availability to be within 10 years.
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