White Paper | Standardization + Regulation

Solid State Lighting for Incandescent Replacement—Best Practices for Dimming

This paper focuses on integrated LED lamps intended for replacement of general service incandescent lamps. Future white papers are planned to address other LED dimming topics, such as: color change; light output and efficiency (dimming curve); dimming protocols (Internet protocols, 0-10); LED modules with auxiliary drivers; and control architectures that dim without modulated power.

The main objective for this paper is to encourage coordination among control, power supply, and LED module manufacturers to achieve desired performance. This effort may end up divided into (1) power supplies and integrated light sources designed for retrofit to existing incandescent dimmer sockets, and (2) power supplies and controls for new installations. The latter may achieve a simpler solution for the power supply if more intelligence is put into the control (dimmer). This must be coordinated within the industry; otherwise, there may be as many incompatible solutions as there are manufacturers, which will slow marketplace acceptance.
The large installed base of dimmer controls needs to be effectively included in any solution, so it is possible that more complexity must go into the power supply or integrated light source.