Investigation of the spectral properties of LED-based MR16 bulbs for general illumination

The spectral properties of commercially available halogen and LED-based MR16s were investigated. The metrics used to characterize the MR16s include the total luminous flux (TLF), correlated color temperature (CCT), color-rendering index (CRI), angular variation of CCT, and luminous efficacy. The halogen MR16s were included as a baseline for comparison with LED-based MR16s. Seven LED-based MR16s were investigated, including three constructed from 5-mm LEDs, and four constructed from high-power devices based on a larger die. It is shown that MR16s constructed from white LEDs are not suitable as a direct replacement for existing alternatives at this time, due to their low power efficiency and poor TLF. MR16s constructed with a single phosphor also have poor CRIs and undesirable CCTs. An MR16 with an extra phosphor in the red region of the spectrum shows improvement in CRI and a lower CCT than the other LED-based MR16s. All of the LED-based MR16s had a variation of CCT that was larger than those of the halogen devices.