Possible to have safe low density infrared leds in board?
- Thread starter Voltaic
- Start date
I have a computer program called flux and redshift that makes the screen redder in the evening so I ordered some red leds to simulate it with room lighting.
I wondered about adding a little bit of infrared to winter lighting to make it seem more natural (ie. like halogen lighting or incandescent.)
I wanted to do the same thing with leds to spread the spectrum slightly and mimic halogen/incandescent lighting.
I always wondered if I could use any in my salt lamp.
Unfortunately the book I've been reading on an introduction to electronics was written in the early 80's so it didn't have a warning about high powered non visible leds.
So I'm not touching non visible leds again unless I can get information on what low level is safe from a few sources.
So I wanted to know if I put a few infrared leds for remote controls for instance in a board spaced out significantly whether this would still be an eye hazard?
Ie. what low power and what spacing could I use (with an added safety margin) to ensure there was no eye danger?
I am also sort of a bit interested to try out infrared photography and spaced out leds would suit this, making a diffuser but also interested to make my own daylight diffused light source with white or rgb leds (possible spaced out instead of a opaque paper filter).
I wondered about adding a little bit of infrared to winter lighting to make it seem more natural (ie. like halogen lighting or incandescent.)
I wanted to do the same thing with leds to spread the spectrum slightly and mimic halogen/incandescent lighting.
I always wondered if I could use any in my salt lamp.
Unfortunately the book I've been reading on an introduction to electronics was written in the early 80's so it didn't have a warning about high powered non visible leds.
So I'm not touching non visible leds again unless I can get information on what low level is safe from a few sources.
So I wanted to know if I put a few infrared leds for remote controls for instance in a board spaced out significantly whether this would still be an eye hazard?
Ie. what low power and what spacing could I use (with an added safety margin) to ensure there was no eye danger?
I am also sort of a bit interested to try out infrared photography and spaced out leds would suit this, making a diffuser but also interested to make my own daylight diffused light source with white or rgb leds (possible spaced out instead of a opaque paper filter).
Look at things like this.
http://www.elixa.com/light/arrays.htm
I think these are designed as direct contact use but could you put a mix of very low power infrared leds and red ones in an above head type lamp that you could sit underneath (since light travels in a line)? Where you wouldn't be 'looking at it' but you wouldn't want it to be dangerous in case you did.
If done in a way that was diffused over lots of very low power leds that did not create any strong point source that could be bad for your eyes.
Also think for a night vision photography lamp that created a diffuse source so you don't get any harsh shadows but also so it wasn't dangerous for your eyes.
My question is just is there any low power density per cm/inch etc. level where infrared leds are safe for your eyes from a distance of say 2 metres by using a very diffuse array? Or are they always just too unsafe and too risky for your eyes even at low power levels per area unit.
http://www.elixa.com/light/arrays.htm
I think these are designed as direct contact use but could you put a mix of very low power infrared leds and red ones in an above head type lamp that you could sit underneath (since light travels in a line)? Where you wouldn't be 'looking at it' but you wouldn't want it to be dangerous in case you did.
If done in a way that was diffused over lots of very low power leds that did not create any strong point source that could be bad for your eyes.
Also think for a night vision photography lamp that created a diffuse source so you don't get any harsh shadows but also so it wasn't dangerous for your eyes.
My question is just is there any low power density per cm/inch etc. level where infrared leds are safe for your eyes from a distance of say 2 metres by using a very diffuse array? Or are they always just too unsafe and too risky for your eyes even at low power levels per area unit.
Sorry I edited my post to explain more including a link to the sort of thing I am talking about. I know you are not really going to get hot in a noticeable way from low powered leds but I read that there can be other benefits from a small amount of ir 'heat'.
But I just want to know is there any way to safely use low powered ir leds in this type of use (if the output per square unit is low enough), or is it better to forget about it?
Imagine if you had a certain number of 5mm leds adding up to 4w total.
If you had a 4 watt single led module it could be dangerous for your eyes, but what if you had 50 or 100 very low powered ir leds adding up the the same power and spaced them out over a large area of say 1.5 metres square (not converging)? Would it still be dangerous for your eyes or risky?
But I just want to know is there any way to safely use low powered ir leds in this type of use (if the output per square unit is low enough), or is it better to forget about it?
Imagine if you had a certain number of 5mm leds adding up to 4w total.
If you had a 4 watt single led module it could be dangerous for your eyes, but what if you had 50 or 100 very low powered ir leds adding up the the same power and spaced them out over a large area of say 1.5 metres square (not converging)? Would it still be dangerous for your eyes or risky?
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