$100 LED lamp uses "quantum dots" to imitate more natural light

300hAs we move away (as a species) from wasteful incandescent bulbs, we’re going to have to deal with some changes in how the world looks. The cold, bright light of a white LED array is great for a flashlight, but a little clinical for mood lighting. Similar issues plague CFL bulbs, and let’s not even get into the flicker. But it doesn’t mean we don’t have to go into this new, harshly lit world without fussing about it. Modifying LEDs will be a profitable business for the next decade or so, as evidenced by Nexxus Lighting Inc, whose Quantum Light Lamp sells for $100.

The “Quantum” is actually a functional term in its name; the surface of the LED array is coated with what they call quantum dots, which shifts its color temperature down to 2700K, much warmer than the natural 6500K of the unmodified array. The quantum dots themselves are particles which emit light in a spectrum depending on their size; that means these lights could conceivably be made for any temperature in the warm-cool spectrum. And of course the arrays have all the usual benefits of LEDs: lower energy cost, longer life, et cetera.

They’re not for sale yet, having just been announced today, but you can see where they will be sold, along with all their other cool-looking lighting solutions here at their online store.

[via Boston Globe, photo credit: Mark Lennihan, AP]