What Changes When You Move To COB
A conventional SMD strip is a line of discrete packages on a PCB. A COB strip puts the chips directly on the board under a continuous phosphor layer, so the output reads as one line of light rather than a row of dots. Our published range covers both, so the comparison is between products we actually build.
Our SMD Strip Light Range
| Package | Typical density | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| 2835SMD | 60P and 120P and 180P per meter | General purpose, long mains-voltage runs, site lighting |
| 3014SMD | 120P per meter | Slim profile applications |
| 5050SMD | 30P and 60P per meter | Higher output and RGB colour mixing |
| 5730SMD | 60P per meter | Higher lumen per LED |
On our 12V 2835SMD 60P LED Strip light the published figure is 26-28 lumens per LED, 5-6 W per meter and 400-500 lumens per meter at 80-90 lm/W, on a double-layer copper 8 mm PCB, cuttable every three LEDs.
Our COB Strip Light Range
Our COB range runs at 12V and 24V in 252P, 320P and 480P densities. Higher chip density is the whole point: the more chips per meter, the more evenly the phosphor layer is driven and the less any individual point is visible.
Choosing Between Them
- If the strip will be seen directly, or reflected in a gloss surface, COB removes the dotting that SMD shows.
- If the strip sits behind a deep diffuser or a long way from the eye, SMD is the more economical choice for the same output.
- If you need RGB, RGBW or RGBWW colour mixing, our colour-mixing models are SMD based.
- If the run is long and mains-voltage, our high-voltage 2835SMD models are built for that job.
Related Reading
- How to choose between 12V, 24V and mains-voltage strip light
- RGB, RGBW and RGBWW explained
- 12V LED Strip Light — the full low-voltage range including COB.