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What is the MacAdam ellipse?

The MacAdam ellipse shows how LEDs, belonging to a certain production line, deviate from standard values in their colour consistency. Since 1st September 2013, manufacturers in the EU have to provide information about these deviations. Specifically, this means that the deviation in colour temperature between LEDs must be shown on data sheets. In this blog article, you can find useful information about the MacAdam ellipse and why it is important when buying new LEDs.


circular colour effectsiStock.com/whitedesk

The most important information at a glance:


  • Thanks to MacAdam ellipses, it's possible to see how much LEDs differ from standard values in colour precision
  • deviations are shown in different steps - (the official unit of measurement is called SDCM (Standard Deviation of Colour Matching))
  • The colour deviation of an LED must not be more then 6 SDCM
  • During LED binning, LEDs are separated due to their deviations and sorted into so-called bins

 

Deviation of LED colour and brightness

 

This might be a familiar scenario for you: two newly-bought LEDs of the same brand or product series are both illuminated. Despite them being identical on the product sheet, they emit light of a different colour temperature or brightness … a phenomenon you will not have experienced with incandescent or halogen bulbs.

That's because these deviations only occur with LEDs. When they first appeared on the market, LEDs differed immensely, even if they came from the same production line. Thanks to advances in technology, they've now improved greatly - especially products from top-quality brands. Small deviations in colour temperature (measured in Kelvin) or brightness (measured in Lumen) may still occur, however. These are caused by unpreventable things like tolerances in the components used during the manufacturing process, for instance. Unfortunately, this means that deviations in LEDs can be significant enough to be discernible to the human eye.

The MacAdam ellipse

 

The MacAdam ellipse demonstrates deviations in colour. The ellipse was developed by and named after scientist David MacAdam. He experimented with the perception of colour and differences in chromaticity. Afterwards, he transferred the results to a CIE chromaticity diagram that has been in use since 1931.

MacAdam’s measurements showed that deviations from a reference colour could be represented in the form of ellipses arranged around the initial value - not, as originally suspected, in the form of even circles. The ellipses, therefore, showed that deviations in colour temperatures were gradual.

The centre of the ellipse always describes the ideal target value for the colour temperature of an LED, while the edges show the permissible deviation for a certain binning. The short form SDCM became the official unit to measure these steps of deviation and stands for Standard Deviation of Colour Matching.

Grafik MacAdam-Ellipse
anonym, CIExy1931 MacAdam, CC BY-SA 3.0

The steps describe different degrees of visibility: if there are colour differences within only one step of the MacAdam ellipse, they are not recognisable to the human eye. Even with two or three steps (3 SDCM), variations are hardly noticeable. The following table provides an overview:



MacAdam ellipses (SDCM) Visibility
1 SDCM Almost no visible deviations
2 SDCM Deviations can be seen with instruments
3 SDCM Few deviations visible with human eye
4 SDCM Visible deviations
5 SDCM Strongly visible deviations



ANSI-LED-Binning-Standards

 

According to the ANSI standard (American National Standards Institute ANSI standard ANSI C78.377A), the recommendation is: An LED must be of such quality that the colour values ​​deviate up to a maximum of 6 levels of the MacAdam ellipse.

LED Panels

LED Panels


LED Lights

LED Lights


LED Spot

LED Spots






 

What is LED binning?

 

Unfortunately, deviations in the colour temperature and brightness of LEDs are inevitable and simply have to be accepted by manufacturers. The only thing that can be done is to optimise the production process as much as possible and sort through the LEDs after they've been made. This sorting process is called binning: products with similar deviations are separated and sorted into so-called bins. LEDs that end up in the same bin have consistent colour temperatures. This way, for example, you can be sure that a light that has a colour temperature of 4000 Kelvin will be seen as cool white.

The advantage of this process? You, as a customer, will be able to choose products that have consistent colour temperatures. Thus, there will be no unpleasant differences in the colour temperature or brightness when you turn on your LEDs at home or in the workplace.

Keep in mind that this process is complex and expensive. Therefore, the following rule applies: the cheaper a product, the bigger the differences within a certain product line. High-quality products may have a higher price, but the greater consistency in colour temperature and brightness make them a worthwhile investment.



Tip:

 

If you want to learn more about LED binning, read our blog. It contains a lot of useful information that will help you choose the perfect LED.

 

LEDs from Anylamp

 

At Anylamp you find a wide range of high quality LED lighting in various colour temperatures. Use the filter option to select your favourite colour temperature.