1. New LEP lights will show up. The low end will drop in price. The high end will improve performance. There’s a lot room for improvement.
2. BLFers will learn more about LEPs. What is the actual emitter performance/power curve? What power gives the peak performance? Can we swap the laser for a better one? Can we swap the phosphor for a better one? Can we move the emitter to another light? I’m not sure that all these questions will be answered in 2019. But some will.
3. Boost HX - I hope it becomes readily available, but I’m not certain it will. I hope it will perform as well as advertised, but I’m not certain it will. If it delivers….wow, it’s going to shake things up.
4. I don’t predict whether it will happen. But I hope it does:
- BLF high current regulated 1s driver, be it linear or buck. This one becomes more important this year…
- BLF boost driver for 1s in 6-12V out. If boost HX comes out, it may make this driver less important…
5. More flashlight powerbanks.
6. More Type-C
I’m somewhat dismayed by the false dichotomy - you can have either throw or high CRI. The latest developments really cement this. LEPs are low CRI and that’s not easy to change. Osram’s thrower LEDs are way better than any others that we’re aware of - and low-CRI only.
I don’t expect that to change but I’d love too.