Why no one doing RGB flashlights?

I would not use it for white but i have wanted one light that had all three colours and bonus if they could be mixed by ramping each colour separately. But mostly for having all 3 colours in one light.

And preferably if they could all have the same brightness, it bugs me when you could have 200 lumens of red but only 50 lumens of green

It would make more sense to me to build a quad with 1 good white, 1 blue, 1 red and one green led. I could see blending on the three non-white leds and running the white alone. That might interest me, but the driver code and button pushes would be a monster.

Yes the main idea is fun with mixing the 3 separate led, to produce different colors, the white is only bonus.
As the UI go, there could be two modes for colors.
For now I was thinking of using anduril 2 and modifying the color tint setting so 3H from "ON" on anduril 2. Then in it, you could 2C to chose in what mode you want to be.
One mode, ramping with two neighboring LEDs (when you press button one is getting dimmer, and other brighter, and if you release and hold again, it go back, and it go around buy next neighboring LEDs )
second mode just going around, by pressing 1C, to fire first only one led separately, so red, green, blue, then next would be pairs, so yellow, cyan, magenta, and last would be all.
Then if you would exit the color mode press 3H, and use flashlight normally with that color that you have chosen. I first thought about variable brightness, on 3 leds, but the UI would be to complicated, so I thought that this two modes would be much useful and intuitive.

of course, those are only my first thoughts about the possible UI.

Check out the Antsonamelon RGB Critter. The Flashlight Buying Guide for Light Painting linked in my signature also features quite a few RGB lights.

It can’t colour mix though, which is what the original post was referring to. KDLITKER and Ledlenser also have non-colour mixing RGB lights.

YES, the fun with mixing colors was the idea
I once saw a flashlight that has 3 piece triangular switches side by side (don't remember the model). It could have it for split ramp control for each color LED. All triangular switches can be colored for each color led, and have separated colored switch led, for easy operation at night and day.
I wouldn't want to design a new host with 3 buttons, because it cost money.
And we would likely see already used host with swapped leds and 3 part switch, than new flashlight.

Just get a 3 led host, swap the led's for RGB osram, widen the button hole, to fit the 3 piece triangular switches, and it's done.
well, and get the driver that can work with it, and UI.

Mixing colors may be fun, but it has little to no practical purpose, white light made by rgb cluster has very poor cri, and not pleasant to an eye, that is why cree and others, make rgbw leds, so white has its own die. no mixing needed,

It has a practical purpose for light painting photographers thank you!

The flashlight led and the RGB-pixel led worlds don’t really seem to know about each other. I’m one of the few people with a foot in both worlds. “Dumb leds” (5050’s, strip lights, etc) are usually assembled as a 3-emitter chip and are color-controlled via variable current. You need a board that can do that to act as your driver. They can be anything from cheap single-channel remote controlled, up to big multi-channel computer-controlled units. I’ve got an old Light-O-Rama CMB-24 that I’ll be using with some new 12v rgb floodlights for Halloween this year. I’ll try to post something once I have them up and running. “Pixel” leds are 3-emitter elements that come in various form-factors, but are individually addressable. So if you have a string of “100 leds”, “dumb leds” will all be the same color and all on, off, or dimmed the same. “Pixel leds” could be 100 different things. Each pixel can be a different shade, some can be on, others off, etc. Each pixel can be controlled individually like a pixel in a JumboTron TV. (guess how they make JumboTrons?) If you group enough pixel leds together, you can make patterns, effects, and even JumboTron TVs using software like Vixen or xLights. Systems are usually built using a basic DMX architecture plus a ton of creativity. My lighting displays are heading in that direction. But pixel-leds are still around $15-17 US per 100. And that’s from Ray Wu on Aliexpress, so you know what the shipping charges are like. I’ve got a small display and my “light count” is already 18,100. So replacing everything with pixels is $$$$$$$$$$$$

This was part of my Christmas show last year. All of my lights are currently just conventional AC-leds from the discount stores. But if you watch the whole video, you’ll see why I want the super-thrower and can probably guess when it would turn on.

saw this https://www.amazon.pl/LUXJUMPER-czerwonym-zielonym-wielofunkcyjna-wodoszczelno%C5%9Bci/dp/B08F28GNHZ
but can't get more info on it, and how it operates. Wonder if you can mix color, probably not, because it probably doesn't have ramping.

And yes, the RGBW is probably better, you can brighten the colors.

Rgb combined to white looks pretty ugly IMO. Arri and Prolycht have made high cri RBGACL video lights. I know that nichia e17a come in phosphor-converted amber and lime, now we’re just missing the cyan and the 6 channel driver (and firmware).

i think also the colored leds are not very bright, or if they are, they are not very cheap
plus the white made that way, is not very good
one thing you do find commonly is a bright white led light, with some aux red blue green and maybe UV side lights

wle

Really nice display DrscottD, I enjoyed that !

Years ago I made a really nice RGBW light with colour mixing using a compact (18650) Solarstorm SC-02 host, a DrJones RGBW driver and a quad optic with colour XP-E2 leds (and a high CRI Nichia for the white channel). It was a lot of work but it (still) works like a charm. And I do wish a light like this would be made commercially, it is huge fun and it may even have a few useful purposes.

The biggest market for colour mixing flashlights is for light painting photography and flow arts. Thus a single or even two switch light isn’t really going to cut it. The new Antsonamelon RGB Critter has 3 side switches. The Light Excursion Deluxe RGB has 3 switches, 3 rotary dials, and momentary switch. The Protomachines LED8 also has a lot of buttons.

i’ve been wanting something like this, but in a flashlight style, and professionally produced. Niji Lantern RGB cmy _ Portable Type Used With AAA Batteries - Etsy

I never let customers or our salespeople specify RGB, it’s either RGBW or nothing. RGB-mixed white is atrocious no matter how much diffusion and gamma correction you apply. RGBW torch I could see happening but only with great optics, TIRs, lenses and reflectors have an annoying habit of splitting the light back into its constituent primary colours and it looks bad.

Even single button UI wouldn’t need to be terribly worse than present day tint ramping Andúril, you can fully control an RGBW system with three parameters:

  • hue (ramping around the colour wheel)
  • saturation (ramping between the RGB blend of max. two channels and the white channel)
  • intensity (overall brightness)

IMO Andúril could handle one extra ramp and its click combo and still remain usable just fine.

Guess what wurkkos just released:D
wurkkos wk40 rbgw
https://www.wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-wk40-rbgw-multicolor-flashlight-4leds-with-tir-optics,-colorful-infinite-gradient,21700-version-usb-c-rechargeable

The Ants On A Melon RGB Critter is currently the best RGB light. Firmware updates are coming soon. There is a link to the review in my signature.

not quite what you are looking for, but nitecore has made a few.

They had the SRT9 for a bit but discontinued it.
Now they have the SRT7GT

Theres another one that I can’t seem to find, but its also not quite what you’re looking for so I guess it doesnt matter :confused:

Does anyone else have problems with the Wurkkos website? I can never get it to load, be it on PC or mobile.
Either way, whilst an RGBW flashlight is right at the very top of my ‘want,’ list, after my experiences with the TS10 (which I still really need to sort) I’ll be waiting on some steady positive feedback before taking a punt on them again - particularly with an ambitious project like this.