What does it means?
Driver types:
- Direct drive (FET direct drive) = dumps battery into LED directly. Least efficient.
- Linear driver (+1, linear drive) = cuts off battery voltage to conform to the LED voltage at the linear regulator specified current. More efficient, but still not very efficient.
That is what the Sofirn Q8(350mA = +1 7135 linear regulator, and anything higher uses a mix of linear+direct drive) does, and it is not a very efficient light overall.
- Buck/boost switching driver = boosts or reduces the battery voltage. Most expensive, but most efficient.
Lights like this use a boost driver, to boost the voltage.
Alongside a very efficient LED like the XHP70.2, it allows it to run efficiently and for very long:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33013718846.html
There’s even a diffuser to go along with it:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003902085041.html
Cool video 
I assume you’re the one that keeps winning? 
I can see from the video there is no scope for hanging things from the ceiling, i am used to much busier ceilings.
Any light you use is going to have to go above eye level otherwise at various moments somebody will follow the ball and end up looking directly at the LEDs which will be bad for their eyesight. So any solution will require stands of some sort.
Costs and availability are obviously limiting factors and buying some powerful torches with li-ion batteries may well be the best solution (especially if you can get something like the Convoy M3 BlueSword suggests above). However, like Jeff i see potential in LED strips powered by lead acid batteries, and if money were no object and these are used correctly i can see these actually being better than your standard lighting.
From a budget point of view though, IF you can get hold of some cheap lead-acid batteries, and IF you can get some stands made up cheaply out of any material really, wood or plastic for example, and IF you can find the right LED strips for the right price, and IF you have some place to store the stands and batteries then you can make some pretty nice floodlights.
And because these would be direct lighting instead of ceiling bounced lighting you can use them in the larger space in the room too.
So, in my mind, you can have a 20cm x 20cm board with 5 x 20cm LED strips across it as a nice floodlight IF the LEDs are bright enough, or if they are cheap enough you can just add more LEDs and/make the board larger until it is bright enough. it’s easy to scale this to the right brightness.
This board could be hung by a stand 3-4 metres high, and because the strips are lightweight the stand doesn’t need to be that strong, and the base could easily be weighted by bricks/rocks/water containers/ sports bags, or any lead-acid batteries you have.
If you have 4 tables lined up side by side you can have one board in between each table with one board on either end for a nice, even brightness with minimal shadows and minimal hotspots. This would mean 5 stands.
I’m guessing at these figures but at 12 watts a 5050 sized single LED can put out around 1500 lumens (some more, some less obvs), so i’d assume a good LED strip can do the same. So if we assume each board can put out 1500 lumens that’s 7500 lumens direct lighting across the table at 1A per board, or 5 A in total. A single, decent lead-acid battery will be able to do this but some degraded batteries that are no use for vehicles anymore will be able to provide 1A for an hour. Here i could pick those up very cheaply, i don’t know how available they are to you.
I also don’t know how much the right LED strip will cost. The one you linked to is the right type, a 12v strip, but i can’t see anything that shows how bright it is or how much power it uses.
This one for example: “https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-921627971-tira-de-led-interior-blanco-friocalido-5-mts-60lm-cfuente~~\_JM”:https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-921627971-tira-de-led-interior-blanco-friocalido-5-mts-60lm-cfuente~~\_JM states it is 60 lumens / metre which is too low, that’s only 300 lumens for the whole 5 metre strip, you’d need 25 metres to get 1500 lumens.
This one: “https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-921627971-tira-de-led-interior-blanco-friocalido-5-mts-60lm-cfuente~~\_JM”:https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-921627971-tira-de-led-interior-blanco-friocalido-5-mts-60lm-cfuente~~\_JM doesn’t give a brightness but states 72W for the strip, of 12 watts per metre which i would expect to be a decent brightness. (Remember 12W from a single 5050 LED can give in the region of 1500 lumens).
Even if that 12 watts gave 1000 lumens that’s 5000 lumens for the strip which costs $1.649, and if you can find a cheap battery (and charger :/) you can see how this starts to rival the cost of a torch.
(Note though i don;t have experience of cheaper LED strips, just one very expensive one, so my figures may be well off.)
And if something goes wrong it may be easier to swap out a battery or an LED strip than it is to repair a torch.
So ideally we’re looking for an LED strip that specifies both power consumption and lumen output. The higher the CRI the better and i think a cooler colour temperature would be better but that depends on the LED itself, i think i would prefer playing under 4000K sst-20s than a nasty 6500K anything but my personal choice would be something around 5700K.
I’ve played under some horrendous lighting condition before though so these are just ideals and will probably increase the cost. The most important thing for me is even lighting with minimal glare. Oh, and NO PWM, very important.
I’m sorry your wife has reduced vision, i can see why bright lighting is required. Again, there’s potential for LED strips powered by a lead-acid battery to provide a good solution, especially if you can install them in different rooms with their own switch.
EDIT: - This strip states 72 watts and 2150 lumens total: “https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-655288021-tira-led-5050-blanco-frio-6000k-x-5-mt-practiled-certificada~~\_JM”:https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-655288021-tira-led-5050-blanco-frio-6000k-x-5-mt-practiled-certificada~~\_JM so a lot lower brightness and efficiency than i was expecting. Still, it gives us a starting figure of 2150 lumens for $1.550 and 3amps (roughly) per 1000 lumens, so more batteries than i anticipated.
Edit 2: - Just found a couple of strips much closer to what i was expecting.
This one: “https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-811109431-tira-led-3528-2835-interior-5metros-120ledm-600led-potencia~~\_JM”:https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-811109431-tira-led-3528-2835-interior-5metros-120ledm-600led-potencia~~\_JM is 18W (1.5amps) and 2000 lumens per metre, so 10,000 lumens for $1.400
and this one: ”https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-899807192-tira-led-2835-interior-5-mts-120-ledmt-12v-alta-potencia~~\_JM”:https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-899807192-tira-led-2835-interior-5-mts-120-ledmt-12v-alta-potencia~~\_JM is also 2000 lumens per metre but at only 12W (1amp), so 10000 lumens for $1.969 but more efficient.
Much more as i was expecting, assuming the figures are accurate…
Wow, amazing post Marc! thank you.
Keep in mind that $1000 argentinian pesos are just USD 5, so they are cheap: yes!
Maybe I can start that project if the flashlight way fails
Thanks
By the way, I was looking at the Convoy M3-C (USD 39 at Aliexpress), and now I realised there is one with an extension for 26800 cells (6800mah)… very interesting! (https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005004100882594.html?pdp_npi=2%40dis!USD!US%20%2444.41!US%20%2444.41!US%20%2444.41!!!!%402101d8f416530804351471747ef4fc!!sh&spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.productList_2002109571625.pic_8)
So, at 1524lm (Convoy M3-C review | High power flashlight with 4300 lumens)
original cell: 5000 mah —> 140 mins aprox
new cell: 6800 mah —> 190 mins = 3hs 9 min 30s aprox
Am I right?
Will it really last for 3:09 hs?
Remember that virtually all flashlights step down form Turbo or (some) from high after temperatures reach a certain point.
This can range from several minutes to 30 seconds or so. The lumen drop can be significant.
You need to take that into consideration when planning the lumen requirements.
Let us know what you work out. Others will be interested.
All the Best,
Jeff
Yes, I know… when I wrote about 1524lm I mean the sustainable lm, that was proved.
I’ve got that light with the 26800 cell. It’ll sustain 1500 lumen with enough mass to keep it from cooking. One trick to keep your lights cooler, place them on metal trays or plates. The better you can bleed out the heat the brighter you can keep it.
Very good trick, I will do it.
By the way, what is the best place (online, realiable and cheaper) to buy Convoy M3-C at USA?
Good news: MS08 seems to work ok on this other room:
what do you think?
Sorry for late response. Sounds about right for the runtime. That 6800 mah rating was done at a 10 amp draw. I know of no USA venders.
That’s not bad! Stand is a bit wobbly though
Needs a little bit of diffusion i think but that might just be the way the video shows the light.
How many lumens was that?
i would not light up rooms
i would focus more on task lighting
using hat/headband mounted lights, in combo with handheld
why do you need to see the whole room at once?
100 lumens is usually ok for reading or looking at one thing across the room with a reasonable beam pattern
Haha, I was having it in my hands… now I have a good tripod for the next tests with MS08 and future MS12 Mini
Lumens: started maybe on 25000 and decreased to 10.000 or 8000 or so… (that’s what internet reviewers show at 1lumen…)
Another thing I love about the MS08 is that you could let the fans on while charging the flashlight!
BTW: we need to light 2 or more tables, and table tennis is very dependent on lighting!