2024-03-17
Nichia LEDs enjoy a very good reputation today. They are often used for all lamps where good light color and very high color rendering are desired. There have already been countless iterations of the Nichia “x19” LED family for 3535 footprint. Today, Nichia offers an excellent LED in the form of the 519A.
The 219A was one of the first LEDs in this family of SMD high-power LEDs. It was launched on the market in summer 2010 and appeared on the modding scene from the beginning of 2012 at the latest. It was one of the first really usable and available High CRI emitters with also good performance and beam quality.
This test is intended to provide some information on this historic piece of LED history and show how LED technology has developed in recent years.
Unfortunately, I have very little background information on the LED shown here (of which I only have one). The tint information given (B10 sw45) and the name “219AT-H1” may be incorrect, but this was the information that came with the LED. The designation NVSL is a mandatory result of the specified color grouping sw45. The LED was provided to me by TLF user Megalodon at the beginning of 2017 (if you ever read this, thank you!).
Presumably this emitter was purchased sometime between 2012 and 2014.
Note: The following technical data is taken from the data sheet for the NVSL219AT-H1.
The CRI of these versions is specified as min. 85. It is not known whether the LED tested here corresponds to this type. Despite intensive research, I have not been able to find a dedicated data sheet for a 90 CRI version (as is common today with Nichia).
Tj 25 °C, If 350 mA
- Type: single die, flip chip
- Bin: B10 (min 100 lm, max 110 lm)
- Color group: sw45 (4500 K)
- CRI: min. 85 (?)
- Rated voltage: Rank L = min 2.7, max. 3.1 V
- Max. Forward current: 1,500 mA
- Max. Peak current: 2,000 mA
- Viewing angle: unknown °
- Thermal resistance: typ 7, max 12 K/W
- Max. Temperature Tj: max. 150 °C
Note: There is no data sheet from an official source (from the manufacturer). There are data sheets from third-party suppliers/resellers (e.g. here), but a 90 CRI type (R90 / R9080) is never specified here.
The 219AT differs significantly from today’s emitters.
It has a white substrate on which the yellow LES (light emitting surface) sits. Even back then, Nichia used an LED chip with a flip chip design, which reduces the forward voltage and can improve the optical properties. Black markings are printed around the luminous surface, one corner marks the cathode.
The ESD protection element is located at the bottom right-hand corner of the picture. This was retained in a similar design up to 219C.
The very small dome is particularly noticeable in direct comparison with the newer Nichia emitters. In general, the domes have become larger and larger over the past generations, presumably due to the use of ever larger illuminated surfaces. Due to the small dome, the illuminated surface appears almost round.
The 219A is 3.5 x 3.5 mm in size.
The footprint holds no surprises.
Even though I don’t have a picture of it, it corresponds to that of other 3535 LEDs.
There is no dedicated marking in the footprint for anode/cathode. The marking on the top must be used for this.
As already described, the LES appears almost circular. There is a striking pattern in the luminous surface that almost looks like a dice with 6 eyes.
The luminous area is 4.8 mm² in size. This emitter already exhibits the phenomenon of laterally emitted light.
This makes it considerably more difficult to determine the luminous area in the conventional way and is also likely to reduce the luminance measurably.
Within official parameters, as far as known:
- at 1,500 mA (official maximum current): 370 lm @ 3.64 V
- Power at official maximum: 5.5 W
- Efficiency at 1,500 mA: 67.8 lm/W
- Maximum reached at 3.4 A, at this point 536 lm @ 4.35 V
- Power at maximum 14.8 W
- Efficiency at maximum 36.2 lm/W
Compared to today’s emitters, the performance of the 219AT is very low.
This is probably due to the high thermal resistance. In addition, the forward voltage is extremely high. With almost 4.4 V at the maximum possible operating current, direct drive is possible without any problems: however, only a maximum of 2.4 to 2.6 A can be expected, depending on the battery.
The extremely high Vf must be taken into account if linear drivers are used. Such a high Vf is now extremely unusual for LEDs and usually occurs today with emitters with extremely thin bonding wires. Whether the 219AT generally has such a high forward voltage is not known due to a lack of reference values.
Compared to more modern Nichia emitters, the difference is clearly recognizable. The 319A in particular makes a huge leap forward. It has a higher luminous flux than the 519A tested here with 90 CRI, but this is due to the very high binning tested at the time and above all the lower CRI of typ. 83 (R8000). This shows that the 319A with its unusual hexagonal LED chip is still a very good LED and the forward voltage and maximum current are also extremely similar. Unfortunately, the 319A is hardly or no longer available in 80 or 90 CRI.
Data for 25 °C Tsp (at 85 °C the luminance values are around 13 % lower).
The luminance is very low due to the low luminous flux and low efficiency as well as the light emitted from the side.
The LED is not recommended for throwers; an all-rounder light pattern with a short range is to be expected.
The 519A performs much better here, despite the much larger LES; above all, this LED has hardly any laterally emitted light, as there is a special, opaque silicone layer around the LED chip.
The beam is perfect.
There are no artifacts like tint shift. There is a harmonious beam pattern in reflectors and lenses.
In some reflectors and lenses, slight yellowish discoloration may occur in the spot. This only occurred extremely weakly in my test and should only be noticed by very few users, even on the whitewall. In normal everyday use at the latest, this possible effect no longer plays a role.
I do not know what exact color rendering rating the LED tested here has.
I was only told that the color rendering should be over 90 and CCT around 4500 K. This confirms my measurement.
With a CRI of 91 and an R9 of 73, the color rendering is very high, especially by the standards of the time. The CCT is also quite high, but is still within the range to be expected with 4500 K emitters. Even for today’s standards the light quality is very good and totally usable.
The tint is perfect. With a negative duv, there is no green or yellow tint.
- Ra: 91
- R9: 73
- CCT: 4873 K
- duv: -0.0010
The 219AT was launched on the market almost 15 years ago.
Even the emitter tested here is probably at least a decade old. A serious conclusion is therefore hardly possible, as the performance is hardly comparable today.
Nevertheless, it offers a beautiful beam, very good light and color quality and a design that is virtually standard today. Thanks to the use of the 3535 footprint, it could be used to replace XP-G emitters even back then.
Due to its advanced age, the properties listed as disadvantages are only listed for the sake of completeness and are not intended to be used for evaluation purposes.
Pro
- very good beam
- very good tint
- high color rendition
- standard footprint and therefore good compatibility
Neutral
- –
Contra
- high thermal resistance
- low performance even with overcurrenting
- low efficiency, especially in overcurrent conditions
- very low luminance
Thank you for reading the test. 