LED brightness

[cholin]

Hey, just wonderring if anyone knows a site that compares the brightnesses of LEDs with pictures.  I want to be able to see what I can buy because I saw a 3000mcd one that looked REALLY bright, and I was planning on buying 9000-12000mcd ones, which seem too brights now that I think about it.

Thanks in advance

[JCL]

This site may have some info of use:


http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ledleft.htm

[cholin]

Nah I took a quick look there, someone needs a new template!  I found it very hard to navigate.  Either way, Im looking for pictures with like 3 different MCD ratings of LEDs beside eachother.

[Trimoor]

MCD really isn't a measurement of brightness.  It depends on the viewing angle.  3000mcd might seem bright, but it might use the same chip as the 9000mcd one and have a wider viewing angle.  Remember you can always increase the resistance to lower the brightness, but you can't change the viewing angle without fancy optics.

[cholin]

Well Trimoor, these LEDs are gonna be for that project I spoke about a while ago.  It will have to difuse the light through a piece of paper or whatever I decide to print my overlay on.  At www.lsdiodes.com, theyre only like 90 cents for the brightest ones, but if the smaller ones will do, I can get them for half the price.  I just want to know what Im looking for.

[Trimoor]

3000mcd should be plenty bright for shining through paper of translucent plastic.