{"id":2032,"date":"2017-04-20T22:13:57","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T14:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/?p=2032"},"modified":"2017-04-21T08:31:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T00:31:34","slug":"prometheus-beta-qr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2017\/04\/20\/prometheus-beta-qr","title":{"rendered":"Prometheus Beta-QR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Hui’s second KS project. This time though, he goes back to his bread and butter: lights.<\/p>\n\n

As Jason is known for creating high end premium lights, his goal with the Beta QR was to create a practical light.<\/p>\n

High Color Rendering Index (HiCRI)<\/h1>\n

What I distinctly remember from this product is that it introduced me to the value of the Nichia emitter. I was already aware of the importance of HiCRI (High Color Rendering Index) in LEDs ever since I got my first “premium” torch in the HDS Custom Rotary<\/a> (on the right) <\/p>\n

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HiCRI LEDs are basically warm tinted emitters that are closer to incandescent (which, in turn, are closer to the sun) – and lighting any scene with them give you a more accurate color rendering of your surroundings as compared to the typical bluish\/white LEDs. As an oversimplification, it’s similar to how fluorescent lights compare to incandescents in general – and if you have ever tried using make-up, this argument becomes even more copelling.<\/p>\n

So long story short, HiCRI has become a non-negotiable for me when I purchase any new torch. By nature they output less than a typical emitter for the same power, but it’s a tradeoff I’d gladly accept in exchange for things literally<\/em> looking better. The Nichia LEDs, to this day are the kings of hill – this was made apparent when I compared this 85lumen to the 200 of the HDS which was far warmer<\/em> (too warm for my tastes)<\/p>\n

Purpose Driven Light<\/h1>\n

Going back to the light; as mentioned earlier, Jason intended to make a practical light. Which means the power output, while far from “impressive” by enthusiast standards, is really all you need for most uses. Notice that “moonlight” mode is pretty popular in LED lights – which is basically the lowest<\/em> setting you could get on a light. So it begs the question, if people tend to use this mode a lot (why look for it in the first place), then it just proves that while having the capability of outputting ridiculous amounts of lumens would be nice – it’s not really often needed<\/em> compared to “moonlight” mode. So extending the logic, 85-120 is really enough for normal use – nobody’s looking to go spelunking into some cavern overnight that the’ll need an uber-bright torch with them. What people normally need is a light to look for shit they dropped in the car or on the road while walking.<\/p>\n

So Jason took advantage of this and basically released a “premium” version of your “everyday” keychain light. Everything is practical: from the quick release keychain tab, to using AAA batteries instead of the typical high performance Li-Ion cells, to the Nichia LEDs, to the output range.<\/p>\n

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I got the “special edition” which used copper. Copper’s a great material in that it easily develops a patina<\/a>, and has got great heat-sinking characteristics (the best of all metals if I’m not mistaken). I personally would’ve liked a Titanium option but alas, there wasn’t. The copper edition also has a 3rd mode as compared to the two modes of the base (aluminum) version.<\/p>\n

Overall, the light was a winner. It had been a constant EDC of mine until I replaced it with something smaller, brighter, and Titanium 1 <\/sup><\/a>what can I say, I really have a weakness for Ti<\/span><\/span>