COB LED Strip Lights... Everything You Need to Know
What is a COB?
When shopping for LED tape lighting, there are a lot of acronyms that may seem unfamiliar. Using RGB or RGBW for multi-color products. CCT for those products that have adjustable color temperature. One of the more recent acronyms introduced is COB, which is an abbreviation for Chip on Board. But what does it mean, and what does it mean for your project?
Chip on Board LED Strip Lights
Let’s start with the technical side. COB is an abbreviation of “chip on board”, which means that the chip is directly packaged on the PCB, the “printed circuit board” that is at the heart of all LED strip light products. In the previous generation of tape light, each LED chip was mounted individually to a frame that was soldered to the circuit board. It was then covered in phosphor in order to reach the desired lighting color temperature. This design, referred to as “Surface-Mounted-Device” or SMD, results in each LED being visible, and while it is still an efficient and effective design, it can result in “hotspots”, or places where the individual LEDs reflect off of a surface or result in inconsistent light diffusion.
Dotless COB LED Lights
COB or “Chip-On-Board” technology eliminates the challenges of hotspots and introduces a new dotless product. The surface mounting of each LED is replaced by encapsulating a greater number of smaller LEDs directly on the circuit board (PCB). COB no longer uses an individual frame for each LED, but instead uses flip chip technology and a constant bead of phosphor to result in a uniform, seamless beam of light.
COB LED Strip Light Compared to Traditional SMD
While both COB and SMD tape light produce energy efficient light, COB tape light produces a continuous, seamless light as opposed to the LED “dots” of the original tape light designs. Due to the structure of the design, COB does have an additional benefit of a greater beam angle, reaching 180 degrees instead of SMD’s 120 degrees.
Looking for LED light tape with dimmable, flexible LED strip lights?
With a seamless, continuous glow and greater light dispersion, COB tape lighting is a great upgrade for almost every project. Armacost Lighting is committed to being a leader in LED tape lighting, and we have a full assortment of COB strip light with varying lumens output, lengths, and color temperatures.
 |
 |
 |
How to Install COB LED Strip Lights
Our flexible COB LED strip lights feature strong 3M adhesive, can be cut to size and reconnected, and are always easy to install. For specific instructions, refer to the instruction PDF listed on the Armacost Lighting product page. Also, check out these helpful Knowledge Center articles: How to Connect LED Light Strips and LED Strip Light Installation Tips.
Need help selecting the perfect COB tape light for your project? Reach out to our Customer Support team at support@armacostlighting.com for free help bringing your ideas to light.
