There is one thing essential for video recording and streaming besides the camera equipment and that is proper lighting. This is known both by amateurs and professionals which is why everyone is looking for the most efficient lighting methods.
For such purposes where continuous lighting is mandatory, the LED has become a favorite among the creators. Since it is constantly getting improved, the COB technology is the newest version of the LED which lets us enlighten our subjects in the best way possible.
In this article, we’ll talk about COB lighting sources and explain why are they great for streaming and video recording purposes. This should help in selecting your lighting equipment and providing the highest quality content to your audience. Keep reading and find out more.
Cob light meaning
While the acronym is translated into a chip on board, this lighting source is a part of the LED technology group. The chips are heavily dense from one to another and directly communicate with the substrate medium. This provides a panel with strong density and lumen like never before.
It is continuous lighting which is why it is mostly used by videographers and streams, as well as studio photographers.
The unit can be mounted on a tripod or held in your hands so you can often change the orientation of the light, as well as the intensity of the illumination. While the lighting can be very bright, you can always use dimmers to adjust the tone to your preference.
Differences between other LED technologies and COB
To understand the popularity of the COB, we made a comparison to show the differences between this platform and the remaining LED technologies.
Diode number
The first difference is the number of diodes on each panel. We can take a 1×1 centimeter panel as a reference. In COB, there are more than three hundred diodes on each 1×1 panel, while in surface-mounted technology there are only forty.
Such densely packed technology offers much stronger light and better compactness which is why COB is great streaming and video recording lighting source.
Design of the circuit
The simplicity of the circuit is another advantage of the COB boards. They come with a single circuit and two connectors, on the other hand, the surface-mounted technology comes with three separate circuits with six connectors.
While the simplicity of the circuit design provides the COB longevity and more efficient use, it cannot generate an RBG module as surface-mounted technology does. However, the variety in colors is not necessary for videography and streaming, but in case you want the additional color you can always use membranes.
Homogenous lighting
The densely packed diodes provide equal illumination across the scene and the subject which is essential in videography and streaming. This cannot be achieved by using surface-mounted technologies since they are not great at generating strong lighting but colors.
Benefits of using COB
While going through the differences between the other LED technologies and COB, you already get to understand why is COB a better fit for your streaming video recording projects. However, we’ll go a step ahead and provide you with all the benefits that using this modern continuous source provides.
Compactness
Compactness is one of the biggest benefits that COB provides. Because of such tightly packed diodes, the whole unit has small dimensions that make it great for portability. For example, the COLBOR cob light weighs just above 500 grams and comes with dimensions that allow it to be placed in a backpack which makes it highly practical.
If you want to achieve the same output with another LED technology, the unit would be much bigger which becomes problematic. While this may be working at a studio, it is still not a great pick for the purpose.
Highly efficient
Efficiency is another factor you should be looking for when purchasing streaming or video recording lighting source. Due to the simplistic circuit design and the diode density, the COB sources are producing around a hundred lumens to watt compared to the surface-mounted panels which produce around forty.
This efficiency provides more working hours in a single charge, and the same number of watts produces much more illumination. Both these elements contribute to a lighting source that is surely a great fit for your equipment.
Strong lighting
The beam is uniform and strong which provides both enough lighting even in the darkest studios, as well as sharp shadows that increase the quality of the video. By having an option to add such cob light effect with the use of a single source, you should not look further.
As mentioned above, in case the lighting is too strong for the scene, or you have other preferences, the simple use of diffusers makes the job well.
Running cool
Lastly, the conventional lighting sources used to get extremely hot during long working hours. While the usual LED platforms did much better, they still cannot compare to the COB sources.
They have much fewer components inside the unit, and in addition to the simplistic cob light design, you can expect to work for long hours without worrying about the heat of the device.
What is COB light used for
Besides using them for video creation, they find great purpose in lots of other applications such as industrial use since they can enlighten large areas very efficiently.
In addition, they are used in the construction field. Not only do they are great for indoors since they are easy to be installed but they can be also used to achieve modern design by adding light to the outside of the building.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article helped in learning more about the COB sources and their differences from the conventional LED platforms. In addition, how they work and the benefits they provide should make it clear not only are they great for streaming and video recording, but they may become essential.
With such large application possibilities, it can be safe to say that COB is about to take over the continuous lighting world.
