CREE and Epistar are the most popular chips/drivers used in the automotive LED light bar industry, although there are actually more than a dozen different brands that are commercially available. Our customers are not strange to these two brands. They are two of our main led chip for currently using in led auto light.
CREE, Inc. was established in 1987 and is based in the USA. It makes the best LEDs, but other manufacturers are in a close second place when it comes to LED quality. Epistar Inc. (a Taiwan based company) and Nichia Corp (a Japan based company) produce good quality LEDs as well.
It is important to note that CREE licenses the use of its patents to others, and all three of the leading LED companies manufacture most of their LEDs in China.
Here is how these different Jeep LED brands stack up in terms of life expectancy and durability:
CREE: 50,000 to 100,000 hour Life Expectancy – Highest Standards
Epistar: 50,000 to 75,000 hour Life Expectancy – High Standards
Nichia: 50,000 to 75,000 hour Life Expectancy – High Standards
Bridgelux: 30,000 to 40,000 hour Life Expectancy – Medium Standards
Edison: 30,000 to 40,000 hour Life Expectancy – Medium Standards
Ecosmart: 10,000 to 25,000 hour Life Expectancy – Low Standards
Generic: 250 to 5,000 hour Life Expectancy – Lowest Standards
Different and Comparison
Cree is more expensive and better than Epistar. And it is not easy to distinguish from them unless you are a pro in led field. After all, customers are easily accept the Epistar due to it is little bit cheap. Moreover, it is not easy to find the differences if people are not sensitive on light color change.
From visible, the brightness of two are similar at the beginning( Cree is more brighter), only different is after 6-10 months，the cree leds will be bright as before while the Epistar will be bright lower and lower. However, please remember that both of them will fade with the time flies.
Besides, our company still have other light source for different customers' requirements like halogen, xeon and so on. Please contact our staff for more details.
