There seems to be a fair amount of thought going on in this thread.
It's also important to keep in mind that, power of individual LEDs and the lenses for them being equal, different wavelengths of illumination have different levels of penetrative power. Ergo, if an LED fixture comprised of LEDs of differing wavelengths uses LEDs that are all of the same power rating (and are all driven at the same level) and all use the same type of lenses, they will have differing levels of penetration into a canopy. To approximate an equal illumination at whatever level (into that canopy) that the manufacturer is shooting for, he would, IMHO, have to use LEDs that are powered at different levels and that have a mixture of lenses.
Which seems... slightly complicated. In my mind, the only way to have a "perfect LED fixture" would be if it came with active power regulation on a per-LED basis and active adjustable lenses (again, on a per-LED basis), and if that fixture came with some kind of sensor to be placed at whatever level within the canopy that the grower considers his "cut-off" for production-quality bud that could break down the light that it was actually receiving in such a way that it could report back both which wavelengths it "saw" and the levels of radiation of each.
I don't think there's anything like that in the marketplace. I don't think that any manufacturer has such a setup in his R&D department being tested. I think that it is likely that none even have it on the drawing board.
But there ARE some very nice LED fixtures in the marketplace. Some of the people that sell them are sponsors here and there are several rather respectable journals both ongoing and completed. I think success in trying to grow with LEDs - at least LEDs without supplemental illumination - is a combination of a manufacturer who is really attempting to create the best product that he can, continually trying to improve that product - to make changes as they occur to him based on the fact that they either have proven to be better in testing or at least logically should be better and are worthy OF testing - and a grower that is willing to work with the manufacturer (via feedback with the retailer) in order to figure out what style of growing, canopy depth/density, light height, grow room size, size of fixtures (in terms of both wattage and actual physical size/spread/density), number of fixtures, et cetera work best.
IOW, while growing with HIDs is, with few exceptions, already mapped out as to what works best with various sizes/types of lights, types of reflectors, and so on... Growing with LEDs is at this point still a very dynamic thing. While it's no longer considered to be in its infancy, it's still at the toddler (kindergarten?) level. As mentioned, some setups are working very well. But the "best scenarios" aren't figured out yet because the "standard LED benchmark growing methods" haven't really been determined yet.
It's also important to keep in mind that, power of individual LEDs and the lenses for them being equal, different wavelengths of illumination have different levels of penetrative power. Ergo, if an LED fixture comprised of LEDs of differing wavelengths uses LEDs that are all of the same power rating (and are all driven at the same level) and all use the same type of lenses, they will have differing levels of penetration into a canopy. To approximate an equal illumination at whatever level (into that canopy) that the manufacturer is shooting for, he would, IMHO, have to use LEDs that are powered at different levels and that have a mixture of lenses.
Which seems... slightly complicated. In my mind, the only way to have a "perfect LED fixture" would be if it came with active power regulation on a per-LED basis and active adjustable lenses (again, on a per-LED basis), and if that fixture came with some kind of sensor to be placed at whatever level within the canopy that the grower considers his "cut-off" for production-quality bud that could break down the light that it was actually receiving in such a way that it could report back both which wavelengths it "saw" and the levels of radiation of each.
I don't think there's anything like that in the marketplace. I don't think that any manufacturer has such a setup in his R&D department being tested. I think that it is likely that none even have it on the drawing board.
But there ARE some very nice LED fixtures in the marketplace. Some of the people that sell them are sponsors here and there are several rather respectable journals both ongoing and completed. I think success in trying to grow with LEDs - at least LEDs without supplemental illumination - is a combination of a manufacturer who is really attempting to create the best product that he can, continually trying to improve that product - to make changes as they occur to him based on the fact that they either have proven to be better in testing or at least logically should be better and are worthy OF testing - and a grower that is willing to work with the manufacturer (via feedback with the retailer) in order to figure out what style of growing, canopy depth/density, light height, grow room size, size of fixtures (in terms of both wattage and actual physical size/spread/density), number of fixtures, et cetera work best.
IOW, while growing with HIDs is, with few exceptions, already mapped out as to what works best with various sizes/types of lights, types of reflectors, and so on... Growing with LEDs is at this point still a very dynamic thing. While it's no longer considered to be in its infancy, it's still at the toddler (kindergarten?) level. As mentioned, some setups are working very well. But the "best scenarios" aren't figured out yet because the "standard LED benchmark growing methods" haven't really been determined yet.
