Exploring linear LED COB tape with macro PCB shots

It's a while since this stuff first appeared, but I wanted it to standardise and come down to a more realistic price before featuring it. That has now happened, along with a myriad of colours, voltages and strip widths.

The main difference between COB strip and standard LED strip is that instead of using widely spaced high output LEDs, the COB version uses a lot of tiny ones spaced closely together behind a common line of phosphor loaded gel. That results in a very sharp linear line of light.

To achieve the high LED density they have used the very clever flip-chip LEDs that are widely used on large COB arrays. These are basically bare LED chips with pads on the base to allow them to be soldered directly to PCBs like a conventional surface mount component.

It's worth mentioning that this 1-metre (3'3") 5V strip drew over 2A when powered, so it is best suited to short sections. For longer runs use 12V or 24V strip that achieves the same power at lower current. For even intensity along the length on long runs, feed the positive from one end and negative from the other.

As with conventional LED strip you can nudge the intensity and current down by varying the voltage slightly. This 5V stuff still produces a good visual line of light at 3V.

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