What Exactly Is An Led Driver?

LED driver = transformer? Ballast?

Because of the development of LED lighting and the emergence of new concepts, many people have long been confused. They are simply called the same. Please comfort yourself afterwards. Do you think that their shape and "function" are not the same?

1. Ballast

There are currently two types of ballasts, namely inductive and electronic ballasts, which are used for gas fluorescent lamps. Although they are connected to the input of the lamp like the LED lamp system, the working principle and function are completely the same.

2. Transformer

The concept of transformer mainly appears in the application of quartz lamps (halogen lamps), the main role is to reduce 220V AC to 12V AC voltage suitable for lamp cups, please note: the output voltage here is still AC, and LED drivers (current mainstream DC drive) is a DC output. In addition, this kind of transformer can also be applied to some LED lamp cups. I have experienced many cases before that the owner requested that only the lamp cups should be changed without changing the power supply.

3. What is the LED driver?

CE LED driver, this magical term that was hyped when the LED industry rose, in fact, people who specialize in electronic circuits know that LED driver circuits are not complicated at all, and are basically entry-level circuits.

Constant Voltage Led Driver

LED drivers are divided into constant current drivers and constant voltage LED drivers.

First of all, a basic concept of LED driving is to convert 220V alternating current into usable DC voltage (usually 3-110V). The so-called constant voltage driving means that the output voltage is constant and the current is variable. The advantage of the power supply is that you can arbitrarily connect multiple light strings in parallel (within the specified current). The greater the power, the lower the cost. The disadvantage is that it has a greater impact on the life of the LED, so the labels we see are all like this: the output voltage is constant (usually 12V / 24V), current and output power are optional.

The so-called constant current drive means that the output current is constant and the voltage is variable. For example, our common LED downlights, spotlights, and drives inside the lamp tube have the advantage of being able to adapt well to the working current environment required by the LED lamp beads. . According to the use environment, it can be divided into indoor, outdoor and bare board.

At present, the most commonly used output current of indoor LED drivers is basically about 300mA. If the output accuracy of the driver is sufficient, the service life of the lamp beads will be guaranteed, just like a car driving at a constant speed is more fuel efficient. The parameters given by each manufacturer.

It can be seen from this that there is still an essential difference between LED drivers and transformers and ballasts.