Early Econolite had no angle, Eagle, Crouse, LFE and a few others had a slight dip in the visor. Not sure what your asking? Are you wondering why is the housing thin on arrows versus the ball displays
I meant the face of the module on the non-pixelated versions is dome-shaped like traditional traffic light lenses but arrows modules still have a flat face reguardless of if they're pixelated or non-pixelated.
Depends on the manufacturer. GE lenses tend to be more flat, Dialights are more beveled outwards. Swarco LEDs is even more like a regular lens. I would put Swarco's stuff at the top of the list for best incandescent look. Then EOI, Dialight, and GE
Do the GE GT-1 Ball modules have the more dome-back then the flat-back in this picture?
I just got a new yellow ball LED module yesterday and I believe it's a GT-1. It's for sure GE, it has the screen pattern, and is definitely a non-pixelated.
It should be a GT-1, it just looks a bit different then how I pictured the GT-1 ball modules to look. xD
The GT1 ball has a deep back because it uses only a few high power LEDs. The arrow has a flat back because it uses three rows of LEDs but an incandescent style lens covering them. The newer GTx is designed to be ball or arrow using high power LEDs. arrows are created by installing a mask behind the lens
Hmm. wouldn't more low-power LEDs be better? High power LEDs have shorter lives and dim faster than LEDs at a lower power. I noticed the light from the incandescent-like LED modules will fade out of view if the signal is rocking in the wind. That happens here and it seems a little bit of a safety issue.
another thing i was wondering, if LED modules an be thin as this, do you think there might be a push for smaller traffic signals to cut back on costs or something? I always thought it'd be a cool idea. A more compact signal.
The high flux LEDs are pretty efficient. They'll last forever. The power supplies are what wear out. Dialight is currently developing LED modules to surpass 20 year lifespans. The new 12 inch signal head they introduced last weekend has a 15 year life.
There have been revisions to the specifications regarding LED traffic modules, usually ones with a sharp cut off of light when swaying around were built under an earlier revision and earlier technology. Today's newest modules have better lighting technology to those even 5 years ago and the cut off issue is not as bad as it was.
To answer your 3rd question. No I don't see signals getting thinner...at least not in the US. Too many specifications and standards regarding size, shape, colors, etc. Couple that with the high cost of retooling factories. Siemens is still using 30 year old signal designs. Eagle Signal no longer exists. DURASIG and LFE are both brands that no longer exist but the signals are still being manufacturing by Siemens using the same molds. Peek is still using the Crouse Hinds designs. Only McCain and Econolite have updated their signals in recent years but they are not thinner. Even Dialight's new signal head isn't thin. Incandescent look LEDs need the light engine a distance from the lens in order to operate properly
Ahh i see. I know the early LED modules with the diodes behind a clear lens have issues with the LEDs going out. Here it's always the green LEDs that seem to die, even on the "side road" side when the red is used more than the green. I've seen the green modules just go entirely dark after more than half the LEDs were dead (most likely not really "dea" but from bad welds or vibration or something). Do they even make the old style modules with the exposed LEDs? To be honest i kinda prefer those because with the lensed LED modules, when the sun shines at them it's harder to tell what color is lit. With the bare LEDs with the clear flat lens, there is no mistaking what color is lit.
I guess here they have a lot of leftover stock since i still see the older modules that are incandescent-like with the narrow range of vision. and yeah i guess i didn't think about all the regulations and cost involved with creating a new mold for signals.
They're using EOI LED modules here now and they' have a better viewing angle than the 2009-2011 Dialights that were previously used. I noticed that the greens tend to go bad first too, they usually replace the module with the new incandescent look one when that happens. Most of the signals on the major arterials had their Dialight extended view and Dialight incandescent looks (oldest dated back to the 2003 retrofit) group replaced with new EOI ones last year though.
As for the pixelated type, it seems Leotek still makes them and GE still does if you consider the RX-11 as a pixelated one.
I have a GT-X module and they're pretty deep...I think almost as deep or even deeper than the incandescent reflector it replaced.
Most of the older pixelated modules here looked like the green in your link for the reds and greens and the yellows here looked like the yellow in your link.
There are a few manufacturers still cranking out the 5mm LED matrix modules. The incandescent look modules primarily use only a small cluster of high powered LEDs. RX-11 is one of the few modules that used the matrices for ball lenses. Most incandescent look arrows and incandescent look ped signals have matrices behind the outter lenses. GT-x is designed to use masks that can be installed behind the lens. The matrix modules tended to use groups of series circuits so if one LED failed many would go out. I heard the RX-11 had design flaws that would cause the LEDs to over heat. Probably bad resistors controlling the amount of current going to the LED.
The sun phantom issue you mentioned is something that should be addressed in the next revision of all the regulations. I agree that when the sun is directly on the lens of some modules you cannot tell at all what light is on. Most incandescent look LEDs can come in clear as well as the typical colored lenses.
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I guess it doesn't depend on if it's arrow or ball but but the model/make since I've seem flat ball modules and round arrow modules.
I just got a new yellow ball LED module yesterday and I believe it's a GT-1. It's for sure GE, it has the screen pattern, and is definitely a non-pixelated.
It should be a GT-1, it just looks a bit different then how I pictured the GT-1 ball modules to look. xD
another thing i was wondering, if LED modules an be thin as this, do you think there might be a push for smaller traffic signals to cut back on costs or something? I always thought it'd be a cool idea. A more compact signal.
There have been revisions to the specifications regarding LED traffic modules, usually ones with a sharp cut off of light when swaying around were built under an earlier revision and earlier technology. Today's newest modules have better lighting technology to those even 5 years ago and the cut off issue is not as bad as it was.
To answer your 3rd question. No I don't see signals getting thinner...at least not in the US. Too many specifications and standards regarding size, shape, colors, etc. Couple that with the high cost of retooling factories. Siemens is still using 30 year old signal designs. Eagle Signal no longer exists. DURASIG and LFE are both brands that no longer exist but the signals are still being manufacturing by Siemens using the same molds. Peek is still using the Crouse Hinds designs. Only McCain and Econolite have updated their signals in recent years but they are not thinner. Even Dialight's new signal head isn't thin. Incandescent look LEDs need the light engine a distance from the lens in order to operate properly
I guess here they have a lot of leftover stock since i still see the older modules that are incandescent-like with the narrow range of vision. and yeah i guess i didn't think about all the regulations and cost involved with creating a new mold for signals.
As for the pixelated type, it seems Leotek still makes them and GE still does if you consider the RX-11 as a pixelated one.
I have a GT-X module and they're pretty deep...I think almost as deep or even deeper than the incandescent reflector it replaced.
The sun phantom issue you mentioned is something that should be addressed in the next revision of all the regulations. I agree that when the sun is directly on the lens of some modules you cannot tell at all what light is on. Most incandescent look LEDs can come in clear as well as the typical colored lenses.