Efficient low cost Fipel plastic light bulbs coming to market soon

[Andrew Joiner]

I heard this on NPR a week ago. The inventor(David Carroll) bragged about the new bulbs advantages, but I perked up when he was asked about cost and availability. He said the bulbs would be on the market in 2013 and the cost would compete with CFL's:

You've gotta have a nice, bright white color. It's gotta be very bright,” said physics professor Dave Carroll. “You've gotta have low cost because it only take 12 cents to produce a light bulb and you have to have something that's very efficient."
Carroll said when the cost of purchase and projected lifespan were factored in, the FIPEL topped the competition.
"We have compared that for incandescent bulbs, for the T-8s above your head, for LEDs, for compact fluorescents,” Carroll said. “We've found for the best competitor out there, which is the compact fluorescent, for the very best we're still 25 percent below them.

Not holding my breath, but it sounds good.

[David Weaver]

Ars technica had a column a couple of days ago where they basically said the same thing as you did at the end, that they feel shorted on proof so far.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/12/fipel-wonder-light-where-are-the-numbers/

[Brian Elfert]

Part of the problem with this product is consumers don't generally want bright white light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs actually transmit a slightly yellowish color of light and consumers expect new light bulb technology yo mimic an incandescent bulb.

[Dan Hintz]

Ars technica had a column a couple of days ago where they basically said the same thing as you did at the end, that they feel shorted on proof so far.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/12/fipel-wonder-light-where-are-the-numbers/

Having taken pics of LEDs for many years for my own business, I'm tuned in to when pics are tweaked to show higher brightness than reality. The pic used in the ARS article is one of those pics. Notice the buttons on the o-scope sitting on the shelf next to them... they're pretty bright. I used those scopes (and similar) many many times over the years, and the buttons are NOT that bright in real life. This tells me the pic is a time-lapse (to some degree), which means those strips are NOT as bright in real life, either.

[John Coloccia]

Having taken pics of LEDs for many years for my own business, I'm tuned in to when pics are tweaked to show higher brightness than reality. The pic used in the ARS article is one of those pics. Notice the buttons on the o-scope sitting on the shelf next to them... they're pretty bright. I used those scopes (and similar) many many times over the years, and the buttons are NOT that bright in real life. This tells me the pic is a time-lapse (to some degree), which means those strips are NOT as bright in real life, either.

I agree. Photographic funny business going on without question.

[David Weaver]

Even with the photo doctoring, if those are the final product, they don't look like they're emitting much light based on nearby reflection of the lights.

[Joe Angrisani]

....I'm tuned in to when pics are tweaked to show higher brightness than reality. The pic used in the ARS article is one of those pics. Notice the buttons on the o-scope sitting on the shelf next to them... they're pretty bright. I used those scopes (and similar) many many times over the years, and the buttons are NOT that bright in real life.....

Yep. A little "Levels" or "Curves" correction in Photoshop. Took me longer to type this than it would have taken me to adjust Levels.