Every LED strip in Tedson's Premium series uses Gold Alloy bond wires in its LED chips. The gold alloy resists oxidation and flexes as the package heats and cools, helping the electrical connection withstand stresses in use. With CRI 90+ and clear technical specifications, the Premium series is a considered choice for professional installations.
Choose for the application
- Decorative and indirect light: start with the desired light line, colour temperature and brightness. COB can give a more continuous line; a dense SMD strip can also work well with a suitable diffuser.
- Task and general lighting: compare lumens per metre at the selected colour temperature, not watts per metre alone. Plan the profile, diffuser and driver together with the strip.
- Shops, interiors and colour-critical spaces: look for high colour rendering. CRI/Ra 90+ is a useful starting point. If saturated red matters, ask for R9 or more complete colour data as well.
- Wet or outdoor locations: choose a strip and installation with the required IP rating. An IP20 strip is intended for a dry indoor environment; the strip, joints and connections all need to suit the location.
What distinguishes a well-specified strip?
Colour rendering: CRI or Ra
Ra describes how faithfully a light source renders a set of reference colours. A higher value usually helps materials, skin tones and products look more natural. Ra 90+ is valuable where colour matters, but it does not tell the whole story: the standard Ra average does not include saturated red (R9). Compare products at the same colour temperature when possible.
Consistent colour: SDCM
Two strips marked 3000 K can still look different side by side. SDCM describes their initial colour tolerance; a smaller number means tighter grouping. SDCM 3 is useful for installations where several lengths are visible together. It does not by itself describe how the colour may shift after years of use.
Gold Alloy bond wires in the LED chip
Gold Alloy in Tedson's Premium strips refers to the fine bond wire joining the LED chip to its package. Gold and gold alloys are chemically stable and resist oxidation. Compared with copper, the softer material can make it easier to form a reliable connection without placing as much force on the chip's contact pad. This can be useful when LED packages undergo temperature changes in service. Testing also shows that gold-alloy bond wires can suffer fatigue, so package design and validation matter.
Bond-wire material is only one part of the design. Well-made copper or silver-alloy solutions can also be reliable. Gold Alloy alone does not establish how many hours a strip will last, its light output or its long-term colour stability. Compare the finished product's CRI, lm/m and documented lumen maintenance as well.
Light output and efficiency
Compare lm/m at the actual colour temperature and CRI. W/m shows electrical load, while lm/m shows initial light output. lm/W helps compare efficacy, but the highest efficacy is not always the best choice when colour quality or appearance matters more.
What does 50,000 hours mean?
An hour figure alone does not say how much light remains. L70B10 at 50,000 hours means that, under the stated test or calculation conditions, at least 90% of the defined product population is expected to retain at least 70% of its initial light output at that time. A strip starting at 1,000 lm/m therefore has a 700 lm/m threshold in this example. It does not suddenly switch off at 50,000 hours, and it is not a promise that every installed strip will perform identically.
Check whether the datasheet actually states L70B10, L70B50 or merely an estimated lifetime. These are different claims. For example, Aurlina Infinity has an approximately 50,000-hour estimated lifetime, but its supplier document does not establish L70B10. Lifetime also depends on operating temperature, mounting, driver and the complete installation.
Cooling, profile and driver matter
Heat accelerates light loss and can affect colour and components. Choose an aluminium profile that both fits the strip width and can dissipate heat in the intended mounting position. Tedson's five-year warranty for strips above 5 W/m requires a correctly dimensioned heat-dissipating profile. Check the exact product's conditions and datasheet.
A matching 24 V driver must have sufficient power for the installed length, with room for the application. Long runs can suffer voltage drop and uneven brightness; follow the strip's allowed lengths, cut points and feed instructions. Do not assume that a profile is suitable just because the strip fits inside it.
Compare these points before ordering
- Application and environment: decorative, task light, colour-critical, dry or wet.
- Colour temperature, CRI/Ra and, when relevant, R9 and SDCM.
- Light output in lm/m at the selected variant, plus power in W/m.
- Width, cut interval, maximum run length, connection and suitable profile.
- Documented lumen maintenance, warranty and thermal conditions.
Explore Tedson's LED strips → See aluminium profiles → See Premium 160 with Gold Alloy →
Further reading
Research: comparison of gold and copper bonding in LED packages ↗
Research: fatigue testing of gold and gold-alloy LED bond wires ↗
US Department of Energy: LED basics and colour rendering ↗
Illuminating Engineering Society: interpreting LED lifetime claims ↗