DURHAM, N.C. — Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) announces the XLamp® eTone™ LEDs, a breakthrough set of chip-on-board (COB) LEDs that delivers beautiful 90 color rendering index (CRI) light quality at the same efficacy as today’s standard 80 CRI LEDs. Delivering up to 155 lumens per watt (LPW) at 3000K CCT, 85°C, Cree’s new eTone COB LEDs provide the highest efficacy available in the industry compared to competing COB LEDs of the same size and color. The enhanced performance of these new LEDs can radically transform the output, efficacy and size of LED luminaires in applications that need high quality light, including retail, museum, high-end commercial and medical.

“Cree’s latest innovation will redefine the premium lighting market with designs that were previously impossible,” said Massimo Parravicini, R&D director, Reggiani Lighting. “Cree is enabling us to create 80 CRI and 90 CRI lights that share the same intensity, beam angle and power consumption with just one product design. This no-compromise COB solution gives us the industry’s top performance, the excellent light quality that our customers require and the LED form factors that will drop right into our existing designs.”

For many indoor lighting applications, the typical guideline for light quality is a minimum CRI of 80. Lower CRI values tend to distort colors and are generally unpleasing, while higher CRI values of 90 mean higher fidelity or accuracy, indicating better light quality. LEDs with 90 CRI values are primarily used in settings where color quality is critical, such as retail and museum lighting. LEDs have been available in 90 CRI versions for many years but until now, this light quality has come at a significant penalty to light output and efficacy when compared to lower light quality 70 or 80 CRI versions. Cree’s new eTone LEDs overcome this penalty by delivering an upgrade in LED efficacy of up to 17 percent over existing 90 CRI LEDs without sacrificing color quality.

“Two years ago, Cree achieved an LED industry first with our lab demonstration of a single high-power LED that hit an extraordinary 134 LPW at 1,587 lumens, 85°C and 90 CRI,” said Dave Emerson, Cree LEDs executive vice president and general manager. “Cree is committed to turning our industry-first R&D results into viable commercial products that offer customer-ready LED solutions where others do not. Today’s release of our eTone™ LEDs that deliver 90 CRI at the same efficacy as 80 CRI means that lighting manufacturers no longer have to sacrifice top-tier efficacy to achieve excellent color quality for indoor lighting applications.”

Available in both the ceramic-based XLamp CXA2 Standard Density and the metal-based XLamp CMA & CMT High Current chip-on-board (COB) LED families, all eTone LEDs share the same mechanical and electrical characteristics as the standard versions so that lighting designers will be able to quickly upgrade their designs with minimal redesign effort. Additionally, LM-80 data coverage is available immediately to reduce the time for lighting manufacturers to receive Design Lights Consortium®qualifications on their products.

The eTone LEDs will be available in 4000K – 2700K CCTs at minimum 90 CRI. Product samples of eTone LEDs are available now and production quantities are available with standard lead times. Please visit https://www.cree.com/xlamp-etone to learn more.