Understanding Dim to Warm

Dim to Warm refers to the technique of adjusting LED lighting from a cooler to a warmer hue. While it lacks a universally accepted term, it may also be known as warm dimming, black-body dimming, tunable white, or dim glow, among other names.

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Dimming Types  
Dimming in lighting involves using a controller, such as a switch or remote, to modify the characteristics of a light source, often to enhance the atmosphere.

Standard dimming adjusts the brightness of a light by reducing its lumen output, but the color remains unchanged.

Natural sunlight and traditional bulbs, including halogen and incandescent types, function as black-body radiators. They absorb surrounding radiation, heat up, emit light, and alter their color based on their temperature.

This ability to change light temperatures as brightness decreases is beneficial for human health, as it aids in regulating our biological systems and is gentler on our eyes.

Warm dimming was developed to replicate this natural process in LEDs, which previously only offered standard dimming.

Warm Dimming
Warm dimming, or dim to warm, is a technique designed for LED lighting. LEDs are semiconductor devices that typically produce white light by combining a blue LED with a yellow phosphor coating to balance the color output.

To implement warm dimming, at least three LED chips are utilized, with an internal computer managing the signals. Power is distributed among the LED chips, allowing both the color temperature and light intensity to vary.

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Contemporary lighting often includes options for external control via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Various brands provide full spectrum LED systems or tunable white LED systems that support warm dimming.

Color Temperatures  
The thermal spectrum, also known as the black-body spectrum, is employed to determine the color temperature.