(pronounced like the initials: el-ee-DEE)

LED is short for light emitting diodes. These little guys are the lighting industry’s destiny. Researchers have made exponential leaps and bounds in lumens per watt (lm/W) output in the last several decades (think better miles per gallon). Benefits abound: no heat output, so they’re cool to the touch and don’t require extra energy to cool; endless configurations, from linear to surface to ambient; incredible energy efficiency, surpassing that of fluorescent sources; long lasting, dramatically reducing maintenance and replacement costs; and colorful, computerized and programmable, hitting the trifecta of illumination, entertainment and communications. What’s not to love”

See also: OLED