Cree actually does label the BIN for LED's. This is so when building a light, you can ensure color and brightness consistency when ordering rolls of leds.
LED's are sorted into dominant peak wavelength, and then for luminous flux... So within each color grouping (for instance 620nm, is R2 and 630nm is R3). Brightness factor is INDEPENDENT of wavelength as each group, sorted by wavelength, is also sorted by luminous flux.
For instance: A red 620nm chip can be purchased in 5 different groups of brightness (flux), but they are all 620nm. You can get a red 620nm chip in LOW BINS N2 and N3 which are the dimmest in the wavelength group at 56.8lm, and 62lm. Or it can be purchased at a HIGHER BIN with is STILL 620nm, but the luminous flux is higher (brighter) at P2 (67.2), P3 (73.9) and P4 (80.6) lumens. These are all R2 (620nm) The wavelength is part of the order code, however for each dominant wavelength, there also is a choice of luminous flux (efficiency) for the power they are driven at.
In your example above you state
But if you look at the BIN chart, provided by CREE, Group N3 with the lower lumen flux, also can be purchased in EITHER 620 OR 630nm. (Group R2 620nm or R3 630nm).
The only reason I even chose to correct the Mars rep was because it was stated which you use High BIN which isn't correct and misleading. High BIN is generally associated with highest brightness, however within the BIN, yes you can order wavelength/chromatography specific chips, they still are sorted by brightness within each wavelength.
This also isn't quite accurate... the difference between a lower BIN chips like the RED's you use, vs the same wavelength (620nm) in a higher BIN (radiant flux) is about $0.80 per chip difference. If the price was the same, why wouldn't you use the brighter chips (higher BIN/luminous flux)? If we can be honest for a moment, we would see that by using HIGH BIN RED CREEs in your Pros, you would have to charge an additional $52 per LED panel ($0.80 x 64 chips) , which would cut into your cost margin, so in most cases, LED companies will use lower bins so they can charge a premium for the panel by using the brand name "cree" but still getting away with high profit margins by using Lower BIN chips. This may not be the case with Mars Hydro, but as you said, if the price is similar, why WOULDN'T you use the Brightest BIN possible???
This is also incorrect, a RED P4 will never appear green, RED P4 is either going to be 620nm (R2) or 630nm (R3). All that P4 means is that in the grouping of 620 or 630nm red XPE chips, the P4 BIN is the brightest or red chip with the highest luminous flux. Also a blue M3 chip is only going to be 465, 470 or 480nm, with M3 only being the BIN for the highest brightness within the BINNING of chips of those wavelengths. M3 only means its brighter, but the peak wavelength doesn't change, and it will not appear white... (sorry but this is wrong).
A red chip in the 620 range will never appear green, however staring at a red chip for a long time will make a white LED appear green (hence the many questions on here about mars using green LEDs.) of course you don't, and the green that people are seeing is because the cones in the eye, are sensitive to 3 main colors, red green and blue. When looking at red light for a long time (primarily the main LED's in most grow lights) the Red sensitive Cones in the eye become less sensitive because of the abundance of red light, therefor the cones that sense green and blue become more sensitive, therefore giving the impression of a Green chip, even though we know its actually white. Since white is made up of all colors, this is why a chip may appear a different color than it actually is, because of the cones in our eyes. A 620nm chip is never going to appear green though due to BINNING
Not trying to cause any friction, but I just thought I would correct the information that isn't exactly correct.
Hi kelticBlue,yes you can do it.
