Samsung LM301H vs. LM301B - the best LED chips for plant lighting

LM301H vs. LM301B: a question of efficiency?

          Since Samsung announced the new LED called LM301H, rumors and speculation have been spreading about the new product. In the DIY LED community there are more and more voices claiming that the new model is merely a label change. They say that the chips with the "H" are basically the same as those with the "B".

     There is indeed much to suggest that For example, there is no significant difference to be seen in the data sheets of the two LM301 variants. A glance at Samsung's press releases nevertheless raised hope that the technology of the Horticulture version contains a fundamental innovation. Or is it just a listing of plant lighting specifications and a sulphur-resistant coating?

Official Samsung statements point to higher efficiency.

       After Samsung recognized that its LEDs for plant lighting are very competitive, the PPF / PPE values for the "normal" flagship, the LM301B, will first be released in 2018. The stated 2.92 µmol/J are impressive!

Samsung LM301B vs. LM301H under test

        How did this increase of 6% come about? For an objective comparison, extensive measurements in an integrating sphere are necessary. However, a simple PPFD test can already provide a small clue and fortunately we are able to do this ourselves.

         With the Apogee SQ-520 PPFD sensor and a small box, we wanted to compare the different Samsung LEDs under the most reproducible conditions possible.

          In the first generation FLUXengine, the proven LM301B are installed, while from 2020 we will be using the FLUXengine v2 on the new LM301H.

      In the comparison we simply let the first generation of the FLUXengine compete against the FLUXengine v2: 140x LM301B against 140x LM301H.

Which Samsung LED chip is better suited for grow LEDs?

       We could only measure with simple test equipment, so the results are subject to various uncertainties. At first glance, however, it is still not possible to confirm that the LM301H is the better choice for grow LEDs. 

        The difference between our LM301B and LM301H is probably due to the stricter sorting and not to any particular innovation by Samsung. How the contradictory press releases come about remains a mystery.

     But there is one good thing we can gain from this: It has been confirmed that the LM301H SL Bin are extremely efficient LEDs, which in this case even surpassed the very good LM301B. 

      The bottom line is that when comparing Samsung LEDs, it makes more sense to look for the highest possible bin than for the suffix -H or -B. In other words: LM301H and LM301B = both super! SL Bin = even better!!