The optical portion of the system needs to take the light output from the LED and project it efficiently, with the proper lighting characteristics, at the illumination target. With more light reaching the target, it’s possible that fewer LEDs can be used and/or the LEDs can be driven at a lower current resulting in a more electrically efficient system. A more electrically efficient system runs cooler and can result in a simpler thermal management sub-system. As you can see, your optics choice will affect all aspects of the design. The better the optical sub-system performs this function, the more light gets to the target resulting in a lower cost and/or a more electrically efficient system.

The two elements of the most optically efficient systems include (1) LEDs designed for easy adoption of secondary optics and (2) free form lenses designed by accurately modeling the LED. OSRAM Opto Semiconductor is one of only a few LED manufacturers who design with secondary optics in mind, and LEDiL uses their LED models to design free form lenses with greater accuracy, high optical efficiency, controlled beam quality and a smaller physical size.