Why do LED flashlights need a solid state chip board to operate?

[Grahamione]

In regular flashlights it is just a contact from the bulb to the bateries. what dose the solid state do to the light to make the bulb brighter?

 

[Harald Hansen]

Because the electrical properties of a LED is not a good match for the electrical properties of a battery. A LED driver (as the board and components is called) regulates the current going into the LED.

 

[Captain K-man]

They don't, it's just another way for the government to keep track of you....lol Harald's post sounds good to me.

 

[Hilldweller]

LEDs are not bulbs...

 

[Cards81fan]

Because the electrical properties of a LED is not a good match for the electrical properties of a battery. A LED driver (as the board and components is called) regulates the current going into the LED.

This. And some variants of a seemingly identical light can be more desirable than others based solely on the chips used. For example, TerraLUX (who makes lights but more popularly, LED conversions for MagLites) moved to use Seoul Semiconductor as the LED driver of choice for their products and this greatly enhanced the popularity of them among enthusiasts (like those on CandlePowerForum).

 

[Count Fred]

This is often what differentiates good LED lights from cheap ones.

You can cause an appropriate current draw with just a resistor in series with the LED. But this doesn't really regulate it and as a result your light will get dimmer over time as the battery drains. It is also harder on the LED.

Cheers,
JFS III