COB – Chip On Board = Blob of Light – Majority of the Market

TIR – Total Internal Reflection = Precise Beam of Light – Clarté Lighting

The name Clarté , the French word for Clarity, is the foundation of our brand.

Clarté designed and tooled proprietary optics from the optical design program Photopia in Azusa, CA in our design studio.

The goal was to create LED optics, which mimic the photometric distribution and aesthetic of a halogen/MR16 light source, with a min to max ratio of 3 to 1 from the center of the beam to the edge of the beam, with soft feathered edges of the beam.

Clarte’ Lighting’s PAR16 scale LED optical assembly compared against an MR16 illuminated against a white wall is a virtual match visually.

100% of Clarte’ Lighting fixtures optics are TIR optics, versus COB optics offered by many others, to be able to achieve the desired visual result of a halogen MR16 visually.

Other manufacturer’s desire to add LED fixtures quickly, easily and at the lowest cost enter the market today with COB fixtures assembled from readily available parts available on the market.

COB fixtures are optically deficient in the LED’s inability to redirect light at nadir/center beam as noted by the graphic below. TIR optics will be 20% to 50% higher at center beam candle power, as compared to a COB fixture of similar lumens.

COB fixtures not only have considerably lower foot candles at center beam, COB fixtures have hard edged beams, with too much light that leaves the fixture above the 45-degree plane.

Light past the 45-degree plane leaving a fixture creates unwanted glare.

Clarte’ optics, combined with a built in 1” snoot in 100% of fixtures offered, virtually eliminates any light past a 45-degree angle for all Clarté fixtures.

COB beam of light lack fixtures lack center beam intensity, the visual presentation of the space is flat and lacks overall quality, which becomes progressively worse the higher mounting height the COB fixtures is mounted.

Clarté TIR optically controlled LED fixtures creates a higher center beam candle power, eliminates unwanted side glare creating a clearly defined beam of light that will add depth and quality visually to any space.

COB LED fixtures with a TIR optic are -25% to -35% less light than Clarté Lighting’s small discrete LED TIR optical fixtures as shown by the side by side comparison of Clarté Lighting and a leading manufacturers architectural LED fixture.

COB open face reflector with lens fixtures is even less efficient at nadir/center beam with -35% to -50%+ less light, with the same wattage and lumens, as compared to Clarté Lighting in house designed, tooled, and produced TIR optics utilizing small discrete high powered LEDs.