reason for Remote Phosphor over Bi-Color or white LED panels?

Chiskon

Chiskon

Active member
Student question here:

I noticed a majority of the popular Remote Phosphor panels (Area 48, Cineo, etc) are pricier than the popular LED panels (Litepanels, Aputure, etc) at roughly the same light output.
Curious, why?

If my understanding is correct, remote phosphor panels are just LED panels with the phosphor placed remotely instead of wrapped around each individual diode.
This sounds like a simpler, cheaper, and less flexible setup. Yet, if I had wanted a Cineo Maverick (which I think has the equivalent ouput of a 1k Tungsten) an Aputure LS 1s is a third of the price for about the same power.

Also, I'll be trying out some Remote Phosphors and LED panels soon and then maybe purchasing a few once a couple outstanding invoices go through.

thanks!
 
In every comparison I've seen to date, the remote phosphor lights yield better colour quality. Add that to the single-source nature of the lights (no multi-shadow issues like you face with every conventional LED panel) and you have your answer. Better lights cost more money.

I have two Area48s which I bought over a pair of Kinos, and I adore them, colour's better than flouros or HMI, dimming with zero colour shift, more output than a 4' 4-bank Kino and you can run it on batteries... they're just brilliant, brilliant lights, that genuinely speed up production. I'll be adding two more as soon as I have the funds.

The good news is, that lights this good won't become obsoleted by newer technology. They'll still be great lights even 15-20 years from now. Which makes them a sound investment to my mind.
 
Interesting quote by Arri when describing their Remote Phosphor Skypanels in comparison to the color LED version:

"These high-quality phosphors deliver near-perfect color rendition and outstanding light output. The remote phosphor versions of SkyPanel are roughly 10% brighter than the color versions and have a lower price point due to less complex electronics."

Their S30 Skypanel (which has an output close to a 1k Tungsten) is:
-$3,780 for the "C" or color LED version
-$2,625 for the "RP" or Remote Phosphor version, but of course the price of RPs catch up once you start buying the various phosphor panels.

Maybe Litepanels or Aputure will also develop some Remote Phosphor versions of their panels which should logically be cheaper than their color LED versions...
 
The bigger difference with the Arris is the colour quality of the RP versions compared to the tuneable versions. The RP seems to clearly offer better colour reproduction in both Daylight and Tungsten. That said the colour tunability of the Skypanels is a REALLY useful feature too. I could certainly put both fixtures to use.
 
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