The difference between RGB and RGBW LED

RGB and RGBW is a couple of words that we commonly see and hear in the LED lighting industry. Today we are gonna review the RGB LED and RGBW LED, and find their difference.

RGB and RGBW LED Strip Lights

Combin 3 diodes (red, green, and blue) in 1 SMD chip, the RGB LED can realize color changing. To achieve better white light, adding a white light diode on the RGB LED, that's we call RGBW LED. So, RGBW is an RGB LED with an additional white light diode (the packaging process is far more complicated).

Through the controller, RGB and RGBW LEDs can switch from different colors, such as white, red, green, blue, pink, yellow, cyan, and so on. However, having an extra white light diode make the RGBW LED has a brighter and more pure white light performance. And according to the additional diode's color, there are also have RGBWW (RGB+ warm white), RGBCW (RGB+ cool white), and RGBNW (RGB+ neutral white), which can give you more choice.

To further introduce the difference between RGB and RGBW LEDs, we'd like to take the LED strips for example. The RGBW LED strip has 4 independent control circuits, and the RGB LED strip has 3. Therefore, we can visually note that the RGBW remote is more complicated than the RGB remote, and has more functions. From the connector, we can easier distinguish RGBW LED strip (5 pins) and RGB LED strip (4 pins).

Now, we learned that compared to the RGB LED, the RGBW LED has better white light performance, more color choices, and more functions. So can we conclude that the RGBW LED is better for buy? No, there is another important factor that we haven't take into account. As mentioned at the end of the second paragraph, the processes of RGBW LEDs are far more complicated than that of RGB LEDs. And the complex processes make the cost increase to the price. In today's market, the RGBW LED is several times more expensive than the RGB LED. To sum it up, RGBW LED lights are the better choice if you or your customers are strict in the white light performance and have enough budget. Opposite, if you just want to make rooms or restaurants more colorful, the RGB LED light can meet your satisfaction, and more cost-effective.