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What are the differences between SMD and COB LEDs?

I always see two types of LED chips, which are SMD and COB LED. What are their differences?

LED Manufacturing
October 26, 2023

Jacob Jones

Bachelor's degrees in electronic engineering. Skilled in designing LED electronic components, products, and systems, developing and testing prototypes, troubleshooting, and debugging. 8+ years of extensive experience in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry. Reach Me Now>>

Jacob Jones

Structure: A COB (chip-on-board) light source integrates multiple LED chips directly onto the same substrate. A SMD (surface mount device) light source is an LED chip packaged in a surface mount device and connected to the circuit board through welding.
Number of LEDs: In the SMD LED chip, there can be no more than 3 LEDs. These 3 LEDs can be red, green, and blue lights, so as to produce light of different colors. A COB LED chip can have more than 9 LEDs, but they cannot create light of different colors.
Size: The COB LED chip is bigger than the SMD one. So COB LEDs can provide high-intensity light.
Illumination uniformity: The light of COB LED is more uniform than that of SMD LED.
Heat dissipation: COB LED has a high requirement for heat dissipation because there are many LEDs on the chip.