different types of LEDs!

[gutsofgold]

i'm building an active a/b/y box and it's using two leds to indicate which position is present. (one for a, one for b, and both on at y).

small bear has a few different 5mm leds available...diffused, clear tint, and water-clear high brightness.

which type would you recommend? i'm not looking to blind anybody but i'd like it to be semi-visible in light environments.

[gutsofgold]

I'll just buy a lot and see what they're all about.

[axg20202]

I prefer to use diffused, but that's just my taste. I find that sometimes it can be difficult to see if a water clear LED is on or off unless viewed directly from above.

[Mark Hammer]

That's just it.  You pick the LED type based on usage context.  If it needs to be viewed from a variety of angles and distances, diffuse is best (though you can always buff the plastic dome with sandpaper to make a clear one more diffuse).

High brightness or "superbright" LEDs (which I would say is anything with a rating over 2000mcd, although they can get much brighter than that) have the advantage of being able to provide the same brightness as a more conventional type with lower current draw (assuming you stick in a larger-value current-limiting resistor like 10-15k).  If you are powering everything from a wallwart, that extra few milliamps won't make any difference, but if you would like to have a 9v battery last a while longer superbrights provide an advantage.

As broad and reasonably-priced an inventory as Steve has, and as much as I like him and enjoy dealing with Small Bear, this may be one of those instances where it is wiser to go to a local electronics distrobuter and see what they have on their shelves so you can compare brightnesses, size, color, and anything else that might make your unit more usable for you.

I know folks like the mounting bezels for their look.  It is quite possible, however to simply pop a snug hole in the top of a Hammond box, let the "head" of the LED just poke through, and achieve good visibility from a distance and many angles.