Hi guys - wondering what would be best for light source in a display cabinet for armor when you have the option of LED vs. Halogen?

Any ideas?

I would use LED simply because they give off much less heat.

If this is for your home the quality of light isn't going to matter because virtually no one who views the models in the case will appreciate the subtleties of color and shading. Candlelight would look as good to most people.

KL

I have to agree with Kurt, I would try and stay away from Halogen. They can get very hot. I'm not saying absolutely don't use, you just need to be careful with the heat output.

Definitely LED. But it also depends on what type of LED bulb you buy. LED bulbs are often sold by comparison with incandescent light bulb standards-- i. e.; in terms of Wattage-- don't go by that. You should be looking at the Kelvin rating (K) when buying LED bulbs-- usually expressed in fine print as a chart somewhere on the box. The lower the Kelvins, the "warmer" the bulb will be. Warm bulbs (typically less than 3000K, will give you a nice, "warm" look, but will hide a lot of detail, and appear on the "dim" side. Higher rated bulbs, (typically 3000K-5000K or higher) will give a more realistic "daylight" effect, which will tend to bring out detail, but can often appear "harsh" or "cold" too. I have a special 8000K LED bulb in my workbench lamp that I build with, because it gives me very bright light, and detail can't "escape" my attention-- it's supposedly equivalent to a 250 Watt incandescent bulb. But I wouldn't use it in a display case, as it will "wash out" lots of colors and appear too stark. On the other hand, I paint my my models using a 6000K LED bulb which is "cool" enough to simulate daylight conditions. However, you might find the "softer-warmer light of a 3000K LED bulb is what you need for a display cabinet. It also depends on the reflective value of the cabinet finish-- a white cabinet will appear differently than a mahogany cabinet would. I recommend you buy 2-3 different ratings of LED bulbs to experiment with. LEDs should also last longer than typical halogen lighting. Hope this helps.
VR, Russ

I would suggest a dimmable LED bulb. Something in the 3600 kelvin to 4000 kelvin range. They are very cheap these days. Halogen - usually called incandescent or tungsten or tungsten temperature - is about 2800k to 3000k for everyday bulbs and 3200k for theatrical quality. I would avoid daylight temperature bulbs (5000k and over)- they can appear harsh or obvious. With LED technology you can choose a happy medium between tungsten and daylight temperatures. The ones we use in the movie biz can range from 1k to 10000k with a full library of filters and colours. Pretty amazing!

At the end of the day, it's also about personal preference - one poster has said 3000k - personally for me that would be a little anaemic as most "civilian" bulbs at that temperature look a little too yellow. My own cabinet has 3400k lights and they are pleasing to my eye.