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Why do LED flashlights need a solid state chip board to operate?

In regular flashlights it is just a contact from the bulb to the bateries. what dose the solid state do to the light to make the bulb brighter?

Public Comments

1. They don't "need it" need it. But it makes battery life much better than a power wasting passive current regulation scheme with resistors. And that you "need" need because LEDs operate on constant current, not constant voltage like the battery.
2. LED means "Light Emitting Diode" which is in fact a solid state chip.
3. LED flashlight needs a different voltage/current combination that typical batteries can't provide, because it's either too low (1 cell battery) or too high. Therefore they add a switch-mode current regulator to provide exactly the right current with high efficiency to make the battery last longer.