Critically damped strobe tubes with a tuned inductor are about 250 to 500 microseconds. Long tubes without a inductor, or with a undersized inductor are about 1.5 milliseconds. I had to measure that all the time when measuring flashlamp pumped Yags, and when making strobes for lab video systems. Damped lamps have a fast rise time with a smooth curved fall. Undamped lamps ring and have a exponential decay to just above the conduction threshold.
The Leds can go that short, but designers like the "Punch" from leaving the dimmer leds on, as you suspect. The Leds are usually Square wave, without the bright flash that that is on the leading edge of the Xenon. That bright leading edge is what your missing on the leds. So they run them long. If you don't have the punch, you go to the long pulse.
If your looking for awesome....
Find out what TransSiberian uses for LEDs, they gave me afterimages all night from across the stadium. Awesome, almost dangerous blue leds.
Steve
Last edited by mixedgas; 06-17-2014 at 17:03.
Qui habet Christos, habet Vitam!
I should have rented the space under my name for advertising.
When I still could have...