LED's with ballast instead of driver

[early4surely]

Can someone explain what is the difference between LED's powered by driver and LED's powered by an electronic ballast?

Nowadays, LED's powered by ballast are offered at a much lower price compared to LED's powered by driver. What justifies the much higher price for drivers?

I understand that drivers have a better capacity to regulate the power supplied to the LED's, and as a result the driver and the lights will last longer. I would like to understand how durable the ballast will be, and how it may impact the durability of my lights. I tried asking chat gpt, and it indicated an approximate 10-20% loss in LED lifespan. Given the progress in LED lights over the years, II am willing to sacrifice up to 20% durability, as I assume I will anyway want to upgrade before my lights get too old.

Hope someone can chime in and shed some light on this savings opportunity.
Keep it Terry

 

[Creeperpark]

A ballast controls the current flow to the lamp, ensuring safe and consistent operation. Ballasts regulate the voltage and current to stabilize the light output of the lamp. Ballasts provide an initial burst of voltage to start the lamp and get it going. There are different types of ballasts for different types of lamps.

The primary function of an LED driver is to regulate the power supply to LEDS, ensuring they receive the correct voltage and current to function optimally.

Convert input power
LED drivers convert alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). Most places supply higher voltage AC, while LEDs are designed to run on lower voltage DC. google

 

[mm4n]

Can someone explain what is the difference between LED's powered by driver and LED's powered by an electronic ballast?
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Given the progress in LED lights over the years, II am willing to sacrifice up to 20% durability, as I assume I will anyway want to upgrade before my lights get too old.

I'm currently testing -with a friend- a €200 model (Vanguard) compared to my €500 model (Mars Hydro) and his €800 model (Lumatek).
A negative feature is that they cannot be turned off by the ballast (minimum 250W), but it can be solved with a good old timer. IMHO the only difference seems to be a slightly higher production under the more expensive model.

That being said, I'm now thinking of buying 3x €160 model...