An LED emitter comprising: a substrate having: a body with a recess region formed therein; a plurality of bonding pads (120, 310, 312, 314, 410, 412, 510, 512) disposed within the recess region, the plurality of bonding pads including a plurality of LED bonding pads (310, 410, 412, 510) and a plurality of supporting chip bonding pads; a plurality of external electrical contacts (116, 216) disposed outside the recess region; and a plurality of electrical paths (122,124,126,128,132) disposed at least partially within the body of the substrate, the electrical paths connecting the external electrical contacts to a first subset of the supporting chip bonding pads and connecting a second subset of the supporting chip bonding pads to the plurality of LED bonding pads; a plurality of LEDs (202, 203, 204) disposed in the recess region and connected to the LED bonding pads; one or more supporting chips connected to the supporting chip bonding pads, the one or more supporting chips including a driver circuit and characterized by a controller logic circuit that controls the driver circuit, the one or more supporting chips being operable to deliver different operating currents to different ones of the LEDs in response to an input signal received via the external electrical contacts; and an optically transparent cover disposed over the recess region. a substrate having: a body with a recess region formed therein; a plurality of bonding pads (120, 310, 312, 314, 410, 412, 510, 512) disposed within the recess region, the plurality of bonding pads including a plurality of LED bonding pads (310, 410, 412, 510) and a plurality of supporting chip bonding pads; a plurality of external electrical contacts (116, 216) disposed outside the recess region; and a plurality of electrical paths (122,124,126,128,132) disposed at least partially within the body of the substrate, the electrical paths connecting the external electrical contacts to a first subset of the supporting chip bonding pads and connecting a second subset of the supporting chip bonding pads to the plurality of LED bonding pads; a body with a recess region formed therein; a plurality of bonding pads (120, 310, 312, 314, 410, 412, 510, 512) disposed within the recess region, the plurality of bonding pads including a plurality of LED bonding pads (310, 410, 412, 510) and a plurality of supporting chip bonding pads; a plurality of external electrical contacts (116, 216) disposed outside the recess region; and a plurality of electrical paths (122,124,126,128,132) disposed at least partially within the body of the substrate, the electrical paths connecting the external electrical contacts to a first subset of the supporting chip bonding pads and connecting a second subset of the supporting chip bonding pads to the plurality of LED bonding pads; a plurality of LEDs (202, 203, 204) disposed in the recess region and connected to the LED bonding pads; one or more supporting chips connected to the supporting chip bonding pads, the one or more supporting chips including a driver circuit and characterized by a controller logic circuit that controls the driver circuit, the one or more supporting chips being operable to deliver different operating currents to different ones of the LEDs in response to an input signal received via the external electrical contacts; and an optically transparent cover disposed over the recess region.