LED's?

Now i heard that with LEDs they only shine directly outward instead of incandescent lamps that shine in all directions. This is important because the light reflects off the inner housing of the tail lamps and turn lamps whereas a led doesn’t do that. That would make a lamp that is not as bright.. right?
Some LED's I have laying around do have the LED bulbs facing out from the sides to help with the reflection in the light housing. They work and look good in my Ram but don't think they would be good in my car thou.