With Nichia’s LED and driver IC from Infineon, advanced automotive front light with Micro LED enables safer driving and innovative application. The two companies announced that they have started the development of a high-definition (HD) light engine with more than 16,000 Micro LEDs for front light applications. According to Nichia, the Micro LED-based matrix light will offer a resolution about 180 times higher compared to current front light solution, paving the way for improved safety features. For example, HD light can be used to warn the driver of haza...

LEDs support sustainable horticulture development with tunable lighting technologies and other smart applications. Worldwide food suppliers as well as lighting technologies suppliers continue to create innovative growing techniques for improving crops production and quality. Israel based grow light supplier Fotonica has developed and patented its bio-illuminationTM lighting system that optimizes the growth of cannabis, green leaves, vegetables, and ornamentals while providing real-time data and analytics that ensures maximum crop control and profitability. Fotonica’s TM L...

Plessey, the UK-based optoelectronic technology solutions developer, said that it has transferred its business focus from high-powered solid-state lighting, horticultural lighting and healthcare/ safety sensors sector to GaN-on-Si monolithic Micro LED display technology. The company is disrupting the global display market with a new generation of Augmented Reality (AR) devices and display solutions based on the Micro LED technology. (Image: Plessey) Featured with high brightness, high contrast, lower power consumption, fast refresh time and the capabilities of int...

Shuiji Nakamura, the blue LED inventor and the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, visited Taiwan last week and delivered speeches in Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University and Chung Hsing University, as well as in Micro LED company PlayNitride. Nakamura shared his research experiences in Japan and the U.S. on the way of blue LED development and pointed out the trends and potentials of the LED industry. Shuiji Nakamura was invited to PlayNitride Back in the 1990s, ZnSe was the material that the majority believed to be critical for...

Sony announced that it has launched its Crystal LED display system for consumers. The Micro LED display from Sony is able to provide up to 16K video content, offering an unrivaled cinema experience at home, if the customers are able to pay US$ 5 million. (Image: Songy) Having initially introduced its Micro LED display Crystal LED for use in commercial and entertainment venues, Sony began to offer residential configurations and installation of its Micro LED display module. The company provided some samples for residential configuration including 4K size w...

Until the third quarter of 2019, we have seen Micro LED products presented at several international events, marking the progressing maturity of the technology after years of development. Recently, companies of the Micro LED supply chain revealed that they are getting ready for mass production. Taiwan’s RiTdisplay and PlayNitride jointly developed two Micro LED displays for wearable applications. One is a 1.25-inch display and the other is a 0.94-inch flexible display. Both panels are featured with a resolution of 228 ppi. According to RiTdisplay, it has been ...

UV-C LED technology provider, AquiSense Technologies, announced that it has participated in ten aerospace projects to support UV-C LED application in the space. According to AquiSense, the company was selected to participate in BIOWYSE, a Horizon 2020 project dedicated to designing and testing a water monitoring and treatment system for next-generation manned space stations in 2015. Since then, several other aerospace projects have looked for leading water treatment technology from AquiSense. These projects include product design and hardware supply to both...

Signify announced that its LiFi system, Trulifi, was installed in the press center at Volkspark stadium in Hamburg, Germany. The installation provides journalists with reliable, secure and fast Internet connections through the room’s ceiling lights and alleviates overloaded wifi connection when the stadium is packed during games. The Volkspark stadium can host 57,000 people and will be one of 10 stadiums for the European football tournament in Germany in 2024. Like other international matches venue, the wireless signal in its busy press center was prone to overload due...

Most facility managers today are using building management systems (BMS), also known as building automation control systems (BACS), to control and monitor some of their buildings’ mechanical and electrical equipment such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and safety and security systems. However, the lighting system has remained separate from the BMS for some buildings, which is viewed as an opportunity loss for lighting technology providers. Osram, for example, considers that further optimization of energy usage and operations through lighting system an...

IFA 2019 opened on September 6 in Berlin and has attracted more than 1,000 exhibitors from across the world to showcase their latest products and technologies. Display technology has been a focus of worldwide big name recently and display products covering TVs and mobile phones are featured at the show. 8K TV is the battle field for global industry players. Samsung, Sharp, LG, TCL and others all brought their newly developed high end TVs adopting QLED, OLED, Micro LED, Mini LED technologies to the show. Korean giant Samsung announced its new 55-inc...

Innovative display technology is no longer a new idea in the industry with more and more Micro/Mini LED display products exhibited at major international events in the past two years. However, there are still several challenging bottlenecks within Micro LED and Mini LED manufacture process that block the way to product commercialization. Therefore, it is expected that more industry players joining the market will help to advance solutions for achieving technology breakthroughs. Flexible, Folding and Transparent Displays: Turning Points for the Oversupplied Displ...

On September 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a set of new rules that eliminate the policy of LED light bulbs transition requirement starting January 1, 2020. The revise policy is considered a roll-back of the efficiency standards passed by Obama in 2017 and will slow down LED light upgrade. The policy was proposed in February 19, 2019 by DOE to withdraw the definitions of general service lamp (GSL) and general service incandescent lamp (GSIL) and other supplemental definition that adopt the efficiency standards. American Council ...

A research team formed by specialists in photonics, electrical and computer engineering and medicine jointly developed a device which integrated a 10x10 array of glass microneedles with Micro LED to deliver light for stimulating neurons in brains of mammals. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde, University of Utah and Fienstein Institute for Medical Research aim to advance optogenetic studies by connecting neural activities to specific cognitive functions in large mammals. In the study, the researchers combined a glass microneedle array with a custom fabricated...

Leveraging connected lighting technology from Signify and network expertise from Cisco, Norwegian IT systems integrator Atea has redefined the meaning of “smart office” with its office building in Stavanger, Norway. The office, named “living lab,” demonstrate the integration of connected technology on a single converged network. Key to smart office capabilities at Atea is Interact Office from Signify — a suite of connected lighting monitoring and management software — and connected sensors and luminaires from Signify. In addition to hig...

LiDAR companies continuously extend their partnerships with autonomous driving technology developers to speed up self-driving applications. Canadian LeddarTech announced the collaboration with the Flodraulic Group for autonomous applications. Velodyne Lidar, on the other hand, is providing its LiDAR sensors to Optimus Ride’s self-driving vehicles. Flodraulic is a mobile system integrator specialized in creating full machine control and monitoring systems. The company selected LeddarTech's LeddarTM IS16 LiDAR sensors for the feature of distance and a...

Visible light communication, or LiFi, has provided a high speed internet connection for residents on Graemsay, an island in Scotland. The LiFi network trial project was developed by The University of Edinburgh and pureLiFi. The LiFi trial project began in June 2019 with project named 5G RuralFirst. Before the trial, residents of the island often stock in a connection below 2Mbps. The LiFi network completely improved the connectivity by providing connection which is four times faster. Both outdoor and indoor systems are included in the LiFi trial network. Th...

Sony announced the partnership with Yamaha Motor for a joint development of the SC-1 Sociable Cart, an autonomous vehicle that delivers a new mobility experience. Sony and Yamaha Motor plan to launch services using this model in Japan in fiscal 2019. The vehicle was developed solely for the purpose of providing a new mobility experience, and it will not be made available for sale. The SC-1 is designed to transform what was a mere means of mobility into an all-new opportunity for entertainment. Sony and Yamaha Motor will deploy it to provide fun new diversions at venues s...

The annual Display International Touch Taiwan is taking place this week with exhibitors from all over the world showcasing their latest developments in display technology. Taiwan-based panel makers AUO and Innolux are both showing their innovative display products at the show including Mini LED backlight display, Micro LED displays and more. (Image: AUO) AUO announced that it will unveil several new display technologies covering Mini LED backlit 8K TVs as well as gaming monitors, notebook panels and VR wearable displays adopting Mini LED backlig...

A research shows that birds exposed to artificial light at night might increase the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV). West Nile Virus that infects birds and other animals including humans. The virus can cause West Nile fever for people and sever disease in horses. The virus is transmitted by birds and mosquitos. The study led by Meredith Kernbach, a PhD student in the University of South Florida College of Public Health, suggested that wild birds who carry the virus would remain infectious two days longer if exposed to artificial light at night time, leading to h...

The International Symposium on Automotive Lighting 2019 will take place from September 23 to 25 in Darmstadt, Germany. Inova Semiconductors, a member of the ISELED Alliance, is going to present its innovative solutions for automotive lighting with a focus on interior lighting during the event. Inova will exhibit the first available products and applications based on ISELED technology. A "Carbox" demonstrator illustrates the interaction between dynamic light and image content, opening up new possibilities for driver assistance and infotainment systems. A...

LED manufacturers all over the world have suffered from low profit and market uncertainty due to continuous price competition and on-going trade dispute. Besides cutting off lighting business, LEDinside observed the strategies developed by worldwide LED companies under the difficult circumstance to alleviate impacts on their business. Micro LED and Mini LED: the Turning Point for Taiwan LED Manufacturers Taiwan-based LED companies were challenged by Chinese competitors with their low price strategies in the past few years. However, Mini LED and Micro...

Many LED producers have turned their focus to automotive applications for higher profit. The ongoing development of autonomous driving technology and next generation automobile also creates new requirements for automotive lighting as well as automotive displays, leading to new opportunities for LED makers. Exterior lighting becomes even more important for driverless cars, as they need to pass information and communicate with each other as well as remind pedestrians of their movement. Deployment of advanced LED technology enables cars to provide details when they are about to ...

UV LEDs are recently replacing mercury light as UV light source for disinfection applications. German researchers have developed a UV LED based disinfection system to purify brewing water and clean the caps for bottled beer and soft drinks. Researchers at the Advanced System Technology (AST) branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB in Ilmenau, Germany, have cooperated in collaboration with PURION, a UV technology solution provider, to create UV LED based purifying module to destroy germs...

Fluence by OSRAM announced that it will become the LED provider of choice for The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD), an organic cannabis company based in Ontario, Canada. TGOD will use Fluence LED lighting solutions for year-round cannabis cultivation, pushing its production capabilities to meet rapidly increasing global demand for organic cannabis. Fluence will supply its high-bay VYPR lighting solutions in two additional hybrid greenhouses of TGOD which measures over 1.4 million square feet. These new facilities will open in phases starting August 2019 ...

The European Union announced an establishment of a new three-year project, ELIoT (Enhance Lighting for the Internet of Things), which aims to develop mass market Internet of Things (IoT) solutions using LiFi. With LiFi, the ELIoT consortium will explore a networked wireless communication technology operating in the previously unused light spectrum, besides Wi-Fi and cellular radio. LiFi can be used in environments where certain radiofrequencies are not possible or allowed. For outdoor usage, it could offer high bandwidth point-to-point links from rooftops, ...

A French/Chinese design store NOERDEN launched a smart bottle which can autonomously sterilize water with built-in UV-C LED sterilization system and remind people to drink more water with the hydration reminder. The smart bottle, named LIZ, is featured with a touch responsive smart lid with UV-C LED that can destroy up to 99.9% of harmful viruses and bacteria, according to NOERDEN. Users only have to tap the lid twice to start the sterilization process, which sends the UV-C light through the empty bottle or through the water in the bottle to destroy ba...

Shulin District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, July 30, 2019-Everlight has filed invalidation trial procedures against Nichia ‘s YAG patents in United States, Australia, China and Taiwan. Everlight has received these winning judgements. Supreme Court of the United States has decided that the asserted claims of Nichia’s US YAG patents US5,998,925 and US7,531,960 are invalid. Full Court of Federal Court of Australia has decided that the asserted claims of Nichia’s Australia YAG patent 720234 are invalid. On May 9, 2019, Beijing Inte...

Scientists have demonstrated blue light’s anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory effects and they turned it into a flexible bandage to heal wounds. MEDILIGHT, a European research project which aims to develop smart and wearable medical devices, have presented a prototype of the LED embedded light solution for treating chronic wounds. Within the framework of the European project MEDILIGHT, seven partners including research teams from Germany France, Switzerland, Cyprus, the UK and Czech, were coordinated by the Technical University of Berlin (TUB)....

LASER COMPONENTS, specialized provider of components and services in the laser and optoelectronics industry, has been named a “Best of Sensors” 2019 Award winner in the Automotive/Autonomous category. The company’s QuickSwitch Pulsed Laser Diode (PLD) was recognized as one of the Innovative Products of the Year 2019 which highlights cutting-edge advancements and achievements that are moving the sensors industry forward. Across fourteen categories, the prestigious awards were presented by the Editor of Fierce- Electronics during Sensors Expo & Conference 2019, held June 25-27, 2019 in San Jose, California.

AGreen Farms, an indoor hydroponic farm based in Philadelphia, USA, is investing in LED horticulture lighting from Current by GE to produce greens, herbs and edible flowers. Adam Green, founder of AGreen Farms, has worked as a sales intern at Farm.One, a vertical farm based in New York, and gained experiences of the technology-powered urban vertical farm. He launched AGreen Farms in 2018 in a mixed-use building in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. The 5,000-square-foot operation includes 3,500 square feet of grow space dedicated to microgreens a...