Researchers at National University of Singapore (NUS) developed highly efficient, large-area and flexible near-infrared LEDs for new wearable device technologies. A research team led by Prof TAN Zhi Kuang from the Department of Chemistry and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), NUS has developed high-efficiency near-infrared LEDs which can cover an area of 900 mm2 using low-cost solution-processing methods. The result was published on Nature Photonics on December 2, 2019. According to the research, the flexible near-infrared ...

Micro LED is expected to bring a revolution to display technology with its high brightness, long lifetime, refined performance and low power consumption. However, its miniaturized size and the massive amount of chips bring challenges for mass production. In order to overcome the bottlenecks of Micro LED technology, the integration within the supply chain is critical. Over the past two years, we have seen partnerships built in the industry for speeding up Micro LED research and development. Equipment makers, Micro LED technology developers as well as display producers h...

LG Electronics said it will unveil an indoor gardening appliance at CES 2020, its first foray into the booming indoor gardening movement. The refrigerator-look indoor gardening appliance adopts LED lighting, temperature and water control, all-in-one seed packages and a growth-monitoring app to help users cultivate nutrient-rich and flavorful greens inside their own homes. Utilizing flexible modules, the appliance replicates optimal outdoor conditions by precisely matching the temperature inside the insulated cabinet with the time of day. LED lights, forced air circulation, a...

Heliospectra announces a new order from Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, United Kingdom. Heliospectra will replace antiquated metal halide lighting with new MITRA modular LED grow lights and controllable spectra DYNA LED solutions. One of the world’s oldest agricultural research institutions, Rothamsted Research works with a wide array of food and cereal crops in both glasshouses and walk-in plant growth chambers. The new Heliospectra LED solutions offer ease of installation for the large scale retrofit of existing chambers and significant reduction in...

UV LED as a division of LED technology is still at its initial stage and has a great market potential with a wide range of applications, attracting more and more global companies to join the business. According to “2019 Deep UV LED Application Market- Sterilization, Purification, and Water Treatment Markets” by LEDinside, UV LED manufacturers’ revenue grow stably with growing momentum coming from applications in surface and air disinfection, static and flowing water disinfection. In the past year, we have seen some innovative application...

At the joyful time of the year, LEDinside of Trendforce would like to send our greetings to all readers around the world.  We are glad to share the latest trends and insights of the industry and hope to continue updating the on-going technology developments and applications of LED.  We wish you a happy holiday season and a new year filled with good fortune.   ...

Transmitting data with light is not a new idea but it is getting more materialized with improving technologies. At the coming CES 2020, SLD Laser and CEA-Leti are presenting their development in LiFi applications. SLD Laser, a visible laser light sources expert, has announced high-resolution sensing and ultra-high speed LiFi communication technologies for automotive and consumer applications. The company will demonstrate these innovations at CES 2020. SLD has developed LaserLight LiFi communication technology that delivers high-speed data rates of over 2...

With new technology and products emerging in the market, public sectors and associations continue to update regulations and standards, helping manufacturers and consumers to better understand the current specifications of different products. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published a new standard “American National Standard for Electric Lamps— Performance Specifications for Direct Replacement LED Lamps,” describing the electrical, mechanical, and photometric characteristics of LED lamps that are direct replacements for ...

The year of 2019 was a fruitful year for Micro LED as the technology entering a more mature stage with increasing global manufacturers announcing their progresses and updates in Micro LED applications. LEDinside pointed out in its “2019 Micro LED Next Generation Display Key Technology Report,” that with outstanding performance in brightness, contrast, response time and energy saving, Micro LED technology might out beat LCD and OLED and be adopted in wearable applications, automotive displays, AR/VR and large displays. In the past year, ...

Researchers from Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in an international team have analyzed data on the impact of light pollution on melatonin formation in humans and vertebrates. They found that even the low light intensities of urban skyglow can suppress melatonin production. Melatonin synchronizes the day-night-rhythm in animals and humans. It adjusts the circadian clocks of cells, tissues and organs, and regulates other seasonal processes like reproduction. In vertebrates, differences in light levels are detected by photoreceptors for examp...

Pioneer and its subsidiary, Pioneer Smart Sensing Innovations (PSSI), announced their development of a mass-production 3D LiDAR sensor in a compact size and improved performance with an extended measurement distance and more. The new LiDAR sensor is expected to be equipped in level 3 and above autonomous driving vehicles and will be released in 1H20 and enter full scale production in the second half of 2020. Pioneer and PSSI have been providing various companies with verification models from 2017 to 2018, and continued verifying performance through demonstration...

Each year the innovative products and technologies showcased at CES bring us closer to our imaginative future life. This year at the event, LiDAR manufacturers, sensor chip providers, automobile companies and other technology builders are joining force to present solutions for autonomous driving and smart city applications. Artificial perception provider AEye announced that it has integrated Infineon’s microcontroller into AEye’s iDAR™ platform to ensure a robust, software-definable platform that is functionally safe for automated and autonomous vehicle...

Researchers at The University of Manchester in the UK discovered that blue light may not be as disruptive to our sleep patterns as originally thought. According to the team, using dim, cooler, lights in the evening and bright warmer lights in the day may be more beneficial to our health. The scientists claimed that twilight is both dimmer and bluer than daylight and the body clock uses both of those features to determine the appropriate times to be asleep and awake. In the research on mice, the team used a specially designed lighting whose color can be adjusted without changin...

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) together with Geneva School of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève) developed a wearable sensor that measures how much light an individual is exposed to along with the spectral resolution of that light. The wearable sensor, named “Spectrace,” can detect the amount of light one person receives by being put around the neck like a pair of headphones or attached to an item of clothing with a magnetic pin. (Image: EPFL) Scientists have taken a growing interest in how a shortage ...

Researcher at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) found that tailored lighting intervention can significantly help Alzheimer patients to improve sleep quality, and reduce depressive symptoms and agitation behavior. In addition to memory loss, people diagnosed with Alzheimer disease also suffered from sleep disturbances, depression, and agitation. Dr. Mariana Figueiro, the Professor and Director at LRC, has been investigating how lighting intervention can lessen the impact of these symptoms in older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADR...

Integrated Device Technology, (IDT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation, announced that it has been tasked by the City of Campbell, California, with making one of its parking lots "intelligent" as part of its efforts to be environmentally friendly, reduce light pollution, and make the lights more interactive for the city's residents. The effort began in June with four overhead lights in the City Hall's employee parking lot and will soon expand to six additional overhead lights in the adjacent fenced Police Department parking lo...

LiDAR sensors and sensing solutions developer Quanergy Systems reported that it was selected as a LiDAR partner for China’s Geely Automotive Group (Geely). Geely and Quanergy will have a deep collaboration in developing and commercializing solutions for the broad deployment of smart city and autonomous vehicle systems. (Image: Quanergy/Geely) This announcement follows an initial deployment of Quanergy’s LiDAR-based smart city solution at intersections across the Hangzhou Bay Area, Ningbo City, and Zhejiang Province. This is the first smart ...

Seoul Semiconductor announced that it has achieved smart lighting design with SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs in cooperation with Casambi Technologies; and it has been adopted for the Italian designed architectural lighting brand formalighting for a new product line which offers motorized luminaire with smart wireless controls. The SunLike COB LED packages have been adopted by formalighting for the new fixtures in track mounted motorized spotlight range targeting lighting applications in museums, art galleries and commercial spaces. Adding the smart control syste...

Lighting Research Center (LRC) continues to conduct studies to learn how light impacts alertness during the day and sleep quality at night in daytime office workers. In its latest press release, LRC revealed that using blue light in the morning and red light in the afternoon helps office to increase energy. The study field tested a novel luminaire developed by the LRC to promote circadian entrainment and alertness in the office environment. 19 participants from three U.S. Department of State office buildings in Washington, D.C., completed the 3-week study. During ...

As the holiday season arrives, major cities worldwide are setting up decorative lighting to bring the holiday atmosphere even closer. However, according to a survey in Germany, a majority of Germans are considering to cut down their Christmas lights for environmental reason, reported Deutsche Welle (DW). Since the beginning of December, many cities as well as global landmarks are switching on the Christmas lights. In London, the iconic lights on Regent Street, Oxford Street and the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square all begin shining. New York’s famous winter ...

The legalization of medical and recreational use of cannabis in North America has opened a wide door for LED lighting in horticulture application for cannabis cultivation. An increasing number of cannabis growers and cannabis grow light suppliers are joining the market. ecofarm from Massachusetts, U.S., announced the launch of the largest indoor cultivation sites in the country at Marijuana Business Conference (MJBizCon), the cannabis industry's most respected global trade show. (Image: ecofarm) ecofarm will operate as a Tier 11 marijuana cultivator and produc...

A study led by researchers of the University of Exeter and Peruvian conservation organization ProDelphius proved that placing LED lights on fishing nets can reduce the chances of sea turtles and dolphins being caught by accident. The research result was published in the journal Biological Conservation, titled "An illuminating idea to reduce bycatch in the Peruvian small-scale gillnet fishery." The research group have conducted experiment by attaching LED lights on fishing nets with small-scale vessels departing from three ports in Peru between 2015 and 2018. T...

When arriving a new place, Google Maps usually helps to locate our destinations and lead us there. However, some of the route might include streets and roads that are too dark or narrow which we would avoid when traveling at night but we could not find out until reaching there. To enhance travel safety, Google Maps is reportedly working on a new layer of “lighting,” which marks brightly lit streets on the maps, reported XDA Developer. (Image: Tridonic) XDA Developer found codes in Google Maps v10.31.0 beta indicating that Google is adding a new feature t...

Smart glasses are expected to replace smartphones in the coming three to five years. Global big names pushing their development in smart wearable applications particularly headset or glasses combining AR technology with the ultimate goal to make them function like smartphones. In the past 10 years, the invention and usage of smartphones have changed the ecosystem of the technology industry as well as our daily life. But as new developments in smartphones become limited, the smartphone market shows tepidity recently. Trendforce analysis pointed out that market demand of smartphone i...

Samsung has provided its LED displays for MSC Cruises and its collaboration in the indoor LED installation was awarded by Daily DOOH for the prize of Best Overall Customer Experience. Samsung provided interactive touchscreens, digital signage and over 2,400 in-cabin TVs throughout MSC Grandiosa, the latest and largest flagship of MSC Cruises, as part of its longstanding partnership with the company. MSC Cruises had launched the MSC for Me digital ecosystem in 2017 to bring the latest connected cruise experience to its guests. (Image: Samsung) ...

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published “American National Standard for Roadway and Area Lighting Equipment - Luminaire Four-Pin Extension Module and Receptacle—Physical and Electrical Interchangeability and Testing.” This new Standard provides mechanical and electrical specifications for interfacing street and area lighting with controls and sensor accessories. (Image: Pixabay) According to NEMA, the standard was developed for use by roadway and area lighting manufacturers, municipalities, and utilities. T...

SiLC Technologies, the provider of integrated single-chip FMCW LiDAR solutions, and vehicle lighting supplier Varroc Lighting Systems announced that they will join force to demonstrate a LiDAR integration into a production automotive headlamp at CES 2020. The Varroc Lighting Systems headlamp combines its LED design and four of SiLC's silicon photonics FMCW vision chips providing a full 20 x 80-degree field of view (FOV) per headlamp. (Image: Varroc Lighting System/SiLC) According to SiLC, its compact LiDAR chip architecture c...

KAIST research team has invented “transformative electronics systems” which can change shapes and stretch flexibly, enabling novel design for wearable products. The new study was published in Science Advance in November. According to KAIST, the transformative electronics consist of a special gallium metal structure, hermetically encapsulated and sealed within a soft silicone material, combined with electronics that are designed to be flexible and stretchable. The mechanical transformation of the electronic systems is specifically triggered by temperature change...

Rumors of Apple’s Mini LED products have been going on since April 2019 and the latest news is that the company will begin mass production of iPad and MacBook Pro with Mini LED backlight display in 2020. Other Mini LED-based products will come in two to three years. (Image: Apple) Apple’s new Mini LED products, including a 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a 16-inch Macbook which are said to be launched the soonest in the third and fourth quarter in 2020, will benefit the company’s supply chain covering chip makers, display producer and assembly com...

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's largest and one of the world's leading high-tech applied research institutions, is going to showcase its latest developments at CES 2020 starring January 7, 2020, in Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center. (Image: ITRI) ITRI will present a wide range of innovative applications integrating AI, robotics and digital health technology, as well as its Micro LED technology. ITRI’s Micro LED display features its "pixel area release" technology, integrating sens...