Sony announced the price and availability for its 2020 TV models demonstrated at CES earlier this year. The 2020 TV lineup includes series of 8K/4K LED TVs and 4K OLED TVs from US$599.99 to US$9999.99. The most expensive product announced by Sony this time is its Z8H 8K HDR LED TVs, the 85-inch model will cost US$9999.99 and the 75-inch one is US$6999.99. With Sony’s Full Array LED technology with 8K X-tended Dynamic Range PRO, the product series features local dimming to address better contrast similar to Mini LED backli...

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced a strategic collaboration to address the global issue of light pollution that negatively affects our environment and the human condition. The two parties adopted Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting and seek to guide the outdoor lighting industry in the U.S. and beyond to be more socially and environmentally responsible. The five principles addressed that light at night should be with clear purpose and used in necessary areas in low level and warmer colo...

Researchers have developed the first megapixel photon-counting camera based on new-generation image sensor technology that uses single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The new camera can detect single photons of light at unprecedented speeds, a capability that could advance applications that require fast acquisition of 3D images such as augmented reality and LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles. "Thanks to its high resolution and ability to measure depth, this new camera could make virtual reality more realistic and let you interact with augmented reality information in ...

UC Santa Barbara’s Solid State Lighting & Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC) and member companies are developing UV LEDs that have the ability to decontaminate surfaces — and potentially air and water — that have come in contact with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 virus) to combat the world spreading disease. Recently, much attention has turned to the power of UV light to inactivate the novel coronavirus and Seoul Semiconductor, a SSLEEC member company, reported its achievement of “99.9% sterilization of coronavirus (COVID...

The world sweeping COVID-19 pandemic is leading to delay in production as well as some new projects in the industry as many companies have temporary closed their facilities and the supply chain was interrupted. New technology developments might be affected under the challenging time as well. LEDinside shares its insights toward Micro LED technology development in such a global uncertainty and points out that it might be a chance for the next-gen display technology to move a step forward. (Image: LEDinside) According to LEDinside, delays of equipment and material d...

Compound Photonics (CP), a provider of compact high-resolution microdisplay solutions for AR and MR applications introduced a compact, high brightness 1080p optical engine reference design that fits into a volume under 3 cubic centimeters (3cc). The product is optimized for CP’s 0.26-inch Micro LED Integrated Display Module (IDM) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 resolution and 3.015μm pixel, which will accelerate development of AR/MR smart glasses. (Image: Compound Photonics) The 0.26-inch Micro LED IDM was jointly developed by Compound Ph...

In response to the rising number of disinfecting products and applications based on UV radiation for preventing the spread of COVID-19, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) issued a new report by their Photobiology Committee, providing professional information for germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) disinfection and its potential to safely reduce the transmission of coronavirus. (Image: Pixabay) The report provided answers to frequently asked questions about GUV, drawing from expertise from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food a...

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) in the U.S. and lighting company Signify published press releases to state the importance of lighting under the threat of COVID-19 pandemic. (Image: Pixabay) NEMA and members of its Lighting Systems Division addressed that lighting and lighting system manufacturers are essential businesses and requested that all government agencies should exclude lighting and lighting systems device manufacturers from stay-home policy to fully support the requirement of public’s needs for lit, safe, and secure envi...

On April 14, 2020, Apple was granted 54 patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and one of the patent is related to sensors that might be added to Apple Watch in the future to detect the environment of water and the makeup of water. The new patent issued to Apple, titled “Portable electronic device as health companion,” describe the function of the incorporating sensors for identifying the water based on the detected property and initiate actions of the wearable device to send notifications to the user. For example, the Apple Watch would be able to warm...

Custom lighting manufacturer ASCENTI Lighting launched the industry’s first AR and VR lighting app which enables architects and designers to create and evaluate their designs remotely. The application provides a safe and secure solution for architects and designers to keep projects moving forward and meet deadlines during and after the coronavirus health crisis. (Image: ASCENTI) State-of-the-art AR capabilities allow architects and designers to view and modify custom fixtures from any room in real-time, eliminating the need to visit project sites in perso...

Researchers from the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e)in the Netherlands and Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany reported the development of a light-emitting, silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloy. The achievement may open a new way for integrated chip function. The revolutionary results were published in ‘Nature,’ on April 8, 2020. The research team made germanium and alloys from germanium and silicon with a hexagonal crystal lattice which has a direct band gap to emit light. The concept of hexagonal silicon was proposed by Prof. Erik Bakk...

In the fight against COVID-19, Chinese medical equipment supplier Sunay Healthcare Supply secured an order of autonomous UVC disinfection robots for hospital use from Danish-based company UVD Robots in February. UVD Robots won the IERA award, essentially the robotics industry’s Oscars, in 2019. The company currently sells its robots in more than 40 countries. In addition to operating in the European and U.S. healthcare markets, UVD Robots is also supplying autonomous UV disinfection robots to hospitals in Asia. Hot on the heels of UVD R...

Micro LED as the innovative display technology is expected to replace TFT-LCD and OLED display in the near future with its high performance including high resolution, high contrast, self-emission, low power consumption and long life. However, the technology still encounter several bottlenecks. The most challenging one for researchers and manufacturers is the notorious mass transfer process which requires bonding RGB LED chips to display backplane accurately and efficiently. The task also needs to tackle the issues caused by different chip materials such as breakable...

The U.S.-based Innovasonic announced a partnership with CEA-LETI and CEA-LIST institutes to open a wholly-owned subsidiary in France. The company chose to work with CEA Tech Institutes to leverage their expertise in thin-layer piezoelectric material and their technologies in applied research in microelectronics and nanotechnology. Dr. Boris Kobrin, Founder and CEO of Innovasonic said, “Innovasonic addresses LIDAR, automotive cameras, PV solar panels, and other applications that could benefit from the solution's self-cleaning capabilitie...

Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG are cutting down their LCD production and aim to exit the LCD panel manufacturing business in the near future. Japan’s JDI is also suffered from weak business and sold its LCD production equipment to Apple reportedly. According to the latest investigations by the WitsView research division of TrendForce, these measures taken by the Korean and Japanese companies will led to declines in large size LCD production. Meanwhile, market share of Korean manufacturers in large-size panel capacity will shrink to below 10%. ...

Japan Display announced that the company has been involved in improper accounting treatment with a total padded operating profit of JPY 8.2 billion (US$ 76.12 million) in the past six years since 2014, when the company was listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company was investigated by a third-party committee and revealed the results on April 13, 2020. (Image: JDI) The investigation showed that JDI recorded fictitious inventory of JPY 10 billion (US$92.86 million) in total since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. The investigation also...

Worldwide technology builders are accelerating UVC LED developments for disinfecting applications aiming to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Lately we have seen many new products and technologies debuted and here comes a new UVC LED innovation from the German research center, Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technology and Image Evaluation, which is part of the Applied System Technology AST branch (IOSB-AST). Researchers built a microwave-like equipment which include two separate UVC LED modules with 10 UVC LEDs embedded respecti...

Chelsea Klukas, the product design manager at Oculus/Facebook AR/VR team, recently debuted a face mask combining a LED display panel to show customized images or texts, under her fashion-technology brand Lumen Couture. The LED mask can connect with an application on smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth to input the messages or graphic that users want to show on the mask. The mask also provides equalizer mode to respond to music, sounds or voice of the phones to deliver unique animated designs. (Image: Lumen Couture) The 512 pixels LED display panel is put bet...

LettUs Grow is an indoor farming technology provider founded in 2015 in Bristol, UK. The company is speeding up the building of two vertical farm modules in the city of Bristol to help feed vulnerable communities during the Covid-19 outbreak. The company is also forming partnership with the food redistribution charity FareShare South West to ensure the produce gets to those who need it most. LettUs Grow expects the first of the new aeroponic farm modules to be ready to start producing fresh produce from mid-April, with the first harvests ready to be delivered in ten days...

A KAIST team developed a novel wearable strain sensor based on the modulation of optical transmittance of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-embedded elastomer. The sensor is capable of sensitive, stable, and continuous measurement of physical signals and shows potential for the detection of subtle human motions and the real-time monitoring of body postures for healthcare applications. The study “Wearable Strain sensors Using Light Transmittance Change of Carbon Nanotube-Embedded Elastomers with Microcracks” was published in Applied Materials & Interfaces in ...

A joint research conducted by Japan’s Kobe University and Ushio, the Japan-based LED component maker, has provided proof for the first time in the world that direct and repetitive illumination from 222nm UVC radiation, which is a powerful sterilizer, does not cause skin cancer. This suggests that 222nm UVC is also safe for human eyes and skin. This technology is expected to have a wide range of antibacterial and antiviral applications in medical facilities and daily life. These research results were published online in Photochemistry & Photobiology, titled &l...

Australia-based BluGlass updated its business operation recently, presenting its developments in its direct-to-market Laser Diode business unit (launched October 2019) and recent progress on its Micro LED and LED programs. (Image: Pixabay) BluGlass has processed new RPCVD tunnel junction laser diode test structures which replaces the heavily lossy and resistive p-AlGaN cladding layers needed in standard laser diodes, paving the way for laser diodes improvement with reduced optical loss. The BluGlass US based Test Facility is on track for completion and f...

Acuva, the Canada based UVC LED water disinfection solution provider, shared professional understanding about how much UV radiation is required to deactivate the novel coronavirus and how UVC LED technology may support the disinfection process. Dr. Babak Adeli, Director of R&D at Acuva Technologies, explained the ways of novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus/SARS-CoV-2) transmission and its reaction to UV radiation, showing the possible approach of using UVC LED to diminish the virus. Adeli addressed that the novel coronavirus, is a new strai...

Poro Technologies (Porotech), is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge focusing on GaN material technology. The company has closed a GBP 1.5 million (US$ 1.86 million) seed round investment. According to the report of Cambridge, the investment will support Porotech to develop a pilot plant in Cambridge and its first major products. The seed round was co-led by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialization arm of the University of Cambridge, and IQ Capital Partners, with the additional participation of Martlet Capital and a syndicate of angel investors from ...

Seoul Viosys announced that its Violeds technology has been adopted by China-based automotive component supplier Yanfeng for in-vehicle UV disinfection. Adopting Violeds technology, the Yanfeng’s in-vehicle UV sanitizer can detect for absence of occupants before activating lamps for a period of 10 minutes that can sterilize the cabin including cockpit, seating and steering wheel. The sterilization lamp is embedded in the ceiling for maximum coverage and allows for sterilization of the harmful bacteria and viruses inside. (Violeds technology adopted by Yanfeng for ...

A report of Thomson Reuters Foundation pointed out that cities lockdowns across the globe due to COVID-19 pandemic has made people to rethink the way they obtain food. Urban farming taking places in rooftops or other spare spaces in the city may be the solution for food supply. Horticulture LED lighting can thus become a critical supporting equipment for household or community farming applications. Panic buying has been reported in many countries during the coronavirus crisis. Kotchakorn Voraakom, the landscape architect who designed Asia's largest urban rooftop farm...

Korean electronics giants LG and Samsung both revealed their preliminary earning guidance for the first quarter of 2020 and the spreading coronavirus pandemic did not seem to impact much on their business. LG Electronics reported tentative consolidated revenues of KRW 14.7 trillion (US$ 12.03 billion) and with an operating profit of KRW 1.1 trillion (US$ 899.8 million) for 1Q20. Compared to 1Q19, the sales was about 1.2% lower but the operating income increased by 21.1% on year. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics posted its 1Q20 earnings guidance with consolidated...

Environmental scientists at IGB, The Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, the research institute in Germany, found that artificial lighting at night affects melatonin reproduction in fishes. It is widely acknowledged that melatonin plays a critical role in regulating circadian rhythm of human bodies. And a research team now proved that lighting also suppresses production of melatonin in fishes. The team of IGB researchers investigated melatonin production in European perch and showed that light pollution, like nighttime urban sky glow, is bright...

Nichia reported that the company has reached a judicial settlement with Corlant, a distributor of automotive aftermarket parts under the brand of Valenti, during the proceeding at Tokyo District Court on March 19, 2020. Under the settlement, Corlant acknowledged that the accused products fall within the scope of Nichia’s patents in relation to PSS technology. Further, Corlant agreed to cease manufacturing and selling accused products, and to pay settlement money. Nichia filed the patent infringement lawsuit against Corlant on January 7, 2019, accursing Corlan...

Osram has appointed Kathrin Dahnke as the new CFO and the new position will begin on April 16, succeeding Ingo Bank, who will become CFO of AMS on May 1. Dahnke was appointed by the supervisory board of Osram as the CFO of the Management Board of Osram. Dahnke was most recently a member of the Management Board of the Neuss-based conglomerate Werhahn KG, which operates in the fields of building materials, consumer goods and financial services. The supervisory board of Osram expects Dahnke to take the challenge faced by the company during the transform...