James E. Wagner Cultivation (JWC) announced that it has entered into a mutually collaborative product trial and evaluation agreement with Fluence Bioengineering, a Osram subsidiary, to test and provide feedback regarding the performance, functionality and suitability of Fluence’s VYPR 2p Broad Spectrum LED lighting solution. Analysis will be conducted under the Agreement for a term of eight months to assess whether JWC can further improve its high level of energy efficiency by using lighting equipment provided by Fluence to help optimize cultivation perform...

UV LED technology has come closer to our daily life for diminishing bacteria and enhancing hygiene. One way to apply the technology could be integrating UV LEDs with public door handles. Two graduate students of the Chinese University in Hong Kong designed the self-sanitizing door handle and was selected as the top 20 in the James Dyson Award in 2019. Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li, the inventors of the self-sanitizing door handle, were inspired by the SARS outbreak in 2003 when the infection spread out via contact. The door handle was created to prevent conta...

LED lighting combining hydroponics system enables people to cultivate food anytime anywhere. In France, a startup company has turned an underground garage in Paris into a vertical farm to grow mushroom and greens, providing fresh food for local people. The government built several parking spaces under the city of Paris during 1960’s to 1970’s and these spaces become abandoned as the driving population declined. La Caverne, a French startup, thus decided to grow vegetables via urban agriculture project in a garage under the city. (Image: La Caverne) Fou...

Earlier this year, the largest LED chip provider in China, Sanan Optoelectronics announced that its Micro LED and Mini LED chip production lines are under construction. And now the company reportedly begins the production of 6-inch Micro LED wafer in the four quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes. Sanan was said to have developed Micro LED chips of 10*20 µm and is aiming to further shrink the chip size in 2020, providing testing data and samples to its clients. Production of 6-inch wafer is a critical move for Micro LED cost reduction as currently ...

Getac, a rugged tablet and PC manufacturer announced its partnership with pureLiFi for integrating LiFi technology into ruggedized wireless devices. For military, automotive, and manufacturing customers, security, safety and reliability are paramount to their operations. As LiFi enables data transmission via light rather than radio waves, the technology features secure and reliable high speed internet connection, supporting Getac the latest technologies to provide customers with solutions to overcome challenges and safeguard and improve productivity. "Getac's pa...

U.S.-based Lighting control supplier Leviton announced that it has acquired Viscor, the largest independent lighting manufacturer in Canada; while Architectural Lighting Works (ALW) reported the acquisition of v2 Lighting Group. (Image: Leviton) Leviton’ acquisition of Viscor reiterates its commitment to strategically expand the lighting and controls product offering. "By adding Viscor to the Leviton family, we will be able to provide a much deeper portfolio of lighting options for our customers. Equally important, Viscor's product portfolio will b...

Velodyne, a leading LiDAR company and 3D sensor solution for autonomous vehicles and industrial robots, is going to showcase the latest product at CES 2020. LEDinside was honored to have a phone call interview with Rick Tewell, COO of Velodyne, to understand how the company’s fully rotation LiDAR system ushers in a new and incredible era of advanced 3D imaging technology in autonomous vehicles. (Rick Tewell, COO of Velodyne) Velodyne was established in San Jose, California in 1983, by founder and CEO David Hall. In 2005, Velodyne released H...

A Chinese research team recently develop a stretchable light-emitting devices which delivers information and can be attached to human skin and other surfaces. The device is like a temporary tattoo and can be operated at low voltage so it does not cause harm to users. Published in ACS Materials Letter in October 2019, the results from researchers at Nanjing University in China demonstrated stretchable light-emitting devices called alternating-current electroluminescent (ACEL) displays. The device has a sandwiched structure with an electroluminescent layer made of light-em...

Sweden-based horticulture lighting solution provider Heliospectra announced new orders for its new LED lighting solutions from Bridge Farm Group in the UK and Nectar Farms in Australia. The two farms will install Heliospectra’s new MITRA LED lighting solutions in greenhouses for commercial food production. Bridge Farm Group is the largest commercial producers and suppliers of plants in the UK. The company has been producing greenhouse grown flowers, potted outdoor plants, microgreens, herbs and ornamentals for more than 30 years. Bridge Farm Group was...

Seoul Semiconductor announced its financial results of the third quarter of 2019 with revenues of KRW 283.4 billion (US$ 244.3 million), an operating profit of KRW 12 billion (US$ 10.34 million), and EBITDA of KRW 32.6 billion (US$ 28.10 million). The company said that it has achieved its guided range of KRW 280 billion to KRW 300 billion of revenues for the quarter. Despite the weak general lighting market, Seoul Semiconductor reported growing sales of WICOP products as the demand of larger and slimmer screen in the TV market increase. The sales...

At the Micro LED product launch, Konka invited Shuiji Nakamura, the Nobel winner in 2014, to share his ideas about Micro LED displays and the technology progress of his laboratory. According to Nakamura, Micro LED outpaces OLED in all the features including brightness, contrast, durability and more, however, the only challenge for Micro LED is production cost. And in order to reduce cost, the miniaturize process of LED might lead to efficiency degrease. Currently the research team has developed a 10μm Micro LED chip which is able to achieve 42% EO...

Macroblock was invited to participate in the product launch held by Konka Group at Chongqing Konka semiconductor and optoelectronics industrial park. Konka has been aggressively investing to develop Mini and Micro LED technology to aim at the high-end LED display market. At the product launch event, the company released its latest Micro LED TV series, APHAEA, including a 236 inches 8K TV with a pixel pitch of 0.68mm. The product adopt Macroblock's driver IC MBI5759 which provides image quality of 14-bit gray scale and comes with a common cathode...

Konka Group from China hold a product launch event on October 31 and introduced its latest Micro LED display products including a 118-inch 4K TV, a 117-inch 6K TV and a 236-inch 8K TV under the brand name “APHAEA.” Konka called its Micro LED TV product “Smart Wall,” aiming to challenge Samsung’s “The Wall.” The Micro LED displays of Konka are also modular display that can be customized into different shapes and sizes. The Smart Wall TVs use more than 100 million Micro LED chips to reach a brigh...

Apple is currently constructing a new facility in Taiwan, next to Apple’s Taoyuan plant opened in 2015, reported Taiwan’s Wealth Magazine. According to the report, Apple is building the third plant in Taiwan which is scheduled to be finished in December 2019. Many believe that the new facility, like the old ones, are for Micro LED. (Apple's Micro LED research center in Taiwan, image: Seeking Alpha) Taiwan has been a key place for Apple in developing Micro LED technology where the iPhone maker strategically collaborated with local supply ch...

As the trade war between the U.S. and China goes on, some companies from other area enjoy the benefits from order transfer. Taiwan’s LED packager Unity-Opto, recently reported that it has receive orders from U.S. wholesalers and is seeing revenue growth for 4Q19. In order to avoid extra tariffs, companies across the world who target the U.S. market are seeking suppliers who have production lines outside China. With its production lines located in Taiwan, Unity-Opto thus benefits from the order transfer with sales in 1H19 rising 30%YoY. The company also too...

Cree announced the results of its fiscal 1Q20 ended September 29, 2019. For the fiscal quarter, Cree registered a revenue of US$242.8 million, which represents an on-year decrease of 11% and a 3% decrease compared to the previous quarter. GAAP net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter was $37.8 million compared to GAAP net loss from continuing operations of $0.8 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 was $3.6 million. The company has sold its light...

Lighting company Tridonic and NMB-Minebea-GmbH, which is part of the MinebeaMitsumi group who manufacture machinery components and electronics devices, have signed a contract to form a strategic partnership. The partnership aims to develop intelligent outdoor lighting solutions for Smart Cities. Based on Tridonic’s lighting technology and Paradox Engineering’s connectivity platform and applications ecosystem, the partnership aims to provide integrated Smart City services. For this purpose, hardware and software from both partners will be aligned so that the...

Smart street lighting company Telensa is going to expand its PLANet intelligent street lighting system to Wiltshire County, adding 7,000 more lights across the county. The established deployment already controls 35,000 lights, and paid for itself in just six years through reduced energy and maintenance costs. These controls are also being upgraded as part of a broader LED replacement program for which Ringway is the contractor and Atkins is the consultant. The combination of Telensa smart controls and advanced LED lights from Urbis Schréder has enabled the Co...

Sense Photonics announced that its e Sense Solid-State Flash LiDAR, a 3D time-of-flight (ToF) camera, is available for preorders. The product features a wide field-of-view (FOV) and high-resolution data output at a range of up to 40 meters, which is claimed by Sense Photonics to be the longest available in the market for a device of its kind. The Sense units deliver angular resolution of 0.27 degrees both horizontally and vertically, and can be configured to achieve an outdoor range of up to 40 meters. Coupled with a vertical FOV of up to 75 degrees, and high-dyna...

LED technology has progressed to create lights that are similar to natural lights for progresses, which might help to enhance wellbeing for not only human beings but also other creatures. Several researches suggested that mood, sense of well-being, productivity and cognition might all benefit from lighting that tracks the solar day. Thus, LED and lighting companies across the world are releasing advanced products for health improvement. Cree Lighting announced the availability of its architectural-grade Cadiant™ Dynamic Lighting Experience. The company introduced Cad...

As the most influential lighting fair in Asia, Hong Kong International Lighting Fair serves as a direct link for industrial exchanges and cooperation between suppliers and buyers, attracting thousands of exhibitors to participate every year. Concluded on October 30, the 21st Hong Kong International Fair has gathered around 2700 exhibitors to showcase innovative, fashionable and practical lighting products. Shanghai Wellmax Lighting Industry (WELLMAX), as the most famous lighting brand, exhibited its unique products, like “Bulbized” Sunflower series, B...

The 21st HKTDC Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), as well as the Hong Kong International Outdoor and Tech Light Expo kicked out on October 27 and 29 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and at AsiaWorld-Expo. Together the two events hosted more than 3,100 exhibitors from 35 countries across the world to showcase innovative, fashionable and practical lighting products. (Image: HKTDC) The twin lighting shows also organized various seminars and forums during the fair period, inviting international brands including Sig...

SmartSens announced the release of its proprietary LED Flicker Suppression (LFS) technology which helps SmartSens' CMOS image sensors to effectively mitigate the dangers that often accompany LED flicker, making AI-enabled Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (or ADAS) and Autonomous Vehicles safer. Comparison of images produced with and without SmartSens' LED Flicker Suppression technology; image: SmartSens LED has gradually replaced traditional lighting options in various automotive applications including headlamps and turn signals. H...

AquiSense Technologies who specialized in UV-C LED water disinfection announced that its PearlAqua Micro rang was certified by NSF International in compliance with the new NSF/ANSI 55 Standard for Material Safety and Structural Integrity. The PearlAqua Micro, according to AquiSense, is the world’s smallest UV-C LED water treatment system that enables 99.9999% pathogen reduction. The PearlAqua Micro range is designed to be integrated at the point of use and offers 12 or 24 VDC input voltage, automatic on/off control, multiple sensing/ala...

Signify announced the partnership with aircraft manufacturer Latécoère for the industrial scale-up of its LiFi technology. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on its Trulifi technology. The partnership also include South Korea’s aerospace and defense specialist, Huneed Technologies, for data communication electronics and software. “The Paris Air Show 2019 gave Latécoère the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the LiFi speed. Our technology, which showcases our Group’s worldwide lead in in...

With increasing urban population across the world that drives food demands in cities, innovative growing techniques are critical for sustaining food supply. Vertical farming that cultivate crops with LED lighting and controlled environment has served as a solution to provide fresh food for areas with high population density with less water and space consumed. Agritech companies in the U.S. are expanding their vertical farming business across the country. Plenty, a vertical farming company based in California, USA, announced that it will build a new farm in Los Angeles later...

With display technology progresses, virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications are expected to grow in the coming years. Catching up with the trend, Osram introduces new infrared (IR) LEDs with eye-tracking solutions that help to prevent discomfort feeling, optimizing VR/AR products. Eye-tracking systems register the user's viewing angle and the movements of their eyes. The systems illuminate the eyes with infrared light and register the reflections with a camera sensor. Software then determines the exact position of the eyes and the viewing direction of t...

German equipment solution provider AIXTRON announced the financial results for the third quarter and the first nine month of 2019. The company reported an on-year revenue increase of 2% to EUR 184.6 billion for 3Q19 and an operating result of EUR 24.5 million (US$ 27.16 million) that grew by 18%YoY. AIXTRON said that the order situation slightly recovered compared to the previous quarter. Sales were lower than in the previous quarters partly due to longer than expected processes to grant export licenses. Nevertheless, sales for the first nine months of 2019 in...

Signify published the financial results of 3Q19 last week with a 5% decrease in comparable sales growth while its LED-based business improved on-year by 2.6%. The company said that the “challenging macro environment with lower market activity in Europe, U.S., Greater China as well as a major impact of tightening liquidity in India,” was a major reason for the flat sales growth. The Dutch lighting company reported a revenue of EUR 1.53 billion (US$ 1.7 billion) in 3Q19, down by 3.3%YoY. Accumulated revenue for 2019 until the end of September came to E...

Automotive applications mark a niche market for global LED makers. While the developing electronic vehicle and autonomous driving technology with higher requirement for power saving open more opportunities for LED producers, LED technology progress also supports more application options for automobile manufacturers. Head up display (HUD) which enables drivers to obtain information while looking the frond is an application that can be enhanced through advance LED technologies. A HUD system usually include a picture generating unit (PGU) consisting of an LED arra...