In phase-cut dimming systems, a key technical issue has been mostly TRIAC holding current maintenance with low power LED lamps. In order to continue TRIAC conduction until the line voltage zero crossing, there have been several trials to flatten the driver input current higher than the holding current. In the previous compensation methods to provide constant input current, the input current is not precisely constant with a compensation error.

As part of a $1 billion investment designed to improve its entire portfolio of 629 properties, Extended Stay America ("ESA") recently began improving the exterior lighting at many of its facilities. From a lighting perspective, the technology used to illuminate the buildings, parking lots and common areas were outdated by almost 20 years. Existing light levels were not acceptable and maintenance costs were unsustainable.

Phihong, a leading global supplier of OEM power solutions, has introduced a new 10A, touch-operated dimming control module for constant voltage indoor LED lighting applications, such as under cabinet lighting and architectural accent lighting. Designed to integrate into both new and existing LED applications, the new PDA-DIM10A touch dimming control module is rated for constant voltage input spanning 8V – 42V, and features an on-board touch sensor and a 200-step dimming resolution. The new wall-mounted touch module also features tap on/tap off and touch-and-hold dimming controls, which allow users to turn the module on and off and adjust dimming with ease.

Leading Japanese LED manufacturer Nichia spoke to Taiwanese reporters about technologies it will be focusing on this year, and about its outlook for 2016, during a press conference held at Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan on Thursday.

Leading Taiwanese LED manufacturer EVERLIGHT displayed its LED component for lighting product portfolio at the biannual Light+Building 2016 that runs from March 13-16, at Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Center in Germany. EVERLIGHT representatives at the show Ewing Liu, Head of Lighting Product Development and Dr. Christopher Keusch, the company’s Europe branch Senior Technical Sales Manager of EMEA spoke to LEDinside about LED lighting market developments in Europe.

Global leading LED manufacturer Nichia has filed another patent infringement lawsuit against U.S. TV manufacturer Vizio in Central California Court, just one day after filing a lawsuit in the Eastern Texas. Moreover, the Japanese company is enforcing its YAG patents in China, and filed a lawsuit against Everlight subsidiary and distributor in China earlier this month. Below are Nichia’s statements related to the cases:

A photocall on March 17, 2016 marked the start of a two-year project to replace all of the borough’s 11,300 street lamps with LED energy efficient ones.

Illuminating fishing nets is a cost-effective means of dramatically reducing the number of sea turtles getting caught and dying unnecessarily, conservation biologists at the University of Exeter have found.

Silver Spring Networks announced a new go-to-market partner, Rongwen, for its rapidly growing smart cities and smart street lighting business. Rongwen is one of the largest smart LED street light providers and operators in China, and has deployed more than 250,000 controllable LED street lights in its home country under the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) business model. 

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced today that it sold its first Predictive Analytics solution to a major data storage customer. Incorporating Rudolph Technologies, Inc.’s (NYSE: RTEC) proven fault detection and predictive maintenance software, the new platform delivers increased Veeco system productivity for maximum efficiency resulting in reduced maintenance costs.

Lunera® Lighting, Inc., a leader in lighting innovations accelerating the transformation to advanced LED technology announces the next generation plug and play replacement for compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), the Helen Lamp GX23. Commercial building owners and operators can save energy and reduce operating expenses by simply replacing the 13W CFL commonly used in downlights and sconces. Lunera’s five-watt Helen Lamp reduces lighting energy consumption by over 60 percent, while consistently delivering quality illumination.

Phoseon Technology, Siegwerk and Mark Andy collaborate to host the LED Curing Symposium to educate flexo converters and printers on the benefits of LED curing. The symposium is targeted toward business owners, decision makers, and management of narrow web tag and label printers looking to learn more about the benefits and impact of transitioning to LED curing technology.

Diodes Incorporated (Nasdaq: DIOD), a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, today introduced the AL1697 LED driver. This device targets line-powered, triac-dimmable LED lighting applications. It also provides compatibility with leading- and trailing-edge triac dimmers using a single-stage, high power-factor dimming circuit that complies with the NEMA SSL-6 dimming curve, delivering optimal line and load regulation. This integrated MOSFET eliminates the need for auxiliary winding, which lowers BOM cost and enables a smaller PCB, making this an attractive and competitive solution for driving LED lamps up to 15W.

Market sectors encompassing telecommunications, consumer electronics, innovative energy applications in transportation, electricity generation and other market sectors are increasingly valuing power semiconductor devices as usage of these components spreads throughout above listed markets. The dawn of “smart manufacturing in China” has provided new market opportunities in the power semiconductor industry, and spurred market growth. Some of these trends were discussed at “Power Semiconductor Forum” during SEMICON China 2016 organized by SEMI, which took place on March 17 in Shanghai.

Light + Building has once again confirmed its position as the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building-services technology. The world’s biggest event for lighting, electrical technology and home and building automation closed its doors today after setting new records.Growth was recorded in all important indices – in the number of visitors,the number of exhibitors and the area occupied.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Apple 59 patents including one related to AMOLED displays, reported Patently Apple.

Nichia has filed a complaint in the Eastern Court of Texas in U.S. court against American TV manufacturer Vizio for infringing its LED patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,530,250), reported Law 360 magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 20.5, which is part of a series of investigations on LED PAR38 lamps. The new report builds on CALiPER Report 20.4 by providing a tear-down analysis of its 32 LED PAR38 lamp models and also performing additional analyses on the spectroradiometric data obtained using a specially developed automated long-term test apparatus. 

Philips Lighting, a Royal Philips company and global leader in lighting, has collaborated with The University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) to test energy efficient ways to grow food that will help feed astronauts on missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. A recent study, conducted over a nine week period, found that replacing water-cooled high-pressure sodium (HPS) systems with energy efficient LED lighting from Philips in a prototype lunar greenhouse resulted in an increased amount of high-quality, edible lettuce while dramatically improving operational efficiency and use of resources.

Sandeep Bahl of Texas Instrument stresses the importance of making reliable GaN material will largely rely on joint efforts in the industry to establish related standards in this blog entry.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) Emerging Technologies Program is seeking information from the public regarding lamps in general illumination applications.

In this blog entry by Patricia Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, she takes a look at the Public Art Challenge that Baltimore, the capital of Maryland in U.S. has taken on.

Lighting Science, the global technology leader in human health focused LED solutions, unveils a bold new brand identity designed to more accurately communicate the mission of the company and its groundbreaking products. The brand relaunch coincides with the expansion of Lighting Science’s line of biologically-tuned LED products including the Sleepy Baby®, GoodNight™, and GoodDay™ bulbs which emit pre-sleep and awake & alert spectrums of light, respectively.

Etihad ESCO, the energy retrofit entity has executed the lighting retrofit project at the DEWA power stations in Jebel Ali and Al Awir. The project involved replacing 8,500 light fixtures with high efficiency LEDs and it has exceeded the contractual savings guarantee to 75% savings from initial electricity consumption, which is equivalent to a 15 GWh reduction annually.

Cree continues to break performance barriers with the introduction of Cree® XLamp® CXB1310 and CXB1520 High Density LED arrays. Incorporating elements of Cree's SC5 Technology™ Platform, the new LEDs deliver the highest lumen density at 6mm and 9mm - the most lumens in the industry for their LES [light emitting surface] sizes.  The advancement enables radically new and differentiated LED lighting form factors for applications like track lights, lamps and downlights. 

Lumileds introduces the LUXEON XR-3020, an ultra-slim module that serves as a building block for TLEDs or thin office and industrial fixtures. These slim (20 mm) products are available with 24 LEDs on a 280 mm thermally-conductive board (~1 ft) or 48 LEDs on a 560 mm board (~2 ft). The modules provide 1100 or 2200 lm, respectively, at 160 lm/W and 100 mA drive current per LED, with a board temperature of 45°C. LUXEON XR-3020 is the latest addition to the Matrix Platform family of infinitely configurable LED boards, linear flex strips and modules utilizing the industry’s most dependable LEDs.

Cree announces Essentia® LED Flat Panel Troffer and Track Light categories, the first products available in the new Essentia® by Cree lighting portfolio. Offering exceptional flexibility in application and design, both product lines transform commercial spaces where broad spectrum lighting and soft visual balance are most important.

Initially designed and developed for applications in the Defense, Medical, and Consumer Electronics industries, Design Phase in conjunction with FLEx Lighting has developed a brand new point of purchase media-The InvisiSign.  The patented ultra-thin, flexible and clear optical film technology is positioned to change the way shoppers are influenced at the point of purchase.

New Vision Display - a manufacturer of TFT and passive matrix LCDs, projected capacitive touch panels, glass cover lenses, and screen protectors - adds to its display portfolio Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays.

Jeff Hulett, Vektrex CTO discusses trends in LED Measurement and Standards at Taiwan International Lighting Show (TILS)that will be held in Taiwan on April 15, 2016.