It’s reported that Lumex has launched its QuantumBrite™ line of LED backlight technologies. Available in edge lit and chips on board formats in both white and vivid color options, the QuantumBrite line of backlight products provides more than twice the intensity of traditional backlights. In particular, the white QuatumBrite LEDs provide high-intensity brightness of up to 10,000 nits allowing for full daylight visibility.

China's major home appliance maker Konka Group Co. Ltd, recently stated construction of a LED backlight factory in east China's Jiangsu Province. The factory based in Kunshan City, with a total investment of 886 million yuan and covering an area of 33 hectares, is expected to produce 7.2 million Liquid Crystal Modules (LCM) and 3.6 million televisions with eight LCM production lines.

Taiwan Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd. holds a 25% stake in South Korean LED packager Lumens, making it the primary institutional shareholder of the South Korean packager. Now, Unity has been contracted by Lumens to supply it LED emitters. Which Lumens will build into backlight modules for Samsung’s LCD TVs. Unity will use chips made by Formosa Epitaxy Inc. of Taiwan, which has its chips verified at Samsung.

NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. has announced two new amorphous-silicon thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD modules incorporating white LED backlights for industrial applications. The company says that the modules consume less power, are substantially thinner and lighter than comparable LCD modules incorporating cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights.

South Korea's LG Display, announced that it had signed a deal with U.S.-based Cree Inc. to secure supply of LED chips for its flat screen products. LG Display reportedly signed a supply agreement in early January.

LED market is expected to be a rare bright spot—no pun intended—in what is forecast to be an otherwise dismal year for the semiconductor industry in 2009, according to a recent report. The reported noted that aided by rising demand from LCD TV makers, revenue from LEDs is expected to increase by 2.9% in 2009, following 10.8% growth in 2008. In contrast, the overall semiconductor market is set to decline by 9.4% in 2009.

LED industry would recover earlier than other industries this year in consideration of incremented uses of the lamps in notebook computers, monitors, LCD TVs, lighting fixtures and outdoor signages, according to estimation form Taiwan LED makers. Tatung Group, one of leading Taiwan manufacturer of household appliances and information-technology products, says the company will contract Formosa Epitaxy Inc. to supply LED chips this year.

Hisense, as China's leading home appliance brand, was awarded the "Global TV Brand Top7" due to its 42 inch LED LCD TV at CES 2009. Hisense has now become the most famous Chinese color TV brands by winning this honor. Hisense was also awarded "Top 10 CE Brand From China" for the third consecutive year. At the same time, Hisense also successfully defended "Global CE Brands Top 50" award.

Luminus Devices, Inc. is showcasing its patented PhlatLight LED products at CES from January 8 to 11. The company will demonstrate PhlatLight technology that combines the benefits of both LED and laser technologies at CES 2009. This unique solid state lighting technology is ideal for display and illumination applications that require high brightness and the efficient harnessing of light from a small point source. Luminus’s patented PhlatLight® LED products are the brightest. The following products are on display:

Austriamicrosystems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs, has extended its portfolio of specialized LED drivers and controllers for the latest generation of LCD TV backlighting with the AS3693B 16 channel LED controller IC.

Diguang International Development Co., Ltd. will present at the world-renowned annual consumer electronics trade show include CCFL/LED backlights, LED lamps, mini-size laptops, 19'' super-thin LED displays and other innovations at the International CES Exhibition in Las Vegas, January 8 to 11, 2009.

Taiwan LED makers, including Epistar Corp., Everlight Electronics Co. and Opto Tech Corp., are hopefully to benefit from LED backlight notebook PCs sales boom with increasing popularity of LED backlight notebook PCs to generate demand for 1.5-2 billion LED chips in 2009.

Recently, Japan semiconductor manufacturer Rohm developed LED backlight driver ICs that incorporate an ultra-compact wafer-level chip scale package (WL-CSP), which are designed for small 1.6- to 4-inch LCDs in portable devices requiring high efficiency for maximum battery life.

It’s reported that Konka Group Co., Ltd., of Shenzhen, China, announces that it is to open its LED backlight design and production line in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, Eastern China in mid December 2008. Established in May 1980, the Shenzhen company plans to spend three to five years building a complete LED industrial chain in China. The industrial chain is expected to produce LED related products with a value of more than CNY 10 billion per year.

The shipments of notebook-PC panels with LED backlights grew by 63% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to 2.1 million in the third quarter from 1.3 million in the previous quarter, according to the related report. Taiwan TFT-LCD panel suppliers AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO) ranked the world’s third- and sixth-largest, respectively, LED-BLU notebook PC panel makers during the period.

It’s reported that Apple has started shipping early orders for its 24-inch LED Cinema Display. The new screen looks strikingly similar to the current-generation iMac and is about half as thick.

The biggest obstacle of improving LED NB's penestration rate is the high cost of LED backlight modules. The price of LED backlight modules is still 70% higher than CCFL backlight. The reason why a LED backlight module remains highly priced is the issues of its brightness and patent. Therefore though LED NB has created a big market, not every LED maker can take advantages from it. LED VS.CCFL

Recently, Microsemi Corporation announced the first public demonstration of its breakthrough color management solution for RGB LED backlighting of LCD displays, at Electronica 2008, Hall A4.525, in Munich.

It’s reported that the use of LED backlights in LCD TVs will start to grow rapidly from 2009 as TV makers introduce slimmer models.

It’s reported that Global Lighting Technologies Inc, a Taiwan’s company, showcased an edge type LED backlight unit at FPD International 2008. The Edge-type LED Backlight with light sources located at the bottom sides of the panels that can reduces the size and thickness of large LCD TVs

Recently, five large billboards, each measuring 4m high by 3m tall, have been installed at Barcelona airport by Sakma, a local manufacturer. The billboards use an array of LEDs, rather than fluorescent lamps, to achieve uniform lighting with much lower operating costs.

Though in 2008 the penetration rate of LED NB is lower than expected, but in order to make their notebooks lighter, thinner and more energy-saving, many big branded manufacturers speed up to bring LED backlight into their NB. LEDinside projects the penetration rate of LED NB will be as high as 60.3% in 2010. The progress of LED backlight ‘s application on NB is slower than expected

Recently, ROHM Electronics announces the availability of the BD8113EFV-E2, a white LED driver IC designed to provide constant current drive for white LED backlights in medium- to large-format automotive TFT-LCD displays.

It’s reported that LED backlight penetration will not be as quick as previously expected, it will only reach 10 percent this year. Previously LCD panel makers projected 15 to 20 percent penetration in the market this year.  

The main issue LED TV faces is still high costs, therefore the manufacturer usually place LED TV at the top class of TV products. Besides, with more than 1000 LEDs being the backlight, how to maintain the equality and reliability remains a big issue.

Observing the strategies of those main LED TV manufacturers one can find that all LED TVs are made with 40-inch or larger panels. This is because the price of the U-shape CCFL for 32-inch panels is very cheap, which is half or two-third lower than the price of the LED back-light. Therefore the manufacturer is more willing to  adopt LED back-light in the big-screen TV, in this way they can aim at the top layer of consumers .

In the IFA 2008, many manufacturers introduced LED TVs to show their capability of combining LED and TV technology.SamsungFor example, Samsung introduced the A950 series, which supports Full HD(1920*1080) with screens made 46 or 55 inches, and adopts LED back light, which can control the brightness more efficiently.Sony

Why use LED backlight？A few days ago in the IFA 2008 hosted in Berlin，many of the branded TV manufacturers introduced LED-backlighted TVs(LED TV)，aimed at the top layer of customers. Some leading manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung already introduced LED TV in 2006，but with the costs of LED have decreased and the LED technology has progressed rapidly, LED TV has moved toward a real product rather than just a demonstration of technology.

Recently, Eizo Nanao Corp announced the "Eizo FlexScan EV2411W-H" 24.1-inch LCD monitor that uses white LEDs as its backlight source. This is the first time that Nanao has released a white LED-backlit LCD monitor. The monitor will go on sale from Oct 16, 2008. There is no suggested retail price, but the monitor will be sold on the company's "Eizo Direct" direct marketing website at a price of ¥84,800.

Recently, ON Semiconductor has released the NCP5890, a lighting management device that integrates LCD backlighting, fun light controls and ambient light sensing in a 3mm x 3mm x 0.55mm µQFN-16 package. It targets compact smart phone and portable media player applications.