Europe

Taiwan's Macroblock Presents Innovative LED Drivers for Various LED Applications at Electronica 2008

ivan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:51:05 +0000

Macroblock, as a LED driver IC manufacturer will continue to showcase its technology breakthroughs realized in the new products for LED display and LED lighting fields at Macroblock booth A5.532 at Electronica 2008 from 11th to 14th November in Munich, Germany.

Year 2008 is a significant year for various LED applications from the proofs of those magnificent LED screens at Beijing 2008 Olympics Game and the maturity of LED lighting products for general and automotive lighting. With the commitment to high-quality, high-efficiency and user-friendly LED drivers for a wide range of LED applications, Macroblock will highlight innovative products in different perspectives including:
Silent error detection function for commercial LED panels and traffic signs
Power saving functions for traffic signs and message signs
16-bit S-PWM embedded LED driver with two-wire interface for RGB clusters in architectural lighting
High voltage LED driver with error detection and DC/DC boost converter integration ability for general lighting, automotive lighting and LED backlighting
Hysteretic PFM constant current DC/DC buck converter with full protection for decorative lighting and high power lighting

To know more about Macroblock’s innovative technologies and products, you are welcome to visit our booth at Electronica 2008.

Electronica 2008
New Munich Trade Fair Center, Germany
Macroblock booth # A5.532
November 11-14, 2008

About Macroblock
Macroblock is a dedicated mixed-signal IC company. Foreseeing the promising future of LED applications, Macroblock is committed to providing excellent LED drivers that help LEDs to achieve outstanding performances. Macroblock constantly provides customers innovative and differentiated LED related IC solutions for LED display, illumination, and backlighting applications.

Cree and Zumtobel team up to supply LED Downlights in Europe

sarafan — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:41:22 +0000

Recently, Cree Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announces a long-term strategic agreement with the Austrian Zumtobel Group, a global market leader in the professional lighting industry and listed on the Vienna stock exchange, to supply LED downlights to the European market.

The minimum first-year sales target is 50,000 LR6-230V luminaires. This accelerates the business relationship, which is anticipated to expand into other high-volume lighting categories in 2009. The products under the agreement are European versions of award-winning Cree recessed downlights. They will be sold exclusively under two brands of the Zumtobel Group, Thorn and Zumtobel, in more than 40 countries throughout Europe and selected export markets.

Andreas Ludwig, Zumtobel Group CEO said "Cree provides us with a unique source of technological knowledge and leadership. By integrating this innovative LED luminaire into our portfolio, we are securing a significant technological edge."

Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO noted that The Zumtobel Group is a forward-thinking, market-leading lighting company that understands that LED technology is changing the industry, and they want to help lead the change. This strategic agreement is targeted to accelerate the LED lighting revolution across Europe by providing customers with energy-efficient and long-lasting products that save energy, save money and help protect the environment.

The LR6-230V downlight consumes just 12 watts of power, while delivering beautiful light of equivalent output and color quality to a 75-watt incandescent lamp and lasting up to 50 times longer. It is designed to last more than 20 years in homes and 10 years in businesses under normal use. Compared to compact fluorescent (CFL) lamps, Cree's downlight uses 50 percent less energy, lasts up to five times longer, and contains no mercury.

LED market predicted to grow above 20% pear year, says Rubicon

sarafan — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:05:19 +0000

Recently, at Rubicon Technology’s 2Q08 earnings conference call with industry analysts, the company's president and CEO discussed the future of the LED market.

At Rubicon Technology’s recent 2Q08 earnings conference call, Raja Parvez, Rubicon CEO, as part of an overall introduction, predicted that the LED market is expected to continue to grow 20+% per year over the next several years. Bill Weissman, Rubicon's CFO, and Parvez added that the company’s LED revenue grew 14% year-over-year and 8% sequentially in the second quarter as applications for LEDs continue to expand.

Rubicon, which raised about $80 million from its IPO in November 2007, is a manufacturer of monocrystalline sapphire substrates used in the growth of LEDs. Since sixty percent of the company's revenue comes from the LED market, Parvez presented insight into the state of the current market. In a transcript of the conference call, Parvez related High-performance LED applications, such as large area backlight units and solid state lighting, are growing rapidly. LED backlight units are penetrating into the notebook computer and LCD TV market faster than expected, these applications are being supported by major LED chip manufacturers in Japan, Europe, and the US, and as a result, our sales continue to increase in these regions. Parvez said they are also receiving orders for 6-inch sapphire products for the LED market to support next generation LED wafer development efforts by MOCVD equipment and LED chip manufacturers, and expect this large diameter development to ramp going forward as LED manufacturers continue to increase device performance and drive LED costs down to further penetrate lighting applications.

The market in Taiwan and Korea is expected to pick up in 2009. Taiwan and Korea are in early stage development for large-diameter LED chip production and therefore remain largely focused on small diameter wafers. The LED markets in Taiwan and Korea have been affected by worldwide macroeconomic conditions, as the demand for displays and general illumination increases and also as the largest display manufacturers such as AUO and Chi Mei enter the LED market and plan to install high volume production.

Consequently, the rate of growth for lower and LED applications that utilize 2-inch diameter substrates has slowed in the past quarter. Slower than expected growth in Taiwan has increased pressure on pricing for smaller diameter products as customers strive to increase their market share.

Aixtron growth is carried by LED demand

sarafan — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:41:36 +0000

It's reported that semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor Aixtron has achieved double-digit revenue growth in its Q2, despite currency and macro-economic headwind,

The company which in the first place sells machinery for the production of LEDs raised its sales in the second quarter to €65.6 million, a growth of 45 percent against the same quarter last year. Operating profit almost tripled to €8.9 million from €3.2 million last year. The gross margin, however, declined slightly to 39 percent of sales from 40 percent. Order intake rose 44 percent to €72.5 million.

Osram claims a record from R&D LED

sarafan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:25:51 +0000

It's reported Osram is claiming a record for luminous flux and efficacy from an LED driven at 350 mA.

It says that its development engineers have achieved new records for the brightness and efficiency of white LEDs in the laboratory. Under standard conditions with an operating current of 350 mA, brightness peaked at a value of 155 lm, and efficacy at 136 lm/W.

White prototype LEDs with 1 mm2 chips were used. The light produced had a color temperature of 5000 K, with color (x,y) coordinates at (0.349, 0.393).

As shown in the graph, the LEDs can be driven at 1.4 A, and produce up to 500 lm.

The key to success was a perfectly matched system of optimized chip technology, a highly advanced and extremely efficient light converter and a special high-performance package. By far, Osram has already applied for patents for the technologies that lie behind these records.

High-power Ceramos Reflector LED Powerful light for slimline displays

ivan — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:31:36 +0000

All the properties that light sources need for backlighting medium-sized LCDs (5 to 20”)
are combined in OSRAM’s new high-power Ceramos Reflector LED in its tiny package.
Developed for injecting light into a light guide, it offers high brightness and impressive
efficiency. The LED also withstands temperatures as high as 150°C and is extremely
durable with a life of up to 50,000 hours.

Thanks to ThinGaN technology, the Ceramos Reflector provides strong light, coupled with high
luminous efficacy of 70 lm/W from an operating current of 80 mA. Its small ceramic package
measures just 2.3 x 3.2 x 0.8 mm and is thermally stable, allowing high packing densities. An
oval out-coupling window enables light to be injected into thin light guides only 2 mm high. This
is in keeping with the latest trend for slimmer and slimmer displays with high luminance.
Applications include satellite navigation devices for road vehicles and aircraft and any other
displays that need to be read in bright ambient light.

These high-power LEDs are resistant to shocks and vibrations and are suitable for standard
solder processes. They do not use any mercury at all and meet the requirements of the RoHS
directive. “More and more display manufacturers are looking for an eco-friendly alternative to
cold cathode fluorescence lamps”, said Winfried Schwedler, Marketing Manager for LCD
Backlighting at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. “With our high-power LEDs such as the
Ceramos, we offer ultra-bright and efficient light sources that also save energy.”

Ferdinand Braun Institute adds AIXTRON multiwafer MOCVD for GaN LEDs

ivan — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:37:23 +0000

AIXTRON AG is pleased to announce an order from the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH) for an AIX 2600G3HT Planetary Reactor system with 8x4 inch capacity.

FBH, located in Berlin, Germany, will use the system to strengthen its research and development activities in GaN based UV- LEDs, laser diodes and GaN HFETs.

Dr. Markus Weyers, Head of the Materials Technology Department, comments: “The FBH has accumulated considerable experience with a wide range of AIXTRON MOCVD systems. We already have an AIX 2600G3HT Planetary Reactor system with 8x3 inch and 11x2 inch capacity in operation. I am therefore very confident that we can build on this to quickly and efficiently grow UV-LEDs.”

He also mentioned: “The new tool will especially allow us to prepare high temperature AlN thin films with high crystalline quality uniformly and reproducibly. We know that the AIX 2600G3 system is especially suited for the uniform and reliable growth of such challenging semiconductor materials and will make a great contribution to this exciting R&D project.”

Arcola Theatre's Low Energy Lighting

Emma — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:56:11 +0000

London's Arcola Theatre demonstrates that there is no artistic compromise required to deliver low energy naturalistic lighting for classic works. Mehmet Ergen's recent critically acclaimed production of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People which finished on April 26th was lit on under 5kW.

The challenge was to light a naturalistic piece of theatre, Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, with a peak lighting load of just 5kW. For a previous show at Arcola Theatre The Living Unknown Soldier, LED and fluorescent sources were used to cut power consumption to this level, however the colors, dimming profiles, and quality of light given from the current generation of LEDs and fluorescents makes it difficult to use them in naturalistic pieces where the lighting should go unnoticed.

Lighting designer Michael Nabarro instead used a combination of lower-wattage and lower-voltage tungsten sources provided by Selecon, ETC, and White Light. Thus the overall power draw was trimmed, without artistic compromise, because:

• While in theory lower-power sources should give commensurately less lighting effect, in practice this is not the case: in one instance, using 300W vs. 650W lamps in Selecon Acclaim luminaires yielded the lighting effect required with nearly 35% energy savings.

• The design of ETC's Source Four lamps and optics means that as well as providing the equivalent light output of a 1kW source from a 575W lamp they can be used to deliver very significant light output using just 375W lamps.

• Selecon's 1200W 80V Pacific luminaires provide the equivalent light output of a 2500W source and with a 90 degree lens can provide extensive stage coverage from a single unit.

• Selecon's 50W 12V Aureol luminaries, which are essentially high quality 'birdies' with lens tubes and light-shaping fittings, give a surprisingly large light output and thus just a small number of them can replace a much larger lamp.

Says lighting designer Michael Nabarro says, "This show has been lit on significantly less power than it might otherwise have been using traditional equipment. The quality of the finished product has not suffered and the show is in no way under lit, proof that it is possible to provide effective theatre lighting with a low energy budget."

Director Mehmet Ergen adds, "The environmental impact of all theatre productions can be reduced without artistic compromise through careful choices and creativity. I urge all directors to demand not more light and bigger set budgets but the right light and the right set."

The focus on sustainability for this production is part of Arcola Theatre's ongoing work to address the causes of climate change and environmental degradation through Arcola Energy, a multi-disciplinary project which engages the creativity of the arts and sciences to find new and exciting solutions to environmental issues. Arcola Theatre's work feeds in to the Mayor of London's ground breaking Climate Change Action Plan for Theatres.

Reactions to story from Engadget

Emma — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:22:12 +0000

NOVA 3D LED light display runs at 25fps by Nilay Patel, posted May 2nd 2008 at 5:33PM. You know we love the crazy light fixtures, and it doesn't get much crazier than the NOVA, a 3D LED display developed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for its 150th birthday.

Each of the 25,000 suspended lights contains 12 LEDs, and it's capable of pumping out 16M colors at 25fps. It's on display in Zurich until September 2009 (and we hear it might make an appearance at Wired's NEXTFEST), but if you're thinking about nabbing it for yourself, you'd better bring a crew -- it weighs in at over three tons.

Chinese suppliers: LED market to grow

Emma — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:06:21 +0000

The market for light-emitting diodes is set to grow significantly throughout the year despite an economic downturn, according to Chinese suppliers.

A survey of LED light fixture suppliers carried out by Global Sources revealed that 81 per cent believed that exports would grow at ten per cent or more over the coming year.

Some 67 per cent even predicted expert sales to be even higher, with expectations reaching 20 per cent or more.

The main driver for the export growth was cited as a growing range of LED-based lighting applications.

"The use of LEDs in functional everyday lighting is moving into the mainstream, especially in developed markets. This, in turn, is fuelling product development, with Greater China manufacturers seeking to gain an edge through improved performance and application flexibility, said report publisher Spenser Au.

The growth in lighting applications was mirrored in development plans, with 59 per cent of suppliers saying they were going to focus on general lighting applications, 22 per cent working on improving optical design, 11 per cent working to develop brighter output and eight per cent who said they were going to focus on decreasing deterioration rates.

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