News

Epistar Increases LED Output to Meet China Orders

sarafan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:53:58 +0000

It’s reported that Epistar Corp. will increase production of LED because of orders from China following the Beijing Olympics.

According to the related analysis, Epistar had previously cut its production estimates for Europe and North America to 100 million LEDs from 160 million amid market uncertainty. The orders may help Epistar use up to 90 percent of its production capacity. Genesis Photonics Inc., I-Chiun Precision Industry Co. and Opto Tech Corp. will also benefit from increased orders for LEDs used in outdoor displays.

The Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company is the island's largest maker of LEDs, which are chips that glow when an electrical current is applied.

LED Lighting Development——Flickering LED Light Used as Candle

sarafan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:13:03 +0000

It’s reported that the Bandai Group's Seeds Corp developed a LED lamp, through a cylindrical shade made of tracing paper or Japanese paper, looks like a burning and flickering candle.

The keys to the development are an acryl light guide panel that mimics the shape of a candle flame and the way of illuminating the white LEDs. It has grooves all over its surface so that the entire cone is illuminated. In addition, its external surface is painted orange to make the color of the light similar to that of the candle flame. By topping this light guide panel over the light-emitting part featuring white LEDs, the lamp recreates the shape of the candle flame.

The light-emitting part houses at least three white LEDs. They are in a straight line when there are three LEDs. The LED at one end changes brightness in the form of sine waves at a longer frequency, while the LED at the other end changes brightness in the same manner at a slightly shorter frequency. The LED in the center lights in the same waveform as the LEDs on the left and right. The frequency of switching the waveforms is about one-digit shorter than the frequencies of the sine waves that vary the brightness of the LEDs on both sides.

According to Seeds, this brightness control "enables the lamp to express candle flame waning, almost fading out and cheerfully burning again," The product can be used as standard lighting if the brightness variation is switched off.

Toshiba and Matsushita joint venture to develop advanced OLED panels

sarafan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:35:37 +0000

Recently, Japan's Toshiba Corp and Matsushita joint venture to develop OLED displays with the world's longest product life span and lowest power consumption. The venture has developed the new panel in cooperation with Idemitsu Kosan Co, a Japanese oil refiner active in OLED materials development.

OLED panels are expected to be a promising next-generation display as they are thinner and offer brighter colours than liquid crystal displays (LCD) and plasma panels. Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology said it aims to start commercial production of the advanced OLED panels by March 2009 for cell phones and other mobile devices. It has yet to decide the size of production.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, owned 60 percent by Toshiba and 40 percent by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, said it has developed a 2.2-inch OLED panel with a lifetime of 60,000 hours and power consumption of 100 mW. Sony Corp, which launched the world's first OLED TVs late last year, said in October the product had a life span of about 30,000 hours of viewing, about half that of Sony's LCD TVs.

LED packaging players expect increasing sales for 3Q

sarafan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:41:14 +0000

While LED players' revenues in July rebounded sequerntially, they were still far from the peak levels seen early this year and the end of last year, though Taiwan LED packaging companies such as Bright LED and Everlight Electronics are also seeing improvement in thier August orders as well.

Delta to Enter LED Market

sarafan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:01:53 +0000

It’s reported that Delta Electronics Inc. plans to invest in the LED industry by the end of the year.

LEDs are semiconductors used to illuminate liquid- crystal televisions, street lights and music players. Delta, based in Taipei, is the world's largest maker of power systems for computers and games machines.

Delta will start manufacturing the LEDs to secure supply of the components.

Alpha-One launches unique wavelength LED for medical applications

sarafan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:15:35 +0000

Recently, Alpha-One Electronics has introduced high reliability LEDs with special peak-wavelength which is suitable for a light source for medical instruments.

LED with λP 700nm~810nm are quite important to detect the components of body, such as iris recognition, vein authentication, projection to scan the body, analyzer of the body fluid including blood components.

Especially, λP 805nm is the most indipensable wavelength. AL805C-M1 is 5.0mm dia. molded LED with very narrow beam angle, which performs high output power of 15.0mW. The hermetically sealed type, AL805MM, radiates the excellent parallel rays. with output power of 8.5mW. Alpha-One also offers 5.0mm dia. molded LED with λP 700nm, 740nm 770nm and 810nm in addition.

According to the specific requirement from each customer, Alpha-One can supply such LEDs after precisely selecting the specific range of peak-wavelength and optical power.

Amperor LED power supplies can eliminate the LED blinking issue

sarafan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:46:32 +0000

It’s reported that Amperor's LED power supplies have been developed to eliminate flickering issue in LED applications.

When installing a dimming module into an LED application, such as LED lighting or LED signs, system developers might be surprised to find that the LEDs, which used to work fine, suddenly begin to flicker. The Amperor LED power supply's internal start-up sequence is fine-tuned to handle both capacitive and inductive loading conditions thereby eliminating any problems with LED flashing, flickering or blinking.

A mismatched design between the LED application and the LED power supply always cause flickering issue. Due to the multitude of different LED applications, some will exhibit capacitive loading and some will have inductive properties while others will act like purely resistive loads. Additionally, the PWM On/Off control circuitry employed in some of the dimming modules might add a capacitive or inductive component to the overall LED system. If a power supply designed for purely resistive loads is used in these types of LED applications, the addition of the dimming module will have a greater chance to interfere with the internal start-up sequence of the power supply and cause the LEDs blink or flicker.

The use of Amperor's unique LED power supplies with many popular off-the-shelf dimming modules will result in a smooth linear flicker-free dimming operation. Amperor's LED power supplies will guarantee you dazzling worry-free results that will also help to prolong the life of your LED systems.

Lighting Science Group launches LED retail display product line

sarafan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:14:40 +0000

Recently, Lighting Science Group (LSG), a global developer and integrator of intelligent and efficient LED solutions, announced the global availability of its LED-based retail display product line. The new line of retail display luminaires will enhance the company's global product portfolio and increase its presence in the retail lighting industry.

This launch exemplifies their technology and the unique needs of the retail market. With LSG's product design and semiconductor optimization expertise, they are introducing LED lighting options that provide high quality illumination that display merchandise in their true colors -- without the ultraviolet light that discolor merchandise.

In comparison to both fluorescent and halogen, LED light sources provide superior benefits regarding energy efficiency, life span and environmental impact. LEDs consume up to 80 percent less energy than traditional halogen sources and as much as 50 percent less than fluorescent bulbs. Furthermore, the differentiated line is RoHS compliant and since LEDs do not contain hazardous materials like lead, mercury and other heavy metals, the new lights do not require special disposal.

Offering superior performance in four slender profiles, and available in two finishes, black or natural aluminum, LSG retail display products fit unobtrusively for both retrofit as well as new installations. Furthermore, the range will produce true-to-color illumination ideally suited for retail shelving, display cases, showcases, exhibits as well as architectural applications.

About Lighting Science

Lighting Science Group Corporation designs, manufactures and markets LED lighting solutions for consumer and professional applications that are environmentally friendlier and less costly to operate than traditional lighting products. The company designs and manufactures ready- to- use LED lamps and luminaires, as well as provides customized lighting solutions for architectural and artistic projects. Lighting Science has offices in New York, New York; Sacramento, California; Satellite Beach, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Tokyo, Japan; Goes, The Netherlands; and Buckinghamshire, England.

MicroSolar Decides Mass Production of Super-bright LED Lamps

sarafan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:40:26 +0000

Recently, MicroSolar Corp. announced to target mass production of super-bright LED lamps in the initial stage and would step into the concentrator photovoltaic solar-cell business in the second phase.

MicroSolar, which controls key technologies for high-efficiency heat-dissipation materials, was just established in February this year with initial capitalization of only NT$20 million. The young company, however, owns patented technologies for heat-dissipation materials and has successfully trial-produced two super-bright LED lamp modules, the MR16 and E27, with a monthly output volume of 10,000 units. MicroSolar got big breakthrough in the cooper/aluminum bonding techniques so could easily overcome the formidable heat-dissipation problems in LED industry. The company has applied for patents in over 100 nations.

Adopting LED chips supplied by Epistar Corp. plus its self-developed heat-dissipation techniques, MicroSolar’s super-bright LED lamp modules are three-times as bright than counterparts made by Philips, Osram, Nichia etc. it’s said that MicroSolar’s LED lamp has set new record for brightness. In addition to the targeted super-bright LED lamps and CPV solar-cells for the first and second-stage plans.

MicroSolar is introducing semi-automated production equipment and the company expects to achieve a daily capacity of 80,000 LED lamps by October.

ARC SSL announces 3-channel MINI Controller CA3001

ivan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:49:57 +0000

ARC Solid-State Lighting, provider of LED driver and controller, announces a new LED lighting controller-MINI Controller CA3001, the control capacity of 3-channels RGB full color is extremely favorable for Lighting Embellishing of Shop Widows and Products Showcases to create amazing lighting effects and romantic atmospheres easily. Having both control and driving capacities but it is truly simple to install. With built-in 12 different lighting effects, users may choose any one as their wish and the lighting effect speeds are also adjustable.

CA3001 Features
RGB Full color LED controller
Various lighting effects：12 built-in lighting effects and 1 user-defined lighting effect; 16 adjustable lighting speeds or brightness through dip switches.
Smooth color transitions：256 levels of gray scale
Powerful driving capacity：2A driving capacity each channel, and total can drive up to 6A

The speed of 12 various built-in lighting effects can be adjusted as users' wish. 16 levels speed may fit different events, and then let LED lighting shows your brand image. If the built-in lighting effects do not match your CIS, you can make your own one as well. Taking a clothing shop as an example, it can display brand indentified color normally to make your customers impressed；When holding new products launch events, you can change the usual lighting effect to a wonderful one regarding to the event topic. Since your showcase is greatly eye-catching, it's just a piece of cake for attracting your customers.

「I would like to use LED lighting for decorate my shop, but I do not have any LED professional knowledge or experience of installation. Is the setting procedure of lighting effects very complicated? Is it difficult to install the whole system?」 If you do have any concern as above, CA3001 is definitely your best choice. Compared with the power benefits that CA3001 offers, the installation and lighting effects setting are really simple；there are only 6 output/input connectors, as picture 1 shows, two on the left side are for power input, and the rest four connectors on the right side are connected with your LED lighting fixture. All you need is only a screw driver to get the all connection done, and then select the lighting effect you need and adjust the light effect speed through two dip switches"Mode/Speed".

Picture 1：CA3001 MINI Controller installation guide

CA3001 Applications

Lighting embellishing in Shop windows
Lighting design in product showcases

About ARC SSL
ARC Solid-State Lighting was founded in Jan, 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan. We focus on the LED lighting controller and opto-electronic design and development to provide appropriate solutions for LED Lighting applications. Among the wide range of opto-electronic devices, ARC SSL chooses LED lighting applications as the axis for technology development and explores the advanced software and control system technology to outperform the advantages of LED lighting devices.