Panasonic Corporation Thursday unveiled new bulb-shaped LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, the latest addition to its EVERLEDS LED lighting products. The new line-up consisting of eight types of bulbs offers the industry's most energy-efficient, lightest and smallest LED bulbs. They also include the industry's first compact type LED bulbs and dimmable lamps.

Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd (DNP) of Japan has developed a "Shining & Speaking Poster" by combining an OLED panel, an inorganic EL panel and a panel-like speaker.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced today that it has completed installation of two multi-screen Diamond Vision large-scale display systems, called “Turf Vision,” at the Japan Racing Association (JRA)’s Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The new screens will be illuminated on Saturday September 12, 2009, the opening day of the “Fourth Nakayama Keiba (horse race).”

After Toshiba Lighting and Sharp Corp, NEC Lighting Ltd will also introduce two new LED light bulbs Sept 24, 2009 in Japan. The new 6W LED bulbs will provide illuminance equivalent to that of a 60W incandescent light bulb.

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, and Showa Denko K.K. (SDK), a Japan-based chemical industry company in partnership with Itochu Plastics Inc. (CIPS), have achieved record-breaking results using SRI’s new cavity organic light-emitting diode (COLED) technology and SDK’s light-emitting polymers to produce a highly efficient light source that could one day replace incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.

Solid-state floodlights recently installed in Tokyo’s Chidorigafuchi Park were developed specifically to reduce the park’s carbon footprint, particularly during the annual cherry blossom viewing season when the park plays host to thousands of people every night. The new luminaires utilizing LUXEON® LEDs from Philips Lumileds were designed by Nagasaki-based lighting manufacturer INEX Corp.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) recently announced that it had developed a new structure for its organic electroluminescent (organic EL) devices achieving approximately 40% in light output, which represents the highest level in the world.           

Sony X5500 LED TVs are set to launch September or October this year and are expected to be exhibited for the first time on the big consumer electronics fair IFA 2009 in Berlin this September. According to the FlatpanelsHD site, X5500 will feature a LED backlight with local dimming, which means that LEDs are located behind the LCD panel and can be controlled in a number of zones, just like on the Philips LED Lux model.

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has recently expanded its family of high-power, high-brightness white LEDs with two new versions. The new devices provide designers with neutral white and warm white options that can replace conventional bulb technologies in commercial, residential and industrial lighting applications.

Breakthrough New Line of LED Backlit LCD TVs Bring Superior Brightness and Image Quality Combined with Industry’s Lowest Power Consumption for True Value

Yasufumi Fujiwara, professor of Osaka University in Japan, has recently created a prototype red LED element by using gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor. Though blue and green LED elements using GaN semiconductor have already been commercialized, this is the first time that a red LED element has been prototyped by using GaN semiconductor, Fujiwara said.

Sanyo is jumping on the bandwagon of LED lighting development. Its new Eneloop Lamp is incredibly versatile: in addition to serving as a desk lamp, it can double as an emergency lamp, and there also a “Healing Light” mode that emits a blue glow.  

Japan’s OKI Electric Industry (TOKYO:6703) and OKI Data Corp., which markets under the OKI Printing Solutions brand recently announced that the OKI Group will increase its LED (light-emitting diode) production for print heads used in its non-impact printers, and enhance new LED-related businesses. This will be achieved by acquiring an LED production facility in Japan’s Takasaki City in Gunma Prefecture with a ‘clean room’ that is approximately twice the area of the room used currently.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has today begun marketing an LED-UV (ultraviolet ray) ink-drying system using light-emitting diodes (LED) which enables significant energy saving in printing. The system, which MHI has commercialized, leveraging its know-how as a leading printing machinery manufacturer, is suitable for installation on larger sized (DIAMOND V3000 Series) sheet-fed presses that can accommodate sheets up to 1,050mm (41-11/32 inches) wide.

The Inamori Foundation today announced that Dr. Isamu Akasaki will be among the 25th annual laureates of its Kyoto Prize, an international award honoring significant contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind. Dr. Isamu Akasaki This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Kyoto Prize - a major milestone in the history of the award, which is presented on November 10 each year in three categories.

Sharp Corporation will introduce into the Japanese market nine models of LED lamps. With the same standard screw-in base and fit in the same sockets as ordinary incandescent lamps, the lamps are easy to use as replacements for ordinary lamps.

NEC LCD Technologies, and its sales and marketing channel in the Americas, NEC Electronics America, Inc., last week announced the development of a new amorphous-silicon color thin-film-transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) module that achieves an ultra-wide color gamut for 100 percent of the Adobe® RGB color range by incorporating a newly developed LED light-source unit into the backlight system and a newly developed color filter.

Seiko Epson Corporation today announced it has established inkjet technology that enables the uniform deposition of organic material in the production of large-screen organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions. The new technology is said to represent a major step toward the realization of 37-inch and larger full-HD OLED TVs by resolving the uneven layering that had previously been an issue with the inkjet method.

Sony plans to launch its 9.9mm-thin Bravia ZX1-series in Singapore in June. The super-slim KLV-40ZX1 is Sony’s answer to the latest LED TVs from Samsung. Unlike the Korean comany's 29.9mm-thin offerings, this Japanese concoction uses an A/V media box that communicates wirelessly with its full-HD LCD panel. In addition, the screen has a 10-bit color reproduction to render a billion discreet hues, plus Motionflow 100Hz and image blur reduction technology for smoother and sharper motion.

Seisakusho Co Ltd, a Japan-based company, was showing off an LED headlight used in Toyota's new Prius at Automotive Engineering Exposition 2009, which took place from May 20 to 22, 2009 in Japan. The low beam headlight for the new "Prius" The LED headlight for the new Prius is a low beam assembly which consists of a double projector unit for emitting a focused beam and a unit for emitting a diffused beam.

In Japan, a digital signage system using OLED panels is being tested at Ebisu station this week. The test is carried out by JR East Group's JR East Mechatronics Co Ltd and East Japan Marketing & Communications Inc. Last year at the same ticket gate, the two companies tested a digital signage using color electronic paper modules made by Hitachi Ltd and Fujitsu Ltd, and the pixel counts of the modules were 320 x 640 and 400 x 600, respectively.

Researchers of the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a flexible organic electroluminescent display (OLED display) that can be stretched and folded like rubber without influencing the image quality or damaging the display.

Nichia and General Led/AgiLight have entered into an agreement whereby AgiLight will utilize Nichia's white LEDs for its ThinRayz and ThinRayz Extra product line. General LED/AgiLight has chosen Nichia as its preferred supplier for a range of new white LED products currently under development, as a result of evaluating their world-class white LED products, coupled with Nichia's strong patent portfolio and clear leadership in the LED industry.

Christie Digital Systems, Inc., a global provider of visual solutions in business, entertainment and industry, has introduced the world’s first LED-based SXGA+ and WUXGA resolution projection display system, purpose built for control room and videowall applications.  The new Christie Entero™ LED is a pioneering, LED-illuminated, 1-chip DLP® product line that features a “zero maintenance” design.

At the LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo in Tokyo from April 15 to 17, 2009, a number of exhibitors had introduced their LED fluorescent lamps that can be installed in existing fluorescent lamp sockets.

Nabesei Co Ltd, an electronic parts maker in Japan, exhibited plants grown under irradiation of LED lights in three different colors at an exhibition that took place from April 15 to 17, 2009, in Tokyo.

At an exhibition held last week in Tokyo, the Japanese company Kaga Components Co Ltd exhibited a LED lighting power supply apparatus in which the electrolytic capacitor has been removed to get a lifetime extended to more than 100,000 hours as well as a smaller size.

Universal Display Corporation, inventor of the UniversalPHOLED™ phosphorescent OLED technology, today announced that the company’s Chief Technical Officer Dr. Julie Brown presented at FINETECH JAPAN’s first ever LED/OLED Lighting Technology Exposition which is held in Tokyo, Japan from April 15 – 17.

White LED backlight in LCD TVs will be the mainstream of the market rather than RGB three-color LED backlight, said Yuji Motomura of Toshiba in the company’s new "Regza" LCD TV series presentation.