It’s said that targeting to advance the market penetration of photovoltaic-powered lighting technologies, Sharp Electronics has joined hands with Carmanah Technologies, Inovus Solar andSolarOne Solutions  to set up a new industry consortium, the Consortium for Solar Lighting (CSL). According to their statement, “The mission of this group is to accelerate the adoption of reliable solar lighting technology through the development of universal specifications intended to support customers’ fair and comprehensive evaluation of commercial-scale lighting ...

Affected by power shortages in Japan’s eastern and northeastern regions, Seven-Eleven Japan has planed to replace in-store and signboard lights with LED lighting at 5,000 outlets of its convenience store chain as part of a 10 billion yen program to cope with this problem. At present, Seven-Eleven Japan has some 6,000 outlets in Tokyo Electric Power’s service area alone. And it’s estimated that power saving of per store is125 kilowatts a day. The company expects to cut the consumption of electricity by 25 percent in the July-September period. It also i...

According to the Nikkei business daily, Sharp is about to team up with the housing equipment producer JS Group Corp to construct a 50-50 joint venture as early as this year to develop and sell energy-saving housing equipment. The new company will make products like roofing with built-in solar cells and easy-to-install LED lighting fixtures. They may announce this deal this week....

It’s said that Samsung LED has decided to team up with Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical to build a sapphire ingot plant in Daegu. They plan to break the ground in the 11,000 square meter site on April 20, with the target date for completion in coming October. According to their plan, the plant is going to begin production next year. The joint venture’s capacity is expected to reach 100,000 sheets of four inch ingot a month, which translates into five million sheets of two inch ingot a year.   If additional investments are made as planned, the capacity i...

Reportedly, Toshiba International Corporation (TIC) has released its newest dimmable LED lamps primarily for commercial use. These newly updated LED lamps are designed to meet Energy Star standards and are currently undergoing testing for final certification. They include enhancements such as dimming capabilities and a broad range of color temperatures and beam angles.  ...

Due to the Japan post-quake reconstruction, Japanese LED-lighting suppliers have increased orders from Taiwan`s manufacturers. According to Unity Opto Technology Chairman C.H. Wu , the company`s Japanese customers have recently notified it of preparing LED light bulbs for them, which will make the company`s bulb shipments to increase in late April and May. it’s estimated that Japan`s increased orders will boost the company`s sales for the second quarter by 30% from the first quarter. And Delta Electronics is also supplying contract products to Hitachi. T...

Reportedly, The Republic Group Handelsvertretung GmbH and Mouser Electronics, Inc. (“Mouser”) have acknowledged Nichia's claims in a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany at the District Court Düsseldorf against German distributors for certain products of Harvatek, and stopped selling the infringing products. As previously announced, in the lawsuits on November 10, 2010, Nichia claims that two different Harvatek white LED products (serial numbers HT-V116TW and HT-U158TW) sold by those distributors infringe Nichia YAG patent (EP...

To offer some help to victims of the Tohoku-Pacific ocean earthquake, Panasonic has donated a cool 4,000 Solar LED lanterns as well as given monetary and in-kind donations. These rechargeable Solar LED lanterns rely on solar cell panels to provide the necessary juice. All lanterns comprise of three models of Solar LED lanterns, where two of these models will come with a USB port to power battery exhausted cell phones (and other compatible devices).  ...

According to institutional investors, based on the Japanese government will focus more on use of renewable energy and LEDs after the destructive catastrophe, Taiwanese LED industry may benefit from Japan`s post-earthquake reconstruction . Due to the massive earthquake and the recent nuclear power crisis in Japan, it’s likely to concentrate on the use of renewable energy and green products. It’s estimated that the post-earthquake reconstruction will cost the country several trillion Japanese yen and LEDs will be increasingly needed in Japan. As a result, T...

Everlight has released a statement that, the devastating earthquake in Japan so far does not have noticeable impact on its supply chain. Its global sales continue to operate normally. Going forward, it willclosely monitor the situation with suppliers to ensure a stable demand fulfillment.  ...

According to Rubicon Technology ’s chief executive, the company is targeting to increased demand from Japanese customers due to supply disruptions after the massive earthquake. Chief Executive Raja Parvez said in a recent interview that ,"We are seeing some additional requests for additional materials" from major Japanese LED chip manufacturers. "I believe there are some challenges with the one of the Japanese suppliers to provide them with the required quantity," Parvez added. Top Japanese manufacturers of LEDs include Toyoda Gosei&nbs...

LEDinside points out due to the fact that, unlike semiconductor manufacturing process, the manufacturing process in LED industry is mostly regarding chemical reactions and is shockproof, the effects caused by the earthquake are limited. The two leading LED manufacturers in Japan – Nichia and Toyoda Gosei are far from the disaster area in northeast Japan. According to LEDinside’s inquiry at these two manufacturers, not much damage has been done. SDK’s LED production line is located in Chiba, where whether the power blackouts and power cuts affect the production line is still waited to be confirmed. 

Rohm Co Ltd showcased an E26-base LED light bulb and an incandescent-color E11-base LED lamp at Lighting Fair 2011.   The E26-base LED light bulb has a color temperature as low as 2,600K and is being developed to realize "a candle light." Its general color rendering index (Ra) is as high as 95. The company spreads the light of the bulb in lateral directions by three-dimensionally installing a board embedded with LED chips so that the LED light bulb becomes like a candle in terms of not only color temperature but also the way in which light spr...

Toshiba Corporation is announced to present at the Fuori Salone during Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2011 in Milan, Italy, one of the world's premier exhibitions of furniture and interior design runs from April 12 to 17. It’s Toshiba's third consecutive year of participation. Toshiba will explore the theme of "Luce Tempo Luogo" in a lighting installation at the Cortile di Via Savona in the Tortuna district of the city. Also, it will participate in Euroluce in the main FIERA district and showcase its full portfolio of LED lighting...

Mitsubishi Electric has replaced the previous electrical scoreboard built in 1992 with a 824-inch, Diamond Vision display system at Pocarisweat Stadium in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. This 18.72 meter × 9.36 meter screen , one of the largest of its kind in Shikoku, incorporates high-luminance LEDs aligned vertically and horizontally in a 15-millimeter dot pitch, and the latest digital screen controllers.   It is the first large-scale LED screen installed at the stadium, the home of J. League Division 2 soccer club TOKUSHIMA VORT...

Verbatim will reveal the world’s first commercially available, organic LED (OLED) lighting panels that are colour tunable, white tone tunable and dimmable during the Fuori Salone show in Milan from April 12-17.      Verbatim will be located at Design Library srl, Via Savona 11, 20144 Milan. The company’s OLED display will be created by lighting designer Satoshi Uchihara, who has designed World Heritage Site installations, such as Kinkakuji, in Kyoto, Japan. The display will incorporate one of the world’s largest OL...

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has released its 8.4-inch, SVGA and XGA color TFT-LCD modules featuring white LED, a long backlight life for industrial use. According to the company, the new product can offer super high brightness and a wide operational temperature range, allowing it to be used in severe, outdoor environments....

It’s said that Japan LED Association , which was formed in June of 2004 to promote and support technology development and standardisation for LED lighting, is seeking for cooperation with the local partners Karnataka. Japan LED Association Vice President Atsushi Okuno, who held extensive discussions with State IT department officials on the sidelines of ISA Vision Summit, said that they were ready for sharing of technology transfer and manufacturing JV with local partners in Karnataka. According to Okuno, these energy saving solar lamps with twin ...

Panasonic Corporation is reported to develop a four-channel LED driver LSI (model number: AN37010) based on 190V voltage process. The new product is capable of driving multiple LEDs connected in series for edge-type LED backlight LCD TVs. Samples will be available in March 2011 at a cost of 200 yen each. With the development of this new chip, the　company will further develop a series of LED driver LSIs that support applications for displays with high picture quality across a wide range of sizes.  ...

Kaneka announced that it will start accepting orders for OLED lighting panels on March 22nd, 2011 in Japan (and later in April in Europe). Kaneka will offer OLED square panels in give colors (warm white, red, orange, blue and green). The panels will be dimmable (in the range from 1,000cd/m2 to 5,000cd/m2).   Kaneka's OLED panels will cost around ¥2 million (approx $24,000) per square meter - and the company believes that the price will drop to ¥200,000 ($2,400) next year and to ¥50,000 ($600) or less by 2020. Production capacity in 2011 will be 10,...

It’s said that Piccadilly Circus will replace the iconic red and white Sanyo sign, which has been in place since 1978. The Japanese electronics company has been told to replace the sign with a more modern LED display, which allows for moving images. However, according to a spokesman for Sanyo,” the owner of the ad space wanted to change the neon sign to LED for the coming London Olympics, but we didn't feel the need to change it for economic reasons.”...

Recently, The Republic Group Handelsvertretung GmbH (“TRG”) has acknowledged Nichia’s claims in the early first hearing at the District Court Düsseldorf. Previously, Nichia has filed patent infringement lawsuits in the above court. It claims that two different Harvatek white LED products (serial numbers HT-V116TW and HT-U158TW) sold by those distributors infringe Nichia YAG patent (EP936682[DE69702929]) and seeks an injunction, damages, recall and destruction. On January 18, 2011, TRG acknowledged Nichia’s Claim...

Sharp has introduced the highest LED device which has a luminous efficiency of 91lm/W with an input power of about 25W for lighting purposes.   The general color rendering index (Ra) of the new LED device is 83. It emits an incandescent color light. The mounting area of the LED device is as small as 24 x 20mm, and its thickness is only 1.8mm. The light emitting part has a round shape. It will start mass-producing on March 4, 2011, with a production rate of 100,000 units per month.  ...

Verbatim (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi) announced their new color-tunabe and dimmable OLED lighting panels called VELVE (these are made together by Mitsubishi and Pioneer). Verbatim says that the panels are already available - which makes the VELVE the world's first color-tunable OLED lighting panels. Verbatim apparantly offers just one size -  14x14cm, which is similar to Lumiotec's OLED panels.   Verbatim also announced that they will display the new panels at Fuori Salone, an exhibition held in Milan, Italy on April 12-17. Verbatim'...

•    Reference Design Enables Lower Cost LCD Panels to Produce Higher Quality Images •    Solution on Display at IIC China, Shenzhen February 24-26, 2011 at the Microsemi Booth 2C11 Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq:MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor technology aimed at powering a smart, secure, connected world, today announced collaboration with Sony® Corporation Semiconductor Business Group (“Sony”) for the first open market 3D-capable timing controller plus local dimming LED backlighti...

Mitsubishi Electric Australia has showcased a curved prototype of 100in Diamond Vision OLED screens at ISE 2011, targeting to digital signage and indoor advertising. The 384x384mm screens can be interconnected to create even larger panel sizes — a 100in version was displayed at CEATEC 2010 — and panel brightness is twice that of even the brightest LED screens available. The panels' resolution is at 128x128 pixels per screen. As a modular system, the Diamond Vision OLED screens are flexible and can be fitted to curved or rounded surfaces. &...

Panasonic has unveiled its "Everleds" series comprising of an E26 base LED light bulb with a light distribution angle of 300° and an LED ceiling lamp capable of adjusting light intensity, color and distribution.   The key feature of E26 base LED light bulb is that its light source (LED package) is arranged in a circular shape inside a globe (a semi-spherical cover) and two light reflectors with apertural areas are used. And for the new LED ceiling lamp,it features a function to adjust light distribution. It is equipped with two types of LED ...

Eulitha AG of Switzerland and Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) of Japan announced the successful patterning of 4” wafers with Eulitha’s proprietary PHABLE technology. Photonic crystal patterns with 600 nm period and hexagonal symmetry was created uniformly over 4” wafers. PHABLE is a novel mask based photolithography technology that promises to revolutionize production of photonic structures such as photonic crystals, diffraction gratings and anti-reflection surfaces. High-throughput fabrication of such patterns over large areas is required...

It’s announced that Panasonic has made a decision to sell 9 million LED light bulbs in Japan next fiscal year, up from 4.4 million units targeted for the year ending March 31. According to Panasonic, the overall domestic market for LED lights will jump from 11 million units to 18 million next fiscal year and it targets to grab half of the domestic market. The company plans to begin offering on March 18 LED bulbs capable of shedding light over a wide, 300-degree swath, putting them on par with incandescent lamps. It also widened the angle of illumination from...

Japanese designers Motoi Ishibashi and Daito Manabe have created “LED smiles.” The pair was inspired by "LED throwies," or bundles of LED lights attached to a magnet. It’s said that the light-up mouths were originally featured in a fashion advertisement in a winter sale at a Japanese clothing store, and now they're starting to take off as an accessory. The LED smiles can easily be affixed to your teeth and glow different colors while you smile. Besides, the colors can be changed wirelessly through a computer interface....