In early 2008, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission co-issued the Interim measures on the management of financial subsidies fund for the promotion of efficient lighting products. It is announced that from this year on, the government will promote 50 million energy-saving lamps all over the country annually in the form of financial subsidies fund. The subsidies for users with large-quantity demand such as schools and hospitals are 30 percent of the price for each energy-saving lamp, and for residents in cities and countryside, 50 percent.

Say what you will about the fiascoes leading up to the Beijing Olympics, but the event has brought along with it some amazing new architecture. Greeting visitors attending the Xicui entertainment complex near the site of the games is a 20,000 square foot wall of computer-controlled LEDs, the largest of its kind ever built. Better yet, the wall manages to power itself completely using only the sun.

It’s reported that Taiwan-based LED maker Wanstar Technology has announced the company will start shipping its newly developed LED street lights to a US-based lighting company and expects to complete 16,000 units before February of 2009. Wanstar's new LED street light features a heatsink cover, which can maintain the light's temperature at around 50-degrees Fahrenheit in an average environment temperature of 68-degrees Fahrenheit.

The Stemi DV4 on the C LED stand features integrated LED illumination units for reflected light, transmitted light and mixed lightCarl Zeiss enhances the performance of its Stemi DV4 stereomicroscope with a new illumination systemThe LEDs provide excellent light intensity with low power consumption and a long service life of the illumination system (approx 25,000 operating hours) Thanks to white light illumination in daylight quality, the objects are visualised in high contrast and natural colors.

On April 28, 2008, Cypress Semiconductor Corp.(NYSE:CY) announced significant enhancements for its award winning EZ-Color™ design solution for intelligent color and white LED lighting systems. The new ColorLock™ feature enables designers to use optical feedback to automatically ensure precise color points over time and temperature for applications such as LCD backlighting, architectural lighting and more. The EZ-Color solution also adds new tools to further support white lighting design.

When the Newseum, an interactive museum of news, celebrated the grand opening of its new location in Washington DC on April 11th, visitors were greeted by a 40' by 22' Barco LED wall displaying crystal-clear video of breaking news, historic news presentations, and documentaries.

Quick srl Nautical Equipment, Italian and world leader in the production of nautical accessories, issues a new challenge with the launch of its Quick Marine Lighting division. Through the design and manufacture of lighting fixtures for the marine market, this new division offers high quality in both technology and choice of materials.Qualified, experienced staff constantly search for innovative solutions. A high-tech laboratory with advanced equipment allows rigorous testing. All ensure Quick Marine Lighting products meet the requirements of the nautical sector.

O2Micro(R) International Limited (NASDAQ:OIIM) (SEHK:0457), a leading supplier of innovative power management, and security components and systems, was issued 10 claims under United States patent number 7,339,323 for its LED String Driver Architecture. O2Micro's patented invention is used to drive an LED string. Product applications to drive battery gauge LEDs include cell phones, digital cameras, notebook computers, electric vehicles, power tools and other portable devices.

Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp (2409.TW), the world's third-largest LCD maker, said on Friday its board has approved a plan to set up a T$1.5 billion ($50 million) company making light emitting diode (LED) backlights for displays. The move aims to help the company secure supplies of LED backlights, a key component for thin liquid crystal displays, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. It gave no timetable or other details.

Catalyst Semiconductor has expanded its line of patented, Quad-Mode fractional charge pump LED drivers with two high-resolution brightness devices, featuring 32-dimming levels to provide enhanced LCD backlight control in emerging portable product applications. The CAT3647 and CAT3648 address the need for high-resolution LCD control and longer battery life in cell phones, digital cameras and other handheld devices, where designers constantly need to balance higher performance features with longer battery life.

Spas have now begun using LEDs as an effective tool in spa capsules. The Med Spa Clinic at Tunbridge Wells are claiming the world's first usage of LEDs in a whole capsule. I'm claiming them the creepiest.

Each year, May is designated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. States and motorcycle organizations across the country conduct a variety of activities to promote the importance of motorist awareness and sharing the road with motorcyclists.

Kim Lighting, a leading manufacturer of outdoor architectural lighting, announced today its Site Lightform Bollard Series now includes new super bright white LED technology.

According to market research firm iSuppli,due to their low power consumption, thin form factor, light weight and environmental friendliness, LEDs are set to take the notebook PC display backlighting market by storm during the next few years, with nine out of 10 large-sized mobile PC LCD panels expected to use the technology by 2012.

Lamina Lighting Incorporated (Lamina), an innovator of LED lighting systems and technologies, has announced that the use of their new TitanTurbo TruColor LED product has been certified to avoid more than 3 tons of CO2 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere as compared to its incandescent equivalent. This certification was awarded to the product by First Climate (formerly called the 3C Group). Lamina is also engaging this Frankfurt-based company to help them achieve total “climate neutrality” throughout all company operations.

Cree, Inc., a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting retrofit solutions, and semiconductor solutions for backlighting, wireless and power applications, today announced revenue of $125.0 million for its fiscal third quarter ended March 30, 2008. This represents a 5% increase compared to the fiscal second quarter of 2008 and a 38% increase compared to revenue of $90.3 million reported for the third fiscal quarter last year.

Shares of Cree fell in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company released fiscal third quarter earnings and a fourth quarter outlook that failed to meet analysts projections. Durham-based Cree (Nadsaq: CREE), which sells products for light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, said net income was $5.7 million, or 6 cents a share, in the quarter.

The total operating revenue of Taiwan LED companies this March hit $188 million, up 18.4 percent month-on-month compared to the prior month's $161 million and up 17.17 percent y-on-y. This is according to the latest statistics from LEDinside, a subsidiary division of DRAMeXchange Tech Inc.The total operating revenue of LED crystal grain manufacturers grew 15.31 percent over the last month. Operating revenues of LED-packaging manufactures climbed 20.89 percent from February's figures.

LED lighting supplier Cree has launched LED University to promote and accelerate the adoption of LEDs by showcasing their use at universities. North Carolina State University, the first to sign up with the initiative, has installed recessed LED lighting in a dorm and chancellor's office and is putting in LED lighting in parking garages. The university reports LED lighting in the dorm has cut energy use by 66 percent so far.

LCD panel makers are gearing up their development for the growing market trend of low-cost notebooks, with the makers planning new sizes and applications for the segment.AUO plans to adopt LED backlighting for all of its notebook panels by the end of 2011, in line with its goal to roll out lighter, thinner and more power-saving solutions. The maker will also give heavy emphasis to 16:9 notebook panels, according to Peng.

It's reported that Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) is aiming to have the world's largest capacity for IT panels by the end of 2009 in terms of capacity from its fifth-generation (5G), 5.5G and 6G lines.

Recently, the American government says that if every American home replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, we could save enough energy to prevent greenhouse gases equal to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. Certainly great news, yet recycling burned-out CFL light bulbs poses a quandary for homeowners.

Venture capital firm VentureTech Alliance, mostly owned by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), recently put around US$40 million into LED epitaxy-wafer maker BridgeLux of the United States for a seat at the company`s director board.

The ISL78100 can use a DC bias current or an external PWM signal for more accurate control of the LED colour temperature.Intersil has released the ISL78100, a high-power integrated LED driver designed for display backlighting and body electronics applications. The ISL78100 is designed to withstand harsh automotive environments and can be configured to optimally drive from one to eight high-brightness LEDs, while being capable of operating in boost, buck or SEPIC configurations.

Texas Instruments Inc. has released a 16-channel, 50 mA constant-current sink LED driver, with an input voltage of up to 17V. The TLC5943's integrated enhanced spectrum pulse-width modulation (PWM) improves image quality and reduces flicker noise in monochrome, multicolor and full-color LED displays, as well as LED signboards and display backlighting.

It's reported that AU Optronics (AUO) will roll out LED TV panels in small volume this year, chiefly in the 40-inch class, but the company is still evaluating whether the TV segment will adopt a strategy as aggressive the one for notebooks as far as LED backlighting is concerned, according to Yong-Hong Lu, AUO's vice president for Global Supply Chain Management.

The MacBook Air has become the best advertisement for why companies should use LED (light-emitting diode) backlights in notebook screens, and is driving adoption, according to market researcher DisplaySearch. LED backlights in display screens are an improvement over old CCFL (cold-cathode florescent lamps) technology for several reasons, including a stunning picture due to more vibrant contrasts, better power savings, and they're easier on the environment because they contain no mercury and last longer.

Despite producing a 50lm output with all LEDs illuminated, the SEPW devices are not power hungry, using just 100lm/W (at 20mA) with all LEDs illuminated.

Citizen Holdings Co., a Japanese maker of watches and industrial machinery, plans to increase the number of research workers dedicated to light-emitting diodes as the devices replace incandescent bulbs in homes and offices. The company will allocate almost half its research employees of about 200 to LED development as soon as possible, rising from 10 percent now, Mitsuyuki Kanamori, who was appointed president of Tokyo-based Citizen on April 1, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast today.

To be held in Tokyo on October 16-17, the conference will center on the worldwide market for high-brightness LEDs.