Known as the “Oscars of Invention,” the 2014 R&D 100 Awards were announced by R&D Magazine last week in U.S., the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) again singled out for excellence in technology development. This marks the seventh consecutive year ITRI has won these awards, with its development of eco-related “In-Line Compact Thermal Analyzer (ICTA)” being one of the accolades this year.

A team of researchers at Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) have developed aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate for high power LED. The project is backed by Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affair’s Technology Innovation Center, according to Taiwanese media source Micro-Electronics on June 20, 2014. 

A team of researchers in Japan have developed a new technology for creating GaN LEDs on glass substrate, according to Japanese media source Nikkei Technology.

Countries across the world have been investing large amount of resources to cut carbon emissions, as energy prices continue to climb, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). According to statistics air conditioning and lighting systems consume the most energy in buildings. Replacing lighting with LEDs is the most commonly applied method, but LEDs have heat dissipation issues that can shorten the product’s lifetime and lower energy efficiency. These issues have affected users willingness to adapt LED lights.

The growing smart home industry and intensifying competition has created new market situations, according to a Chinese language media CBN.com report. Apple has released its first smart home management App HomeKit at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June this year. The company is developing partnerships with numerous top lighting manufacturers on the smart home project.

LEDforum 2014, organized by LEDinside, Cnledw.com and Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition, will be held on June 11, 2014. Top executives from the first-tire international manufacturers like Philips Lumileds, Osram, Samsung, Seoul Semiconductor, Toyoda Gosei, LED chip giants such as Epistar and Sanan Optoelectronics, China leading LED enterprises like Honglitronic, Refond and MLS Lighting will be invited as speakers, dissect the current situation of LED industry on the theme of LED market trends and the development strategy, to create an audi...

LEDforum 2014, organized by LEDinside, Cnledw.com and Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition, will be held on June 11, 2014. Top executives from the first-tire international manufacturers like Philips Lumileds, Osram, Samsung, Seoul Semiconductor, Toyoda Gosei, LED chip giants such as Epistar and Sanan Optoelectronics, China leading LED enterprises like Honglitronic, Refond and MLS Lighting will be invited as speakers, dissect the current situation of LED industry on the theme of LED market trends and the development strategy, to create an audi...

Lately, several prominent Japanese and Korean manufacturers have dropped OLED TV projects. Japanese manufacturers Panasonic delayed OLED display mass production plans, Sony halted OLED TV R&D, while Korean manufacturer Samsung decided to stop investing in OLED displays in 2014. LG Electronics is the only North Asian manufacturer still active in OLED R&D, according to a recent report by Chinese-language ENorth Netnews.

Apple has patented a super resolution photo technology that is capable of boosting resolution without the need of adding more megapixels recently, according to Apple Insider and several other reports.

As LED becomes increasingly widespread, Microsoft Research has also caught on with LiFi technology developments with proposed LED positioning system, Epsilon. The company’s Asia research division recently published a paper explaining the concept behind the positioning system.

Samsung officials in China have denied recent market rumors that “the company is terminating OLED TV production capacity expansion plans,” according to a China Business News report. Chinese industry insiders interviewed in the report note the company’s is probably considering adjusting large-screened OLED TV production technology.

Sunny weather all year round is now achievable with the installation of nanoparticle LED panels developed by designer Paolo di Trapani and Italy’s University of Insubri, according to a Gizmodo report.

Displays made of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are very attractive. One of their advantages is that they can be less expensively manufactured using inkjet technology. Companies are aiming to make this process suitable for mass production — for example at AUO in Taiwan, one of the world’s leading display suppliers. 

For years, companies have been adding whiteners to laundry detergent, paints, plastics, paper and fabrics to make whites look "whiter than white," but now, with a switch away from incandescent and fluorescent lighting, different degrees of whites may all look the same, according to experts in lighting.

A breakthrough in speed and distance by red laser based data transmission has been made by a research team headed by electro-optical engineering professor Lu Hai-han at the National Taipei University of Technology in Taiwan. The development was announced by the ROC Ministry of Science and Technology on April 16th.

TNSC, a manufacturer of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System, announces that it has signed a Technical Agreement with ITRI in Taiwan, which is a leading R&D Institution with advanced opto-electronic technologies.

In 2014, LED industry ushered in golden period of development, the competition and integration between enterprises kicked off. LED industry faces both opportunities and challenges: under the urging of the localization process, the upstream chip companies optimize capacity utilization, to compete with each other in technology. Flip chip technology breaks in full fury, which has attracted more and more attention of lighting and backlighting market gradually, becoming the most important developing item in this year. As the global LED lamp replacing tide comes, LED bulb and tub...

Emerging developments in the LED lighting industry has led to major Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, American and European manufacturers expanded production capacity, as companies aim to gain larger market share. Taiwanese LED manufacturer Edison Opto, which focuses on LED components, has an optimistic outlook for the Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier (PLCC LED) and COB application market. 

BMW has finally set the date to release their Laserlights, according to a BMW Blog report. The world premiere is set for autumn 2014 and will be included in cars released later this year.

Smart glasses and other wearable augmented reality devices are the most exciting and fastest growing sectors in consumer electronics technology. EpiCrystals Inc. of Finland has developed a revolutionary laser light source which is especially designed to improve the usability and image quality in advanced projection applications.

On the occasion of the Light+Building light fair, the Osram stand will be showing project partners how to further exploit the possibilities of light with lighting systems, light projects and various solutions and services. Light+Building is the leading light fair, taking place from 30 March to 4 April in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Osram is located at Light+Building in Hall 2 ("Alte Festhalle").

Toshiba Corporation announced the launch of two new series of white LEDs, the 3.5 x 3.5mm lens package 1W type “TL1L2 series,” and the 3.0 x 3.0mm flat package 0.6W type “TL3GB series”. Mass production of both will start from the end of March.

Martini Tech has started to offer its customers a new GaN deposition service on sapphire substrates by MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapour deposition) for LED (light emitting diode) applications.

Harvard Engineering, has launched its next generation of off-the-shelf LED light engines. The Gen II range consists of; 24mm and 40mm wide strip light engines in both high and low voltage variants, 2 panel light engines and a circular light engine.The strip light engines; LER1, LER2, LER3 and LER4 are available in 280mm and 560mm lengths, with Zhaga compliance. The low voltage panel light engines are 270mm x 270mm (LER5) and 242mm x 260mm (LER6), LEC1, the circular light engine, comes in 200mm Diameter. NTC temperature sensor options and Emergency options are available on LEC1, LER3, LER4, LER5 & LER6.

A new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough shows that human emotion, whether positive or negative, is felt more intensely under bright light. Alison Jing Xu, assistant professor of management at UTSC and the Rotman School of Management, along with Aparna Labroo of Northwestern University, conducted a series of studies to examine the unusual paradox of lighting and human emotion.

More and more American cities are being installed with LED light fixtures with embedded cameras and sensors. Newark airport is the latest among the long list of areas investing in surveillance technology in combination with LEDs. The newly installed LED fixtures are connected to a wireless surveillance system to provide safety for fliers and cut down on operating costs. Around 171 LED fixtures have been installed around the airport so far.

As Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K2K TV continues to be a trendsetter in the market, TV manufacturers are hoping to develop high color gamut TV. Using quantum dot (QD) technology, Sony has successfully released high color gamut TV in 2013.  TV brands that have achieved technological breakthroughs with Mn 4+ red phosphor powder are also planning to stimulate market purchases with NTSC 100% high color gamut TV.

A large number of LED manufacturers have set a high goal for quantity of LED bulb and LED tube light shipments. However, the number of manufacturers who are able to employ a completely automated production system is small. Only a limited number of LED manufactures are currently producing LED bulbs through automated production. LED tube design is yet to be integrated and differences between assembly processes has lead to the market not being fully equipped for automated production of tube lighting.

At Lighting Japan 2014 in Tokyo Big Sight, OLED industry insiders of have noted that there is still a long way to go before the technology can become mature enough to compete with LEDs.

Following months of research and development, Wearable Experiments has invented a new way of enjoying a city, completely hands free. No need to be hunched over a map or mobile device, at one press of a button your jacket can take you there.