LED lighting solution provider Orion Lighting reported results of the third quarter of its fiscal 2020 ended December 31, 2019. Orion lighting registered a revenue of US$34 million for the quarter, which increased by 110%, compared to the same period last year. The company said that the strong growth came from a large turnkey LED lighting retrofit contract for a major national account. Gross profit also grew by 98% YoY to US$8.3 million for a gross margin of 24.2%. EBITDA rose to US$2.8 million in fiscal 3Q20 and US$14.7 million for the first 9 months of fisca...

LG Electronics announced two days in a row that it will withdraw exhibition and participation from Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 and Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 due to coronavirus outbreak. LG made the decision concerning the safety of its employees as the World Health Organization has declared the novel coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency and the virus continue to spread outside China. Participation of these events will require hundreds of LG employees to travel internationally which has already become more restrictive since the virus sprea...

British Micro LED expert Plessey continues to expand partnerships with other industry players to accelerate Micro LED development. The company reported its collaboration with Axus Technology (Axus), a global provider of CMP, wafer thinning and wafer polishing surface-processing solutions for semiconductor applications, to bring high-performance GaN-on-Silicon monolithic Micro LED technology to the mass market. (Image: Plessey) Plessey continues to invest heavily in its manufacturing facility to boost Micro LED display capabilities with the purchase of met...

Japan’s Panasonic Corporation announced that it has entered into a share transfer agreement with Munich-based Fidelium Partners, under which all shares of Panasonic Lighting Europe, which focuses on the lighting device business in Europe as a wholly owned consolidated subsidiary of Panasonic, will be transferred to the German investment firm. Panasonic acquired German lighting device manufacturer Vossloh Schwabe in August 2002 to expand its lighting device business in Europe and worked to strengthen sales of lighting devices for conventional light sources such as f...

Acuva Technologies announced the closing of a US$5.4 million growth financing with a syndicate of existing and new investors to deliver the Company's innovative drinking water purification systems to global consumers. The proceeds of the financing will be used to meet the rapidly growing demand for Acuva's proprietary products in global markets and to fund the growth of the Company's teams both in Canada and abroad. Acuva has established global leadership is UV-LED disinfection technology and secured partnerships with several major international Original Eq...

UVphotonics and Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) are presenting novel UV LED developments with emission wavelengths from 330 nm to as low as 230 nm at Photonics West 2020. The versatile light sources are configurable to various application requirements. UV LEDs have opened up new prospects due to benefits like increased design flexibility, energy savings and reduced overall cost. Their customizable wavelengths, low operation voltages, ability to be rapidly switched and dimmed along with their compact size make them ideal for a multitude of applications. These include ...

After a year of ups and downs, Osram announced that it has kicked off its 2020 with slightly grown revenue and profit for the first quarter of its fiscal year. Osram posted a revenue of EUR 873 million (US$ 960.78 million) with 0.5% on-year growth. Its Adjusted EBITDA increased by 22% YoY to EUR 114 million (US$ 125.46 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin also climbed 2 percentage points to 13%. Business segment Opto Semiconductors performed stably with revenue amounted EUR 359 million (US$ 395 million). In the segment Digital, revenues climbed...

Cepton Technologies announced that it has raised over US$50 million in Series C funding. This brings Cepton’s total funding to nearly US$100 million, providing a strong foundation to substantially ramp up its R&D efforts, expand its footprint in the automotive market and support major customers worldwide. The latest funding round was led by automotive lighting system developer Koito, the automotive Tier 1 and world-leading provider of automotive lighting systems. As part of the transaction, Koito will obtain non-exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Cepton&r...

Several studies have indicated that flickering light can help to cure Alzheimer disease. A new study published by researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University further identifies how the flickering light works. The researchers found that the exposure to light pulsing at 40 hertz – 40 beats per second – causes brains to release a surge of signaling chemicals that may help fight the disease. The new finding was published in the Journal of Neurosceince on February 5, 2020. In 2016, flickering light was first linked with Alzheimer disease with ...

Coronavirus outbroke in China before Lunar New Year and led to the delay of operation resume in many cities. Chinese authorities have announced to postpone the working day until February 2 and February 10 and Wubei province, which most impacted by the novel coronavirus, will be back to work after February 14. As the global production center of LED, China’s decisions on workday delay and city seal-off are bringing impacts to the LED supply chain. LEDinside learned that most of the LED industry players in China are expected to be back to operation on February...

Cree published the financial results for the second quarter of its Fiscal 2020 which ended December 29, 2019. The company registered revenues of US$239.9 million for the quarter which decreased by 14% YoY and 1% QoQ. GAAP net loss from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest for the second quarter was US$52.8 million. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest for the second quarter of fiscal 2020 was $10.4 million. GAAP and non-GAAP net losses from continuing operations attributable to c...

CEA-Leti announced at Photonics West 2020 its new development of a silicon nitride (Si3N4) 200mm platform for developing photonics in UV through mid-infrared wavelengths. Available in CEA-Leti's SiN platform in a multi-project-wafer program, the breakthrough targets designers in integrated quantum optics, LiDAR, biosensing, and imaging whose projects require ultralow propagation losses and high-power handling capability. (Image: CEA-Leti) According to CEA-Leti, this ultralow-loss SiN layer is available for multi-level photonic circuits. It can be c...

UK-based Micro LED technology developer Plessey announced at Photonics West its’ new partnership with WaveOptics, a designer and manufacturer of diffractive waveguides. (Image: WaveOptics/Plessey) This two companies aim to create a new optical module for next generation smart glasses incorporating Plessey’s native green Micro LED full HD display with WaveOptics’ Katana waveguide technology and projector design. The full HD Micro LED display from Plessey is the result of its previously announced partnership with Compound Photonics, t...

Dimer UVC Innovations is a US-based company providing UVC light disinfection systems. The company is offering its GermFalcon®, a germ-killing robot that sanitizes airplanes, to assist airlines and federal agencies disrupt the spread of coronavirus. GermFalcon, developed by Dimer UVC Innovations, was specifically created to improve airplane hygiene industry-wide. The groundbreaking system uses ultraviolet-C (UVC) light to kill viruses, bacteria, and superbugs on surfaces and in the surrounding air. Designed to easily navigate an airplane cabin, GermFalcon&rs...

Fluence by OSRAM is expanding its business in Europe and announced the partnership with growers and other horticulture specialists in Papenburg, the Emsland region of Germany. Given Papenburg’s decades-long history of attracting horticulture experts, Fluence’s innovative lighting solutions for horticulture are a natural fit for the region’s tomato, cucumber, leafy greens and herb growers. Elektro Evers, an engineering firm specializing in greenhouse technology, is Fluence’s exclusive systems integrator in the Papenburg region. Elektro Evers as...

An EU funded project, named ENABLED, is working on creating LEDs with artificial fluorescent proteins to make the lighting source more sustainable. Currently, LED lamps consist of a blue-emitting chip and an optical filter made of inorganic phosphors, rare earth minerals that transforms blue light into the white light. This filter does not efficiently convert blue light, causing serious implications on visual acuity in children and sleep disorder in adults. Moreover, inorganic phosphors are quite scarce and are listed as one of the 27 critical raw materials by the Euro...

UV light has been used widely in disinfection with a wide range of medical and non-medical products available in the market. In the time when the whole world is fighting against the coronavirus outbreak, LEDs that deliver virus killing UV lights might be a practical solution for preventing infection. UV light is germicidal because it inactivates microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA with its short wavelength. In addition, oxygen can also absorbed energy from UV light to form ozone for disinfection. (Image: Pixabay) According to curren...

Signify published its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 financial results on January 31. The Dutch company reported full-year sales of EUR 6.2 billion (US$ 6.87 billion) which decreased by 4.6% YoY decrease but improved in profitability by 30bps to 10.4%. Its LED-based sales grew by 1.4%YoY, representing 78% of its sales. For 4Q19, Signify, registered sales for EUR 1.75 billion (US$ 1.94 billion) which improved by 1.4% compared to 4Q18. The adjusted gross margin increased by 30 bps to 37.8%, including a positive currency effect of 30 bps. Adjusted EBITA am...

The ZKW Group, which was acquired by LG Electronics in 2018, announced that it has established a branch in Incheon, Korea in December 2019, with the integration with the rear light business of LG Electronics. The company also integrated the rear light production of LG Electronics in Ningbo, China. These new locations are added with the aim to further expand business in the Korean automotive market and the Asia-Pacific region. (Image: ZKW) At the time ZKW was acquired by LG in 2018, it was already agreed that the “Exterior Lighting for Automoti...

University of Sheffield in the UK announced the launch of its new spin-out company focusing on Micro LED technology on January 31, 2020. The company, named EpiPix is developing and commercializing Micro LED technology for photonics applications covering AR/VR wearable devices, 3D sensing and LiFi. A research team of the university recently published a new manufacture method to develop green InGaN Micro LED. The research team leader, Professor Tao Wang at the University of Sheffield’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, and th...

Samsung Electronics announced its collaboration with Niio Art, a platform for new media art, to launch an open call for new media artists for the Samsung The Wall x Niio Art Awards. The award aims to discover inspiring digital art from around the world. Entrants will compete for a chance to be exhibited internationally on Samsung’s The Wall, the highest quality, large form factor 4K Micro LED digital art canvas, and qualify for up to $15,000 in cash prizes. The competition will culminate in summer exhibitions at ten showcase locations including Korea, Singapore, ...

On January 27, Nitride Semiconductor announced that it won a patent infringement lawsuit against RayVio Corporation, a California UV-LED company. On January 13, The California Northern District federal court issued a judgment in favor of Nitride, declaring that RayVio has infringed Nitride's patent and that the asserted claims of Nitride's patent are not invalid. A one month ago, U.S. Patent Office has also confirmed the validity on the key claims of Nitride's patent in its final judgments of the Inter Parte Review case filed by RayVio. ...

Viavi Solutions and LG Innotek have settled VIAVI’s complaints regarding its patented optical filters with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Pursuant to the agreement, VIAVI has withdrawn the lawsuits against LG Electronics. Further terms and conditions of the settlement are confidential and are not being disclosed. The ITC and California complaints remain active and proceed forward with regard to defendant Optrontec. The complaints pursue claims t...

A research team in Taiwan measured lamps in the market and found that nearly all the desk lamps are too bright that they may damage the eye. Jwo-Huei Jou, professor at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hwa University (NTHU), and his team consisting of student from Shu Guang Girl's Senior High School and Ho-Shin Chen and NTHU, measured that white CFL with a color temperature of 5600K at an illuminance of 101 lux permits 29-minute reading time, and white LED of 5300K at 196 lux permits only 13 minutes. Situation would become worse with a blue light-enrich...

Wireless lighting control expert Casambi announced that it has signed an agreement with Osram to extend their technology partnership. The two companies will leverage their expertise to develop further intelligent Casambi-ready hardware, as well as lighting control software solutions for the professional lighting market. (Image provided by Casambi, photo credit: NicoElNino / Shutterstock) Casambi’s embedded Bluetooth module is designed for integration with LED drivers, lighting control systems and light fixtures. The module is pre-programmed with Casambi’s ...

Mojo Vision, a U.S.-based startup who presented Micro LED display with ultra-high resolution, announced its current project working on the world’s first true smart contact lens, called the Mojo Lens. According to Mojo Vision, the smart contact lens with a built-in display provide people the useful and timely information without the needs to at a screen. Mojo calls this eyes-up experience Invisible Computing, a platform that enables information to be instantaneous, unobtrusive and available hands-free. (Image: Mojo Vision) The company aims to demonstrate a w...

iBeam Materials announced that it has successfully demonstrated the ability to make high-performance GaN Field-Effect Transistors (FETs) directly on thin, flexible and rollable metal foil substrates. These transistors can be produced without the need for a transfer step and can be integrated side-by-side with Micro LED emitters previously demonstrated by iBeam for use in a display. iBeam expects to see the technology available for large-scale manufacturing by 2022. The advent of paper-thin, ultra-flexible Micro LED displays using iBeam technology eliminates the trad...

Nichia filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Feit Electric (Feit), a US-based manufacturer and distributor of LED lighting products on January 13, 2020, in California. With the lawsuit, Nichia claimed that Feit has infringe Nichia’s filament LED patent at issue with approximately 200 different products. The infringed patent, Nichia’s U.S. Patent No. 9,752,734, is directed to an LED light bulb in which the LEDs are configured to resemble the appearance of a traditional incandescent bulb. (Image: Pixabay) Nichia filed its application ...

Researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) published a new study on Nature Reviews Materials with their development of 'Smart Light-emitting diode (LED) Contact Lens,' which enables diagnosis of diabetes and treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and his research team including his PhD student, Geon-Hui Lee, invented a smart photonic contact lens and a wearable medical device which can diagnose diabetes and treat diabetic retinopathy in collaboration with the research group led by Zhenan Bao from De...

Jade Bird Display (JBD) from China revealed its latest Micro LED development at CES 2020. The company showcased a 0.31-inch display with a brightness of 3 million nits and another ultra-fine pitch display, reported online media Road to VR. (Image: Pixabay) The high brightness Micro LED display has a resolution of 1280*720 and a pixel pitch of 5µm. Despite its small size, JBD realized a brightness of 3 million nits, which is 4800 times brighter than the display of iPhone 11. With ultra-brightness, the display is made for AR/VR application in o...