A multi-departmental research team at Taiwan’s National Chi Nan University (NCNU) collaborated with local famers and developed a LED lighting system for water bamboo (Zizania latifolia) cultivation to improve the growth with a new design of LED lenses. The advanced technology tackled the existing issues and proved to benefit the harvest. The results were published Applied Sciences in February 2020, titled “Optimized LED-Integrated Agricultural Facilities for Adjusting the Growth of Water Bamboo (Zizania latifolia).” The optimized LED...

LightFair International, originally scheduled to take place during May 3-7, 2020, in Las Vegas, was postponed due to the spreading coronavirus epidemic. Also, Prolight + Sound, which was postponed to May 26-29, has been cancelled. (Image: LightFair) On March 13, LightFair announced the postponement of the trade show and conference. The fair will be moved to late summer or early fall pending on the conditions. Dan Darby, the show director, addressed that safety and wellbeing of all LightFair attendees is the first priority and postponing the show is the most res...

Signify launched new Philips IoT sensor bundles that collect and deliver data via the Interact Office connected lighting system and Environmental monitoring API’s. The new sensors that are being launched enable businesses to monitor their office environment and optimize conditions for employee health and wellbeing. (Image: Signify) The new sensor bundles can monitor occupancy, the number of people, temperature (at room and at desk level), noise levels, daylight levels, relative humidity and are Bluetooth enabled, to provide indoor positioning and navigation capabil...

Micro LED technology builder VerLASE introduced a novel mass transfer technique for Micro LED display production based on its “Large Area Assembly Platform” (LAAP), which the company revealed in June, 2019. With similar concept, the company transfer the technology into a simpler, semiconductor-fab compatible solution based on Photo-Mechanical Actuation (PMA). According to VerLASE, the solution uses a novel formulation comprising of fab compatible chemistries and transfer stamp architecture in a unique way to deterministically pick-up a large ...

Velodyne Lidar announced a multi-year sales agreement with NAVYA, an autonomous driving system provider. NAYVA is a French company expert in autonomous driving system. The company has put into service autonomous mobility solutions in 2015 and used Velodyne’s LiDAR sensors in production for its autonomous shuttle fleet that provides mobility services to cities and private sites. (Image: Velodyne Lidar/NAVYA) With the sales agreement, NAVYA plans to pursue the worldwide expansion of its shuttle with Velodyne’s sensors for precise real-time...

The coronavirus has now declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization and the infected numbers continues to rise all over the world. Products used for preventing infection thus became bestsellers everywhere. Featuring disinfecting function, UVC LED embedded products are also drawing attentions in the market. LED companies who have been progressing UV LED technologies now leverage their strengths to launch UV LED products for meeting the surging demands for disinfection applications. (Image: Pixabay) Lextar, the vertical integrated LED ...

Mitsubishi Electric announced that it has developed a compact LiDAR solution incorporating a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) that achieves an extra-wide horizontal scanning angle to accurately detect the shapes and distances of objects ahead in autonomous driving systems. The new LiDAR solution irradiates objects by laser and uses a dual-axis (horizontal and vertical) MEMS mirror to scan for the reflected light, generating three-dimensional images of vehicles and pedestrians. Mitsubishi Electric expects this compact, low-cost solution to contribute to th...

A new type of light emitting textile may enable innovative wearable applications. Researchers at the University of Windsor in Canada published their development in the journal Matters, revealing a stretchable, lighting emitting fabric based on typical ultrasheer pantyhose coated in a thin gold film. (Image: Matters) The new development tackled some of the limitations of existing light-emitting fabrics and use the textile structure as an integral part of the wearable device design. With effective power sources, the light emitting fabric could be further developed into more fun...

Scientist at University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have created a blue LED from a new semiconductor material halide perovskite, overcoming a major barrier to employing these cheap, easy-to-make materials in electronic devices. Published in Science Advances on January 24, the study demonstrates the technology breakthrough of applying the unstable material as halide perovskite changes with temperature, humidity and the chemical environment and their optical and electronic properties are thus disrupted. Making semiconductor diodes that emit blue light has always b...

Researchers of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) develop a new material for blue light emitting LEDs which can replace gallium nitride (GaN). According to the report of BusinessKorea, the new technology breakthrough might enable Korea to reduce the dependence of Japan on LED materials. Published on Scientific Report on March 04, 2020, the study titled “Intrinsically p-type cuprous iodide semiconductor for hybrid light emitting diodes,” demonstrate the single crystal epitaxy of cuprous iodide (CuI) film grown on Si and sapphire s...

After Light + Building and ProLight + Sound postponed due to concern of the coronavirus epidemic, another lighting related event LEDucation that was scheduled from March 17 to 18, has been moved to August 18 to 19, 2020. LEDucation is a non-profit event organized by the Designers Lighting Forum of New York, serving as a platform for industry professionals to experience new technologies or advance their knowledge with series of seminars and conference arranged. The event takes place in New York City and is expecting over 400 exhibitors and more than 6000 attendees ...

Osram announced that it has decided to shut down server support for smart lamps from the Lightify lighting system. Osram and its system distributor LEDVANCE noted that customers are now using comprehensive Smart Home solutions with intelligent assistants to control smart lighting, instead of using a separate lighting control system or gateway. Osram will therefore be shutting down the cloud server for controlling the Lightify gateway on August 31, 2021. In the beginning of 2019, LEDVANCE finished selling the gateway while part of the Smart+ products are still s...

Display technology continues to advance and display companies has pushed their development in market expansion and technology improvement. OLED, Mini LED and Micro LED are currently the major technologies that players in the display industry focus on. BOE, as the leading display company in China, has also invest great amount of resources in OLED and Mini LED. Lately, BOE replied to its investors about the progress in Mini LED. BOE demonstrated its Mini LED technology at CES 2020. The company is able to provide solutions achieving ultra-thin, h...

After the acquisition of Osram by ams, the two companies are accelerating their integration. Last Friday, Osram announced that its CFO Ingo Bank will become CFO of ams on May 1, 2020 following the latest appointment. (Ingo Bank; image: Osram) Austria-based sensor and semiconductor expert ams has successfully launched a takeover offer for all the outstanding shares of OSRAM in 2019. Together the two companies agreed to possibly expand the number of ams board members through the course of the acquisition with the appointment of an Osram board member. At Osra...

A research team at University College London published its development of an antimicrobial coating which kills bacteria when exposed to light. The creation can be used to coat phones screen, keyboards, and the inside of catheters and breathing tubes for prevent the spread of diseases in hospitals and healthcare institutes. The research, published today in Nature Communications, is the first to show a light activated antimicrobial coating successfully killing bacteria in low intensity, ambient light (300 Lux), such as that found in wards and waiting rooms to stop healthcare-associ...

SiLC Technologies, the developer of integrated single-chip FMCW LiDAR solutions, announced that it closed US$12 million in seed funding led by Dell Technologies Capital. Decent Capital, ITIC Ventures, and several prominent angel investors also participated in the funding round. SiLC will use the funding to scale its R&D and operations to develop its frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) silicon photonic 4D+ Vision Chip platform. SiLC demonstrated its integrated FMCW chip and long-range LiDAR resolution at CES 2020. The company al...

Following the launch of Plessey’s Data-Vµ segmented Micro LED display products in 2019, the company has now extended the range with the introduction of passive matrix pixelized Micro LED displays, based on Plessey’s proprietary monolithic GaN-on-Silicon technology. (Image: Plessey) These fully addressable micro-displays can provide the high brightness/low power image source demanded by the advanced compact optical projectors embedded in AR/MR information systems. The displays can be customized to provide the specific resolution and color requir...

Samsung has added Epistar, the Taiwan based LED chip provider, as a supplier of Micro LED chips to diversity its supply chain, reported Korean media, TheElec. (Image: Samsung) The report said that Samsung included Epistar to its Micro LED supply chain to secure its promise for launching Micro LED TVs in the second half of 2020. Samsung revealed its Micro LED TV lineup earlier this year at CES 2020. The company aims to debut four sizes Micro LED TVs covering 75 inches, 88 inches 93 inches and 110 inches to the market in Europe, North Ameri...

Electroninks, the supplier of particle-free silver, gold, and platinum conductive inks and pastes, announced the strategic alliance with Enjet Inc., the ultra-high resolution printing expert to support advanced manufacturing of display, touchpanel, and packaging products. The two companies will leverage their capabilities and resources to demonstrate conductive ink and printing equipment products.    Electroninks and Enjet will work together as a dynamic team to supply conductive ink printing at <10µm in several markets including Micro LED, Mini LED, EM...

Another lighting event has been postponed due to the increased spread of the coronavirus in Europe. Messe Frankfurt announced that Prolight + Sound 2020 will be moved to May 26 to 29 2020 after intensive consultations. The event was originally taking place from March 31 to April 3 2020. (Image: Prolight + Sound) Prolight + Sound offers a communication platform for business covering light and sound with integration between theater, stage, AV system, display and media technology. Since late February, the confirmed cases of coronavirus continue to surge in Europe,...

The world spreading coronavirus has brought people’s attention to infection prevention with masks and disinfecting products in short supply. UV lights with disinfecting function also become popular. Conventional UV lights with mercury lamps have been in hot sale for disinfection with the outbreak of coronavirus, leading to shortage in materials such as quartz glass and lamp frame. UV LED, as another UV light source, also become a market focus as people are getting more aware of the infection. UV LED technology developers seize the opportunity to push their UV ...

Somfy Systems announced partnership with Osram to improve natural and artificial light management in building environments. The combination of Osram Encelium and Somfy Digital Network® (SDN) creates a centralized interface for facility managers and streamlines the light management process. This unified control experience makes it simple to maximize the combination of natural and artificial light. (Image: Somfy) “Somfy is proud to partner with Osram to simplify lighting management,” said David Parrett, Lighting and Partnerships Business Developm...

Signify announced that it has completed the acquisition of Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton on March 2, which follows the schedule set by the two companies. Signify also introduced its new integrated charge controller which enable solar-powered lighting. Signify reported the purchase of Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton in October 2019 for US$ 1.4 billion with the aim to strengthen its market position in the North American lighting market. (Image: Pixabay) Meanwhile, the Dutch company launched the new integrated Philips Combo Charge Controller which e...

It has been reported that Apple will launch new products with Mini LED backlight technology including iPad Pro and MacBook Pro in 2020 and 2021. Recently, Apple is reportedly developing six products adopting Mini LED technology including a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 27-inch iMac Pro, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro, a 10.2-inch iPad and a 7.9-inch iPad mini. (Image: Pixabay) Apple’s products with Mini LED display technology are believed to boost demands in the Mini LED market. Taiwan-based LED chip manufacturer Epistar, who i...

According to TCL’s latest update, the Chinese display company built strategic partnership with Sanan Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Sanan Optoelectronics. The two companies will establish a joint laboratory to develop Micro LED display technology. TCL and Sanan signed a strategic partnership MOU on March 3. According to the MOU, the two partners will set up a laboratory to develop Micro LED technology from end to end, addressing key issues of the engineering techniques and accelerating Micro LED production and applications. The partnership aims t...

Signify announced its expanded partnership with Planet Farms, a European operator of vertical farms based in Italy. With the latest agreement, Signify will provide its horticulture LEDs and management system to Europe’s largest vertical farm to boost the quality and yield of the crops. The updated collaboration will enables Planet Farms to produce and deliver aromatic herbs and lettuce to its customers in Italy all year round. (Image: Signify) Signify has also reached an agreement to provide horticultural LED grow lights to an additional five vertical farms t...

The novel coronavirus outbreak starting in China has led to cities lockdown in the country and the delay in production resume as local governments in China are trying hard to manage the epidemic. Despite that February 10 was set to be the official restarting day for work, several provinces and cities have postponed the date as they were afraid that the coronavirus would further spread. Also, many of the workers traveling from their hometown to the work places were required to take 14 days self-quarantine before going back to the factories and offices. As a result, operation can har...

Despite that the world spreading coronavirus epidemic seems to lead to economic decline, LED chip maker Epistar still sees growing demands for Mini LED and has decided to increase capital expenditure to expand capacity for Mini LED chip production. As one of the first Mini LED chip maker, Taiwan-based Epistar has been progressing its Mini LED development for years and began to collaborate with several clients to build Mini LED backlit notebooks, monitors and TVs. As the clients are ready to launch the new products, Epistar is expecting blooming demands fo...

Seoul Viosys, a subsidiary of Seoul Semiconductor focusing on UV LED technology, announced that customer inquiries for its violeds UV LED products has increased more than five times over the previous month, fueled by concerns over the continuing global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With the growing concerns over the global spread of the coronavirus, numerous automotive companies in China are actively reviewing adoption of Seoul’s violeds UV LED technology in sterilization systems for vehicle interiors. In addition, violeds UV LED techno...

LED display manufacturer Daktronics announces that it has participated in a Series A investment round in X Display Company (XDC). XDC is a spinoff of X-Celeprint, who creates and owns leading intellectual property (IP) and capabilities in Micro LED mass transfer technology. Series A investments will support XDC’s further development in Micro LED capabilities and applications. Micro LED technologies support Daktronics’ line of narrow pixel pitch LED displays and will enable solutions to move into the realm of less than 1-millimeter line s...