Osram announced on September 25 that “the courtship” of the company continues as Bain Capitan and its new partner, Advent, are in talk with Osram with its willingness to make a new takeover for the German high tech company, confronting sensor maker AMS. According to Osram, the consortium of Advent and Bain Capital has indicated that “it may offer a ‘meaningful’ premium over the current offer from AMS of EUR 38.50 (US$42.14) per share.” The new bidders also said that their binding offer will be superior not only in terms of price ...

Seoul Semiconductor announced that it won a patent infringement lawsuit against Service Lighting and Electrical Supplies who operate online light bulb distribution website, 1000bulbs.com. The Texas Northern District federal court issued a permanent injunction against the sales of more than 50 lighting products, as well as any colorable variations of those products unless they have been licensed, according to the parties’ stipulation. Therefore, the Court will prohibit the sale of similar products if they prove to be mere colorable variations of accused products. In t...

Swiss equipment supplier Evatec reported that it has received repeat orders from Taiwan’s Micro LED company PlayNitride. Evatec will deliver multiple fully automated thin film production tools to PlayNitride for Micro LED manufacture. The tools from Evatec will support PlayNitride’s scale up production. (Image: Evatec/PlayNitride) Evatec’s Head of BU Optoelectronics Dr. Stefan Seifried commented, “With our complete thin film process portfolio for metals, TCOs, passivation layers and DBRs Evatec sputter technology was al...

As population in urban areas across the world continues to grow, it is estimated that by 2050, 68 percent of the world population will live in cities. This demographic shift will lead to increased demand for food within cities, adding strain to the agricultural and food systems, particularly in developing countries. Urban agriculture, or urban farming, has long been viewed as an innovative component in diversifying the food system. A 2018 study of urban agriculture’s global potential found that fully implemented urban farms around the world could produce as much as 180 million m...

SiliconCore built a partnership with TOPCON to supply its LED driver IC products for Taiwan-based display manufacturers to meet growing demands in the progressing Micro LED and Mini LED display market. TOPCON will help SiliconCore to deliver its LED driver ICs featured with common cathode solution. Compared with LED displays adopting common anode drivers, the common cathode ICs based LED displays can save energy consumption up to 40 percent with lower surface temperature. The products are suitable for Mini LED and Micro LED display prod...

Foxconn reportedly dismissed its Micro LED R&D team in August 2019, according to the report of a Chinese online media, Smart Display. The company denied the adjustment of its teams and claimed that the dismissed team does not belong to the Foxconn Group. Foxconn has been an active player in Micro LED technology development. The company acquired Micro LED transfer technology developer eLux and chip producer Epileds, aiming to integrate internal resources including AOT, Innolux and Sharp to build up a Micro LED chain. Industry resources also noted tha...

Following ISELED's official debut at electronica 2016, this innovative technology based on "digital LED" has experienced enormous acceptance in the industry. This is also reflected in the development of the ISELED Alliance, which has set itself the goal of offering a comprehensive system solution – an ecosystem – around ISELED. From initially five members in autumn 2016, the number of Allianz members has increased to 28 companies. The entire value chain is now covered in order to establish ISELED as a standard solution for the automo...

After selling the lighting business, Cree is accelerating its development in silicon carbide technology. The US firm announced the plan to establish a silicon carbide corridor on the East Coast of the United States with the creation of the world’s largest silicon carbide fabrication facility. Cree said it will build an automotive-qualified 200mm power and RF wafer fabrication facility in Marcy, New York, complemented by its mega materials factory expansion currently underway at its Durham headquarters. The new fabrication facility, part of a previously announce...

Several LED manufacturers in the industry have turned their business focus to automotive applications targeting the progressing automotive and electric vehicle development. The German high-tech company Osram, as one of the leading automotive LED producers, announced that it is starting a new chapter in multi-pixel solutions for car headlights. Osram released the idea of the first hybrid LED "Eviyos" two years ago and is progressing the second generation of Eviyos featuring 25,600 pixels on a single LED chip, with pixel pitch of 40 µm. According to Osra...

Micro LED technology is seeing commercialization in one or two years with wearable products and large size displays leading the way. Taiwan-based Micro LED company PlayNitride is planning to increase investment for Micro LED product production while China-based Konka Group also announced to put RMB 1.5 billion (US$ 211 million) in Micro LED research and development. PlayNitride teamed up with RiTdisplay to jointly develop PM Micro LED product for wearable applications with trial production starting this year and mass production expected in 2020. Seein...

Osram reported that it has filed a patent infringement complaint in the District Court of Delaware in the U.S. against Lighting Science Group (LSG) and its subsidiary Healthe. In its complaint, Osram asserts 8 patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,848,819, 7,045,956, 7,227,191, 7,642,734, 7,957,146, 7,994,519, 9,241,392, and 9,698,282) covering LED lighting solutions, systems and their components. According to Osram, the company is currently defending itself in two proceedings at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the United States District Co...

Fine pitch display is becoming a trend in the panel market with more and more manufacturers developing advanced display products and technology solutions. GaN-on-Si Micro LED specialist Plessey announced that it has produced a record-breaking 2.5-micron pixel pitch ultra-high resolution Micro LED display for AR/VR wearable applications. Plessey created an ultra-fine, ultra-high resolution 2000×2000 pixel display on a 2.5 microns pitch with its propriety monolithic GaN-on-Si technology. The UK-based company is dedicated to embedded Micro LED technology for...

With Nichia’s LED and driver IC from Infineon, advanced automotive front light with Micro LED enables safer driving and innovative application. The two companies announced that they have started the development of a high-definition (HD) light engine with more than 16,000 Micro LEDs for front light applications. According to Nichia, the Micro LED-based matrix light will offer a resolution about 180 times higher compared to current front light solution, paving the way for improved safety features. For example, HD light can be used to warn the driver of haza...

LEDs support sustainable horticulture development with tunable lighting technologies and other smart applications. Worldwide food suppliers as well as lighting technologies suppliers continue to create innovative growing techniques for improving crops production and quality. Israel based grow light supplier Fotonica has developed and patented its bio-illuminationTM lighting system that optimizes the growth of cannabis, green leaves, vegetables, and ornamentals while providing real-time data and analytics that ensures maximum crop control and profitability. Fotonica’s TM L...

Plessey, the UK-based optoelectronic technology solutions developer, said that it has transferred its business focus from high-powered solid-state lighting, horticultural lighting and healthcare/ safety sensors sector to GaN-on-Si monolithic Micro LED display technology. The company is disrupting the global display market with a new generation of Augmented Reality (AR) devices and display solutions based on the Micro LED technology. (Image: Plessey) Featured with high brightness, high contrast, lower power consumption, fast refresh time and the capabilities of int...

Shuiji Nakamura, the blue LED inventor and the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, visited Taiwan last week and delivered speeches in Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University and Chung Hsing University, as well as in Micro LED company PlayNitride. Nakamura shared his research experiences in Japan and the U.S. on the way of blue LED development and pointed out the trends and potentials of the LED industry. Shuiji Nakamura was invited to PlayNitride Back in the 1990s, ZnSe was the material that the majority believed to be critical for...

On July 31, 2019, Mitsubishi Chemical reported that it has obtained a judgement recognizing the infringement of its patent for red phosphor in China by the defendants, U.S.-based Intematix Corporation, its affiliate in China, Intematix Suzhou Lighting and its sales agency, GrandLux Optoelectronics. In response, Intematix and Intematix Optoelectronics (Suzhou) filed an appeal at the Beijing Higher People’s Court explaining how the Court’s decision was improper in view of the applicable law and facts. Intermatix also noted that according to the pr...

After AMS confirmed the takeover offer of Osram, the German lighting company is facing internal conflicts regarding the acquisition. The Austrian sensor company published a public takeover offer of EUR 38.50 per share to acquire Osram. The German company announced yesterday (September 16) that its Executive Board and the majority of its Supervisory Board recommended the shareholders to accept the offer from “a financial point of view.” However, employee representatives of Osram oppose the takeover offer with the concern of potential job losses as AMS ...

Sony announced that it has launched its Crystal LED display system for consumers. The Micro LED display from Sony is able to provide up to 16K video content, offering an unrivaled cinema experience at home, if the customers are able to pay US$ 5 million. (Image: Songy) Having initially introduced its Micro LED display Crystal LED for use in commercial and entertainment venues, Sony began to offer residential configurations and installation of its Micro LED display module. The company provided some samples for residential configuration including 4K size w...

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Germany and Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) announced their cooperation on the development of printed quantum dots (QD) color filters for Micro LED displays. Dr. Youngsam Kim, President of KETI and Prof. Alexander Böker, Head of the Fraunhofer IAP seal the continuation of their cooperation.  Quantum dots are nanocrystals with optical, magnetic or electronic properties. These nanocrystals have a diameter of about 1-10 nm. The small diameter causes so-called qua...

After publishing the research paper demonstrating Micro LED integration with amorphous silicon TFTs, the research team from the University of Waterloo in Canada further revealed its approach of transferring InGaN nanowire LEDs on flexible substrate without degrading optical performance of the LEDs when the substrate bends. Researchers use vertical GaN nanowire LEDs to separate the electrically active region of the LEDs from the bending platform. LEDs are transferred onto flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a “paste and cut” process...

Acuity Brands announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Acuity Brands Lighting, has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire all of the equity interests of The Luminaires Group (TLG) including its five lighting brands: a-light, Cyclone, Eureka, Luminaire LED and Luminis. TLG generates annual sales of approximately US$100 million and employs over 350 associates located across five locations in the U.S. and Canada. Each TLG brand has its own business focus on indoor architectural lighting, outdoor decorative luminaires, indoor and outdoor contemporary d...

Until the third quarter of 2019, we have seen Micro LED products presented at several international events, marking the progressing maturity of the technology after years of development. Recently, companies of the Micro LED supply chain revealed that they are getting ready for mass production. Taiwan’s RiTdisplay and PlayNitride jointly developed two Micro LED displays for wearable applications. One is a 1.25-inch display and the other is a 0.94-inch flexible display. Both panels are featured with a resolution of 228 ppi. According to RiTdisplay, it has been ...

UV-C LED technology provider, AquiSense Technologies, announced that it has participated in ten aerospace projects to support UV-C LED application in the space. According to AquiSense, the company was selected to participate in BIOWYSE, a Horizon 2020 project dedicated to designing and testing a water monitoring and treatment system for next-generation manned space stations in 2015. Since then, several other aerospace projects have looked for leading water treatment technology from AquiSense. These projects include product design and hardware supply to both...

Signify announced that its LiFi system, Trulifi, was installed in the press center at Volkspark stadium in Hamburg, Germany. The installation provides journalists with reliable, secure and fast Internet connections through the room’s ceiling lights and alleviates overloaded wifi connection when the stadium is packed during games. The Volkspark stadium can host 57,000 people and will be one of 10 stadiums for the European football tournament in Germany in 2024. Like other international matches venue, the wireless signal in its busy press center was prone to overload due...

Most facility managers today are using building management systems (BMS), also known as building automation control systems (BACS), to control and monitor some of their buildings’ mechanical and electrical equipment such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and safety and security systems. However, the lighting system has remained separate from the BMS for some buildings, which is viewed as an opportunity loss for lighting technology providers. Osram, for example, considers that further optimization of energy usage and operations through lighting system an...

IFA 2019 opened on September 6 in Berlin and has attracted more than 1,000 exhibitors from across the world to showcase their latest products and technologies. Display technology has been a focus of worldwide big name recently and display products covering TVs and mobile phones are featured at the show. 8K TV is the battle field for global industry players. Samsung, Sharp, LG, TCL and others all brought their newly developed high end TVs adopting QLED, OLED, Micro LED, Mini LED technologies to the show. Korean giant Samsung announced its new 55-inc...

Patently Apple reported an Apple’s patent published in Europe titled “Display with Embedded Pixel Driver Chips” describing the method of fabricating Micro LED display panels with a display integration scheme that embed an array of LEDs on substrates with the front side up. In the description of the patent application, Apple used figures of flexible and foldable display to illustrate how the approach of LED pixel driver chips can be embedded on different display panels. (Image: World Intellectural Property Organization) With the patent app...

iBeam Materials, a U.S.-based company focusing on technologies for crystal-aligned coatings utilizing ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) texturing, announced that Samsung Venture has invested in the company as Samsung’s strategic investments in Micro LED. iBeam pioneers in the development of ion-beam crystal alignment of thin layers deposited on a variety of substrates for optoelectronic devices. Its breakthrough in LED technology enables LEDs to be manufactured on large-area substrates as opposed to the much smaller single-crystal wafers currently used in th...

Innovative display technology is no longer a new idea in the industry with more and more Micro/Mini LED display products exhibited at major international events in the past two years. However, there are still several challenging bottlenecks within Micro LED and Mini LED manufacture process that block the way to product commercialization. Therefore, it is expected that more industry players joining the market will help to advance solutions for achieving technology breakthroughs. Flexible, Folding and Transparent Displays: Turning Points for the Oversupplied Displ...