According to TrendForce 2021 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook and Price Cost Analysis, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, TrendForce revised down the global market scale of LED video wall in 2020. However, it is still expected that in 2H20, outdoor video wall and municipal projects like security and control room will benefit from government’s financial policies and economic stimulus programs such as new infrastructural construction and more. As such, the market demand of outdoor transportation and control room will improve in 2H20. It is esti...

ViewSonic unveiled its All-in-One Direct View LED Displays, a new addition to the large-size presentation display sector. Different from traditional LED displays, these new displays integrate display, image stitching, power supply, and control systems into one device that offers easy installation, operation, and maintenance. (Image: ViewSonic) "As a leading visual solution provider, we are pioneering new trends in the LED projector and presentation display markets and moving the development of LED technology forward by achieving this new milestone in LED...

As LG officially released its Micro LED display, Samsung’s The Wall is also moving a step forward by breaking into the commercial display market in Japan. BusinessKorea reported that Japan’s largest display solution company NGC is offering Samsung’s The Wall series to its customers such as NHK and TV Asahi. (Image: Samsung) For the Korean company, it is a great achievement to penetrate the Japanese market as it had been a rather close environment favoring domestic suppliers. However, since other Japanese competitors like NEC and Sh...

Vertical farming startup InFarm announced that it has raised US$170 million in the first close of a Series C funding round expected to reach $200 million. Led by LGT Lightstone, the first round included participation by investors Hanaco, Bonnier, Haniel, and Latitude, and was supported by existing Infarm investors Atomico, TriplePoint Capital, Mons Capital and Astanor Ventures. With a mix of equity and debt financing, the fresh capital infusion brings Infarm's total funding to date to more than $300 million, underscoring consumer and retailer appetite for I...

Lumileds reported the appointment of its CEO, Matt Roney, which will be effective on October 1, 2020. Roney most recently served as President of Lumileds’ Automotive Business Unit and succeeds Dr. Jonathan Rich who will continue with the company as Executive Chairman of the Board. (Image: Lumileds) “Lumileds has a long history of innovation in conventional automotive lighting and is a pioneer of leading-edge LED technology for the consumer electronics, automotive, and general illumination markets,” said Roney. “I am honored by the oppo...

It was reported today on September 21 that Chinese LED chip manufacturer Sanan Optoelectronics has progressed faster than expected with its Mini LED chip development and might begin to supply its product to Apple’s iPad Pro and MacBook in 2021. If Sanan joins the supply chain with lower price, the business of Epistar, the Taiwan-based LED supplier who is reportedly the major Mini LED chip supplier of Apple, may be impacted. However, TrendForce said that Sanan has yet made its way into the Apple supply chain and the low price may not be the first priori...

Researchers at Hiroshima University offered first proof that UVC light with a 222 nm wavelength, which many claim to be safer for human and animals, can effectively kills the SARS-CoV-2 virus, pathogen of COVID-19. The study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control on September 4, 2020, titled “Effectiveness of 222-nm ultraviolet light on disinfecting SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination.” The article demonstrated the results of an in vitro experiment of the research team which showed that 99.7% of the SARS-CoV-2 viral culture...

Taiwan based LED companies Epistar and Lextar announced that the share conversion date of their new holding company ENNOSTAR will be delayed. The two companies originally set the date on October 20, 2020 to convert shares of both company and list ENNOSTAR. But since the case has yet pass the review procedure of the Chinese antitrust authorities, the share conversion date is now rescheduled to January 6, 2021. (Image: Pixabay) Epistar and Lextar announced that they are establishing a new holding company through share swapping with the aim to integrate reso...

LightingEurope is promoting the benefits of UVC disinfection and advocating the integration of the technologies in the EU Renovation Wave. Aiming to stimulate market demand and fair market access in Europe, LightingEurope also calls for including UVC technologies in to the application and enforcement of existing safety rules and standards. “Our challenge is to switch regulator’s perception of UV-C beyond special applications to mass market solutions for buildings and transport, where the concentration of human activity raises the risk of contamination,&rdqu...

With applications featuring Mini LED display technology about to enter the market, the industry seems to hold a more optimistic view towards Micro LED. Two Micro LED technology builders unveiled their plans to set up new Micro LED production lines this week, including Taiwanese company PlayNitride and French Aledia. (Image: LEDinside) PlayNitride is going to commence construction of its second Micro LED chip production line with its secured funds of US$50 million. The production is scheduled to be completed and begin mass production by mid-2021, boos...

The latest wearable product of Apple, the Apple Watch Series 6, features a new function that can monitor users’ blood oxygen saturation, which is a critical indicator of people’s overall wellness. The function marks a milestone of wearable devices and is likely to drive demands for sensing components including LEDs and photodiodes. (Image: Apple) According to TrendForce, most wearable devices measure biometric data, such as heart rate, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, as well as sweat content, through a type of optical technology known as ...

ams revealed an ultra-thin sensor dedicated sensor for blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurement, bringing the capability to remotely monitor this vital sign to small consumer products such as earbuds, smart watches and wristbands, as well as to medical devices such as patches and oximeters. The new AS7038RB SpO2 sensor enables innovative applications in remote diagnostic equipment, such as disposable patches used for SpO2 and electro-cardiogram (ECG) measurement in hospital emergency rooms. In addition, ams also indicated that there are increasing evidence suggesting l...

Osram revealed an in-car air purifier featuring UVA LED technology. The company claimed that the device can eliminate up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. (Image: Osram) The product, named Air Zing Mini, is designed to removes germs from the air inside vehicles to improve air quality for drivers and passengers. The UV light of Osram’s Air Zing Mini works at a wavelength of 360 to 370 nm with a disinfection rate of 99.9% for the in-car air. Osram said that the device has already been successfully tested against bird flu viruses. The air purifier also elimina...

Facebook announced its partnership with Ray-Ban glasses EssilorLuxottica, to develop smart glasses. They plan to launch the Ray-Ban branded product by 2021. The glasses will not be an AR device yet, according to the report of The Verge, but are moving one step toward to the goal. (Image: Facebook) Facebook said further details about the smart glasses will be revealed when it gets closer to the launch time in 2021. But since they will not include integrated display with AR or VR function. So the new products may not be the results of its collaboration with Plessey...

Osram raised its business guidance for fiscal year 2020 since the company said it has seen strong recovery in summer, particularly in August. In the past few seasons, the German company has revised its business guidance several times, mostly revised the numbers down. However, this time the company is raising up its expectation. The Managing Board of Osram now expects a comparable revenue decline of approximately -14%, comparing to previous number of -15% to -19%. The adjusted EBITDA margin is now approximately 8%, which the company set at 3% to 6% previously. Osram also...

Energy Focus announced that it has been awarded a new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (“IDIQ”) contract to supply lighting products to the U.S. Navy. The contract is worth up to US$4.8 million. This five-year IDIQ contract calls for Energy Focus to exclusively supply its LED lighting products designed for demanding exterior shipboard use. These lights use approximately 80% less energy than legacy incandescent counterparts, while meeting the required illumination levels for general illumination, combat, and refueling operations on most surface ...

AquiSense Technologies announced the launch of PearlAqua Deca, the first UV LED disinfection system designed for the point-of-entry residential, commercial and light industrial markets. AquiSense claimed that this product provides a disinfection rate of more than 99.99% with the compact and self-contained unit. The PearlAqua Deca features automatic on/off switching in addition to Dynamic Power Control which reduces overall energy consumption and extends lamp replacement intervals. It offers whole house disinfection with flowrates up-to 12 gpm (45 lpm). (Image: A...

Samsung introduced four new Samsung ISOCELL image sensors for its 0.7 μm-pixel product lineup. With the new 0.7μm ISOCELL technology, Samsung plans to expand the high resolution sensors to mainstream smartphones. “Samsung continues to pioneer innovations, such as ISOCELL Plus and Smart ISO, to deliver more pixels in a smaller package,” said Yongin Park, executive vice president of the sensor business at Samsung Electronics. “Last year, Samsung introduced the industry’s first 0.7μm-pixel image sensor and the first 108Mp...

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) released the final version of its Technical Requirements for LED-based Horticultural Lighting: Version 2.0, an update that will continue the industry transition from traditional lighting data and metrics to horticultural-specific lighting data and metrics that best represent horticultural lighting performance. The changes have an effective date of March 31, 2021. (Image: Signify) After analysis of stakeholder comments on Draft 1 of the policy released in May and in order to allow continued development of the nascent horticultural ...

French company Aledia who focuses on 3D LED technology announced that it will invest EUR 140 million (US$ 165.82 million) to set up GaN-on-Si Micro LED production line. The production line will be set up in Champagnier, France and the company plans to begin Micro LED production by 2022 with the new site. By the end of 2019, Aledia began to collaborate with TowerJazz to accelerate Micro LED production based on Aledia’s nanowire-LED display technology and TowerJazz’ Transfer Optimization and Development Process Services (TOPS). Al...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent won by Apple describing displays based on Micro LED technology for its future products, reported Patently Apple. Apple’s plan of adopting advanced display technologies including Micro LED and Mini LED for its new products is no news for the market. The company has been dedicating to drive the progress of these cutting-edge display fabrication methods and has won several related patents. The latest one published elaborates displays that incorporate timing controller to deliver different display areas over...

Stanley announced that it has confirmed high effectiveness of virus inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by using its 265nm UVC LED, following a testing result in collaboration with Yamaguchi University. The company also reported its establishment of an integrated production system for UVC LED. Stanley and professors at Laboratory of Veterinary Microbiology, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Yamaguchi University, jointly tested the UVC LED of Stanley on deactivating SARS-CoV-2 virus. They put 10 ml of virus solution (5 x 10⁵ PFU/mL) in dishes a...

Cornell researchers have developed microsensors that are tiny enough to fit 30,000 on one side of a penny. These microscopic sensors are equipped with an integrated circuit, solar cells and Micro LEDs that enable them to harness light for power and communication. The research was published in PNAS in April, titled “Microscopic Sensors Using Optical Wireless Integrated Circuits.” The research team devised a platform for parallel production of their optical wireless integrated circuits (OWICs), microsensors the size of 100 µm. Researchers in the st...

Nixon Peabody announced a major expansion of its groundbreaking patent enforcement campaign on behalf of the Regents of UCSB with new litigation against six leading retailers and suppliers of filament LED lighting products. Building on a successful first phase of the campaign, which was launched in 2019, Nixon Peabody filed a new complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking an investigation into the unauthorized importation and sale after importation of UC’s patented filament LED lighting technology by General Electric, Savant Sy...

Amphenol LTW provides connectors for industrial automation and machine vision, horticultural lighting, LED lighting and display, fishing light and other markets. Under the influence of COVID-19, the industrial automation and machine vision markets are still making remarkable progress. LEDinside had the honor to interview Charles Wu, the Global BD of Amphenol LTW, to share with us Amphenol LTW solutions for machine vision applications in industrial automation. (image: Amphenol LTW) Charles Indicated that, due to the impact of COVID-19, the growth ...

Featuring high resolution, high contrast and high brightness, Micro LED is regarded as the “ultimate display technology.” However, due to production difficulties, the technology has not yet entered the commercial market despite that the first prototypes were revealed back in 2012. Recently, driven by leading brands including Apple and Samsung, we have seen more and more Micro LED displays presented. But industry experts forecasted that it would take at least three years for the technology to truly enter the consumer market. Mass transfer is a notorious challenge...

Lumileds introduced the first LED engineered for architectural applications that require uniform light output through the entire dimming range and operating conditions. The new LUXEON 3030 HE Plus Deep Dimming mid-power LED is designed for LED to LED flux uniformity across the entire dimming curve, down to 1%, that is required to achieve consistent visual performance. From full intensity above nominal current of 65mA to 1% intensity at 0.65mA, every LED will provide the same flux performance in the application. Key to the performance is forward voltage vari...

Signify has dedicated to sustainability with several different approaches and now the company proudly announced that it has achieved carbon neutrality for all its operations across the world as well as using 100% renewable electricity. Signify has reduced its operational emissions by more than 70% since 2010, having shifted to more energy-efficient technologies at its sites, to more sustainable modes of transport and optimized logistics planning, and to less travel in a more sustainable way. It also uses 100% renewable electricity, supported through two power purchase agreements, one...

South Korea based LiDAR company SOS LAB will launch 2D and 3D LiDAR sensors starting this October for factory automation and autonomous vehicles, reported TheElec. The company is going to launch its 2D LiDAR sensor SL-2 in October and a 3D fully solid-state LiDAR ML-1 next year. SOS LAB adopts VCSEL and solid-state technology for its LiDAR sensors. (Image: SOS LAB) SOS LAB has collaborated with On Semiconductor, using the SPAD Array for sensing single photons for solid-state LiDAR ToF applications. The co...

LG officially launched its Micro LED signage solution, named “LG MAGNIT,” on September 10, which is the first Micro LED display product debuted by the company. LG is releasing the Micro LED display to the markets of the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (Image: LG) LG has already included the Micro LED category including a few product details to its Business Solution webpage earlier this year as LEDinside covered in July. With the official launch, LG further updated several features of its Micro LED display. L...