Taiwan-based display manufacturer AUO has partnered with PlayNitride to unveil their latest Micro LED technology development. The two companies leverage their expertise and developed a 9.4-inch flexible Micro LED display with the world's highest 228 PPI pixel density, achieving yet another industry milestone with pioneering technological breakthroughs. The 9.4-inch flexible Micro LED display is based on an LTPS TFT driven backplane which allows pixels to be lighted separately. With a high-speed mass transfer technology, more than 5.5 million Micro LED...

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will invest US$100 million to four agri-tech companies to set up high-tech agricultural facilities in Abu Dhabi including the world’s largest vertical farm for R&D and other production farms to solve the challenge of local food production. The ADIO partners include AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RNZ and Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI). AeroFarms from the U.S. will build a new 8200 square meter indoor vertical farm focusing on R&D and commercialization of relevant local crops by leveraging its expertise a...

Sony announced the price and availability for its 2020 TV models demonstrated at CES earlier this year. The 2020 TV lineup includes series of 8K/4K LED TVs and 4K OLED TVs from US$599.99 to US$9999.99. The most expensive product announced by Sony this time is its Z8H 8K HDR LED TVs, the 85-inch model will cost US$9999.99 and the 75-inch one is US$6999.99. With Sony’s Full Array LED technology with 8K X-tended Dynamic Range PRO, the product series features local dimming to address better contrast similar to Mini LED backli...

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced a strategic collaboration to address the global issue of light pollution that negatively affects our environment and the human condition. The two parties adopted Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting and seek to guide the outdoor lighting industry in the U.S. and beyond to be more socially and environmentally responsible. The five principles addressed that light at night should be with clear purpose and used in necessary areas in low level and warmer colo...

Researchers have developed the first megapixel photon-counting camera based on new-generation image sensor technology that uses single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The new camera can detect single photons of light at unprecedented speeds, a capability that could advance applications that require fast acquisition of 3D images such as augmented reality and LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles. "Thanks to its high resolution and ability to measure depth, this new camera could make virtual reality more realistic and let you interact with augmented reality information in ...

UC Santa Barbara’s Solid State Lighting & Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC) and member companies are developing UV LEDs that have the ability to decontaminate surfaces — and potentially air and water — that have come in contact with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 virus) to combat the world spreading disease. Recently, much attention has turned to the power of UV light to inactivate the novel coronavirus and Seoul Semiconductor, a SSLEEC member company, reported its achievement of “99.9% sterilization of coronavirus (COVID...

The world sweeping COVID-19 pandemic is leading to delay in production as well as some new projects in the industry as many companies have temporary closed their facilities and the supply chain was interrupted. New technology developments might be affected under the challenging time as well. LEDinside shares its insights toward Micro LED technology development in such a global uncertainty and points out that it might be a chance for the next-gen display technology to move a step forward. (Image: LEDinside) According to LEDinside, delays of equipment and material d...

Compound Photonics (CP), a provider of compact high-resolution microdisplay solutions for AR and MR applications introduced a compact, high brightness 1080p optical engine reference design that fits into a volume under 3 cubic centimeters (3cc). The product is optimized for CP’s 0.26-inch Micro LED Integrated Display Module (IDM) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 resolution and 3.015μm pixel, which will accelerate development of AR/MR smart glasses. (Image: Compound Photonics) The 0.26-inch Micro LED IDM was jointly developed by Compound Ph...

In response to the rising number of disinfecting products and applications based on UV radiation for preventing the spread of COVID-19, the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) issued a new report by their Photobiology Committee, providing professional information for germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) disinfection and its potential to safely reduce the transmission of coronavirus. (Image: Pixabay) The report provided answers to frequently asked questions about GUV, drawing from expertise from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food a...

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) in the U.S. and lighting company Signify published press releases to state the importance of lighting under the threat of COVID-19 pandemic. (Image: Pixabay) NEMA and members of its Lighting Systems Division addressed that lighting and lighting system manufacturers are essential businesses and requested that all government agencies should exclude lighting and lighting systems device manufacturers from stay-home policy to fully support the requirement of public’s needs for lit, safe, and secure envi...

Velodyne Lidar introduced the Automated with Velodyne program for its integrator ecosystem to commercialize next generation autonomous solutions using Velodyne LiDAR technology. Through the program, Velodyne helps companies by supporting innovation, promoting applications and creating lasting customer and business relationships. (Image: Velodyne Lidar) The program reflects Velodyne’s focus on accelerating market adoption of 3D LiDAR innovations and driving revenue growth for its partners around the world. In addition to a broad portfolio of LiDAR sensors...

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world by the end of January, MEAN WELL is swarmed with the medical power requirements from across the globe, especially for ventilators, nucleic acid detectors, mask machines, and temperature measurement equipment, and more. Among all medical devices demands, life support equipment such as patient monitors and ventilators are the most urgent. To alleviate the emergency and save more lives, MEAN WELL headquarters swiftly orders Suzhou MEAN WELL (SZMW) to build up special production lines for medical ...

On April 14, 2020, Apple was granted 54 patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and one of the patent is related to sensors that might be added to Apple Watch in the future to detect the environment of water and the makeup of water. The new patent issued to Apple, titled “Portable electronic device as health companion,” describe the function of the incorporating sensors for identifying the water based on the detected property and initiate actions of the wearable device to send notifications to the user. For example, the Apple Watch would be able to warm...

UV LED technology expert AquiSense Technologies announced the launch of the PearlSurface 24G9™, one of the first UVC LED surface disinfection products designed for health care applications such as reuse of N95 face mask and other PPE. According to AquiSense, the new product PearlSurface 24G9 can deliver high UV exposure up to 1,000 mJ cm-2 in less than 20 minutes and offer consistent irradiance distribution over complex surfaces. The system can start operation instantly and is mercury free. (Image: AquiSense Technologies) The produce is also...

Custom lighting manufacturer ASCENTI Lighting launched the industry’s first AR and VR lighting app which enables architects and designers to create and evaluate their designs remotely. The application provides a safe and secure solution for architects and designers to keep projects moving forward and meet deadlines during and after the coronavirus health crisis. (Image: ASCENTI) State-of-the-art AR capabilities allow architects and designers to view and modify custom fixtures from any room in real-time, eliminating the need to visit project sites in perso...

Researchers from the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e)in the Netherlands and Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany reported the development of a light-emitting, silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloy. The achievement may open a new way for integrated chip function. The revolutionary results were published in ‘Nature,’ on April 8, 2020. The research team made germanium and alloys from germanium and silicon with a hexagonal crystal lattice which has a direct band gap to emit light. The concept of hexagonal silicon was proposed by Prof. Erik Bakk...

Amid tensions over the trade war in the past year, the global market for international trade has been greatly shaken, causing a fiercer competition in industries. The same is true for the lighting industry. However, when most companies are bogged down by the product homogeneity and price war, the LED Bulb Expert Shanghai Wellmax Lighting (WELLMAX) has created a 20% annual revenue growth. The company, surpassed several time-honored enterprises in Shanghai, was honored as the Export Champion of Lighting Products in 2019. Yamin Wang, WELLMAX Chairman and fou...

In the fight against COVID-19, Chinese medical equipment supplier Sunay Healthcare Supply secured an order of autonomous UVC disinfection robots for hospital use from Danish-based company UVD Robots in February. UVD Robots won the IERA award, essentially the robotics industry’s Oscars, in 2019. The company currently sells its robots in more than 40 countries. In addition to operating in the European and U.S. healthcare markets, UVD Robots is also supplying autonomous UV disinfection robots to hospitals in Asia. Hot on the heels of UVD R...

Micro LED as the innovative display technology is expected to replace TFT-LCD and OLED display in the near future with its high performance including high resolution, high contrast, self-emission, low power consumption and long life. However, the technology still encounter several bottlenecks. The most challenging one for researchers and manufacturers is the notorious mass transfer process which requires bonding RGB LED chips to display backplane accurately and efficiently. The task also needs to tackle the issues caused by different chip materials such as breakable...

The U.S.-based Innovasonic announced a partnership with CEA-LETI and CEA-LIST institutes to open a wholly-owned subsidiary in France. The company chose to work with CEA Tech Institutes to leverage their expertise in thin-layer piezoelectric material and their technologies in applied research in microelectronics and nanotechnology. Dr. Boris Kobrin, Founder and CEO of Innovasonic said, “Innovasonic addresses LIDAR, automotive cameras, PV solar panels, and other applications that could benefit from the solution's self-cleaning capabilitie...

Korean electronics giants Samsung and LG are cutting down their LCD production and aim to exit the LCD panel manufacturing business in the near future. Japan’s JDI is also suffered from weak business and sold its LCD production equipment to Apple reportedly. According to the latest investigations by the WitsView research division of TrendForce, these measures taken by the Korean and Japanese companies will led to declines in large size LCD production. Meanwhile, market share of Korean manufacturers in large-size panel capacity will shrink to below 10%. ...

Japan Display announced that the company has been involved in improper accounting treatment with a total padded operating profit of JPY 8.2 billion (US$ 76.12 million) in the past six years since 2014, when the company was listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company was investigated by a third-party committee and revealed the results on April 13, 2020. (Image: JDI) The investigation showed that JDI recorded fictitious inventory of JPY 10 billion (US$92.86 million) in total since the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. The investigation also...

Worldwide technology builders are accelerating UVC LED developments for disinfecting applications aiming to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Lately we have seen many new products and technologies debuted and here comes a new UVC LED innovation from the German research center, Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technology and Image Evaluation, which is part of the Applied System Technology AST branch (IOSB-AST). Researchers built a microwave-like equipment which include two separate UVC LED modules with 10 UVC LEDs embedded respecti...

Chelsea Klukas, the product design manager at Oculus/Facebook AR/VR team, recently debuted a face mask combining a LED display panel to show customized images or texts, under her fashion-technology brand Lumen Couture. The LED mask can connect with an application on smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth to input the messages or graphic that users want to show on the mask. The mask also provides equalizer mode to respond to music, sounds or voice of the phones to deliver unique animated designs. (Image: Lumen Couture) The 512 pixels LED display panel is put bet...

High Power Optoelectronics (HPO) is the world's one and only professional manufacturer of full gamut (from 365 nm UV to 940 nm IR light), vertical-structure LED chips, holding the world's oldest LED-single crystal substrate wafer bonding patent. This wafer bonding process turns the original substrate into a silicon substrate after MOCVD epitaxial growth, giving LED chips exceptional thermal conductivity, and allowing them to provide even better luminous efficacy under high current and increased component reliability. (Dr. Chih-Sung Chang, Chairman of...

LettUs Grow is an indoor farming technology provider founded in 2015 in Bristol, UK. The company is speeding up the building of two vertical farm modules in the city of Bristol to help feed vulnerable communities during the Covid-19 outbreak. The company is also forming partnership with the food redistribution charity FareShare South West to ensure the produce gets to those who need it most. LettUs Grow expects the first of the new aeroponic farm modules to be ready to start producing fresh produce from mid-April, with the first harvests ready to be delivered in ten days...

A KAIST team developed a novel wearable strain sensor based on the modulation of optical transmittance of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-embedded elastomer. The sensor is capable of sensitive, stable, and continuous measurement of physical signals and shows potential for the detection of subtle human motions and the real-time monitoring of body postures for healthcare applications. The study “Wearable Strain sensors Using Light Transmittance Change of Carbon Nanotube-Embedded Elastomers with Microcracks” was published in Applied Materials & Interfaces in ...

A joint research conducted by Japan’s Kobe University and Ushio, the Japan-based LED component maker, has provided proof for the first time in the world that direct and repetitive illumination from 222nm UVC radiation, which is a powerful sterilizer, does not cause skin cancer. This suggests that 222nm UVC is also safe for human eyes and skin. This technology is expected to have a wide range of antibacterial and antiviral applications in medical facilities and daily life. These research results were published online in Photochemistry & Photobiology, titled &l...

As LED technology advances, lighting applications have evolved from general lighting to commercial and architectural lighting, realizing more possibilities with energy saving and other requirements. Architectural lighting is a field which many LED companies have been engaged. LEDinside interviewed CREE, one of the leading industry suppliers of the market to learn how innovative LED technology supports current architectural lighting applications. Paul Scheidt, Leader of Product Marketing at CREE, shared his insights and prospective towards the field. (Paul S...

Australia-based BluGlass updated its business operation recently, presenting its developments in its direct-to-market Laser Diode business unit (launched October 2019) and recent progress on its Micro LED and LED programs. (Image: Pixabay) BluGlass has processed new RPCVD tunnel junction laser diode test structures which replaces the heavily lossy and resistive p-AlGaN cladding layers needed in standard laser diodes, paving the way for laser diodes improvement with reduced optical loss. The BluGlass US based Test Facility is on track for completion and f...