Suitable lighting is proved to enhance efficiency and productivity for office workers. Osram’s HubSense intelligent lighting management system with standardized “Qualified Bluetooth Mesh” technology enables small and medium-sized businesses to upgrade their lighting system to improve the comfort of working environment. With the system, existing installations can be updated without new cabling and without the use of a gateway or any other IT equipment. HubSense also fits new installations in single offices, open-plan offices, corridors and conference rooms and...

Semiconductor material supplier HexaTech announced the launch of its deep-UV transparent 2-inch diameter, single crystal aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate product line. This capability is targeted to directly support commercial production of UVC LED. The company will also reveal its detect-free AlN substrate capability in May of last year. "This deep-UV transparency capability, especially when coupled with HexaTech's market-leading crystal quality, continues to demonstrate both the wide-ranging potential of the AlN platform, and the outstanding technical...

Signify, the world’s largest lighting company, recently suspended its 2020 financial outlook and cut 20% wage of its employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, the company further published a press release explaining its perspective of the crisis. Stephen Rouatt, Signify’s Head of Strategy, Alliances and Market Insights, looks at the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic Rouatt said that the impacts on the global economy caused by COVID-19 will likely to continue until 2021 depending on how governments around the world contain th...

A new study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) in Germany showed that full spectrum LED products deliver better visual comfort compared to standard LED products. Full spectrum LEDs are usually categorized as those emitting light similar in composition to natural sunlight. The soon-to-be published Fraunhofer IBP study incorporated a technical comparison of the LED spectra to daylight spectra, a literature review addressing the effect of light spectra on humans, and a psychological study with 83 persons in an office setting. Each par...

LiDAR sensing technology is now commonly known as a solution for automotive driving and ADAS system, but the technology also leverage its edges in a time of the COVID-19 crisis. An indoor motion analysis software developer, iinsider, released SafeDistance, a free upgrade to its LiDAR-powered solution for monitoring and analyzing crowd density in public spaces. The software utilizes LiDAR sensors and 3D perception software from Quanergy to help airport, venue and facility managers monitor and mitigate crowding and congestion, and maintain safe distancing within t...

LeddarTech reported that it has partnered with Sunny Automotive Optech, a Chinese optical component maker, for creating LiDAR solutions for automotive and mobility applications. The Sunny Automotive Optech will provide optical solutions for LiDAR development as a member of the Leddar Ecosystem, LeddarTech and Sunny Automotive Optech will initiate this collaboration on front and cocoon LiDAR optics designs, based on the LeddarEngine™. The LeddarEngine is comprised of the LeddarCore™ LCA3 system-on-chip and LeddarSP™ signal proce...

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a free online tool, the horticulture luminaire calculator, to assist growers evaluating the performance, efficiency, and economics of a wide variety of horticultural luminaires, typically used in greenhouses and other controlled agricultural environments. The horticulture luminaire calculator enables growers to compare different luminaires and choose the optimize solutions for their applications. (Image: LRC) Horticulture lighting is become more significant with indoor farming and high-...

Osram announced in its latest press release that the company will shift production of its cinema lamp to Berlin and close the production site in Eichstätt, a Bavarian town in Germany. Osram said the decision is made in response to structural changes in the cinema industry and additional economic challenges being faced as a result of the coronavirus. The market for cinema lamps is impacted by the pandemic as people are not able to go to cinemas, leading to shrinking demands and production decline. German media Die Welt reported that the measure was criticized by IG M...

On March 24, 2020, in a patent infringement lawsuit which Nichia filed against HTC NIPPON, a Japanese affiliate of Taiwanese Company HTC and Kanematsu Communications, the distributor of HTC NIPPON, Tokyo District Court rendered a judgment, holding that defendants have infringed Nichia’s patents. Nichia filed the patent lawsuit in 2016 claiming HTC infringed its patents. In the judgment, the court found that HTC’s smartphone (product name: HTC Desire 626) distributed by defendants were equipped with white LEDs which infringes N...

According to the latest report by LEDinside, the research division of TrendForce, “2020 Deep UV LED Application Market and Branding Strategies,” UV LED used to rely on pricing reduction to seize market acceptance of brands and consumers. But currently under the impact of COVID-19, brands and consumers’ awareness of sterilization has been greatly enhanced. UV-C LED manufacturers’ order inquiries dramatically increased after Lunar New Year. It is believed that UV-C LED will have the opportunity to steadily improve market value....

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...