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...

Signify announced new smart light products, including an upgraded Hue Go, the Smart button, the Smart plug, and new GU10 and E14 smart bulbs. The Philips Hue Go is a portable smart lamp offering colored smart light with Bluetooth capability for wireless control via app or selected smart home assistants. The upgraded Hue Go also features an improved battery life for an even longer period of time. The Smart plug turns any table or floor lamp into a Hue smart light. And the Smart button can be used to control Hue lights to brighten and dim. When connected to the Ph...

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...

On September 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a set of new rules that eliminate the policy of LED light bulbs transition requirement starting January 1, 2020. The revise policy is considered a roll-back of the efficiency standards passed by Obama in 2017 and will slow down LED light upgrade. The policy was proposed in February 19, 2019 by DOE to withdraw the definitions of general service lamp (GSL) and general service incandescent lamp (GSIL) and other supplemental definition that adopt the efficiency standards. American Council ...

A research team formed by specialists in photonics, electrical and computer engineering and medicine jointly developed a device which integrated a 10x10 array of glass microneedles with Micro LED to deliver light for stimulating neurons in brains of mammals. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde, University of Utah and Fienstein Institute for Medical Research aim to advance optogenetic studies by connecting neural activities to specific cognitive functions in large mammals. In the study, the researchers combined a glass microneedle array with a custom fabricated...

Lumotive, the Bill Gates-funded startup developing LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles, and Himax Display, a subsidiary of Himax Technologies, announced their collaboration on beam steering technology in LiDAR systems that integrates Himax’s Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) technology with Lumotive’s patented Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces™ (LCMs). With the partnership, the two companies aim to improve the performance, reliability and cost of LiDAR systems for enabling advanced ADAS and automotive vehicle technologies. Lumotive lev...

Titled as “City of Science,” Darmstadt in Germany is installing wireless IoT connected streetlights as part of its smart city project to save energy and reduce light pollution. The project is Tridonic’s first installation of innovative Smart City technology with light-on-demand functionality. As part of the “Digital City Darmstadt” project, a street section in the Wixhausen area of Darmstadt has been equipped with adaptive lighting that integrated PIR sensors. The streetlights are equipped with wireless modules to connect one another as w...

Seoul Semiconductor announced that it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Conrad Electronic again in the District Court of Manheim, Germany. In July, Seoul Semiconductor has filed the first litigation involving mobile phone products against Conrad in the District Court of Düsseldorf in Germany. According to the second complaint raised by Seoul, LEDs for flashlights of mobile phones sold by Conrad are infringing Seoul’s patent. The patented technology in this litigation is “the Roughened Light Extraction Surface” technology that e...

After Osram agreed to waive the standstill agreement with AMS, the Austrian company made a counter offer with the price of EUR 38.5 per share in cash to take over the German firm on September 3, 2019. Shareholders of Osram have an acceptance period until October 2019 to decide on the acquisition plan. The offer of AMS raised a bidding war with Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group, who proposed a takeover offer of EUR 35 per share to acquire Osram. AMS underlined that “our offer and the combination of Osram and AMS represents a better option to all sta...

In 2018, Signify announced that it has completed the world first bat-friendly LED lighting installation in a Dutch town, Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop. Now on a way A4440 in the UK, LED lights that provide bat-friendly light source are set up by Worcestershire County Council, according to the report of Lux. The red light emitting LED lights a wavelength that does not affect a bat’s fly, providing a bat friendly crossing across the A4440 which is close to Warndon Wood nature reserve. (Image: Signify) The bat-friendly lighting switch project was a collaboration...

Mini LED has been viewed as the technology to confront OLED in display applications. Industry players from Taiwan possessing expertise in LEDs and LCD see the opportunity and are accelerating their technology development, aiming to boost the LED industry. Chip maker Epistar and vertical integrated LED company Lextar both demonstrated a wide range of Mini LED products including Mini LED backlit displays for gaming notebook, monitors, automotive panels and large sized Mini LED RGB displays for outdoor signage. Automotive applications are the targe...

Several exhibitors attending Touch Taiwan 2019 showcased their latest Micro LED displays and applications at the show including Taiwan-based panel manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO) presenting a 12.1-inch Micro LED automotive display. Paul Peng, chairman of AUO, indicated that commercialized Micro LED products will hit the market in one to two years. The panel market showed decline in 2019 due to soft global economy and the U.S.-China trade dispute. Despite that AUO has also been impacted by the slow growth, the company is pushing high value products deve...

Leveraging connected lighting technology from Signify and network expertise from Cisco, Norwegian IT systems integrator Atea has redefined the meaning of “smart office” with its office building in Stavanger, Norway. The office, named “living lab,” demonstrate the integration of connected technology on a single converged network. Key to smart office capabilities at Atea is Interact Office from Signify — a suite of connected lighting monitoring and management software — and connected sensors and luminaires from Signify. In addition to hig...

A research team from the University of Waterloo published their result of a successful demonstration which integrates amorphous silicon TFTs and Micro LED on large-area flexible substrates. With the approach, manufacturing of flexible Micro LED for wearables and large size displays with lower cost could be achieved. Researchers combined conventional low-temperature amorphous silicon TFT fabrication process with a laser lift-off transfer process to integrate blue GaN-based Micro LEDs with flexible TFT pixel circuits. According to the study, the selective l...

Micro LED and Mini LED technologies and applications created a sensation at Touch Taiwan 2019. Exhibitors from the supply chain presented key materials, components, equipment solutions as well as products applications following the Micro LED and Mini LED waves. eLux and Epileds jointly demonstrate a 12-inch full color Micro LED automotive display. The display adopts Micro LED RGB chip sized 40-50µm by Epileds and active LTPS backplane drive solution, reaching 42 ppi and brightness over 1,000nits. The full color and high contrast display performan...

On August 30, 2019, EPISTAR filed a patent infringement lawsuit against GMY Lighting Technology (GMY), Lightinthebox Holding, Light In The Box, Lightinthebox International Logistic, and LITB, (collectively, LITB) in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint asserts that GMY’s LED filament bulbs sold and offered for sale on GMY and LITB’s website infringe seven EPISTAR patents, and seeks injunctive relief to halt further sale of the infringing products. EPISTAR’s complain...

LiDAR companies continuously extend their partnerships with autonomous driving technology developers to speed up self-driving applications. Canadian LeddarTech announced the collaboration with the Flodraulic Group for autonomous applications. Velodyne Lidar, on the other hand, is providing its LiDAR sensors to Optimus Ride’s self-driving vehicles. Flodraulic is a mobile system integrator specialized in creating full machine control and monitoring systems. The company selected LeddarTech's LeddarTM IS16 LiDAR sensors for the feature of distance and a...

Polaris PowerLED Technologies, a U.S. based LED technology company and licensor of display brightness control functionality, announced that it has agreed to enter into a settlement and license agreement with Samsung Electronics for resolving patent infringement litigation brought by Polaris PowerLED against Samsung. "We are delighted to have resolved these litigations and that Samsung has become a licensee to Polaris' patented technologies," said Ralph Brandi, chief executive officer of Polaris PowerLED. (Image: Pixabay)...

Taiwan-based LED packager Everlight announced that the High Court of Australia has rendered the final judgment on August 7, 2019, denying Nichia’s appeal request. The Court has decided that the asserted claims of Nichia’s Australia patent 720234 are invalid. The Court has affirmed that Everlight’s products of Arrow did not infringe Nichia’s patent. Everlight affirmed the result of judgment and won the final victory by defending its customers' rights and interests. Earlier in March, Everlight reported that the Federal Court of Austral...

Touch Taiwan closed on August 30. Visitors at the show could find a wide range of display applications from wearables panel below 1 inch to large TVs up to 120-inch based on Mini LED and Micro LED technologies. One of the eye-catching products showcased by panel manufacturer AUO is the 12.1-inch Micro LED automotive panel that delivered vivid colors, high contrast and smooth display performance. At the same time, an AM Mini LED display flaunted an astonishing screen quality. According to AUO, since automotive verification takes long time, the company see...

Austria lighting company Tridonic under the Zumtobel Group announced the appointment of new CEO, Hedwig Maes, who will take the position starting September 1, 2019. (Image: Tridonic) The previous CEO, Guido van Tartwijk, left the company at the end of last year. Hedwig Maes will take over the tast and report directly to Alfred Felder, CEO of the Zumtobel Group. Maes, who was born in Belgium, gained 32 years of professional experience in the areas of electronics, industrial automation and industry systems with companies such as General Electric and AB...

LG Innotek announced the launch of its “Nexlide-HD”, a flexible three-dimensional lighting for cars that emits bright and uniform light from five directions. LG Innotek attached numerous LED onto a thin substrate to product the automotive lighting module. It is a hexahedron that gently curves like a rubber and mounted on the exterior lamps, such as daytime running lights (DRLs) and tail lights. The product, “Nexlide-HD,” emits uniform light from five directions except the substrate contact surface. The company applied the LED packages, wh...

Intellectual properties are crucial for technology developers and manufacturers. As a result, the disputes for patented technologies continue to go on. This week, Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) announced its victory of patent infringement litigation and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has begun investigation for the patent infringement case raised by UC Santa Barbara. MCC reported that on July 31 it obtained a judgement recognizing the infringement of its patent for red phosphor in China by the defendants, U.S.-based Intem...

MEAN WELL unveils the new linear type SLD series with both mechanism and specification strengths. The 12V/24V models are the constant voltage and current mode for any 12V/24V LED strip application in the market. As for the 56V model, it applies the constant power mode, which downsizes the model numbers. The 56V model is suitable for any LED luminaires design with output forward voltage between 30V to 56V. The built-in potentiometer design is kept for the user to flexibly adjust output driver current from minimum 700 mA to maximum 2100 mA. (CP mode full power ...

Touch Taiwan 2019, the major business fair for the display industry, kicked off on August 28 at Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan. The event attracted around 300 suppliers from the supply chain to show their latest display technologies and products. AUO exhibited varios high-end displays Micro LEDs and Mini LEDs are definitely the spotlight of the show this year. Event organizer particularly arranged a zone for Micro LED and Mini LED products and solutions which attracted companies including Epistar, Lextar, Macroblock, TOPCO, ASM Paci...

As a driver IC design house with a special focus on power management and optoelectronic applications, Macroblock is not only devoted to LED display driver IC development, but also enthusiastic in new markets with innovated applications, such as: LED backlight driver ICs (Direct type LED full-array local dimming, called FALD), mini-LED backlight driver ICs and modules, Micro-LED backlight and display modules, and gaming keyboards. These are demonstrated at  at Touch Taiwan 2019.  Get Ready for HDR Macroblock demonstrates ‘Display&...

Facing the difficulties in the industry, global LED companies developed their strategies trying to keep their business prospering. LEDinside analyzed the different approaches of worldwide LED manufacturers. For Taiwanese LED manufacturers, Micro LED and Mini LED technologies have directed them into a new field where they have a better chance to rival with competitors from China and Korea. Korean and Japanese LED suppliers, on the other hand, target niche products for novel applications such as UV LEDs and LEDs with wavelengths that are similar to natu...