After revealing its sluggish business performance, Osram announced that it will strengthen its automotive business by acquiring aftermarket specialist Ring Automotive. With the acquisition, Osram plans to expand its aftermarket portfolio and reach end customers via the distribution channels of Ring Automotive in the UK. In addition, Ring's specialization in electronic car accessories complements Osram’s product range. Moreover, Osram will give the ring portfolio access to the US market via the established Osram Sylvania channels and opens up new sales pote...

A research team consists of scholars from Taiwan and China has developed a microscopic imaging system for inspecting Micro LED display surface luminance. Currently the major luminance measurement systems focus on inspecting the total luminance of LEDs which do not meet the requirement of Micro LED as the luminance of each individual Micro LED chips need to be evaluated. To solve the issue, researchers from Xiamen University in China and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan proposed a method to accurately inspect the luminance of a whole micro-LED array a...

Seoul Semiconductor reported its 2018 fiscal year consolidated revenue of KRW 1194.2 billion (US$1.07 billion) with an operating profit of KRW 99 billion (US$ 88.6 million), as well as a net income of KRW 65.4 billion (US$ 58.53 million) to report two year consecutive sales growth. As a result of stabilization of Seoul Semiconductor’s new manufacturing plant in Vietnam and improved product mix, the consolidated fourth quarter revenue increased by 6% YoY to KRW 300.6 billion (US$ 269.04 million), while operating profit amounted to KRW 36.2 billion (US...

An international research team led by the Georgia Institute of Technology illustrates the potential of next-generation semiconducting materials in transforming lighting technology. . Researchers have found out that the quantum particles of the hybrid semiconductors could create desirable optoelectronic (light-electronic) properties. The particles moving through these new materials also engage the material itself in the quantum action. The researchers were able to measure patterns in the material caused by relating them to the emerging material’s quantum properties and to ener...

Sanan Optoelectronics, the largest LED epitaxy wafer manufacturer in China, announced that it has received funds from its strategic investors including Quanzhou Financial Holding, the China Industrial International Trust, and An Xin Capital. The three organizations plan to provide a joint investment of at least CNY 5.4 billion (US$801.64 million) to Sanan and Quanzhou Financial Holding will offer liquidity assistance of CNY 600 million (US$ 89 million). Sanan Optoelectronics has been through a financial crisis in January with its stock price dropped ...

China-based LED display solution provider Absen announced that it is showcasing three new narrow pixel pitch (NPP) product series at ISE 2019 which is taking place during February 5-8 in Amsterdam. The new display series with Integrated Matrix Device (IMD) and Common Cathode (CC) technologies provide five times the strength as traditional LED screens whilst consuming 20% less power. By combining the two technologies in an innovative way, Absen has further reduced the pixel pitch of its LED screens whilst ensuring maximum durability. Absen’s new A...

Osram debuted the second generation of blue multi-mode laser diodes for cars to illuminate the road condition when driving at night. The laser diodes doubles the range compared to previous LED solutions to 600 meters and simplifies the system design at the same time, when used in the auxiliary high beam of the car. With brighter light source, Osram’s PLPT9 450D_E A01 laser makes driving at night safer. (Image: Osram) “With our newly developed laser diode, car lights can be designed and built even smaller than before – without compromising light out...

Velodyne LiDAR has begun partnership with Postmates, a food delivery startup, by providing its LiDAR sensors to Postmates Serve, innovative self-driving rover providing services for short-distance deliveries. (Image: Postmates) The autonomous rover is equipped with Velodyne’s market-leading VLP-16 Puck™ sensor, which is built into the top of the rover for a high-performance surround view, enabling Serve to detect people and objects as it completes local deliveries. Serve can carry 50 lbs and go 30 miles on a single charge. Also, it can interact wit...

Driving LED by constant power mode has been a popular topic recently. Why do LEDs must be driven by the constant current? Why not with a constant power source? Before discussing the above issue, we have to understand why the LED must be driven by a constant current. As shown in Figure (a) LED I-V curve, when the LED forward voltage changed about 2.5%, the current through the LED will correspondingly change about 16%, and forward voltage of the LED is easily affected by junction temperature. The change of high and low temperature may even make the voltage chan...

2019 may not be a prosperous year for LED manufacturers given the market uncertainties resulting from the changing global politics. Yet, industry players continue their technology developments and expect Mini LED to revive the stagnant market. Mini LED, as an improved version of conventional LED, provides refined diming zones when serving as backlight and can be utilized in curved displays when coupled with flexible substrates. Since last year, several LED makers including Lextar have begun shipping Mini LED backlight products for high end applications such as gami...

Flexible and foldable panels have created a sensation since Royole and Samsung introduced their foldable phones by the end of 2018. Soon after that, LG revealed a stunning rollable TV at CES 2019. Flexible OLED displays are getting more attentions with products launched in the market in 2019. Samsung is expected to launch its folding smartphone in February 20 while its rival LG is also set to reveal a foldable smartphone soon. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone makers including Oppo, Xiaomi and Huawei have all announced their plans of releasing folding phones in this y...

PixelFLEX, the US-based LED manufacturer announced the launch of its EF Series LED video display which is front-serviceable and high-resolution for quality performance and reliability, while offering an innovative simplicity to installation and serviceability. "As a company, we strive to develop products that we know we can stand behind, and that our customers can trust,” said David Venus, PixelFLEX Chief Marketing Officer. “Our goal with the new EF Series was to offer an economical solution, without affecting the performance quality that ou...

Since 2017, General Motors (GM) has begun LED lighting system replacement for its facilities all over the U.S. with the help from Current by GE. Until now, the company has installed more than 50,000 LED fixtures and is incorporating sensors and controls into the new light fixtures to create a future-proof digital ceiling to improve its intelligent infrastructure and enhancing sustainability. GM has continued to demonstrate leadership in sustainability through superior operational efficiency. In 2015, GM’s Lighting Strategy Committee began to focus on lightin...

St.Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City is now shines in LED lighting as Osram completed its digital lighting project of the World Heritage after 18 month of planning and the installation of a new LED lighting system. Osram said that the entire lighting concept for the project was tailor-made to highlight all the treasures of the world's most important and historic basilica. More than 780 special luminaires equipped with approximately 100,000 LEDs were used in this project. Thanks to intelligent lighting control, the lighting of the church, which covers an ar...

Japanese LED maker Nichia Corporation announced the expansion of its Optisolis™ natural light source technology with a portfolio of COB packages. (Image: Nichia) To further improve the overall quality of light as "AKARI”, Nichia has developed Optisolis. Launched in February 2018 with a Nichia Mid Power LED series, Optisolis provides a natural light source with a spectrum that achieves the industry’s closest match to that of the standard illuminant, including both the sun and incandescent. Optisolis, which was first presented to the i...

2019 has just begun but this year seems to be a tough one for global LED manufacturers with continuous global market uncertainty caused by the US-China dispute. Osram, the German representative of the LED industry, unveiled its weak business performance of the first quarter of its fiscal 2019 with a 15 percent YoY revenue drop. The company noted that the revenue for coming quarters might remain “significantly low” due to the general political uncertainties. Taiwanese LED maker Everlight is not optimistic about 2019 either. Robert Yeh, the CEO of E...

Unilumin, the Chinese LED application products and integrated solutions provider, announced that it is capable to mass produce 0.9mm Mini LED and will launch Mini LED solution at ISE 2019. Meanwhile, the company also reported that it is investing a new smart manufacturing facility for the development and production of Mini/Micro LED. According to Unilumin, it is the first to mass-produce 0.9 mm LED for high-end applications which is solving previous technical barriers and addressing the issue of the high cost of traditional SMD display. (Image: Unilumin...

Osram announced that in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, the company is facing an on-year revenue decline due to the weak Chinese market under the impact of the on-going US-China trade dispute. According to Osram, the declining market in the end of 2018 has led to poor performance of its three business units, Opto Semiconductor, Automotive and Digital. The revenue of Osram for its fiscal 1Q19 was EUR 828 million (US$ 938 million) with a 15 percent YoY decrease. And the Opto Semiconductors unit recorded a 16.9 percent decline in revenue on a comparable basis...

UV curing technology developer Phoseon Technology announced that it has been granted a new patent in the US and achieved a milestone of 300 patents awarded. Phoseon’s patents are organized in 54 patent families, covering critical design, process, and other photonic technologies across all the major markets worldwide. Phoseon’s new patent granted UV LED fiber curing system ensures high speed curing of optical fiber to deliver uniform and concentrated light for a fast cure, increased output and simplified process control. The Fiber Curing System consists of...

US-based Insight LiDAR showcased its new LiDAR technology development at CES 2019. The company presented Digital Coherent LiDAR, a chip-scale, long-range LiDAR sensor based on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) to target the emerging autonomous vehicle market. FMCW radar radiates continuous transmission power and can change its operating frequency during the measurement. The technology has stronger sensing capability in comparison with ToF and is suitable for long distance detection. Insight’s Digital Coherent LiDAR was develope...

LEDVANCE, the maker of SYLVANIA general lighting in the United States and Canada, announced that global CEO Lawrence Lin will assume managing director responsibilities for the United States and Canada on an interim basis, in addition to his current responsibilities. Jim Johnson, who previously held the position, left the company this month. (Image: LEDVANCE) Lawrence Lin became the CEO and Managing Director of global LEDVANCE in November 2018. He commented, “LEDVANCE continues to evolve to deliver innovative lighting ...

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has published new guideline for outdoor luminaires and roadway and area lighting equipment with LED technology added. The NEMA LSD 80-2018 Installation Guidelines for Outdoor Luminaires—Grounding Considerations addresses the application of the National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC) as it pertains to the grounding of outdoor luminaires and recommends installation guidelines. New outdoor luminaries contain more electronics (e.g., LED lamps, electronic drivers, and electronic lighting ...

Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT) announced that it has worked with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) by providing multiple PlasmaPro 100 systems including both etch and deposition for ITRI’s Micro LED R&D program. The PlasmaPro 100 ICP process solutions are designed to support leading edge device applications such as Lasers, RF, Power and advanced LEDs. ITRI has been developing Micro LED technology since 2009. In 2018, with the cooperation with Macroblock, Unimicron and PlayNitrid...

In the beginning of 2019, GE Lighting announced that it is deepening its C by GE portfolio which features hub-free IoT smart lighting with Google Assistant control. The Made-for-Google products are able to connect with Google’s system and be controlled via app on smartphones or portable devices. The connected lights allow app and voice control for changing the color of lights and tuning brightness. Furthermore, they can also combine smart accessories including smart wall plug and motion sensor to manage lighting away from home and by movement. (Image: GE) E...

The next-generation display technology – Micro LED, has remained a spotlight of the industry. NEPCON Japan 2019 has invited Chih-I Wu from ITRI and Paul Schuele of eLux to share their insights of the technology at the key note conference focusing on Micro LED. Wu and Schuele both began their lecture by comparing Micro LED with LCD and OLED and addressed the advantage of Micro LED. Micro LED, as considered to be the next generation display technology, is featured with high brightness, long lifetime, and low power consumption. Wu highl...

AUTOMOTIVE WORLD, the automotive technology exhibition taking place concurrently with NEPCON Japan, highlighted the theme of CASE, addressing the next generation features of connected, autonomous, sharing and electric vehicles. Masaki Soda, the show director of AUTOMOTIVE WORLD, told LEDinside that the show gathered cutting-edge automotive technologies focusing on the components and technologies of vehicles including lighting modules, battery drivers, automotive IC, panels and others. Soda said, AUTOMOTIVE WORLD offers a plat...

The trend of wearable devices can be observed at NEPCON Japan 2019. The concurrent show WEARABLE EXPO attracted a big crowd during the exhibition. LEDinside founded that smart glasses, head up display (HUD) and AR/VR devices were popular demonstration at the show.   Color Link Japan presents VR lenses module Optical technology developer Color Link Japan exhibited two lenses modules designed for VR glasses. One is designed for 3D display application and the other features ultra-fast responding time to show smooth images when incorporate...

Japan-based Ushio Opto Semiconductors announced that it has developed a broadband LED that produces an output 160 mW over a wide bandwidth between 400 and 1000 nm, covering the range from visible light to near-infrared light. According to the Ushio Opto Semiconductors, the near-infrared light are widely applied in food scanning and medical field. In addition, the demands for portable measuring devices such as blood oximeter are rising. On the other hand, light that extends from the visible region to the near-infrared region where the wavelength is about 1000 nm matches th...

Austrian lighting group Zumtobel announced its lighting project for the new Town Hall in Freiburg, Germany. Cooperated with ingenhoven architects, Tropp Lighting Design and the City of Freiburg authorities, Zumtobel helped the building to generate more energy than it actually uses. Thanks to the project, the Freiburg Germany, an oval shape, sit-story building, has a façade with slender storey-high slats that stretch around the building. A façade with slats that are light larch wood on one side and full-scale photovoltaic panel on the other presents a stylish...

One essential features of LED lighting is that its wavelength and intensities can be managed to meet various requirements of different applications. Jeff Tsao, a researcher of Sandia National Laboratories, believes that engineered light has great potential to improve human health and productivity. Tsao and his colleagues have published a Nature “Perspectives” article in November 2018 to illustrate the unlimited potential of LED lighting. (Image: SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES) The authors addressed that "LED lighting is o...