Velodyne Lidar announced its collaboration with Nikon as the optical technology company invests US$ 25 million in Velodyne. The two companies have begun discussions for a multifaceted business alliance. The purpose of the strategic partnership is to combine Nikon’s optical and precision technologies with Velodyne’s sensor technology. According to Velodyne, the relationship aims to advance the timeline for manufacturing and mass production of LiDAR for the autonomous and advanced safety global market. The parties have begun investigating a wide-ranging business...

Lighting supplier Zumtobel Group announced a grand opening of its new lighting center in Paris. The space is designed as an open area that invites customers to exchange and network. The Zumtobel Group opened its new Light Centre on a surface of 450m² at 10 rue d’Uzès in the 2nd arrondissement in Paris on December 13th 2018. In this new Light Centre, the Zumtobel Group showcases its broad portfolio in the field of professional lighting along with the associated services in the new premises, allowing light to be experienced in its many different fascinati...

TSLC Corporation, a subsidiary of SemiLEDs, launched sampling of its tri-color Mini LED series, targeted to provide LED display manufacturers with surface-mounting (SMT) compatible devices. The first product in the tri-color multi pixel series is a 16-pixel RGB array component, “4x4RGBminiArray.” The component simplifies the process of surface-mounting and increase the throughput over 15 times. The production cost is thus reduced. As the commercial markets strive to deliver top quality images, the pixel number required for displays increases drast...

Having looked back at the industry updates of Micro LED technology, let’s keep on reviewing the technology breakthroughs of Micro LED in the past year. KAIST Team Develops Flexible Vertical Micro LED to Cure Hair loss Problem In January, a researcher team at KAIST announced the development of flexible vertical micro LEDs (f-VLEDs). These f-VLEDs achieved optical power density (30 mW/mm2) three times higher than that of lateral Micro LEDs and can be applied to optogenetics for controlling the behavior of neuron cells and brains with...

German company TRUMPF is going to acquire Philips Photonics, the VCSEL production units of Royal Philips, to expand its product portfolio for 3D sensing and data transmission applications. Back in November Philips Photonics announced a milestone of shipping one billion VCSELs and soon after that the company was said to have increased the capacity of VCSEL production in Ulm, Germany. And now it is selling 100 percent of the operation to TRUMPF. The two companies are planning to finish the operation transaction by the second quarter of 2019 and neith...

Sensor solutions provider ams announced that it will exhibit new sensing technologies for the mobile devices, computing, consumer electronics and automotive sectors at CES 2019. With its theme, ‘Sensing is Life,’ ams is going to introduce sensor solutions including medical-grade wearable devices that monitor blood pressure; 3D technology for smart phones, computing, automotive and robotics; behind OLED solutions for bezel-less phones; color sensors that enhance pictures to professional levels; earbud technology for a relaxing ANC experience (digital and analog) ...

Environmental Lights launched its new line of silicone neon, ProFlex LED Neon. ProFlex LED Neon utilizes a flexible silicone housing to provide a greater level of UV protection and weather resistance than standard PVC-based neon. It is specifically designed for outdoor lighting applications. (Image: Environmental Lighting) "ProFlex LED Neon raises the bar in LED neon lighting applications," stated CEO of Environmental Lights Jamison Day. President Jordan Brooks added, "It is the ideal outdoor neon solution thanks to its durab...

For the LED and panel industry, the year of 2018 had a dramatic start with Samsung’s revealing of its Micro LED TV “The Wall” at the CES show. Since then, players in the industry have been releasing their achievements related to the next generation display technology. Several innovative solutions and applications have been disclosed in the past year including large size displays and wearable devices. As LEDinside has continued to track the progress of Micro LED development, we would like to list the significant breakthroughs and industry updates...

The U.S.-based LiDAR startup, AEye, announced the second close of its Series B financing, bringing the company’s total funding to over US$60 million. AEye Series B included global automotive OEM, Tier 1 and Tier 2 strategic investors Hella Ventures, SUBARU-SBI Innovation Fund, LG Electronics, and SK Hynix. AEye previously announced that the round was led by Taiwania Capital and other investors. Series B will be used to scale AEye’s operations to meet global demand for its artificial perception systems for both ADAS and Mobilit...

On the way for Osram’s high-tech company transformation, smart lighting and building applications are parts of the core development of the company. It has announced the launch of its IoT platform for the lighting and building market. Lightelligence is the platform developed by Osram which includes a far-reaching development environment for IoT solutions and applications. Users of the platform can draw on a fully developed software infrastructure and are not required to set up anything themselves. The IoT platform is much like an app store, where users can individually a...

Taiwan-based optical disc maker RITEK announced that its subsidiary, RiTdisplay and Luminit, a light sharping diffuser supplier in the U.S., are going to set up a joint venture in Taiwan focusing on automotive lighting. The RITEK group began its business in optical disc production and has expanded its operation to storage media, nano-technology, OLED displays and others. RiTdisplay is the subsidiary of RITEK which focuses on OLED development and production. On the other hand, Luminit specializes in light sharping technology for lighting, display, automot...

LED lighting industry has been in a Golden Era in recent years as the global lighting companies have poured in the ranks of LED lighting to seek a good fortune. However, opportunities always coexist with challenges: The competition of LED lighting industry is increasingly fierce, and most companies are at a loss when it comes to price competition. Some overseas clients hope to enter the high-end market to get better profits, but failed in the end due to the weakness of brand influence. One trader from South America is facing with the dilemma. At the 2017 Spring Canton ...

Epitaxy wafers are key to the technology development of Micro LED displays. As Micro LED chips are extremely small, the quality of epitaxy wafers including wavelength uniformity and low defect becomes critical for further production process. AIXTRON, the German-based technology company, has illustrated how its MOCVD systems can significantly improve wavelength uniformity and decrease defect density of Micro LED epitaxy wafer with its article, titled “AIXTRON’s MOCVD Technology Breakthrough for Micro LED High Volume Manufacturing....

Developing cost-effective methods for transferring Micro LEDs is critical for the commercialization of Micro LED display technology. How to accurately assemble numerous tiny sized Micro LEDs to targeted places efficiently has been one of the biggest challenges for worldwide Micro LED technology developers. Uniqarta, a U.S.-based startup who focuses on developing innovative assembly methods for integrated circuit (IC), has shared with LEDinside how its laser-based transfer technology can be applied for Micro LEDs. Its article, titled “Laser-Enabled E...

The key for commercializing Micro LED technology is to holistically improve the manufacture process and to achieve cost-effective high volume production of Micro LED displays. Major industry players in the production chain from the LED chip makers, transfer technology developers to panel producers and end products brands have all dedicated themselves to work on solutions for the goal. Tesoro Scientific, established by Francois J. Henley in 2017, focuses on the enhancement of Micro LED production. Its research paper, titled “Novel In-Process Functional Tes...

By the end of last month, Bloomberg reported that Bain Capital, a U.S.-based private equity firm, has been eyeing a buyout of Osram. Soon after that, another private equity company, Carlyle, reportedly joined the list of potential bidders for the German lighting technology group, according to Financial Times. The report of Financial Times noted that two people directly involved in the situation have confirmed Carlyle’s interest in the buyout of Osram. But neither Carlyle nor Osram commented on the information. (Image: Osram) Osram has been through a fina...

Osram has debuted new VCSELs for applications like 3D scanning and imaging. The new products, PLPVCQ 850 and the PLPVCQ 940, are the latest additions to Osram’s Bidos product family. VCSELs combine the high power density and simple packaging of an IRED with the spectral width and speed of a laser. With the focus on high tech development, Osram Opto Semiconductor has targeted VCSEL application include machine vision or facial recognition, as well as object or architectural scanning that involves mapping an area in 3D and positioning virtual fu...

LiDAR startup Luminar announced that it has collaborated with Autonomous Intelligent Driving (AID), the subsidiary of Audi. Through the partnership, Luminar is providing its forward-facing and long-range LiDAR technology to accelerate plans towards AID’s first fully autonomous deployments in 2021. AID is a startup founded by Audi with the purpose to provide autonomous driving technologies for the Volkswagen Group. Since the company launched in March last year, AID tapped Luminar as its first partner for realizing its vision to deploy true and safe au...

Mainstream 3030 LED package products in the Chinese market have seen noticeable price declines in this November, according to the latest report from LEDinside, a division of TrendForce. “LED manufacturers have started to clear their inventories since 4Q18, which lowered the prices considerably”, says LEDinside analyst Terri Wang. The average prices of high- and mid-power 3030 LED slid 3.4% and 2.9% respectively, while prices of mid-power LEDs and high-power ceramic-substrate LEDs remained stable. In the automotive LED market, where the tech...

Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor, the two LED manufacturers in Japan and South Korea, have respectively reported updates regarding their intellectual property issues with the Taiwan-based company, Everlight. Nichia has confirmed its YAG patent in Germany as Everlight and its German subsidiary WOFI have withdrawn their appeal in November. The Japanese company then requested Everlight and WOFI to provide the rendering account information for related white LED products. Nichia is going to request compensation for the patent infringement from Everlight based o...

The U.S.-based LED giant Cree has adjusted its management team. After the new CFO and chairman were appointed and the new members of the board of directors were elected in the six months, the head of the LED division has stepped down, reported Triangle Business Journal. The executive vice president and general manager of Cree’s LED business unit, David Emerson, has left the position. Claude Demby, formerly senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, took over the duty. (Image: Cree) The company has been through a shuffle in the sen...

Osram announced that it is providing several of its components for automotive lighting and biometric identification solutions for microSNAP, Rinspeed’s concept vehicle, which will be presented at CES 2019. Rinspeed’s microSNAP is the latest version of the company’s autonomous concept car which has a chassis to contain the drivetrain and most of the IT while connecting to various body types. (Image: Osram) Outside the vehicle, microSNAP uses Osram’s Eviyos, a hybrid LED for smart headlights, which contains individually controlled pi...

Samsung Electronics announced that it has recently finished implementing its SMART Signage at the new Istanbul Airport. Samsung has supplied nearly 700 Samsung SMART LCD and LED signage, including LED displays covering a total of 1,012 square meters. The project was carried out within 45 days with a technical team of 28 people with the help of B.T. Global. (Image: Samsung) The new Istanbul Airport covers 76.5 million square meters including the 1.4 million square meters main terminal building, where Samsung’s signage installed. The two gian...

Japan Display Inc. (JDI) has been negotiating with Chinese companies and investors to receive financial supports of JPY 50 billion (US$ 440.65 million), reported NHK. The potential investors include mobile component producer Ofilm, automotive component manufacturer Minth Group and the Silk Road Fund. With the support, the Chinese investors will hold 33 percent or more of the share of JDI, suppressing the current major shareholder INCJ, who owns 25.29 percent of the share. In addition to the investment, the Chinese investors were also reportedly offering a ...

Plessey, the UK-based optoelectronic technology solutions provider, announced that it is going to demonstrate AR and VR glasses powered by Micro LEDs at CES 2019. Plessey’s Micro LEDs are put in action for AR applications with Vuzix, who has collaborated with Plessy in the development of Micro LED smart glasses. According to Plessey, its Micro LEDs offer 10 times the resolution, 100 times the contrast ratio, and up to 1,000 times the luminance compared to traditional OLEDs. Furthermore, the device uses only half the power consumption, doubling b...

Scientists have developed methods to generate power with living plants for lighting up LED bulbs, providing a “green” solution of sustainable power. The research was done by the interdisciplinary team of roboticists and biologists at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Pontedera in Pisa, Italy with the results published on Advanced Functional Materials. The research, led by Fabian Meder, discovered that living plants can generate more than 150 Volts by a single leaf, which is enough to simultaneously power 100 LED light bulbs. Researchers also showe...

The German chemistry giant BASF has revealed its development of dark automotive paint colors that are reflective to LiDAR for enhancing the detecting function of autonomous cars. LiDAR plays a critical role to the development of autonomous vehicles and self-driving technology. LiDAR use near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths to detect and receive data while integrating with other detection technology for collecting information for self-driving car. However, current LiDAR has difficulty detecting dark-colored cars because the radiated wavelengths are easily absorbed by d...

The “Micro LED Technology Research Contest” held by LEDinside has received numerous articles providing innovative and practical solutions to enhance the manufacturing of Micro LED during June 6th – September 10th, 2018. LEDinside was very excited to learn all these novel ideas and technologies offered by different institutes and companies from all over the world. Selecting the winning articles was a tough task as most of them have proposed unique perspectives on how to solve the mass transfer issue of Micro LED or improve their yield rate. 

According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, the glut ratio of panels is expected to increase to 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, leading to a drop in panel price. Facing the difficulties of the oversupply and decreased price, panel producers have shifted their focus to niche applications in order to break through the low price competition. Innolux has developed a high resolution sickness-free VR headset which won an innovative product award. The company aims to expand its presence in the growing gaming market with its VR headset and expects to mass produce the pr...

With its continuous development in Mini LED, Harvatek projects that Mini LED products will take around 15 percent of its revenue next year, driving its business performance in 2019. The LED manufacturer focuses on display products including notebooks, gaming monitors, mobile devices and automotive displays. The shipment of its Mini LED product, 4 in 1 Mini COB and RGB Mini LED COB, has been processed by its display clients. Harvatek expects that its Mini LED product shipments will be boosted by the second quarter of 2019, bringing profits to the com...