Stars and starlets gathered in the Bavarian capital. The Munich Film Festival is taking place this year for the 32nd time, and once again the program contains some exceptional films packed with famous names. The award for the best international production, to the value of 50,000 euros for particular ARRI products or services, will be presented for the second time jointly by Osram and ARRI. The Munich Film Festival, the second largest film festival in Germany after Berlinale, has been welcoming the Who's Who of the film world since 1983. Last year it attracted more than 70,000 visitors to the cinema screens, and this year's program promises a similar success story because in addition to independent productions from around the world there will be some major names there. A total of thirteen movies, including ones from cinema legends Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, featuring such stars as Nicolas Cage, Scarlett Johannson and Juliette Binoche, will be competing for the  ARRI/OSRAM Award in the CineMasters category. Famous names alone are no guarantee of awards, however, as was shown last year when the highly respected jury voted for "Heli", a gripping Mexican drug gang thriller from director Amat Escalante, as the best international film. The winner of the highest accolade this year will be revealed at 7 pm on July 5 at the Gasteig center in Munich. A long tradition in the film business "We have been working closely with the film industry for many years. Our products are used not only to put actors in the right light on set but also to project films onto cinema screens. Our passion for light is as fierce as the passion film-makers have for their productions. With the ARRI/OSRAM Award we want to add a little extra charisma to outstanding performances", said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO Special Lighting at Osram. "As a traditional Munich-based company with almost 100 years of history in the film industry, ARRI has been a partner of the Munich Film Festival for many years. ARRI is a predominantly international company, so it is fitting that the first award, presented in 2008, was for the best foreign film. This year ARRI will be presenting the award together with Osram for the second time. We want the ARRI/OSRAM Award to encourage international producers to take on their next, hopefully successful project and build up a long-term relationship with us", said Franz Kraus, Managing Director of the ARRI Group.       ARRI, as a specialist in professional camera and lighting equipment and provider of film-making services, and Osram, as a lighting and projection expert, have been deeply rooted in the cinema and film industry for many years. This is borne out by the fact that Osram lamps are used in one in three cinema projectors throughout the world and that ARRI spotlights are used on every film set the whole world over. For their services to the medium of film both companies have been awarded a number of Oscars.

LED chip manufacturer Epistar sudden announcement of absorbing FOREPI sent shockwaves throughout the industry this week. LEDinside gives a comprehensive overview of the benefits and potential issues surrounding this important industry merge of the year. Philips also announced on June 30, 2014, restructuring of LED component business Philips Lumileds with automotive lighting business. For more please check out below:

While most factories had closed their doors for the night yesterday, over 300 San’an Optoelectronic (San’an Opto) employees were hard at work burning the midnight oil, to pump out new wafers to meet increasing demands. 

The merger between LED chip manufacturer Epistar and FOREPI has generated much discussion in the industry. Industry insiders have different views on the trend of large LED upstream manufacturers dominating the market. While foreign investment firms are optimistic the merger will create a win-win situation for Epistar and FOREPI, other market insiders are concerned it will have a negative impact on downstream manufacturers.

Since Epistar’s announced the merger with Taiwan based LED manufacturer FOREPI, the industry has been concerned about rival San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) potential to undermine Epistar’s management.  

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT), announced a realignment of its manufacturing, engineering and supply chain resources to optimize effectiveness across its increasingly diversified business portfolio. The actions taken will align previously centralized personnel and operational resources directly with the company's various businesses, which include the rapidly ramping Arizona based sapphire materials business and expanding equipment businesses with applications ranging from solar and LED to power electronics, consumer electronics and industrial.

Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting showcases the world’s largest installation using luminous textiles, measuring 37 square meters at the Centrum Galerie shopping mall in Dresden.

Osram, in collaboration with the Munich luminaire manufacturer Markgraf Licht, has developed an LED track spotlight that requires no external control unit. The product was developed in a record time of merely six weeks. The Coma L LED is based on the Prevaled Core AC light engine from Osram with the control unit integrated in the LED module.

NDS Surgical Imaging (NDSsi) has released its new Dome® S6c widescreen color 6MP diagnostic display, now in production. The newest member of the S-series product family, the Dome S6c offers LED-backlight technology, grayscale and color imaging, and 30-inch widescreen viewing.

The new Interlace LED suspension light fixture by LBL Lighting was chosen as the “Indoor Decorative” category winner at the 2014 LIGHTFAIR Innovation Awards®. Held this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, LIGHTFAIR® International (LFI®) is the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference.

Larson Electronics has announced the release of a pedestal mounted explosion proof light that is a low voltage lighting solution which uses advanced LED technology and an industrial grade design to provide operators in hazardous locations with excellent illumination and low voltage operation.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) new LED energy efficiency standard has been in effect since July 1, 2014. According to the ministry, Taiwan is the first Asian country to implement minimum energy efficiency standards for LED bulbs. The new standard will be applicable for both imported and domestic products.

Honglitronic released their 2014 half year results on July 2, 2014, reporting an increase in net profit of 35-60 percent from last year. The company expanded production capacity to take advantage of booming LED lighting demands in the second half of 2014. 

Lattice Power may not be a household name now in the LED chip industry, but the China based startup is already creating cheaper LED technology that could give large international manufacturers a run for their money. The company has ambitious development plans, recently securing US $80 million in financing to advance production and establish a U.S. based R&D center.   

Besides obscuring the stars, light pollution can also disrupt the reproduction of light-sensitive animals. French scientists have shown that light pollution can override the natural reproductive cycle of some animals, making them sexually active out of season.

New blog post from David Orchard, UK Outdoor Sales Manager at GE Lighting about his observations of the hesitance by some local authorities to upgrade to LED. If financing is no longer a problem, what's the hold up? 1st July, 2014

LG Display (LGD) will supply OLED panels to German automotive manufacturers including Daimler-Benz, according to a Korea Economic Daily Report.

Nominated: Urban-Think Tank, Zurich (CH), for “Vertical Gymnasium Santa Cruz Del Este”, Caracas (VE) – sports and recreation facility for urban upgrade. The multi-level gymnasium as urban catalyst | Revitalisation of urban space and upgrading underdeveloped areas | Promoting healthy lifestyle choices for underprivileged population | Solar cells, wind turbines and rainwater collection | Partnering with municipal governments, industry and local organizations

Commercial ceilings in need of a refresh now have the option to do so more beautifully and efficiently with GE’s Lumination™ BR Series LED Luminaire with dimming functionality. Providing balanced, even lighting, this recessed LED troffer provides high uniformity, excellent efficiency and can help reduce glare in T-grid ceiling applications.

Visibility is key when it comes to playing indoor sports like soccer, lacrosse and tennis; and three intrepid Massachusetts indoor sports entrepreneurs at the Bass River Tennis Club, Fore Kicks, and Home Grown Lacrosse came to the same conclusion. Improved lighting on the playing surface, delivered by ThinkLite, a Massachusetts-based lighting efficiency leader, has helped differentiate their facilities and delight their members and players.

In 1967, a curious scientist in Hungary thought to perform an experiment to check if laser radiation can cause cancer in mice. He shaved dorsal hair and divided the mice in two set of groups and exposed one group of mice with a low powered ruby laser (694 nm). To his regret and to the joy of mice, they didn’t succumbed to cancer, but to his surprise, he observe that the mice treated with laser had grew back more hair as compared to the untreated group.  This was the beginning of an era of photo bio-stimulation sparked by Endre Mester. 

On June 30, 2014, Dutch lighting conglomerate Philips announced the spun-off of LED component business Lumileds and automotive lighting business into an independent company. The two businesses revenue aggregated to US $1.9 billion last year. On the same day, leading Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar acquired FOREPI through conversion of stocks.

HC SemiTek Corporation announced on July 1, 2014, that its wholly-owned subsidy HC SemiTek (Suzhou) has been granted an industry development subsidy of RMB 27.50 (US $4.4 million) by the Administrative Commission of Zhangjiagang Economic Technology Development Zone.  

Epistar’s acquisition of FOREPI earlier this week rocked the LED industry. Foreign financial institutes have tooted the merger as a win-win for both sides, as it will boost Epistar’s global market shares to 20 percent and production capacity up 30 to 40 percent, according to a United Evening News report. 

Strong LED market demands this year have led to patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) manufacturers expanded production capacity, according to “2014 Global Sapphire Substrate Market Report” by LEDinside, a LED research division of TrendForce. The 4-inch PSS market current supply shortage situation was mostly caused by Taiwanese and Chinese LED chip manufacturers introduction of large volume PSS into products, and manufacturers shift towards 4-inch PSS production. However, since manufacturers are expected to expand PSS production by the end of the year, tightened market supply conditions are expected to ease. 

During the first half of 2014, China’s LED industry kept up high growth rates, a trend extended from 2013. Industry insiders have reached a consensus that LED lighting demands will propel this trend well into 2016. Related industries have started production expansion, talent headhunt, and distribution channels establishment. These companies have stuck it out during the LED industry’s initial restructure phase, and do not want to miss out on the exponentially growing LED lighting market.

A recent CNET article demonstrates how Philips LED Hue bulbs can be customized into severe weather warning lights using Internet platform service IFTTT. For full demo of how it can be done on IFTTT please see link.

Nichia Corporation, headquartered in Tokushima and directed by President Eiji Ogawa, announced today its decision to commercialize blue and green semiconductor laser diode models specifically designed for automotive Head-Up Display (HUD) systems*1 .

OSRAM Licht’s supervisory board has designated Dr. Werner Brandt (60) as the successor of the outgoing member Dr. Joachim Faber (64). Faber resignation from office will be effective starting July 1, 2014.

Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq: OLED), enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED® technology and materials, today announced an expanded evaluation agreement with BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. (京东方). Under this agreement, Universal Display will broaden its collaboration with BOE and supply additional highly efficient phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) materials for display applications.