The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a new report, Color Maintenance of LEDs in Laboratory and Field Applications. Although concern for parametric failure of LED lighting products has largely been focused on lumen maintenance, color shift is a cause of early failure for some products, especially in applications where visual appearance is critical.

Everlight Electronics CO., LTD. showcases varieties of new series of LED lighting components and fixtures at 2013 Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition). This year, Everlight represents most updating series of high efficient LED lighting packages including High, Mid and Low Power LED and COB LED packages and certification listed including CE, UL or Energy Star LED retrofits and fixtures to show customers the ability of OEM/ODM and the one stop purchasing experience.

Silver Spring Networks, Inc., a leading networking platform and solutions provider for smart energy networks, announced today it has been selected to deliver the networking platform for a citywide intelligent street lights project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Under a new partnership with Citelum, the global leader in lighting, traffic management, and other urban electrical systems, Silver Spring is expected to begin networking 20,000 street lights in Copenhagen in 2014. 

Tridonic recently launched a new laser LED module. The new compact TALEXXengine STARK NEW DLE modules are 80 percent more efficient than their predecessors. A larger light emission surface also leads to a lower luminance and better glare reduction options for downlights. 

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has announced the first devices in its second generation of LETERAS white LEDs fabricated using a gallium nitride-on cilicon (GaN-on-Si) process. The 1W TL1F2 LEDs offer a cost-competitive alternative to current LED packages, allowing manufacturers of general purpose and industrial LED lighting to drive down costs.

TSMC Solid State Lighting Ltd and Xiamen Topstar Co., Ltd. will announce their strategic cooperation at the 2013 Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition). Inaugurating the cooperation, a series of lighting products were released together. The new product series applies TSMC Solid State Lighting’s industry-leading package-free PoD technology to Topstar’s newest generation of lamp products. Topstar’s renowned brand name and excellent manufacturing capability joining forces with TSMC Solid State Lighting’s advanced LED technology create a strong partnership able to provide world-class products for the China and global LED lighting markets.

Soraa, manufacturer of GaN on GaN™ LED technology, announced today that Jeffery (Jeff) Parker has joined the company as the new Chief Executive Officer. A seasoned lighting executive and innovator, Parker will leverage his keen business acumen, acquired expertise grooming companies to financial maturity, and his reputation as one of the industry's primary thought-leaders to propel Soraa forward on a trajectory of sustained growth and success.

LG Electronics (LG) has officially taken the wraps off the LG G Flex, a smartphone curved to follow the contour of the face, the first device to offer such a design in the smartphone market. The latest device in LG's premium G Series, the G Flex incorporates proprietary innovations from other LG companies in the form of the display and battery that have never been seen before. The LG G Flex also boasts new user experience (UX) features that take advantage of the curved form factor.

Regarding application and cognition of light, there are completely different opinions from technological and design aspects. CN (Alexander) Sun, Principal of GUANG Lighting Design in Taiwan, talked about the application of LED in hotels and grand residences and discussed the “quality of light” in LEDforum 2013. This way of aesthetical thinking is from our right brain.

With big smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and LG introducing sapphire substrate into smartphone camera lens protector caps and home buttons, the market predicts that in 2014 sapphire substrate will also be used to replace glass in smartphone screens. Glass substrate manufacturer Corning, however, maintains a guarded opinion towards the replacement as production costs for sapphire substrate are high and sapphire substrate, which is as thin as glass substrate Gorilla Glass has a higher damage rate. 

Mid-power LEDs performance in 2013 has been stellar. Mid-power LED has become the mainstream for interior lighting, including retrofit bulbs, remarked Sean Zhou, Asia Regional Marketing Director, Philips Lumileds during the LEDforum Taipei 2013. Large volume of mid-powered LED are applied in downlights and panels.. Indoor lighting applications for downlights and panels is hoped to turn to mid-powered LEDs in the future. The Philips Lumileds flip-chip high voltage currents and small sized packaging can achieve better luminosity (lm/w) and price/performance ratio (lm/$) through. The company plans to introduce flip-chip technology into the mid-power LED market in the future.

Taiwanese LED packager High Power Lighting Corp. has alleged fellow Taiwanese LED packager Lustrous for violating trade secrets laws. Lustrous announced on Oct. 25, 2013 that the Taiwan Taipei District Court plans to schedule the preliminary hearing for the case on Nov. 14, 2013. Lustrous has hired lawyers to defend them at court.

Dramatic advances in the field of quantum dot light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) could come from recent work by the Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy team at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

To make the case of Glasses Free 3D Displays in public areas viable, the size and quality of displays are critical. Thanks to Osram Opto Semiconductors’ cutting edge technology, a recent Glasses Free 3D Display introduced by Atech Korea Co., Ltd. measures up to 500 inches. These video display walls are intended to be used in indoor public areas, such as shopping mall and exhibition hall. With a contrast ratio of 4000:1 and screen brightness at 4,500 cd/m2, the viewing distance can be up to 30 meters.

Mighty Bright, designer and manufacturer of innovative personal LED lights, has launched Baby Bright, a unique line of LED Nursery Lights with nursery-friendly designs and utilitarian features to enhance and enlighten both parents’ and infants’ lives. Baby Bright lights provide nursery-essential lighting for furniture and changing tables, and are available at //www.mightybright.com, an online shopping destination for LED lights for everyday life.

A 7W LED bulb that will not suppress the production of melatonin is now available from Photonic Developments LLC at //www.lowbluelights.com for US$ 34.95. This compares with US$ 69.95 for a competing LED good night bulb that only cuts blue light in half.

The LED industry has seen some interesting progress this week, starting off with projections by Monocrystal and GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) about possible sapphire substrate shortages triggered by non-LED applications. Adding on top to the good news of LED applications, New York has announced a major overhaul of 250,000 existing streetlights to LED. Interesting technology applications have also emerged this week as Chinese scientists find a way to transmit Internet signals using LED lights. Other interesting news this week as follow:

Shenzhen Refond Optoelectronics (Refond) recently reported large increases in LED sales led to revenue growth of 26.76% in 3Q13. 

Streetlights in the Big Apple are getting a major makeover to more energy efficient LEDs, according to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Newsday news reports. New York will be replacing 250,000 street lights with LED lamps by 2017, said the city mayor Michael Bloomberg. The LED replacements are expected to help the city cut US$ 14 million in electric and maintenance costs. 

Philips revealed Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador at a press event in the city today. The market leader in LED lighting – Philips, is drawing attention to its LED lighting solutions by going for the brand’s first ever celebrity endorsement. The biggest ever marketing campaign by Philips Lighting will feature Ranbir, who will endorse Philips’ range of LED Lighting solutions, which are dynamic in both style and performance.

Pro-Teq Surfacing (UK) Ltd, developed and patented a world first for spraying a liquid based product in combination with either soft or hard media. This innovative pathway re-surfacing methodology called STARPATH is the result of an extensive period of chemical trials. Comprising a multitude of product samples, mix ratios and application techniques. STARPATH is currently being trialled in Christ’s Pieces, a well-known park in the east side of the centre of Cambridge by Cambridge City Council.

LayTec is proud to announce that Epistar Corp. has qualified LayTec’s in-situ metrology Pyro 400 for its GaN LED production. The LED manufacturer based in Taiwan will not use high accuracy GaN surface temperature sensing with Pyro 400.

Cree, Inc. introduces two new XLamp LED Arrays to enable high-lumen applications ranging from wallpacks to canopy lighting with one CXA LED family. The new CXA3590 LED Array delivers up to 16,225 lumens at 85°C, 68-percent more lumens compared to Cree’s previous brightest array. The CXA3590 LED Array is the ideal light source to replace 250-watt metal-halide fixtures — using 40-percent less power and designed to last twice as long. 

After the launch of 60W~120W AGLAIA-12AC Bay Light series products, which was widely well received across the market, in February 2013, Alliance Optotek specifically focused on high ceiling large space industrial lighting application and further launched higher power AGLAIA-12AC High-Bay Light series products which offer a more comprehensive solution to global illumination on shopping floor, factory or warehouse. 

Author: CC Hwang, Art Director of BeLight.com, Lighting Designer (Taiwan) Have you ever observed the light environment around you? How the sky color changes from dust to dawn? We always experience something, but are we aware of the experience we have?

As lighting technology improving, people begin to be aware of the importance of good lighting surroundings. In order to give stages to people who work in lighting related industries and exchange their great ideas, Reed Exhibitions organized “Lighting Japan” in Tokyo, Japan. In this internationally open exhibition, you can meet manufacturers, contractors, designers and end-users as well as the newest discovery, technology, products and lighting design concepts.

The imbalance in sapphire substrate supply and demand is being overcome by increased demands in LED lighting applications and strong demands for non-LED applications. GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) is optimistic about the rapid growth in smartphone demands for sapphire substrates.  As a result, the company’s Advanced Sapphire Furnace (ASF) might grow and expand production capacity in the future.

The Zhaga consortium, an international organization for industry standards for interchangeable LEDs, is once again coming to Taiwan. This time Everlight will be hosting the international conference

Global Average Selling Price (ASP) for 40W equiv. LED lamp was up 2.8 percent to US$ 16.2 in Sept. 2013, according to a latest LED lamp ASP survey by LEDinside, a research subsidiary of TrendForce. Few new products were released worldwide last month. Global 60W equiv. LED lamp was down 2.5 percent to US$ 21.4. Price plunge was most evident in U.S., as top North American lighting brands and wholesalersretail channel brands begin releasing super competitive-pricedcheap products. The implemented strategy has obviously stimulated purchases. 

  The recalls of LED lighting products from European RAPEX (The Rapid Alext System for Non-food Consumer Products) were much more frequently in the past months, according to a report by global certification auditing institute DEKRA. The second quarter report of RAPEX shows that total 32 recalls of LED lighting products were due to safety issues. Among those recall list, you can see that even famous international brands were reported, it thus reveal a truth that quality of LED is a big concerned by both authority and consumers. The recalls list of Q2 report are: