Japanese based company NGK Insulators has released new wafer products for electronic device applications in ultra high brightness (UHB) LEDs. It has showcased at SEMICON Japan 2011 held between December 7 through 9 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba for the first time. The company targets wafer products as a major research and development theme in the electronics field. In the R&D line-up, there are bonded wafers that achieve new functions previously unavailable with a single material wafer, and GaN single crystal wafers that have low defect density and colourle...

Recently, Panasonic Electric Works has released an LED lighting device to replace high-output high-frequency (HF) fluorescent lamps. According to the company, the new LED lighting device has a brightness equivalent to or higher than those of HF fluorescent lamps. The CRI is 84. A high-efficiency model that is expected to embedded in a ceiling to replace two HF32-type fluorescent lamps has a designed luminous flux of 5,880lm, a rated power consumption of 60.6W on average and an efficiency of 108.3lm/W, which are approximately 14% higher, 31% lower and 27% higher, re...

Toshiba has taken a lighting ceremony to celebrate the illumination of the exterior of the Louvre with its new LED lighting on 6 December. Working in collaboration with the Louvre, Toshiba’s lighting engineers developed and installed six series and ten models of lighting fixtures, including high beam-lamps to illuminate the Pyramid and the palace walls. Toshiba’s ceremony marked the switching on of some 350 light fittings out of a total of 3,200 that will eventually completely replace 4,500 high energy xenon lamps. The remaining facades of the Napoleon Cour...

Recently,Everlight has taken an active action on fighting a lawsuit against Nichia in Tokyo District Court and said it will unfold the legal action by bringing the patent suits to other countries to counter Nichia’s repeated accusations that Everlight infringes on its patents. In the lawsuit, Everlight asked the district court to stop Nichia from spreading the allegation and appealed for damage claims. Everlight has become the first Taiwanese LED maker to take legal action against Nichia over patent issue. Everlight’s confidence comes from winning the case...

Toshiba is to roll out the "Regza 32BE3," a 32V-size LCD TV integrated with its "Eco Chip," in mid-December 2011. The Eco Chip receives/detects signals from the remote after the TV is turned off with the remote. Its consumption current is as low as about 95μA. The Regza 32BE3 incorporates the Eco Chip and a large-capacity capacitor. The Eco Chip is driven by electricity stored in the capacitor, and AC power is cut by a relay. As a result, the standby power consumption of the TV is equivalent to the power consumption of an unplugg...

Recently, the competition in the MOCVD market is getting fiercer; aside from the two forerunners Aixtron (Germany) and Veeco (America), other players are trying to make inroads into the market. TAIYO NIPPON SANSO , established in 1910, is the biggest industrial gases and air separation unit supplier in Japan, ranking number 5 among the global industrial gas suppliers. As for MOCVD equipment, the top 3 MOCVD makers in the world, which account for 98.4% of the market share in 2011, are Aixtron, Veeco and Taiyo Nippon Sanso (Japan). Noteworthily, eve...

Recently,Panasonic has won a Good Design award for an LED bulb which mimics the look of traditional incandescent bulbs while offering the energy efficiency of LED technology. According to the Good Design Award, Panasonic's managed to engineer around LEDs two main challenges: spreading the light around and casting a warm tint onto its surroundings. LEDs are often very cool light sources, which looks strange to our incandescent-trained eyes. Supposedly Panasonic's cracked that problem. The light produced is not reminiscent of an LED bulb but has a warm ...

According to Toshiba , it has completed the first stage of renewing external lighting at the Louvre, and it will continute to install the warm glow of new LED lighting in the Pyramid, the three pyramidions and the Colbert pavilion of the Louvre on December 6. The Louvre museum recognized the value of replacing the old, high energy xenon lighting with LEDs, and selected Toshiba as its partner in this endeavor. Toshiba has delivered and installed its latest LED products and fittings. Working in close collaboration, Toshiba and the Louvre have designed the lighting to ...

Last Friday, Everlight announced that it had defeated Nichia in an administrative suit that it believes will give it an edge in other patent proceedings against the Japanese company. According to Everlight, Taiwan's Supreme Administrative Court upheld a High Administrative Court verdict which ruled that a patent asserted by Nichia related to LED component production technology was invalid. The court agreed with Everlight’s contention that Nichia was not the inventor of the patent and that Everlight had the right to apply the technology covered by the pat...

Targets to the potential LED market, Japanese major daily living product maker Irisohyama Inc. has announced to set up a plant to manufacture light bulbs using energy-saving LED utilizing an area in Tosu, Saga Prefecture that was vacated by a subsidiary of Panasonic Corp. The Sendai company will buy a former facility of Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. with an area of about 45,000 square meters that was closed in 2009 as part of a business restructuring. The company will use the new plant as a base for development and production of devices, including one to place e...

Despite of Nichia’s successive patent lawsuits, Everlight will ship its brand products to Japan as scheduled in 2012,according to Everlight’s chairman, Y.F. Ye. Back to early September, Nichia filed a charge against Everlight, alleging that its white LED lamps sold through Japanese retailer Chip On Stop also infringe its No. 4530944 patent. Following closely, Nichia has again claimed that Everlight’s white LED bulbs entering Japan through importer Tachibana Eletech of Japan infringes its No. 4530094 patent, and brought the charge before ...

Konica Minolta has unveiled itsa new next-generation lighting brand called Symfos- the OLED-010K OLED lighting panel sample kit, including four OLED panels, and external driver box and an AC adapter. The OLED itself uses all phosphorescent emitters and offers 45 lm/W. This is the same panel that Philips is offering (as the Lumiblade Plus). In fact Philips is producing this panel for Konica Minolta, as was announced in July 2011. The features of the new product as following: •    Luminance: 1,000 cd/m2 •    Ef...

Reportedly, Nichia has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Everlight again in Tokyo District Court on October 4, 2011. Nichia filed two patent infringement lawsuits in Tokyo District Court to enjoin Tachibana Eletech Co., Ltd. from infringing Nichia's patent (No. 4530094, or "patent No. 094") and to claim damages for the infringement with regard to white LED products (product number: GT 3528 series and 61-238 series) manufactured by Everlight, and imported, sold, etc. by Tachibana....

It’s reported that Toshiba International Corporation (TIC) has provided attendees of the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2011 with worth more than $10,000 prize package. The prize package including a Toshiba branded Blu-ray Disc™ player, two Thrive™ tablets, a 55” LED HDTV, a 40” LED HDTV, two Protégé® laptops, and 50 LED bulbs. According to Ken Honeycutt, Senior Vice President and Chief Venture Executive, Toshiba International Corporation LED Lighting Systems Division, &ldq...

Endo Lighting Corporation, the leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of LED fixtures in Japan, has entered the U.S. market with the acquisition of ICON, International in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The two companies share a commitment to innovation and proven performance in designing and bringing to market ground breaking LED lighting. “This is a very good match,” said ICON President Michael Goeller. “Both Endo and ICON are customer focused. We share a dedication to creating light that enhances the ambiance of the surround...

One of the world’s foremost developers of UV LED curing, Integration Technology Ltd (ITL), is opening an office in Japan to further support its domestic distributors and a growing customer base. ITL has operated in the region since 2001 in partnership with local distributor Neopt to support its digital graphics market business, adding Finesensing in 2009 for an ever growing number of specialist industrial applications. In a move mirroring ITL’s proven strategies in China, the USA and South Korea, the company is to open a representative office in ...

The LED Street Lighting Industry Alliance of Taiwan and the Fujian Optoelectronics Industry Association of Fujian Province, mainland China recently co-unveiled mutually recognized standard for LED streetlights and signed a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on LED standards.   The agreement and the recognized standards suggest that LED streetlights made in Taiwan or Fujian are allowed into the other signatory.   The recognized standards are only applicable to high-power LED streetlights and streetlight-used LEDs while the agreement lays fou...

Shortly after stopping producing standard incandescent lamps to focus on LEDs and other solid-state lighting products, Toshiba International Corp., has set up its LED Lighting Systems Division which consists of team of U.S. lighting veterans. Ken Honeycutt, is now senior V.P. of Toshiba International Corp. and chief venture executive for Toshiba. Previously,he spent most of his lighting career with Acuity Brands Lighting, where he rose to the position of CEO. Mark Altomare, V.P. of business development, who was regional V.P. of sales at Hubbell Lig...

According reports from Nichia, Tokyo District Court has issued a provisional injunction order, fully in favor of Nichia in the case where Nichia filed provisional injunction action on September 6, 2010 at Tokyo District Court to enjoin Tsannkuen Japan, a sub Nichia sidiary of a Taiwanese company, from infringing Nichia's patent. The infringed patent is one of Nichia's patents concerning the technology of combining photo-luminescent material with blue LED, and is employed in many white LED products that combine photo-luminescent material with blue LED. ...

Reportedly, Chip One Stop, Inc. has come to an agreement with Nichia on the patent infringement litigation regarding Nichia's patent No. 4530094 ("patent No. 094") that had been pending in Tokyo District Court by settlement out of court. Chip One has acknowledged that the white LED products (product number: GT 3528 series) manufactured by Everlight and sold by Chip One falls within the scope of the claim of patent No. 094, and agreed to terminate the sale of all white LED products manufactured by Everlight and to respect Nichia's intellectual ...

Panasonic Electric Works Co. will debut a slew of new LED lights, starting Oct. 21. The subsidiary of Panasonic Corp. (6752) will increase its offerings 50% to 2,000 items this fiscal year, aiming to double LED lighting sales to about 50 billion yen. A series of color adjustable lights will hit the market Nov. 21. They can emit soft yellow light during dining and bright white light for studying. The suggested retail price for this series ranges from 41,475 yen to 59,850 yen, excluding installation. The new LED models also include desk lamps and porch lights. ...

It’s reported that Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd., its 12 bottling partners and other affiliates of the Coca Cola system in Japan have scheduled to bring in LED lighting for vending machines in product displays for all new purchases of machines for beverage products in cans and PET bottles, starting from 2012. It was made under the Coca-Cola system's global business guiding principle, "Live Positively," and as part of its environmental initiatives for a sustainable society. The Coca-Cola system has cooperated with voluntary action plans of the so...

Reportedly, Panasonic Idemitsu OLED Lighting (PIOL) Co Ltd, a JVof Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd and Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, has kicked off shipping an OLED lighting panel in the Japanese and overseas markets Sept 1, 2011. According to the company, the general color rendering index (Ra) of the OLED panel is 90 or higher, which is claimed as one of the world's highest for a mass-produced OLED panel. The OLED lighting panel has a size of 97 x 90mm, a thickness of 2.11mm and a weight of 38g. The area of its light-emitting part is 80 x 80mm...

Fujitsu Semiconductor has introduced a range of 8-bit microcontrollers with embedded flash memory. Intended for use in control systems for lighting and industrial equipment, such as LED ballasts, induction heating, DC-DC converters, power tools and battery chargers, the MB95F430 MCUs have four channels of built-in analogue voltage comparators as well as an operational amplifier. The chip’s dual operation flash memory supports up to 100,000 erase cycles and 20-year data retention so can be used to replace external E2PROM. The on-chip debug module with sin...

Reportedly, Nichia has withdrawn the two provisional injunction actions it filed to the Tokyo District Court against Koyo Business Services, Inc. on July 26, 2011. Previously, Nichia believed that LED lighting products (PICASONA products) which were manufactured by LumiRich, one of the ILJIN group companies,and sold by Koyo used LEDs manufactured without license from Nichia. In the provisional injunction action procedure, Koyo stated that it has changed the LEDs used in all of the PICASONA products sold after the action was filed to license...

Reportedly, Sharp has developed a square ceiling light LED ceiling light,which is considered as the most efficient in the industry. Combining direct illumination with the kind of highly efficient LEDs used in LCD televisions,the new product  is 1.6 times more energy efficient than previous LED ceiling lights. And it’s designed to be uesd in small, medium, and large sized rooms. According to the company, this LED ceiling light features it’s the top performer in terms of energy efficiency. The model for small-sized rooms has a luminous efficiency of 81...

Ushio Lighting Inc launches an LED spotlight that general color rendering index(Ra) is as high as 97 on Aug 5,2011, in Japan. The spotlight named “Cool Spot LED” is aimed for facilities in hotels and halls. It has lower consumption and longer product life that compared with spotlight using halogen lamps. Ushio Lighting employed the "Natural Light LED" for the light source of the spotlight, which is a white LED made by combining a purple LED chip and red, green and blue fluorescent materials. Among 15 kinds of color rendering indexe...

Panasonic Electric Works is to display its “ECOOL” high thermal conductive glass composite circuit board materials at the LED Tech Korea2011 (August 17-19, 2011). From the commencement of sales in April 2009, “ECOOL” has continuously expanded the sales for use in high thermal radiation circuit board applications including LED lighting and backlights. Now we intend to actively engage in global sales promotions of ECOOL products with the particular aim of accelerating sales in overseas markets, by starting to display at these exhibitions...

Lumiotec announced it will start selling two OLED lamps in September 1st - in Japan, Europe and other countries. The first one is the Hanger - a portable lamp that comes in several colors (red, white, yellow, blue, yellow-green, pink, purple and silver) and has a really cool design:   The Hanger uses Lumiotec's 14.5x14.5 Square white OLED panels. The OLED features a color temperature of 4,900K, maximum luminance of 2,700cd/m2 and it consumes 9.5W. The price of the Hanger (including the controller, dimmer switch and AC/DC adapter) is ¥35,000 (or a...

TDK-Lambda Corp has introduced a power-supply module for LED light bulbs at Tokyo Techno-Frontier 2011 held from July 20 to 22, 2011. The new module mainly targets to manufacturers outside Japan and it is designed for E-17 and E-26 base light bulbs and measures 10 x 35 x 11mm. Its input voltage is AC +80 to 120V, and its output power is 6W. The conversion efficiency of the power-supply module is 85% or higher, and its output ripple is 30% or lower.   Its operating temperature range are  -30 to +75°C,and storage temperature range are , -40 to +85&...