OLED vs LED: There's just no comparison

Okay, that’s a trick headline. There’s no comparison between OLED TVs and LED TVs because there’s really no such thing as what has been marketed as an LED TV. That’s just another case of the TV industry using misleading nomenclature to confuse consumers. What TV manufacturers have been advertising as LED TVS are just LCD TVs that use LEDs for backlighting.

The Bright Future of Power Over Ethernet-Driven LEDs

The marriage between telecommunications and energy management is rife with potential. And, for that reason, the marriage promises to be a long and happy one. To date, most of the discussion has been focused on the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to manage energy consumption. A related – and arguably deeper – relationship between the two is emerging. Buildings in general and office buildings in particularly house miles and miles of cables that support the local-area networks (LANs) that link PCs, printers, WiFi access points (APs) and other pieces of technology. The copper and coaxial cables that are the physical media for LANs are capable of carrying small amounts of electricity. Thus, some of the less demanding equipment – such as phones and APs — can be line powered.

California Adopts First Energy Standards for Household LEDs

California became the first state to set energy efficiency standards for household LEDs and smaller track-lighting-style light bulbs — a move that could save consumers billions in utility bills and prompt lawmakers and manufacturers to adopt them nationwide. The California Energy Commission approved new requirements for general purpose light-emitting diodes — the LEDs used in household lamps and chandeliers — and directional lamps that have a diameter of 2.25 inches or less. They often are used in track lighting by stores, hotels and museums.

You can now watch grinders implant LEDs into their hands

Sitting comfortably? Biohacker and Grindhouse Wetware member Ryan O'Shea has just posted a YouTube video of its Northstar LED implant procedure. Warning before you hit play: there's blood, quite a lot of it. And if, like us, you're a bit squeamish you'll probably look away. Or at least scrunch your face up. The video shows a Northstar V1 module being inserted into a Grindhouse collective member's hand. The coin-sized device has five red LEDs which light up for ten seconds under the skin and is activated by a magnet. It can also be used to send Bluetooth commands to your phone or smart home. Very cyborg chic.

These Smart Light Bulbs Play Music, Boost Your Wi-Fi Signal, and More

As you probably know, LED bulbs are one of history’s greatest high-tech success stories. They use around 90 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs, yet last 25 years or more. They turn on to full brightness instantly. They remain cool to the touch. They’re hard to break, and safety-coated if they do. They also contain electronics — which has sent clever inventors into overdrive. Since the circuitry in an LED bulb can be made very tiny, that leaves a lot of space inside to add chips that connect these bulbs to your phone and your home network.

SWindsor eyes switch to LED streetlights

The South Windsor Energy Committee has recommended the Town Council undertake an LED streetlight retrofitting program. Energy Committee Chairman and former Councilman Stephen Wagner said the LED conversion plan makes sense by any metric. “It benefits the town by improving the quality of lighting,” Wagner said. “It also saves money that can be used other ways.”  Wagner said LEDs also carry some aesthetic benefits. They give off a more uniform distribution of light and are compliant with voluntary “dark sky” rules aimed at reducing light pollution.

Global Tech LED Launches the Gemini

Global Tech LED announces their new Low Cost, USA made, versatile 260W LED High Bay fixture, the Gemini. Available in both clear and white acrylic fixture housing, this stylish LED fixture can save energy costs of up to 75% and an ROI of less than one year for a typical store LED conversion. The Gemini may qualify for rebates in your area, please contact Global Tech LED for details.

The Gemini fixture is a perfect and cost-effective indoor lighting solution for big-box stores, warehouses, and anywhere a 1000W HID bulb requires an LED replacement. Our patented cluster design optimizes light to the ground. With eight optical patterns available we can mount from 15 feet to 150 feet high! Customized optics allow for even light distribution and up-lighting in stores to avoid the "cavern effect" of unwanted dark ceilings. Global Tech LED provides photometry to meet any lighting requirements.

Monolithic converter drives high-power LEDs

High power LEDs are quickly expanding their reach as the light source of choice for flat panel computer and TV monitors, TV projection, signage, portable lights, and automotive interior, trim, and brake lighting. The input voltage and LED voltage combinations across these applications are as diverse as the applications themselves, precluding the ability for a single topology to satisfy the needs of them all. Nevertheless, all LED drivers, whether buck, boost, buck-boost or SEPIC must regulate a constant LED current, regardless of input and output voltages. Now a single switching regulator with the ability to be configured in a large variety of topologies for high power constant LED current is available.

Philips $2.8 billion lighting unit sale dropped over US fears

“We will now engage with other parties that have expressed an interest in exploring strategic options for Lumileds”, Philips Chief Executive Frans van Houten said in a statement. The technology used by Lumileds is considered relatively mature and Philips was surprised by the USA committee’s initial opposition in October. “I am very disappointed about this outcome as this was a very good deal for both Lumileds and the Go Scale Capital-led consortium”, van Houten said. It approved a record-breaking $4.7 billion takeover of US pork giant Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International, now WH Group, in 2013.

Global LED Production Equipment Market Set to Generate More Than USD 1.5 Billion by 2019

Technavio analysts forecast the global LED production equipment market to post a CAGR of more than 5% by 2019, according to their latest report. The demand for LED production equipment is currently being heavily influenced by the increasing number of fab establishments in APAC.

“The market witnessed strong growth in 2014 due to the increasing number of LED fab establishments in Taiwan and China because of increasing demand for LEDs in APAC. However, the growth during the forecast period will not witness much fluctuation,” said Technavio lead semiconductor equipment research analyst Sunil Kumar. “The key factors contributing to the minimal fluctuations in the market are the product life cycle of front-end equipment, which is 5-7 years, and the reduced rate of new LED fab establishments globally,” Sunil added.

Global Infrared LED Market to Grow at a CAGR of Over 9% Through 2020 Says TechSci Research

According to a TechSci Research report, "Global Infrared LED Market By Application, By Region & Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2010 - 2020'’, the global market for infrared LEDs is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 9% during 2015 - 2020, on account of increasing penetration of these LEDs in allied industries such as automotive, defense, consumer electronics, etc. In addition, the rising adoption of various electronic devices by consumers is propelling growth in demand for infrared LEDs across the globe.
       
Over the past few years, demand for infrared LEDs is being driven by various end user industries such as imaging, lighting, surveillance, etc., on account of various advantages offered by infrared LEDs such as low power requirement, low cost and high security benefits. The global LED lighting witnessed rapid growth during 2010-2014 due to rapid technological advancements and increasing acceptance of these new technologies across various application segments. Epistar Corporation, Nichia Corporation, Everlight Electronics Corporation Limited, and High Power Lighting are among the leading infrared LED manufacturing companies, globally.

Manfrotto launches new LED lights for photographers and videographers

The portable, on-camera Manfrotto Croma2, Micropro2 and Spectra2, which cost from £154.95, feature Surface Mount Technology and are claimed to deliver perfect colour rendition and improved optical efficiency over current models. Capable of being powered by six AA batteries, the Spectra2 (pictured) is the most compact in the professional range and is designed to deliver 650lux. For details, visit www.manfrotto.co.uk.

Manfrotto announces the new generation compact LED lights for professional and advanced hobbyist videographers and photographers. CROMA2, MICROPRO2 and SPECTRA2 offer the latest LED technology available (SMT – Surface Mount Technology) in a portable size, which guarantees images with perfect colour rendition and improved optical efficiency.

These on-camera LED panels, powered by Litepanels, are part of the new ready to use Manfrotto LED lights.

Choosing an LED lightbulb

It is getting ever trickier to find incandescent bulbs. Almost all rich countries are phasing them out because they squander so much energy as heat rather than visible light. But they have ardent fans. Unlike many of their would-be successors, such as compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), they cast a full spectrum of colours reminiscent of daylight, need no time to warm up and can be dimmed. Ahead of the European phase-out in 2009, for example, Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, urged people to hoard a lifetime’s worth.

What homeowners should know about LEDs

Maintaining a home’s value requires a combination of maintenance and updating. Some updates can be cost-prohibitive for the average homeowner until consumers adopt new technology and prices drop. Light-emitting diodes, more commonly known as LEDs, are one of those technologies -- prices have dropped 83 percent in the last four years, according to a recent Consumer Reports article.
And the technology has many benefits (along with a few drawbacks): They’re mercury-free, unlike compact fluorescents, which need special recycling. They’re more energy efficient. They use about 80 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb and 5 percent less than a fluorescent bulb. However, energy efficiency isn’t the only savings. LEDs are designed to last about 20 years or 10,000 hours of use. This means if you put one in your toddler’s room now, you won’t have to change the light bulb until after she graduates and you’ve repurposed the room.

As prices fall, use of cost-saving LEDs increases

Ashley Jones and Ben Feder try to be energy-efficient in every aspect of their lives. The Wilkinsburg newlyweds' apartment uses wind-generated electricity, which they buy from Green Mountain Energy, and a programmable thermostat that they can control from their cellphones and that automatically responds to the couple's usage. They limit how long they run water and use lights. Still, they didn't invest in light-emitting diode light bulbs, or LEDs, until they saw them on sale about six months ago.

BenQ Announces World’s First Desktop LED Lamp for e-Reading

BenQ announced the world’s first a desktop LED Lamp for e-Reading- WiT lamp. With a simple touch to the BenQ WiT lamp’s control ring, users can activate the lamp’s intelligent e-Reading feature. The intelligent design ambient light sensor detects ambient brightness from other light sources and balances illumination, enhancing at the edges and dimming the middle of the lit area. The automatic adjustment maximizes reading comfort by reducing reflection and contrast glare when lighting computer displays and other device screens.

Energy Adviser: LEDs can last for years, while saving more energy

If you’ve purchased light bulbs lately, you may have noticed that incandescent bulbs are back on the shelves. After legislation requiring lighting to be more efficient went into effect, bulb manufacturers went to work to make traditional bulbs work with less energy. Halogen bulbs were made to meet the standards as well. And for a few specialty light fixtures in your home, these might be the best options. Still, neither incandescent nor halogen bulbs deliver near the energy savings of compact fluorescent light bulbs or light emitting diodes. And they still create a lot of heat in addition to light, which isn’t always bad in the winter but can make it hard to keep your home cool when it’s warmer outside.

Osram Unveils prototype of Worlds First LED Lamp Controlled by the Thread network protocol

Osram unveiled a prototype of world’s first LED lamp controlled by the Thread network protocol at CES 2016. Designed for the application of different smart home devices in and outdoor, Thread is an IPv6 networking protocol built on open standards for low-power 802.15.4 mesh networks that can easily and securely connect hundreds of devices to each other and directly to the cloud. This allows devices like lamps and luminaires to build a freely meshed network.

New LED with luminescent proteins

Scientists from Germany and Spain have discovered a way to create a BioLED by packaging luminescent proteins in the form of rubber. This innovative device gives off a white light which is created by equal parts of blue, green and red rubber layers covering one LED, thus rendering the same effect as with traditional inorganic LEDs but at a lower cost.

 Increasingly popular LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are the light of choice for the European Union and the United States when it comes to creating lighting devices of the future. This preference can be attributed to the fact that LEDs are more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs and more stable than energy-efficient light bulbs.

Uncovering oxygen's role in enhancing red LEDs

Oxygen is indispensable to animal and plant life, but its presence in the wrong places can feed a fire and cause iron to rust. In the fabrication of solid state lighting devices, scientists are learning, oxygen also plays a two-edged role. While oxygen can impede the effectiveness of gallium nitride (GaN), an enabling material for LEDs, small amounts of oxygen in some cases are needed to enhance the devices' optical properties. GaN doped with europium (Eu), which could provide the red color in LEDs and other displays, is one such case.

Return of incandescent light bulbs as MIT makes them more efficient than LEDs

Ever since the EU restricted sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs, homeowners have complained about the shortcomings of their energy-efficient replacements. The clinical white beam of LEDs and frustrating time-delay of ‘green’ lighting has left many hankering after the instant, bright warm glow of traditional filament bulbs. But now scientists in the US believe they have come up with a solution which could see a reprieve for incandescent bulbs.

LEDs Offer Multiple Advantages to the Horticulture Industry

LEDs offer advantages to the horticulture industry that go far beyond those they provide to other industries and to consumers. Scientists say that light at certain spectral levels is more helpful to chlorophyll absorption than others, according to LEDs Magazine. Thus, LEDs – in which spectral output can be controlled – are superior to incandescent and other legacy types of lights.

New Ways to Layer Lighting With LEDs

Almost any room can be transformed into a picturesque space by lighting it based on its architectural makeup and focusing on its aesthetic features and blind spots. According to the American Lighting Association (ALA), appropriate interior lighting will diminish shadows, accentuate textures and draw attention to just the right areas. Until relatively recently, conventional lighting techniques relied on a select few types of lighting to effectively layer the lighting in a room. Now LED lighting -- deemed safer, sturdier and more durable than CFL light bulbs by the Department of Energy - is becoming a go-to lighting source for all areas of the home.

Sun Life Stadium’s renovations to include new LED lighting

The Miami Dolphins’ future is a little brighter — and it has nothing to do with their new head coach, Adam Gase, who was hired Saturday. The organization will switch to an advanced light-emitting diode (LED) system at Sun Life Stadium ahead of the 2016 season, the Miami Herald learned. Installation of the lights, provided by the Eaton power management company, will occur in the coming months. The system will reduce energy usage by as much as 75 percent. LED lighting turns on instantly, eliminating the warm-up period traditional light-bulb based systems need.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article53885680.html#storylink=cpy

Intelligent LEDs Add Functionality and Value

The move to replace legacy lighting with LEDs is one of the decade’s most important and well documented steps toward energy efficiency. The next innovation is upon us: Vendors are boosting the benefits of the LED themselves – and introducing new capabilities to the overall platforms — by adding intelligence. Phillip Smallwood, the Director of Research for Pennwell’s LED and Lighting Group, said that despite the great deal of attention it has generated, LEDs represent only 6 percent of the worldwide installed base of lights. He sees the move to add intelligence as a part of the same ongoing and still nascent lighting revolution, not as a distinct new phase.

The Hydrao Smart Shower aims to curb your water consumption with LEDs

Water is a precious commodity, whether you’re living in a remote region of Singapore or downtown Los Angeles. That said, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a better way to monitor your water consumption, so you can cut back on costs and reduce your aquatic footprint without having to guesstimate how many gallons you eat up on the daily? Enter the Hydrao Smart Shower, an eco-sensitive shower head designed to monitor and inform you of your consumption as you shower.

Nora Lighting offers LEDUR undercabinet LED fixture with edge-lit technology

Nora Lighting introduces LEDUR, a new series of 120V dimmable LED undercabinet fixtures that feature Edge-Lit Technology. Edge-Lit provides smooth, uniform illumination onto a work surface without the hot spots generated by direct-view mounted LEDs. LEDUR is a practical solution for glare-free undercabinet lighting over all reflective surfaces, including granite, polished stone, quartz or other materials.

 

LEDUR has an integral electronic driver and is completely dimmable and linkable up to 400W. It is offered in various lengths and is just 1” deep x 3 ½” for a trim appearance. Dark bronze or white finishes are available.

LEDs That Watch Over Your Home

Kuna makes home security systems that are outdoor lighting fixtures with a smart Wi-Fi camera built-in. For existing outdoor lights there’s Toucan, seen above. This retrofit has all the same features and functions as Kuna’s fixtures and is powered by the same mobile app. A camera detects movement at your door and alerts you via your smartphone, so you can see who’s at the door and talk with visitors or detect intruders. Toucan will be available mid-year at Amazon.

Litetronics Introduces LEDs

Litetronics says that its new LED R and BR lamps cut energy use by as much as 87 percent and offer twelve times the lifespan of comparable legacy lights. The lights are retrofits to E26 medium bases and screw in to existing features. The company says that they are designed to copy the appearance of incandescent lights and are aimed at commercial, institutional and high end residential use.

iDevices Announces HomeKit-Enabled Light Bulb Socket

Smart devices are taking over, and iDevices has released a number of HomeKit-enabled gadgets to help you turn your home into a smart home. One such device is the iDevices Socket, which can be screwed into any standard light bulb socket, after which you can simply screw in a standard bulb and you have a smart light. You can then turn it on and off from your smartphone, as well as with Siri.

Digital Lumens unveils LightRules mobile application for lighting control

Digital Lumens has unveiled LightRules Mobile, giving users a simple and convenient way to control and manage lighting settings from their mobile device or tablet. With a simple, intuitive interface,

LightRules Mobile lets users make quick adjustments to lighting control settings in a broad range of applications. From manufacturing and sporting facilities, to warehouses and convention centers, staff can quickly change lighting from their phone or tablet. In addition, the app enables customers to save significant deployment costs by eliminating the need to install multiple wall switches and keypads.

Tucson considers streetlight switch to LEDs

In Tucson, where surrounding mountains are topped with telescopes, dim has always been in, and a city plan for converting to LEDs promises to take that into account. City transportation officials say they can deliver better lighting that lowers cost without adding lumens to the city’s overall light pollution tally. An energy audit conducted for the city by the vendor selling the lighting system says Tucson can save $180,000 a month on electrical costs while reducing the city’s overall lumens by 62 percent, said Jessie Sanders, projects manager in the Department of Transportation.

CFLS, LEDs are changing the way we see

I shudder every time I flip the light switch in our shed, powering up two 200-watt incandescent light bulbs. Nearly every other light bulb around our home are either energy-saving compact fluorescent light (CFL) or the hot (actually cool) newest product, the light emitting diode (LED). The first LEDs I replaced were outdoor flood lights that are motion-activated, and now I don't worry as much about "wasting electricity" when a critter walks by or a strong wind blows a branch or unknown object within range of the sensors. Soon, it may be the shed lights.

Ningbo Mayyard develops Spotlight Series LED lamps

With the growing popularity of LED lamps, a demand for various specifications and models for LED lighting in the market is greater, with LED lamps mainly used for decorative and commercial lighting. Ningbo Mayyard Photoelectricity Co., Ltd is a company specializing in the development, production and sale of diodes and lighting manufacturing; the Spotlight Series LED lamps have the following advantages:

GE's bright idea: a brighter Bright Stik LED

The original, 60W replacement version of GE's Bright Stik LED was one of our favorite value bulbs of 2015. Now, for 2016, GE is releasing a bigger, brighter version of the Bright Stik that's designed to put out as much light as a 100W incandescent bulb. Soft white versions of the light will sell in two-packs at Sam's Club locations for a price of $16 -- by far the lowest price we've seen for a 100W replacement LED from a major manufacturer.