LED lights are good for the planet, but bad for your eyes, study says
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Saturday, 01 June 2013 22:56
Energy-efficient LED lights are earth-friendly, and these days they're in everything from computers to TVs to street lights. That's a problem, since new research indicates the light-emitting diode bulbs can cause irreparable damage to your eyes. Researchers from Madrid's Complutense University say this is likely caused by the high levels of radiation in the blue band of the light's spectrum, which can destroy or permanently damage cells in your retina. Dr. Celia Sanchez Ramos, an investigator at the university, said you can help soften the impact on your eyes by closing your eyes frequently, using sunglasses with UV filters and eating plenty of Vitamin A, all of which sounds easier than avoiding LEDs by, say, cutting computers out of your day. (By MSN News)
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US Supreme Court agrees to hear LCD price-fixing case
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Friday, 31 May 2013 22:17
WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to weigh in on a dispute between states and electronics manufacturers over whether restitution claims based on alleged price-fixing in the market for liquid crystal display panels should be heard in state or federal court.
South Carolina and Mississippi are among 13 states that have sued various manufacturers, including AU Optronics, LG Display and LG Electronics. They seek restitution over an alleged conspiracy among the companies to fix prices, which has been the subject of a criminal probe and multiple lawsuits.
Some of the cases are in federal court, but South Carolina and Mississippi were among five states that sued in state courts, which are generally seen as friendlier to plaintiffs.
The companies sought to move the cases to federal court, which corporate defendants generally prefer. They succeeded in the Mississippi case but not in the South Carolina litigation.
Both cases were appealed to the high court, but the justices only agreed to hear the Mississippi case.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether lawsuits filed by a state on behalf of citizens can be viewed as similar to a class action, meaning they can be moved to federal court.
Oral arguments and a ruling are due in the court's next term, which begins in October and ends in June.
The case is Mississippi v AU Optronics Corp, US Supreme Court, No. 12-1036. (By THE TIMES OF INDIA)
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Osram joins adaptive LED headlight research
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Friday, 31 May 2013 22:03
Osram is to develop glare-free adaptive headlights, where modulating multiple LED die within a headlight allows the shape of its beam to be varied in response to data from forward-facing cameras in the vehicle.
Low-beams that adapt with vehicle speed are another aspect: at high speed the range of the light is automatically increased, while in city traffic the beam is widened to include more of the pavement and road edges.
“The aim of this project is to develop the technical framework for a new class of energy-efficient LED headlamps with supplementary traffic safety functions,” said Osram. “This can provide the basis for adaptive forward lighting systems [AFSs] that offer drivers and passengers increased safety.”
Such headlamps already exist, using HID ‘xenon’ sources and mechanical shutters to change the beam shape. This project will be all-electronic.
The project is part of the ‘Integrated microphotonics’ initiative, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FMER). Osram is project co-ordinator.
“The key to this complex functionality is the integration of microelectronics and optoelectronics,” said Osram.
Initiative members are:
Osram – automotive lighting LEDs, control gear.
Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM) – interconnection and materials.
Infineon – automotive electronics and LED drivers.
Hella – optical system, headlamp structure, prototype build.
Daimler – vehicle tests.
“We have brought together major-league players in their respective sectors, assembling a wealth of expertise for this pioneering project around one table,” said project coordinator Stefan Grötsch, also responsible for LED applications in automotive lighting at Osram.
The project will run until the end of January 2016. (By Electronics Weekly)
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Osram leads research on LED-based adaptive headlamps for autos
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Wednesday, 29 May 2013 17:00
Focused on increased safety for drivers and passengers, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FMER) is sponsoring a research project on adaptive forward lighting systems (AFS) for autos, and Osram Opto Semiconductors is serving as the project coordinator. The project will seek to combine microelectronics and optoelectronics technologies to enable autonomous camera-based control of LED headlamps with no mechanical actuators.
The AFS concept includes both optimum lighting for the driver and supplementary traffic safety functions. The goal is glare-free high-beam lighting, and low beams that adjust to the speed of the vehicle. For example, at high speed, the AFS would extend the range of the headlamps. In city driving the system would produce a broader beam to ensure that pedestrians or cyclist are lit and easily detected by the driver.
The FMER project will seek to develop a technology framework that can be broadly used by automakers going forward on a global basis. During the research phase, Daimler with carry out tests of the system.
In addition to Osram Opto and Daimler, there are a number of other participants in the project. IC vendor Infineon Technologies is contributing experience in automotive electronics and LED drivers. Osram's Specialty Lighting division is working on new electronic control gear for headlamps. The Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration is focused on interconnect technologies.
Auto lighting specialists Hella will develop the optical system and build headlamp prototypes using Osram LED modules. The project will use multi-chip LEDs such as the Osram Ostar LED pictured nearby.
Stefan Grötsch is responsible for LED applications in automotive lighting at Osram Opto and is serving as project coordinator. Grötsch said, "We have brought together major players in their respective sectors and have assembled a wealth of expertise for this pioneering project." (By LEDs Magazine)
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Panasonic ZT65 vs Kuro Showdown Reveals TV With Deepest Blacks
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Wednesday, 29 May 2013 16:43
A bank holiday Sunday – especially one as sunny as the one just passed – is typically not a day to find more than a hundred people loitering in a dimly lit banquet room.
But that’s exactly what happened at The City Rooms hotel in Leicester this past weekend. The reason is simple: the venue held host to several of the top flat-screen TVs released in 2013 by various manufacturers, all lined up side by side in their calibrated glory. The event – themed “Battle Of The Big Brand TVs” – was painstakingly put together by local THX calibrator Julian Scott and the Leicester store of Richer Sounds, with promotional and on-site support from the retailer’s national marketing department in conjunction with HDTVTest. Panasonic’s “Beyond The Reference” ZT plasma and its step-down VT series sibling, as well as Samsung’s much improved F8500 PDP (plasma display panel) offering, were among the HDTVs exhibited.
The TVs that were displayed from the outset were – in order from left to right – the Philips 46PFL8007T, the Samsung UE55F8000, and the Panasonic TX-L55WT65B LED LCD televisions; the Panasonic TX-P55VT65B, the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65B, the Samsung PS51F8500, and the Pioneer PDP-LX6090 plasmas; and perpendicular to the others, the LG 84LM960V 84-inch Ultra HD 4K TV.
In contrast, the three LED LCDs on the left were ignored for the most part. This sort of setting – with only a small amount of ambient light present, which ironically is what videophiles like for critical viewing – really exposed the shallower blacks and narrower viewing angles of LCD display technology, particularly when compared against plasma TVs that are superior in these two aspects. Stores with bright lights is where LCDs thrive… not in this environment.
And when the Blu-ray player started spinning darker sequences from The Dark Knight Rises and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End (served via an HDMI amplifier to all the TVs), even the LG 84in 4K television – which uses edge LED backlighting – faltered. Almost every attendee could be found congregating in front of the four plasma televisions, mesmerised by the exceedingly deep blacks and realistic shadow detailing. (Excerpt from HDTV Test)
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Corning challenges sapphire glass toughness claims
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Monday, 27 May 2013 21:04
Gorilla Glass maker Corning is using some guerrilla marketing tactics to boost its product amidst all the hype surrounding sapphire glass.
Whether it’s an Android, BlackBerry, Apple or even Windows Phone product, all current smartphones have one thing in common – their displays are protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Incredibly thin and light yet impressively strong, it’s the reason why phones (mostly) survive the wear and tear of modern life, from accidental falls to rubbing up against house keys in a handbag.
Sapphire glass, on the other hand, is universally accepted as being the toughest, strongest elemental substance next to diamond and, although it is much more expensive to create, can lay claim to being used by the military for making armor and by the world’s leading luxury watchmakers for protecting their precious timepieces.
What’s more, new techniques mean that production costs are coming down to the point where it will soon become affordable to phone makers. As such, Apple already uses sapphire glass, rather than Gorilla Glass, to protect the rear-facing camera on its iPhone 5.
However, Corning has hit back with a video demonstration to show its glass is four times stronger than its sapphire counterpart. Jeffery W. Evenson, senior vice president, explains of the demo: “Discussion seems to center around sapphire as an obvious solution for a cover material. What would people say if someone invented a cover that was about half the weight, used 99% less energy to make, provided brighter displays, and cost less than a tenth of sapphire? I think they’d say that sapphire was in real trouble. It so happens that we at Corning already invented that cover – and it’s called Gorilla Glass.” (Excerpt from GlobalPost)
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Google Glass OLED Samsung display tipped for consumer model
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Monday, 27 May 2013 20:55
Google’s consumer version of Glass will use Samsung OLED displays, reports out of South Korea have claimed, with the possibility of flexible panels being used for the futuristic wearable. The deal follows Google CEO Larry Page recently visiting a Samsung Display OLED production line, The Korea Times reports, and heavy-handed hints by the screen division’s CEO that wearables would figure highly in flexible OLED’s future.
“OLED on silicon may be used for glasses-type, augmented-reality devices much like the Google Glass” CEO Kim Ki-nam said during a SID keynote this past week. “The wearable market will be a major beneficiary of the free-form factor advantage of flexible OLEDs. Smartphone-linked wearable accessory products such as watches and health bands will use ultra-thin flexible OLEDs embedded with various sensors.”
Samsung has been talking up the potential of flexible OLED for some time, though is yet to commercially deploy the technology. That’s been promised for 2013 under the YOUM brand, however, slightly delayed after Samsung was apparently forced to dedicate the bulk of its production facility to making traditional AMOLED screens for devices like the Galaxy series of smartphones. (Excerpt from SlashGear)
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New family of tiny crystals glow bright in LED lights
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Sunday, 26 May 2013 10:08
Light-emitting diodes, better known as LEDs, offer substantial energy savings over incandescent and fluorescent lights and are easily produced in single colors such as red or green commonly used in traffic lights or children's toys.
Developing an LED that emits a broad spectrum of warm white light on par with sunlight has proven tricky, however. LEDs, which produce light by passing electrons through a semiconductor material, often are coupled with materials called phosphors that glow when excited by radiation from the LED.
"But it's hard to get one phosphor that makes the broad range of colors needed to replicate the sun," said John Budai, a scientist in ORNL's Materials Science and Technology division. "One approach to generating warm-white light is to hit a mixture of phosphors with ultraviolet radiation from an LED to stimulate many colors needed for white light."
Budai is working with a team of scientists from University of Georgia and Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories to understand a new group of crystals that might yield the right blend of colors for white LEDs as well as other uses. Zhengwei Pan's group at UGA grew the nanocrystals using europium oxide and aluminum oxide powders as the source materials because the rare-earth element europium is known to be a dopant, or additive, with good phosphorescent properties.
"What's amazing about these compounds is that they glow in lots of different colors—some are orange, purple, green or yellow," Budai said. "The next question became: why are they different colors? It turns out that the atomic structures are very different."
Budai has been studying the atomic structure of the materials using x-rays from Argonne's Advanced Photon Source. Two of the three types of crystal structures in the group of phosphors had never been seen before, which can probably be attributed to the crystals' small size, Budai said.
"Only the green ones were a known crystal structure," Budai said. "The other two, the yellow and blue, don't grow in big crystals; they only grow with these atomic arrangements in these tiny nanocrystals. That's why they have different photoluminescent properties."
X-ray diffraction analysis is helping Budai and his collaborators work out how the atoms are arranged in each of the different crystal types. The different-colored phosphors exhibit distinct diffraction patterns when they are hit with x-rays, enabling researchers to analyze the crystal structure.
"What that means in terms of how the electrons around the atoms interact to make light is much harder," Budai said. "We haven't completely solved that yet. That's the continuing research. We have a lot of clues, but we don't know everything."
The knowledge gained through their atomic-scale analysis is helping the research team improve the phosphorescent crystals. Different factors in the growth process—temperature, powder composition, and types of gas used—can change the final product. A fundamental understanding of all the parameters could help the team to perfect the recipe and improve the crystals' ability to convert energy into light.
Advancing the material's luminescence efficiency is key to making it useful for commercial LED products and other applications; the new nanocrystals may turn out to have other practical photonic uses beyond phosphors for LEDs. Their ability to act as miniature "light pipes" when the crystal quality is high enough could lend them to applications in fiber-optic technologies, Budai said.
"You can keep growing the crystals and measuring them, or you can understand why it's doing what it's doing, and figure out how to make it better. That's what we're doing—basic research. We have to figure out nature first."
The team's most recent study is published as the inside front cover article in the April 25 issue of Advanced Functional Materials as "New Ternary Europium Aluminate Luminescent Nanoribbons for Advanced Photonics." (By Phys.org)
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iPhone 5S Reportedly Bringing Three New Colors, Dual LED Flash
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Sunday, 26 May 2013 10:00
Apple is expected to expand the color palette for its fall iPhone lineup, which is speculated to consist of a high-end iPhone 5S model as the flagship of the range as well as a more budget-friendly device.
Japanese site Macotakara was able to confirm with two separate sources that the low-cost version will come in an assortment of colors, with black being reserved exclusively for the iPhone 5S flagship.
At this stage the color options rumored are still in question as different sources are leaking different colors. One of the publication’s sources claim that the low-cost device will be available in navy, gold, orange, white and gray. The second source claims a different color array that includes white, pink, green, blue and yellow-orange.
Apple is expected to begin a test production run of the low-cost device in June. Production will ramp up in July and it is expected to ship to consumers in September.
Earlier this year at the company’s earnings call, CEO Tim Cook offered hints that Apple will be announcing some exciting new products this fall. It’s been rumored for some time now that Apple would be releasing a less expensive iPhone model to compete against Android and Nokia’s cheaper range of Lumia smartphones on rival Microsoft’s Windows Phone ecosystem.
Additionally, the iPhone 5S flagship is also said to be more colorful and will expand to encompass more than three colors. Thus far, Apple has only used black and white for the iPhone flagship. Green and gold are the rumored colors for the upcoming flagship iPhone 5S.
The device is also speculated to debut with dual-LED flash for the rear camera, something that had been used on rival Android and Windows Phone handsets for some time now.
Dual-LED flash would allow images captured in the dark to be brighter. The iPhone 5S is also rumored to usher in a fingerprint scanner as well. (By Gotta Be Mobile)
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Cree XLamp® XP-E LEDs
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- Category: Tungsten & Sapphire Growth Furnace News
- Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 16:36
Cree XLamp® XP-E LEDs combine the proven lighting-class performance and reliability of the XLamp XR-E LED in a package with 80% smaller footprint. These LEDs are designed for lighting applications with a wide viewing angle, symmetrical package, unlimited floor life, and electrically neutral thermal path.
XLamp XP-E High-Efficiency White (HEW) LEDs upgrade the XLamp XP-E to leading performance levels for diffuse lighting applications. XP-E HEW is designed to enable faster adoption of LED light in cost-sensitive, consumer lighting products. Compared to the standard XLamp XP-E, XP-E HEW can reduce LED count by 50% and still deliver the same system performance.
Cree XLamp XP-E LEDs bring high performance and quality of light to a wide range of lighting applications, including color-changing, portable and personal, outdoor, indoor-directional, transportation, stage and studio, commercial and emergency-vehicle lighting. (By Mouser)
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