Designing dimmers for multiple LEDs

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 8, 2010 4:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
An LED related "How To" article has been posted on the site - How to design dimmers for multiple LEDs

Written by Michael Bairanzade, application engineer and Marie-Therese Capron, director, low voltage power management at ON Semiconductor.

They write about how an embedded gradual dimming function provides an easy way to generate the special illumination sequences being requested by portable goods manufacturers. This provides a way, they say, that they could differentiate themselves from their rivals.

Continue reading Designing dimmers for multiple LEDs.

SiL 2010 USA

By Ian Bryant on February 6, 2010 7:23 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Hi all I am off to the USA on Monday to be part of the Strategies and Light. We are part of the program as Jim will be doing a talk. Also, we have a stand so pop by if in the area.

 

I will post during the week on important updates from the conference. 


http://www.strategiesinlight.com/index.html

The packaging behind the HB-LEDs

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 27, 2010 11:01 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
High-brightness (HB) LED packaging design continues to advance, and is contributing almost as much to performance as the LED chip itself, argues Margery Conner, Technical Editor of EDN.

In an analysis piece just loaded onto the site, she says that HB-LED efficacy may grab the headlines, but packaging is where the action is in this market.

Continue reading The packaging behind the HB-LEDs.

Comms at the speed of (LED) light

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 25, 2010 2:44 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
LED-based Visible Light Communication - Siemens.jpgResearchers from Siemens have broken their own record for wireless data transfer using white LED light, reports Engadget.com, stating that they achieved 500Mbps.

It writes:
The old record sat at "just" 200Mbps, but the new speeds are helping to take Visible Light Communication from a hopeful technology to a serious contender in the space. These same researchers were also able to show that a system using up to five LEDs is capable of beaming out data over long distances at up to 100Mbps.
Read the full article >>

OLED lighting research backed by German government

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 13, 2010 2:33 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
OLED lighting got a boost today when Osram, Philips, BASF and Aixtron confirmed the German Government is to fund a research project, writes our technology editor, Steve Bush.

TOPAS 2012 is the second phase of the OLED 2015 initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Continue reading OLED lighting research backed by German government.

OLED RFID ID CARDS

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 12, 2010 3:26 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks


Here's one OLED product I hope we don't see in the UK.

Shown off by Samsung at CES, it's the possible future of RF(ID) cards. The OLED screen displays a 360 degree rotating video of the owner's head...

Continue reading OLED RFID ID CARDS.

An accent on LED sofa lighting

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 12, 2010 3:05 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
sofa LED lighting.jpgHmmm. Not convinced by this one. Couches with integrated colour LEDs underneath, providing "accented" lighting with your sitting...

Thanks to Craziest Gadgets for this one. According to the website:
"The Asami Light LED lighted sofa is made by Italian company Calico and the lights are controlled by remote. Oh yeah baby!"
For those interested, you can find a gallery of pics on the Calico site.

Most read LED Luminaries posts in December

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 4, 2010 11:40 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Low Voltage Halogen.jpgHere is a quick list of the most popular LED Luminaries posts in December. Check out what your peers are reading.

Popular posts include rivalry with halogen lighting, LED life expectancy, and Morrisons fresh choice of LEDs...

In reverse order:

10. Osram claims first LED-based replacement for 40W bulb

9. White LED backlit flat-panel LCD TVs prosper

8. Blue led - 20th anniversary of Cree's commercialisation

Continue reading Most read LED Luminaries posts in December.

Blue led - 20th anniversary of Cree's commercialisation

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 18, 2009 2:00 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
blue led old jpg.jpgThanks to Ginny from the Cree 'Lighting the LED Revolution' blog for flagging this one - the 20th anniversary of the commercialisation of a blue LED, following red and green LEDs and thus enabling a fuller colour spectrum, including white lighting...
"What were you doing in 1989? Maybe you were rocking out to "Don't Worry, Be Happy," the Grammy-award winning hit of the year. Perhaps you were killing time playing Tetris on the newly-released Nintendo Game Boy," she begins.
Continue reading Blue led - 20th anniversary of Cree's commercialisation.

LED traffic lights and unintended consequences

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 18, 2009 11:46 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

High electrical efficiency means low heat and, oh dear, LED traffic lights don't get warm enough to melt snow from their own lenses.

Boing boing has the story.

By the way, LED car headlight makers are aware of the ice and snow problem.
 
Electronics Weekly knows of at least one that is using a fan to blow air from the LED heatsink over the front glass for defrosting.

Steve Bush

Morrisons makes fresh choice of LEDs

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 15, 2009 1:11 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
15dec09Morrisons1.JPGWe get a steady stream of we-have-converted-to-LEDs emails in the Electronics Weekly inbox, few of which raise any interest at all.

One arrived this morning and, expecting to read that yet another Mid-Western university has installed a few LED streetlamps, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a Morrison's petrol station in Yorkshire.

"The entire site at Illingworth from the canopy and the carwash to the signage and refrigeration cabinets utilises Rebel LEDs and Morrisons now enjoys energy savings of approximately 45% across the installation," said Lumileds.

Continue reading Morrisons makes fresh choice of LEDs.

Osram goes OLED with warm white Orbeos lighting

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 27, 2009 11:51 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
osram oled.JPGOsram has introduced the first OLED lighting product. Called Orbeos, the warm white area emitter is 80mm diameter, 2.1mm thick and weighs 24g, writes our Technology Editor, Steve Bush.

Colour temperature is 2,800k and colour rendering index is "up to 80", said the firm. Efficiency is 25 lm/W, which puts it well behind LED lighting, fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps, but ahead of light bulbs and halogen lights.

Continue reading Osram goes OLED with warm white Orbeos lighting.

Solar Vision Pole lamp post highlights LED lighting

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 26, 2009 11:40 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Margery Conner, Technical Editor of EDN, has wrriten an interesting article about off-grid street lighting, which involves white LEDs.

Despite the efficacy of HB LEDs, she notes, their cost is such that they can struggle to compete head-on with older forms of lighting. However, certain apps can justify the paying of a premium in return for high efficiency...

She writes:
Continue reading Solar Vision Pole lamp post highlights LED lighting.

White LED backlit flat-panel LCD TVs prosper

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 20, 2009 11:21 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
LED backlight.jpgCheck out another LED-related feature article uploaded to the site: LEDs light up LCD TVs

Written by Tony Armstrong, director of product marketing for power products at Linear Technology, he considers how sales of LED backlit flat-panel liquid crystal display TVs are proving positive, despite the economic downturn.

He begins:
To understand the driving force for white LED backlit flat-panel LCD TVs, it is important to have some idea as to why they should be used over other forms of lighting, such as cold cathode florescent lamps (CCFL).
Continue reading White LED backlit flat-panel LCD TVs prosper.

Anti-fuse secures chains of LEDs

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 20, 2009 11:04 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks
25nov09MurataAntiFuse2.jpg
Murata has developed a surface-mount anti-fuse to prevent long chains of LEDs from extinguishing if one device goes open circuit, writes Technology Editor, Steve Bush.

The idea is that anti-fuses are connected across LEDs in the string, one per LED. When an LED fails, the voltage across its anti-fuse partner increases rapidly.

Continue reading Anti-fuse secures chains of LEDs.

More Lumiblade OLED photos

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 18, 2009 3:07 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
2 Interactive OLED lighting detail 100.jpgWe highlighted Philips' promotion of Lumiblade OLED technology recently. And it was such a rich seam of material we have created a new picture gallery devoted to the subject....

Take a more detailed look at Philips Lumiblade OLED lighting technology.

We take a peek at some of the uses of the flexible, low heat-emitting OLED technology in the form of chandeliers, desktop lamps, video art installations, and a comparison with fluorescent lighting...

View the OLED lighting prototypes

View all the available photo galleries

Robotic plant has LED flowers

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 11, 2009 11:59 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks


A bit of fun. This is what a robotic plant looks like, with (white and infrared) LEDs in the flower.

It's name is Himawari (Japanese for sunflower) and its design has apparently been influenced by the motion pattern of sunflowers, with it reacting to human movements. The stalk is driven by servo motors and there are alloy actuators in the head, but it is the reflected light from the white LED tentacles - and infrared LEDs which are used to reflect IR light - that enables movement to be tracked.
Continue reading Robotic plant has LED flowers.

Cool Philips Lumiblade OLED lighting prototypes

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 6, 2009 8:03 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
OLED noose bulbs.jpg
Is it just me or do these OLED 'pretend filament bulbs' look like nooses?

This one caught my eye over the weekend, in a blog post highlighting the flexibility of OLEDs - because there is no point-source of light they are more amenable to specialised shapes.

philips oled prototype.jpgTechnabob flags that Philips has made some interesting prototype fixtures using their new Lumiblade OLED technology.

Check them out, some are very cool. I lke the OLED rocking chair-n-light.

LED driver lifetimes go beyond 7,000 hours, claims NXP

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 5, 2009 1:12 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
NXP Semiconductors says that its LED driver ICs can match the lifetime figures of the LEDs themselves, writes our editor Richard Wilson.

The chipmaker has carried out accelerated lifetime tests on its SSL2101 range of LED drivers.

With LED lighting offering the potential to be ten times more efficient than incandescents, manufacturers are commonly reporting lifetime figures exceeding 50,000 hours. As a result the issue of reliability shifts to the associated devices particularly the LED driver.
Continue reading LED driver lifetimes go beyond 7,000 hours, claims NXP.

Most read LED Luminaries posts in October

By Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 4, 2009 4:56 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
mitsubishi 155in oled display.jpgHere is a quick list of the most popular LED Luminaries posts in October. Check out what your peers are reading.

Popular posts include street lighting, OLED displays, why LEDs can not rival halogens, and LED PSUs...

In reverse order:


10. 1W of infra red light from an LED

9. Linear LED driver powers 20A constant current

8. Power supply makers target LED PSUs

Continue reading Most read LED Luminaries posts in October.
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Author Profiles

Gordon Routledge
Gordon Routledge is one of the original pioneers in LED illumination having worked with LEDs in illumination applications since 1996. Currently VP of Illumination at Dialight, Gordon founded Lumidrives in 2001, having previously been managing director at ACDC Lighting Systems. Gordon has a degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from university of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

Alistair Winning
Since graduating in Electronic Systems from the University of Paisley in 1997, Alistair has worked in the electronics design publishing industry. He has held various jobs in both journalism and PR/marketing including editor of Electronic Engineering Design and Embedded Systems Engineering and Account Manager at JDK Marcom. He is now working as Editor for Premier Farnell and recently launched its in-house technical magazine, Technology First.

Ian Bryant
ian bryant.jpgIan Bryant is Business Development Manager LED Division at Carclo Technical Plastics. He has worked on and off at Carclo (Formerly Combined Optical Industrial) since leaving school. He has worked through the company from Toolmaking to starting the company on the road of LED optics business some 6-7 years ago, starting with a standard range and more in line with the business of custom optics. In between all this he has worked in engineering and as a works Director for a hydraulics company but kept getting pulled back to the optics industrial. We are able to offer the full solution from idea to parts so have a very good understanding on what is needed. You will see some posts from our design team also under my name.

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