Optronic Laboratories : Light Measurement Experts

LighTimes: LCD TV Panel Makers Target 40 Percent LED Penetration in Q4 2010

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:39:55 +0000

September 3, 2010…LCD TV panel prices fell quickly in Q3’10 due to oversupply and inventory adjustments downstream. However, LED panel prices are falling even faster than CCFL. According to market analyst company, DisplaySearch, the continuing transition to LED backlights is motivating LCD TV panel manufacturers to develop their supply chains in order to reduce the cost of LED-backlit panels. In DisplaySearch’s Quarterly LED Backlight Panel Shipment and Forecast Report reveals that 9.5 million, or 18.5%, of the LCD TV panels that shipped in Q2’10 had LED backlights. This was 110% growth over the previous quarter.

The company notes that LCD TV panel makers are targeting aggressive growth for LED panel shipments, with plans to reach 40 percent LED penetration in Q4’10, and to exceed 50 percent penetration in Q2’11. Penetration is highest among leading LCD TV panel makers, including Samsung, LG Display, AUO, Sharp, and Chimei Innolux. Notably, Samsung and Sharp aim to ship more LED LCD TVs than CCFL panels in Q4’10 (Table 1). Among these players, Sharp is the only one focusing on direct-type LED backlights, as opposed to the more common edge-lit structure. “LCD TV panel prices fell quickly in Q3’10 due to oversupply and inventory adjustments downstream. However, LED panel prices are falling even faster than CCFL.” said David Hsieh, Large-Area LCD Research Team Leader and Vice President of the Greater China Market for DisplaySearch. Hsieh added, “Panel makers are expecting to grow their shipments through the end of the year as LED panel prices and end-market retailer prices of LED LCD TVs fall rapidly.”

LIGHTimes News Staff

LighTimes: EU Ban on 75-Watt Incandescent Bulbs to Begin, Packaging to Have New Info

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:42:22 +0000

August 31, 2010…Beginning tomorrow the second stage of an EU regulation for the phase-out of incandescent lamps will be coming into force. The 75-Watt bulbs will gradually disappear from shop shelves. Retailers will be allowed to sell their existing stock, but production of the bulbs by manufacturers and importation of bulbs must cease.

As part of the phase-out plan a uniform Europe-wide duty to inform will also apply to new lamps to help consumers better understand the differences among efficient lighting technologies . The EU regulation to inform consumers about lighting seems very similar to the labeling requirements of the United States Federal Trade Commission. The mandatory data to be provided will include the service life, start-up time, and the mercury content. And like the U.S. labeling requirements, the most important changes for consumers concern the specification of the light output in lumens. The term “Lumens” will replace “Watts” as the measure of brightness

Courtesy SSLDesign News Staff

LEDs Magazine: Debate continues over the impact of light at night on human health

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:49:45 +0000

Debate continues over the impact of light at night on human health (MAGAZINE)
*Organizations continue to research whether light at night has a serious impact on human health.*
Advocacy groups such as the International Dark-sky Association (IDA) have claimed that blue-spectrum wavelengths found in sources such as LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) can disrupt circadian rhythms and potentially cause other health maladies such as cancer. Meanwhile, the Alliance for Solid-State Illumination and Technologies (ASSIST) has published a technical paper developed by the Lighting Research Center (LRC) that examines the impact of artificial light at night on humans. The report concludes that realistic night-lighting scenarios have small-to-no impact on humans, as measured by melatonin suppression.Over the course of the past year, the debate over artificial light at night and its impact on circadian rhythms and human health has intensified. Back in October, IDA published a statement that began, “The rapidly expanding use of bluish-white outdoor lighting threatens visibility at night and jeopardizes the nocturnal environment worldwide.” The not-for profit organization, which is dedicated to protecting the night-time environment, suggested that lights with a correlated color temperature (CCT) above 3000K should no longer be used for outdoor illumination. ++++++ This article was published in the July/August 2010 issue of LEDs Magazine. To read the full version of this article, please visit our magazine page, where you can download FREE electronic PDF versions of all issues of LEDs Magazine. You can also request a print copy of LEDs Magazine (available by paid subscription) and sign up for our free weekly email newsletter.
About the Author
Maury Wright is the Senior Technical Editor of LEDs Magazine.

Immunology grants will support stem cell research in multicolor flow cytometry

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:32:43 +0000

Jun 18, 2010

San Diego– BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) will further expand its Research Grant program, adding $100,000 worth of reagents, cell culture tools and labware to support promising stem cell research inmulticolor flow cytometry, as well as cell signaling, cancer research, immune function, infectious diseases and neuroscience.

The focus of the new stem cell research grants is to support the continuing study of embryonic, adult and induced pluripotent stem cells to improve the understanding of both normal and disease processes.

“Even though the peak of the economic crisis appears to already have been reached, life scientists in the United States are still in desperate need for resources to keep their research projects alive,” said Robert Balderas, Vice President of Biological Sciences, BD Biosciences. “BD Biosciences is proud to do its part to help advance some of the most promising stem cell and immunology research that could one day help cure or prevent disease.”

When added to the existing $140,000 allocated to support immunology research, this new funding will bring the total annual support amount to $240,000, which will be distributed via 24 individual grants of BD Biosciences research reagents, cell culture tools and labware valued at $10,000 each.

Additional information about the grant program, including the application process and deadlines, is available atwww.bdbiosciences.com/grant.

Courtesy OptoIQ

NanoMarkets New Report Sees $6.0 Billion OLED Lighting Markets by 2015

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:21:35 +0000

News Release

August 5, 2010

NanoMarkets New Report Sees $6.0 Billion OLED Lighting Markets by 2015

Glen Allen, Virginia: NanoMarkets has just published its latest forecasts of worldwide OLED lighting markets. According to NanoMarkets, OLED lighting will generate $6.0 billion in revenues by 2015 driven by the need for cost efficient lighting in a number of different applications, including general illumination, architectural lighting, backlighting, vehicular lighting and signage. The report titled, “OLED Lighting, An Eight-Year Market Forecast (2010),” is part of the firm’s “OLED Lighting Market Planning and Advisory Service” that was recently launched and leverages years of painstaking analysis and forecasting of the OLED lighting market on the part of NanoMarkets.

Further details about this and other OLED lighting related reports can be found on the firm’s website at www.nanomarkets.net.

Findings:

At present, most of the firms offering or planning to supply OLED lighting are focusing on the general illumination and/or the architectural lighting sectors, which together, NanoMarkets believes, will account for just over $4.0 billion by 2015. The report discusses the types of OLED lighting products that will be needed as effective substitutes for today’s incandescent and fluorescent bulbs and tubes and the price points that these new OLED lighting products will fetch.

However, there are also other applications for OLED lighting with considerable potential. For example, vehicular lighting is expected to bring in over $750 million in revenues in 2015. NanoMarkets’ forecasts in this report also include two different scenarios for OLED backlighting; one in which OLED prove themselves to be an effective substitute to today’s electroluminescent lighting and one in which OLED technology reaches a level of development where it can provide an effective backlighting technology for LCD displays. Under this second scenario, NanoMarkets believes that OLED backlighting could generate revenues as high as $1.4 billion.

About the Report:

This report analyzes and quantifies the opportunities for the emerging OLED lighting space. It discusses what economic and technical challenges will need to be overcome in order to reach acceptable revenue levels as well as examines the alternative scenarios and the impact of panel size, efficiency, luminance and lifetimes. In addition, to providing detailed forecasts, this new report considers the impact of performance improvements, funding and the establishment of the first OLED lighting manufacturing plants on the growth of OLED lighting revenues.

This report is part of NanoMarkets’ “OLED Lighting Market Planning and Advisory Service” that provides a comprehensive package of market reports, research notes and research inquiry hours. The service provides market forecasts, a detailed analysis of the business case pushing OLED lighting forward, suppliers leading and influencing the market and the materials and manufacturing developments behind this growth.

About NanoMarkets:

NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy and electronics markets created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to electronics and display materials. Visit http://www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets’ reports and other services.

Contact:

Robert Nolan
NanoMarkets
(804) 360-2967
rob@nanomarkets.net

LEDs Magazine: DOE plans consumer-education initiative on energy-saving lighting

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:37:09 +0000

The US Department of Energy (DOE) used its SSL Market Introduction Workshop in Philadelphia as a venue to preview a new consumer-education campaign to promote green lighting options. The DOE will partner with GE, Philips, Cree, Osram Sylvania, Home Depot, Costco Wholesale, andGrainger to promote LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) and other energy-saving lighting options.

The DOE is planning the initiative to coincide with upcoming changes in light-bulb regulation. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will begin to phase out incandescent bulbs in 2012 – beginning with the 100W lamp and then continuing with lower wattage bulbs on a progressive basis over a two-year period.

According to the DOE press release, “The ultimate effect of phasing out inefficient light sources will be significant national energy savings and a shrunken carbon footprint. However, without an effective consumer education process, these new performance levels could cause considerable confusion.”

The point that the DOE is making is that consumers will need to understand a new figure of merit in place of wattage as an indicator of light output. Indeed wattage has never been a direct measure of light output and new products such as SSL replacement lamps will user a fraction of the wattage or power used by incandescent lamps.

The DOE plans to work with the lighting industry to educate the public on lumens as a measure of light output. The new campaign will also seek to define other benefits of new lighting technologies including for instance the long life promised by SSL.

Expect more details on the education campaign in the coming months. The DOE will formally launch the initiative this fall. It expects other partners to join what’s an impressive group of brand names from both the retail market and the component and lighting manufacturing segment.

About the Author

Maury Wright is the Senior Technical Editor of LEDs Magazine.

Courtesy LEDs Magazine

LighTimes: FTC Label Guidlines Finalized, But Comment Sought on Certain Issues

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:00:43 +0000

July 28, 2010…The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s new rules on lighting labels have been finalized. (Ref: Coverage). The goal of the new rules is to make the comparison of different lighting technologies easier for consumers. The labels include the number of lumens output of the light source, the estimated lifetime of the light source in hours, the estimated cost per year based upon a certain number of hours use per day with a specified electric rate. CFL bulbs must have a information stating that the bulb contains small amounts of mercury.

The Commission is seeking additional comments on wether it should establish standards for watt equivalence claims. The FTC received a recommendation that the labels be applied to all screw-based bulbs. However, the commission decided that this would need further consideration.

Courtesy

SSLDesign News Staff

SSLDesign News Staff: DOE Plans Lighting Alternatives Consumer Education Initiative

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:58:33 +0000

July 23, 2010…The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will change what the United States uses for general lighting. The law, put into effect by then President Bush, plans a phase out of incandescent bulbs. Such a phase out can only be effective if the public knows about it. For this reason, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans for a new consumer education initiative that will be timed to the upcoming changes in light bulb regulation. According to the DOE, the initiative will provide greater awareness of the overall benefits of the legislative changes and new, “greener” technologies, such as LEDs and CFLs.

At an SSL Market Workshop that the DOE put on in Philadephia, representatives from GE, Philips, Cree, and Osram Sylvania, as well as major retailers including The Home Depot, Costco Wholesale and Grainger were on hand. The DOE notes that these partners are already set to work on the DOE’s consumer education initiative. Additionally the DOE expects other partners to join in the effort.

Courtesy LighTimes

LEDs Magazine: EPA clarifies Energy Star SSL test procedure accreditation requirements

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:54:50 +0000

A letter from the EPA attempts to clarify points related to LM-80 testing of solid-state lighting products.

EPA has received a number of questions about the current and near-future Energy Star testing requirements for lumen maintenance of solid-state lighting (SSL) products. It has issued a letter (below) which provides guidance on lumen maintenance testing requirements for LED packages, arrays, and modules for Energy Star qualification of SSL luminaires and integral LED lamps.Among the main points are:

The existing Energy Star Solid-State Lighting Luminaires v1.1 specification (SSL v1.1), which references IES LM-80-08, remains in effect until the Energy Star Luminaires v1.0 specification replaces it in the summer of 2011.
As of March 31, 2010 EPA is only accepting data collected in compliance with the LM-80 standard. Data collected prior to publication of the LM-80 standard, not performed in compliance with the standard, will not be accepted for Energy Star qualification of solid state lighting products.
As of September 30, 2010 the current SSL V1.1 specification requires that LM-80 test data come from a NVLAP-accredited laboratory. However, no labs have yet achieved this accreditation for LM-80 testing. An interim accreditation scheme has therefore been introduced.
Under the forthcoming Luminaires specification, lumen maintenance projections using data collected in accordance with LM-80 will be governed by the forthcoming IES technical memorandum TM-21-11.

Letter in full (original text):

Dear ENERGY STAR Solid-State Lighting or Integral LED Lamps Stakeholder,

This letter is intended to clarify issues surrounding LM-80 lumen maintenance testing of LED packages, arrays and modules for the current ENERGY STAR Solid-State Lighting Luminaires program, and the forthcoming ENERGY STAR Luminaires program. These clarifications are also applicable to Integral LED Lamp partners electing to leverage the early initial qualification option using LM-80 test data when the specification becomes effective August 31, 2010.

The existing ENERGY STAR Solid-State Lighting Luminaires V1.1 specification (SSL V1.1), which references IES LM-80-08, remains in effect until the ENERGY STAR Luminaires V1.0 specification replaces it in the summer of 2011.

As of March 31, 2010 EPA is only accepting data collected in compliance with the LM-80 standard., with sample sizes as specified in the ENERGY STAR Manufacturer’s Guide for Qualifying Solid State Lighting Luminaires. Therefore data collected prior to publication of the LM-80 standard, not performed in compliance with the standard, will not be accepted for ENERGY STAR qualification of solid state lighting products. Questions about laboratory changes in equipment should be directed to the NVLAP program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is the accreditation body for LM-80 testing recognized in the current lighting specifications; other accreditation bodies may be added in the future.

As of September 30, 2010 the current SSL V1.1 specification requires that LM-80 test data come from a NVLAP accredited laboratory. Applications for recognition by EPA as an accredited lab for purposes of LM-80 testing are available at www.energystar.gov/testingandverification. As of today, EPA understands from NVLAP that no labs have yet achieved this accreditation. Given that accreditation takes 3 to 6 months, EPA recognizes that as of September 30 access to accredited labs will be limited. On an interim basis, EPA will recognize labs that have otherwise achieved ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation through NVLAP, have demonstrated competence in conducting LM-80 testing, and can demonstrate that they are in the process of obtaining accreditation for LM-80 testing. Labs seeking this interim recognition should contact Taylor Jantz-Sell at D&R International (see below). Progress towards LM-80 accreditation for these laboratories will be closely monitored, and products qualified through labs which do not complete the accreditation process or demonstrate progress towards accreditation will be disqualified.

Regarding lumen maintenance projections, current protocols outlined in the SSL V1.1 specification and the aforementioned Manufacturers Guide remain in effect for SSL fixtures until the Luminaires specification becomes effective in the summer of 2011. Under the forthcoming Luminaires specification, lumen maintenance projections using data collected in accordance with LM-80 will be governed by the forthcoming IES technical memorandum TM-21-11.

The Agency would also like to address the testing requirements for improvements to LED packages, arrays, or modules. EPA’s understanding of the intent behind IES test procedures is that LED packages should be considered new if material changes have been made which result in any sizeable change(s) in performance; these new components would not be considered “successors”. New LED packages must be tested according to LM-80.

For purposes of initial ENERGY STAR qualification or maintenance of qualification status of a currently qualified fixture using successor components, until the Luminaires specification is final and effective please refer to guidance on “Lumen Maintenance — Successor LED packages/modules/arrays” on page 4 in the aforementioned ENERGY STAR Manufacturer’s Guide. A proposal about the handling of successor LED packages/arrays/modules under the new Luminaires specification will be included in a subsequent draft to be distributed this summer. All information related to the Luminaire specification development process can be found atwww.energystar.gov/luminaires.

Finally, EPA is currently working to clarify requirements pertaining to LM-80 sample sizes and acceptable variations of correlated color temperature within those samples; direction will be provided in a separate forthcoming communication to partners and stakeholders.

While the SSL V1.1 specification remains in effect, questions regarding the above topics should be directed to Taylor Jantz-Sell at D&R International at tjsell@drintl.com or (301) 588-9387; related Integral LED Lamp questions should also be directed to Taylor. Questions regarding the above topics as they pertain to the forthcoming Luminaires specification should be directed to me at baker.alex@epa.gov or (202) 343-9272. Finally, questions regarding the enhanced testing and verification program EPA is implementing across all ENERGY STAR products should be directed toENERGYSTARVerificationProgram@energystar.gov.

Sincerely,
Alex Baker
Lighting Program Manager, ENERGY STAR
US EPA

Courtesy LEDs Magazine

LighTimes: September SSL Summit driving LED lighting quality message

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:46:39 +0000

July 9, 2010…Bringing together property/facility decision makers, designers, luminaire manufacturers and enabling technology providers, the 2010-2011 SSL Summit series, hosted by Solid State Lighting Design, has taken a strong stance in its approach to help boost a “quality only” message inside the LED lighting industry. The East coast edition is slated for September 14-15 in New York City, with the West coast follow-on happening January 19-20, 2011 in the Los Angeles area. For 2010-2011, the SSL Summit is sticking firm to a commitment to require participating companies that would receive product-level visibility, to meet some basic quality vetting criteria. According to conference co-chair, Chris Brown, CEO of the national lighting solutions provider Wiedenbach Brown, “Whether a company is considering involvement as a speaker, sponsor or Summit showcase participant, we’re looking for them to meet some very basic criteria for their participation. While the Summit is not requiring the highest efficacy or perfect product, it’s clear that the players are substantially narrowed when you put basic hurdles in place, such as being able to show that independent LM-79 test data matches what they put out on their data sheet, that they are appropriately representing certifications, and that they bring a decent reputation with them.“

The SSL Summit puts forward a solid agenda designed to engage to the participants in the key issues and successful approaches visible in the LED lighting industry today. Avraham Mor, IALD, LEED AP, MIES and Partner with Lightswitch Architectural added, “Beyond the strong networking I’ve seen from my previous SSL Summit experience, one of the reasons I was willing to participate as a co-chair for this year’s Summit is the ‘quality required’ message that it carries. When considering what LED lighting has to offer, lighting decision makers quickly run head-on into a bewildering array of offerings. The Summit doesn’t claim that a participating company’s product is perfect, but it does stand behind the vetting to assure that engaging with that manufacturer to understand their offering is worth the decision maker’s time.” The Summit is receiving industry backing from a host of recognized companies, with the list so far including diamond sponsors Lithonia Lighting and LEDnovation. Platinum sponsors include GrafTech, Toshiba, Greenlight Initiative and Wiedenbach Brown, and are joined by CRS Electronics and NYECC at supporting levels. Highlighted speakers for New York include Margaret Newman, Chief of Staff of the NY City Department of Transportation, and David Bomke, Executive Director of the NY Energy Consumers Council. Visit www.SSLsummit.com from series information, or here to see the current New York SSL Summit line-up.

Courtesy LighTimes