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Building a Better Light Bulb

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:27:36 +0000

Incandescent light bulbs are energy hogs, but many people prefer them for the cozy quality of light they emit. Scientists from Dresden University of Technology in Germany have set out to build energy efficient organic LED (OLED) lights that could rival incandescent bulbs in white-light color quality. OLEDs consist of many layers of organic materials with different electrical properties. Excited electrons move through the materials and when the electrons are reunited with positive “holes,” they emit electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light. To build their white light OLED, the researchers used four separate emitter layers: blue, green, yellow, and red. The different colors are combined to cover all parts of the visible spectrum. Through a detailed study of the movement of electrons through the OLED, the scientists were able to tune the color and quality of the light by adjusting the height of the layers. The final OLED, described in the AIP’s Journal of Applied Physics, casts a color of light very near to warm white point A, a standard measure of the white light spectrum reached by some incandescent bulbs. The OLED also has high color stability, meaning the light can be dimmed without noticeably altering its quality.

Science Brief thanks to EurekAlert.

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Building a better light bulb

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Taiwan Hannstar Executive Indicted for Role in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:27:33 +0000

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned an indictment against the current president of HannStar Display Corporation for his participation in a global conspiracy to fix prices of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that Ding Hui Joe, aka David Joe, conspired with others to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of TFT-LCD panels. Joe, a resident of Taiwan, is charged with participating in the conspiracy from on or about Sept. 14, 2001, until on or about Jan. 31, 2006.

TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones and other electronic devices. By the end of the conspiracy period, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was valued at $70 billion. Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracy are some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard.

According to the one-count felony charge, Joe participated in the conspiracy by agreeing to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels during secret meetings, referred to as “Crystal Meetings,” in hotel rooms in Taipei, Taiwan. The participants in the conspiracy also exchanged information on the sales of TFT-LCD panels for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices. According to the court document, in order to keep the meetings secret and avoid detection, the participants took various steps to conceal the conspiracy.

As a result of this investigation, more than $890 million in criminal fines have been obtained to date. Including this indictment, 22 executives and eight companies have been charged in the department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the LCD industry.

Joe is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

An indictment contains merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

The charge is the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and the FBI in San Francisco.

Anyone with information concerning illegal conduct in the TFT-LCD industry is urged to call the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office at 415-436-6660 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.

Source: Department of Justice

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Market Researchers Forecast Threefold Increase for LEDs And OLEDs

admin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:06:36 +0000

Market researchers have forecast a threefold increase up to almost 13 billion Euros by 2012 for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic LEDs (OLEDs). These technologies offer a particularly small size, a long lifetime and top levels of energy-efficiency, thus opening up new applications and new markets.

As Osram CEO Martin Goetzeler proclaimed: “We are shaping the lighting market of the future and are a leading manufacturer in all stages of the LED value chain. We already achieve 15 percent of our sales with these new technologies. In connection with classic technologies our LED portfolio of products, systems and solutions will raise energy savings for lighting up to the 60 percent. This represents a major contribution to climate protection.” Solutions such as the “Star of the South”, which has been lighting up the sky on the outskirts of Munich since the first Sunday in Advent, show the design opportunities these new technologies have to offer.

LEDs are already well established in some market segments, such as backlighting for cell phones and television sets or in the automotive sector. In other areas, such as outdoor lighting (tunnels/streets) and the private domain, LEDs are on the verge of a breakthrough. Osram expects that LED retrofits as replacements for incandescent lamps will take hold on the market and trigger rising demand. Growth will be driven by falling prices, further technical developments, and global political efforts to ban inefficient bulbs. New and established technologies such as halogen and energy-saving light bulbs will continue to exist side-by-side on the market for many years to come. Martin Goetzeler went on to explain: “The combination of technical know-how and market access will be decisive for manufacturers if they are to secure long-term success. We are already investing around 50 percent of our research and development expenditure in new technologies”. He added that Osram is consolidating its prominent position in all stages of the LED value chain and that the company is at the same time extending its lead in classic lighting business, especially with respect to energy-saving products.

Osram sees the next development step in the lighting market in the field of organic LEDs. “In November we launched “Orbeos”, thus becoming the first company to offer an OLED for installation in designer luminaires. This has given us a head start in this young and promising market,” commented Dr. Rüdiger

Müller, head of Osram’s LED operations. He added: “We expect the greatest impact in those areas where OLED technology’s unique selling points really come into their own, namely as extremely slim, efficient and transparent surface-emitting panels with a very good light quality.” OLEDs are therefore not only a light source but also provide modern design opportunities even when they are switched off.

At the same time, these new technologies are also extremely energy-efficient. A recent study conducted by Osram confirms that light-emitting diodes today are just as environmentally-friendly as energy-saving lamps, and streets ahead of conventional bulbs in terms of their ecological impact. The latest generation of Osram LED lamps achieves a lifetime of 25,000 hours with a power input of 8 watts. 25 conventional 40-watt light bulbs would be needed to achieve the same burning life, each with an average lifetime of 1,000 hours. Over 66 percent of Osram sales come from energy-efficient products, this will increase up to 80 percent within the next years.

Source: Siemens AG

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Marvell And E Ink Join Forces to Deliver a New Generation of Faster, Lower Power Ultra Thin EReaders

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:30 +0000

Marvell has announced its collaboration with E Ink, the supplier of electronic paper display (EPD) technologies for most of the world’s eReaders.

The two companies have begun to ship a highly integrated eReader processor available in complete turnkey platforms aimed at the fast-growing eReader market. These new platforms are expected to accelerate the rapid release of new forms of eReaders at a variety of price points.

“With this announcement, Marvell raises the technology bar and takes the lead in the eReader market,” said Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of the Company’s Consumer and Computing Business Unit at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. “Because this is a total platform solution — including Marvell key technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G modem, and power management — the ARMADA eReader has the potential to deliver the first mass market product accessible and affordable to billions of consumers around the world. Marvell’s passion is to give consumers more choice, improved features, and greater access to more information with eReaders that are aimed at education, health, and business applications.”

As one of the fastest growing consumer markets, eReaders continue to grow in popularity due to falling retail prices, improved features, and fast growing library of digital content. According to a recent iSuppli Research report, eReaders are projected to top 18 million units shipped in 2012, from 1.1 million units last year.(1)

“Our collaboration with Marvell will deliver an integrated System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution to the market,” said Sriram Peruvemba, Vice President of Marketing at E Ink. “This SoC solution is aimed at offering highly desired features at competitive price points.”

Marvell and E Ink have been working together and co-developing products for the ePaper market. The recently signed agreement between E Ink and Marvell includes joint development and cross licensing of next generation ePaper timing controllers and system platforms, which the companies anticipate will result in higher integration and lower cost solutions for eReader manufacturers.

Central to this new eReader platform is the world’s first commercially available SoC that integrates a high performance processor and state of the art EPD controller on a single chip — the Marvell® ARMADA(TM) 166E application processor. The ARMADA 166E is designed to offer users ultra fast renderings of high resolution PDF documents and support for the latest ePaper technologies in new smaller, slimmer form factors with lower system cost than the competition. The ARMADA 166E also brings to eReaders new features that save power and extend battery life including a unique hibernation mode, or zero power mode.

The two companies have also joined forces with FirstPaper, LLC, to integrate unique technology into the ARMADA 166E. This joint innovation enables a range of display sizes and resolutions, including support for larger screens that will deliver layouts, graphics, and content choices that people normally associate with periodicals, larger-format books, and documents.

“Periodicals are the next big frontier in eReading,” said Gil Fuchsberg, President of FirstPaper, which will bring a new eReading ecosystem to market in 2010. “To enable great newspaper and magazine reading experiences, eReading devices need the right tools to make richer layouts and complex content come to life. We’re excited to be working with Marvell to bring such tools to the market.” Device manufacturers will be able to take full advantage of FirstPaper’s integrated content and commerce platform with the ARMADA 166E.

Customers have sampled and integrated the Marvell ARMADA and E Ink based eReader platforms into their end solutions — consumer ready eReaders are expected to be available to end-users in 2010.

“The enTourage eDGe(TM) is the industry’s first dualbook, combining an E Ink reader with a netbook, notepad and audio/video player and recorder into one central device,” said Asghar Mostafa, President and CEO of enTourage Systems. “The ARMADA 166E gives the enTourage eDGe the power it needs to meet people’s multiple, yet simultaneous digital needs, at an attractive price point within reach of all consumers.”

“Marvell’s support was a key enabler in Plastic Logic’s development of a high performance eReader to meet the needs of business professionals,” said Frank Canova, VP Product Engineering for Plastic Logic. “Plastic Logic plans to unveil the category’s first proReader on January 7 at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.”

“During our development of the Alex Reader — a dual screen eReader that incorporates both E Ink for high contrast eReading, and color LCD screen for multimedia playback and enhanced web browsing, Marvell was the clear choice,” noted Albert Teng, Founder and CTO at Spring Design. “We needed a processor that could run Android while delivering outstanding multimedia performance.”