GE’s Lumination™ LED DownLights Provide Customizable Lighting Design

The first led downlight of GE’s Lumination™ LED Luminaires, the DI Series offers easy customization through an ideal ambient lighting solution for high-end retail, commercial office, and hospitality applications. Featuring the breakthrough design of GE Lighting’s Infusion™ technology, users can easily select their preferred lumen output and color temperature to illuminate key products or focal points with the simple switch of an LED module.

Offering greater flexibility and future-friendly versatility than typical LED downlights, the GE Lumination LED DownLight modules can be quickly and effortlessly removed and upgraded in seconds through a twist-fit design that doesn’t require a fixture change. The Infusion technology provides outstanding efficacy and color rendering—including high R9 values across all color temperatures—which is ideal for retail settings, lobbies and other areas where the color, richness and detail of merchandise and key interest areas can pop.

Source: GE Lighting

Additionally, the energy-efficient DI Series is available in 4- and 6-inch round and square shapes that allow users to choose the perfect light for each application.

“GE Lumination LED Downlights provide dramatic illumination to any store, office or hotel,” said GE Indoor LED Product Manager John Koster. “At the heart of the design is the Infusion DLM downlight module, which uses a unique color-mixing technology to deliver 90+ CRI and very high R9 at all lumen levels and color temperatures without sacrificing efficiency. Better yet, the socketable module allows for easy upgrade as LED technology advances, ensuring the lowest total cost of ownership. Customers will finally be able to upgrade or service just the LEDs—tool-free—without having to change the entire downlight. With lumen package options from 1,000 to 4,000 lumens, the Lumination DI Series truly is the ideal LED alternative to everything from 13-watt CFL to 100-watt metal halide downlights.”

A product of GE ecomagination℠, the LED modules of GE Lighting’s Lumination LED DownLights come in a variety of lumen outputs, color temperatures and offer up to 90 CRI color rendering—ideal for 10-16-foot ceilings. Additionally, the DI Series has a 50,000-hour rated lifetime, providing considerable maintenance savings compared to 20,000-hour rated lifetime for many CFL downlights.

Learn more about Lumination LED lighting fixtures at www.ledpanel-light.com. Read more about GE’s commitment to innovative solutions to today’s environmental challenges at www.ecomagination.com.

Opel Monza Concept Car Introduces 3D LED Panel Projection Technology

Opel Monza concept car. (LEDinside/Opel)

Efficiency and connectivity are two main focal points that will define development of the next generation of automobiles. The celebrated Opel Monza Concept, which premiered at this year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show, is a visionary and pioneer in both areas, offering a fascinating preview of the future of vehicle development. With its captivating exterior styling and innovative modular powertrain system design, the Monza Concept embodies stylish and ultra-modern efficiency on four wheels, taking this even further in the interior. There Opel’s youngest concept car impresses with unique projection technology and versatile connectivity possibilities that seem like a quantum leap for drivers today but will soon be a normal part of everyday life.

“The Opel Monza Concept breaks the conventions of automobile design, particularly in the interior,” said Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann. “With trailblazing LED projection technology, we create a completely new infotainment world with a unique sense of space. This comes with connectivity possibilities between drivers and their family, friends and acquaintances, and even with the entire internet community that have been unimaginable to date.”

Information in 3D: LED projectors create a multi-media display

A spectacular view when opening: The expansive doors provide maximum functionality and offer an unobstructed view of the spacious, open passenger cabin. (LEDinside/ Opel)

Once behind the wheel, the Monza Concept whisks you away into a completely new and unique world of instruments and infotainment with its ultra-modern LED projection technology.

Drivers no longer find the conventional individual, separate monitors that display different information; instead, they face a wide, sculpted multi-function panel that sweeps from door to door, and is used as a single projection surface. Information and decorative elements are displayed on the surface, which the driver can customize according to his needs, taste or mood.

The wide multi-functional panel that uses 3D LED projections.  (LEDinside/ Opel)

Doors open with a mere sweep of a hand: Just place your hand over the diverse design shades of blue that make up the gradated LED design line and the expansive doors of the Opel Monza Concept open and close like condor wings.

Close up of the blue LED display design in the Opel Monza Concept. (LEDinside/ Opel)

The LED projectors create a continuous, adaptable multi-functional display – a world premiere in an automobile. Already established in the events arena, Opel designers were the first to come up with the idea of implementing this technology in a passenger car. The 3D graphics are impressive, and reflect all important functions from precise vehicle and driver information to internet and communication options as well as decorative elements. So the Monza Concept offers a trendsetting multi-function design: it elicits pure emotion while offering superb functionality. Both the area displaying information and the background can be individually configured according to personal information needs and preferences; operation of the different menus and displays is via voice control and steering wheel controls..

Efficiency and clarity are also priorities here: when it came to how the displays present information, Opel engineers focused on the best and most personal way to make relevant data available to the driver. The approach was “simplifying the multitude” and so details on the car, the navigation and the smartphone settings and connection only appear when necessary or desired. So drivers can use a wide range of information without being overwhelmed by text or images. This also makes the Monza Concept a model of future HMI (Human-Machine-Interface) systems, as its interior design is based on latest research findings in this field.

Everlight Flash LED Breaks Into Japanese Smartphone Supply Chain

Dual-LED Flash is hoped to become a trend in smartphone application. Taiwan LED manufacturer Genesis Photonics and Everlight have both recently announced their entry into the Japanese smartphone supply chain. LED package manufacturer Everlight, which already has a strong Taiwan, China, Europe, and North America client base, has announced once again its entry into the Japanese smartphone flash LED supply chain . Flash LED designs will feature both warm white and white lights.

Following Apple iPhone5 incorporation of flash LEDs in their design, dual-LED flash is hoped to become a trend. After Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics introduced flip-chip technology into the Japanese smartphone flash supply chain, Everlight announced its entry into the supply chain as well. Everlight will use both white and warm white based lights for the flash LED design.

In regards to Everlight’s revenue distribution, the largest portion is made up by backlight products and lighting products at 25 percent each and SMD products which have dropped down to 30 percent. Application in consumer electronics is categorized in the SMD product line. Additionally, infrared ray products make up 15 percent and other products make up the last 5 percent.

TI Floating Switch Architecture Transforms Offline LED Drive Design

Texas Instruments introduced the industry's first floating switch architecture that simplifies the offline linear drive of LEDs in lamps, downlights and fixtures. The AC switched matrix technique features TI's TPS92411 floating MOSFET switch and is an innovative approach to producing low-ripple LED drive current without magnetic components. The architecture provides excellent compatibility with legacy wall dimmers and delivers high power factor and low total harmonic distortion (THD). For more information, samples and evaluation modules, visit www.ti.com/tps92411-pr.

Texas Instruments (TI) new floating switch architecture. (LEDinside/ Texas Instruments)

Flyback, buck and boost converters are common switch-mode power supply (SMPS) topologies in LED lamps today. These circuits operate at high frequencies and require inductive components to turn mains AC current into the constant DC current necessary to drive LEDs. Selection of inductors and transformers for power transfer is complicated, often requiring expensive custom components. In addition, an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter consisting of four to ten passive components is required to prevent the SMPS circuit from harming other electronic equipment. If phase dimming is required, multiple design iterations may be necessary to optimize dimmer compatibility and prevent LED flicker.

The floating switch architecture with TI's TPS92411 overcomes these challenges. It requires no inductive components for power transfer, eliminating cost and bulk and simplifying design. 

Key features and benefits of TPS92411:

• 100-V, 2-Ohm floating MOSFET switch with 350 mA of current capability
• LED drive performance is comparable to traditional flyback, buck and boost converters:
• Greater than 0.95 power factor.
• Less than 15 percent of total harmonic distortion.
• Low LED current ripple results in efficient LED utilization as compared with "tapped linear" drivers.
• Low-frequency, slew-rate controlled switch action produces very little EMI noise.
• Unlike designs using traditional converters, the very low-cost floating switch architecture requires no inductive components.
• Works well with both TRIAC and reverse phase wall dimmers.
• Supports lighting designs up to 70 W.
• Availability, packaging and pricing 
• Available now in volume from TI and its authorized distributors, the TPS92411 is offered in a 5-pin SOT-23 package priced at US$0.23 each in 1,000-unit quantities. An evaluation module is offered at $75.00. The TPS92411 in an 8-pin PowerPad™ SOIC package will be available in the first quarter of 2014.

Tools and support:

• Order the TPS92411 light engine evaluation module.
• Download the TPS92411 design calculator tools: 120V or 230V.

Taiwan LED Manufacturers Present Green Lighting Solutions at Indo LED & Lighting Expo in Jakarta

The 2013 Emerging Markets Campaign of Taiwan’s Green Trade Project Office has landed in Jakarta, Indonesia with a delegation of Taiwanese LED lighting manufacturers ready to showcase the latest innovations at the Indo LED & Lighting Expo scheduled to be held on November 6-9.
A ‘Taiwan Innovative LED Lighting Product Pavilion’ is set up for the fair in the Jakarta International Expo Center (Hall A2, Booth AK 010) to present a variety of LED lighting solutions offered by Taiwanese companies.

Indo LED & Lighting Expo to be held on November 6-9 (photo courtesy: indoledexpo)

The Green Trade Project Office had previously organized exhibitions in Sao Paulo, Chongqing, Tianjin and Istanbul, aiming to enhance the overall brand visibility of Taiwan’s LED lighting products for further business opportunities in the aforementioned markets.

Li-Yen Ma, Division Chief of the Integrated Marketing Division at the Green Trade Project Office, said, ‘We have seen strong demand for energy-efficient products as well as diversified sources of energy in the emerging market segment, mainly boosted by the robust economic performance. Taiwanese companies can no doubt fulfill the needs. Taiwan has been the largest LED component manufacturer in the world, and has been lately expanding its business scope, serving global customers with innovative LED lighting solutions. The “Taiwan Innovative LED Lighting Product Pavilion” is intended as the first stop for buyers and visitors around the world to experience Taiwan’s quality products.’

Exhibitors at the ‘Taiwan Innovative LED Lighting Product Pavilion’ include TYC Brother Industrial, one of the world’s largest automotive lighting product makers; Aeon Lighting Technology, a leading high-power LED light manufacturer which had won the Red Dot Design Award and M Technology Award; Lei Yueh Enterprise, also an award-winning lighting solution provider holding several international design awards such as the IDEA, iF and Red Dot Design Awards; apm Communications of the Unimicron Group; Peng-Yun Technology; UBLeds; Hergy Lighting Technology; Eulife Technology; and Torch Industrial, presenting a wide range of LED lighting products.

Winner of the 2013 Taiwan Green Classics Award and iF Product Award, the BE Light from QisDesign combines form and light. Featuring a special hinge design, the BE Light can actually be folded down flat to a minimum height of 1.8 cm when not in use. Everlight Electronics, Taiwan’s leading LED maker and also a three-time winner of the Taiwan Green Classics Award, showcases its 8W LED light bulb line. The dimmer-free LED light bulb from BenQ is the winner of the 2012 Taiwan Green Classics Award.

The ‘Taiwan Innovative LED Lighting Product Pavilion’ is located at Hall A2, Booth AK 010. During the exhibition, the Green Trade Project Office will also hold the ‘A Touch of Light: Taiwan Products Launch’ conference on November 7, starting 14:00, in which five leading Taiwanese lighting solution designers, Lei Yueh Enterprise, Aeon Lighting Technology, apm Communications, Peng-Yun Technology and Jan Cheng Lighting Co., Ltd. (Dancelight), will present their latest technology innovations and lighting products.

Cree to Provide LEDs for QuantumLED Commercial Lamp Bulbs

CRS Electronics Inc. ("CRS" or the "Company"), a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting products, today announced they have selected Cree, a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, to provide the LEDs for their new QuantumLED commercial lamp (bulb) brand. QuantumLED lamps will feature Cree's latest XP-G2 LED technology.

"We do all of our product development in-house and consistently look to Cree for the latest in LED technology," said Scott Riesebosch, Chief Technology Officer at CRS Electronics. "As a customer that uses the XP package, we're excited to be able to extend our product portfolio with the newest XP-G2 LED."

Cree's XLamp® XP-G2 LED has been employed throughout the QuantumLED directional lamp product portfolio. The initial product offering includes PAR lamps, as well as MR16 lamps in three distinct lumen packages. A family of R and BR reflectorized lamps will also be offered. Directional lamps will be available in multiple beam angles, and all will offer the highest lumen output, efficacies, and color temperature ranges on the market. In addition, QuantumLED will feature an extremely hard-to-find 2200 Kelvin color temperature option throughout its entire product line.
"CRS Electronics' QuantumLED lamps showcase the advantages of Cree's XP-G2 LEDs," said Paul Thieken, Cree Director of Marketing, LED Components. "The XP-G2 LED allows CRS to seamlessly leverage the higher-performance Cree LEDs without making any additional investment."

Cree Reports Financial Results for 1Q14

Cree, Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US$ 391.0 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2014, ended September 29, 2013. This represents a 24% increase compared to revenue of US$ 315.8 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and a 4% increase compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. GAAP net income for the first quarter was $30.5 million, or US$ 0.25 per diluted share, an increase of 89% year-over-year compared to GAAP net income of US$ 16.1 million, or US$ 0.14 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 was US$ 47.3 million, or US$ 0.39 per diluted share, an increase of 49% year-over-year compared to non-GAAP net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 of US$ 31.8 million, or US$ 0.27 per diluted share.

"Fiscal 2014 is off to a good start, as we delivered solid Q1 revenue and earnings growth in line with our targets," stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. "The strong performance was primarily due to increased sales of our lighting products, higher gross margins and improved operating leverage across the business. Based on our backlog, current sales activity and project forecasts, we are targeting growth in all product segments in Q2, led by growth in LED fixtures and the Cree® LED Bulb. Even with our success, LED lighting remains a largely untapped opportunity and we remain focused on investing in new products, new channels and building the Cree brand to grow our company and lead the market."

• Gross margin increased 110 basis points from Q4 of fiscal 2013 to 38.6% on a GAAP basis and increased 100 basis points to 39.2% on a non-GAAP basis.
• Cash and investments increased by $64.9 million from Q4 of fiscal 2013 to $1.1 billion.
• Accounts receivable (net) increased by $16.7 million from Q4 of fiscal 2013 to $209.3 million, with days sales outstanding of 48.
• Inventory increased $20.3 million from Q4 of fiscal 2013 to $217.3 million, with days of inventory of 81 days.

Recent Business Highlights:

Introduced Cree TW (TrueWhite®) Series LED Bulb, which emits natural LED light with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 93, making Cree the first company to meet the California Energy Commission (CEC) LED bulb specification;

Earned ENERGY STAR® qualification for the game-changing soft-white Cree LED Bulbs;

Introduced the XLamp® CXA 1520 LED array, the industry’s first High-Density (HD) LED Array. This breakthrough technology delivers double the lumen density to enable the next generation of LED spot lights;

Launched the XLamp XQ-E LEDs, a new generation of lighting-class LEDs that deliver big performance in a tiny package;

Announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been outfitted with energy-saving CR Series LED Troffers by Cree.

Business Outlook:

For its second quarter of fiscal 2014 ending December 29, 2013, Cree targets revenue in a range of $400 million to $420 million with GAAP gross margin targeted to be 37.8%+/- and non-GAAP gross margin targeted to be 38.5%+/-. Our GAAP gross margin targets include stock-based compensation expense of approximately $2.8 million, while our non-GAAP targets do not. Operating expenses are targeted to increase by approximately $5.5 million on both a GAAP basis and non-GAAP basis to promote the Cree LED Bulb and take advantage of ENERGY STAR® qualification and associated utility rebates to drive increased sales momentum. The tax rate is targeted at 23.0%+/- for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net income is targeted at $26 million to $32 million, or $0.21 to $0.26 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income is targeted in a range of $44 million to $50 million, or $0.36 to $0.41 per diluted share. The GAAP and non-GAAP net income per diluted share targets are based on an estimated 123 million diluted weighted average shares. Targeted non-GAAP earnings exclude expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangibles and stock-based compensation expense of $0.15 per diluted share.

The New 2013 Low Energy Lighting Catalogue from Megaman

The latest Megaman UK product catalogue, is larger and more comprehensive than any previous edition. As well as providing full technical data for all our product families, in the latest edition thery have included useful background information on its working partnerships with B.A.G and LightwaveRF, as well as a new section dedicated to OEMs.

Today’s lighting industry is a fast-moving, ever-changing scenario, and within it Megaman continues to lead the field in terms of product design and performance. Megaman continue to make customer satisfaction a key priority, for instance by testing compatible dimmers and drivers for all there LED lamps, with the results issued on its website.

This year they have introduced a number of exciting new products, including:
• 6W and 8W MR16 LEDs, both with improved lumens.
• Additional products for our LED 15,000 hour Economy range (launched in May 2013) – including a 3.5W R50 and 7.5W R63.

• Integrated LED downlights - Low energy products featuring an integrated driver for easy installation, with high system efficacy of up to 76lm/W (over 60% better than conventional lighting).

The catalogue also has sections on its partnerships too:
For instance, Megaman have been the sole wholesale UK distributor for B.A.G control gear for two years now, and this outstanding working relationship is going from strength to strength. To support this thet are now providing tools to make selecting the right B.A.G product simple, like the B.A.G search tool.

Megaman are also the exclusive wholesale UK distributor for LightwaveRF who are delivering a revolution in heating, lighting and power control. LightwaveRF offers a great range of intelligent dimmers, radiator valves, sockets and sensors that are just that little bit smarter. Whilst they look and work just like ordinary dimmers, valves or sockets, they will fundamentally change the way heating, lighting and power are

controlled in the home forever.

Download the Megaman 2013 Low Energy Lighting Product Catalogue for all of their LED energy saving lamps, CFL energy saving lamps and fixtures including indoor downlighters and outdoor equipment.