LEDs Magazine Review – August 2006

Aug. 24, 2006
The August issue of LEDs Magazine Review is now available.

NEWS & ANALYSIS
• Nokia predicts increasing LED usage in mobile phones
• DOE, IESNA work together on solid-state lighting standards
• Cree sets new standard with 131 lm/W white LED
• Toyoda Gosei calls for caution regarding its LED patents
• Avago joins high-power market with one-watt InGaN LEDs…and much more

PATENTS
Patents: are they a blessing or a curse for the LED industry?
The patent system is intended to encourage invention and innovation and should benefit the LED industry, provided that the need for litigation can be alleviated by licensing and avoiding infringement, according to Alice Martin and John Wappel of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP.

LIGHTING Lighting industry still learning how to apply advanced LEDsSome lighting designers view LEDs as a troublesome technology that is only really useful for color-changing applications, but at the same time the LED community is moving to address many of the concerns voiced by the lighting industry. Tim Whitaker reports from the Applying Advanced LEDs conference.
CHIP TECHNOLOGY Photonic quasicrystals boost LED emission characteristicsCustom photonic quasicrystal structures can help to efficiently extract light from LEDs and place it into a desired emission profile, according to Majd Zoorob and Gregory Flinn. OPTICAL DESIGN
Optical design software improves design and validation of LED-based systemsSimulation software can significantly improve the design process or LED- and OLED-based systems, and virtual validation without physical prototyping allows engineers to save time and money, as Jean-Baptiste Haumonte of Optis describes. DISPLAYS

Full-color video LED billboards feel the impact of alternative technologiesSmaller LED display manufacturers could struggle in the face of decreasing prices and the emergence of competing technologies such as digital ink, according to Peter Pihos of EDG Research and Consulting. MEDICAL High-power LEDs provide illumination and treatment in medical applications

An enormous range of medical applications, from surgical illumination to photodynamic therapy, can benefit from the advantages offered by LED light sources, according to Gareth Jones and Grant Barnett of Enfis Ltd.