For white devices, luminance of 38 meganits (Mcd/m2), approximately 50% more luminance than that of an automotive headlamp halogen bulb (~25 meganits) was achieved.
For InGaN blue devices, a radiance of 200mW/mm2sr was realised.
For InGaN green devices, luminance of 37 meganits (Mcd/m2) was achieved.
"These solid-state light sources - that fit on the head of a matchstick - demonstrate light output performance levels well beyond what is possible from today's state-of-the-art LEDs and are indicative of the evolutionary research and development work being done at Philips Lumileds. These achievements will significantly affect the performance and design of light intensive applications such as automotive headlamps, rear-projection televisions (RPTV), and commercial lighting," say the company.
LED RPTVs (rear-projection televisions), one of the most talked-about consumer technologies at this year's CES in Las Vegas, are limited in brightness by the light output of current LEDs. Philips Lumileds anticipates that the luminance demonstrated with its new technologies will enable front-of-screen performance brighter than any LED-based RPTV that has been publicly demonstrated. The new solid-state devices would also remove barriers to increased display size, and superior contrast and colour uniformity. The entire system is improved and the viewers' experience enhanced with improved colour gamut, lower profile systems, longer lifetime and reduced ownership costs, say the company.
In the lighting category, meanwhile, applications such as aircraft, roadway and general lighting will benefit from the greatly improved light output performance and the innate ability of solid-state lighting to operate in very cold environments, withstand significant shock and vibration, and be controlled digitally. Worldwide, Philips Lumileds says, it expects that its advances in solid-state lighting will ultimately save billions in energy costs and have a significant positive effect on the environment.
(Lee Baldock)
