Ubercool

LED Lighting

August 21st, 2008

The opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics will always conjure up vivid images of 2,008 volunteers drumming in perfect harmony in an event that vividly captured the imagination of all viewers. But if anything, this Olympic event was a coming out party for light-emitting diode, or LED, lighting technology.

A huge scroll displaying China’s 5,000-year civilization was an LED screen 147 meters long and 22 meters wide, consisting of 44,000 LEDs. Tiny LED beads were also embedded in the costumes of performers who fanned out to create a starry sky.

The Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies featured a giant 44,000-LED “scroll” display that replayed China’s history with dazzling images.

Propelled by such high-profile showcases, the global, general LED lighting market grew 60% in 2007 to $330 million, according to the Taiwan Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center. This market is expected to reach $1.4 billion by 2012.

The main appeal of LED technology is energy efficiency. In traffic signal lights, a strong market for LEDs, a red traffic signal light containing 196 LEDs draws just 10 watts compared to an incandescent light bulb that consumes 150 watts.

LEDs also offer architects and designers a rich color palette with millions of colors, which is why they’re increasingly showing up in window displays and building light shows. In addition, they’re incredibly small, last a dozen years and don’t put out much heat.

No wonder LED lighting has rapidly achieved cults status in the staid $3.2 billion lightbulb industry. Meanwhile, researchers are taking LED to the next level, working on designs that could positively affect moods and even health.

As they become better and cheaper, LEDs are quickly replacing neon lights and the U.S.’ 4 million traffic lights. Recently, the City of Los Angeles Police Department chose the Pelican 7060 LED ($120) as the standard flashlight for all its officers. And now they’re even invading the home, as exemplified by such products as the Koncept Z-BAR LED lamp.

The Koncept Z-BAR ($130) features 66 LEDs that generate 100 lumens, enough to help it win an I.D. Magazine “best of category” design award.

In June 2007, Toronto’s 1,815-foot CN Tower was lit with more than 1,300 color-changing LEDs. Meanwhile, automobiles such as the 2008 Cadillac CTS feature both interior and exterior LED lights. Hotels, like Las Vegas’ Bellagio, use LEDs from Space Cannon to provide exterior color accents.

London’s Moorfield Eye Hospital features RGB-color-changing LED lighting designed and supplied by Lightscape Projects and Tryka, working with architects Penoyre & Prasad.

To prove how valuable the market has become, Royal Philips Electronics acquired Color Kinetics for $688 million last year. Color Kinetics is a decade-old Boston company that, among others, designed the CN Tower’s new lighting and holds patents on systems to control LED color and brightness.

The LED trend may have received another shot in the arm when Australia announced in February 2007 that incandescent bulbs would be completely phased out by 2010 to be replaced by more fuel-efficient lighting, such as fluorescent bulbs. LED lighting could clearly play an important role in this historic conversion, a change that future LED scrolls might document for generations to come.

Entry Filed under: Consumer Electronics