The LZ4 flat lens family of compact, 4-die RGBW emitters from LED Engin is designed for wash lamps and follow spots in stage lighting applications. Two varieties are available. The LZ4 can be driven to 1A and LZ4-Plus to 1.5A per die, with 550 and 725 lumens output respectively. This represents 30% more than competitive products, according to the company.

The emitters individually address each die in conjunction with in-source color mixing, without attaching color filters to lamps.

The infrared Oslon black SFH 4725S LED from Osram Opto Semiconductors has a wavelength of 940 nanometers, making it nearly invisible to the human eye, and its black package reflects virtually no ambient light. Together with its high optical output power of almost one watt, this infrared LED is the ideal light source for covert surveillance applications.

Concealed security systems – such as those installed in banks, on machinery and at border crossings –need to be designed so they are unobtrusive. This is a major challenge for infrared illumination in such applications because the 850 nanometer (nm) LEDs that are typically used here appear as weak dots of red light, especially in dark environments, giving away the cover of security cameras. The solution is to switch to a wavelength of 940 nm, which the human eye is 130 times less likely to notice. Camera sensors, however, can easily detect this invisible radiation.

This compact infrared LED provides 940 nm light with a high optical output of 980 milliwatts from an operating current of 1 Amp.

For those of us here in the U.S. and across the northern hemisphere, spring is on the way—growing season for farmers, gardeners, and enthusiasts. But with new technology they no longer have to rely on the sun to grow their favorite plants. The latest horticulture LEDs are providing new options to grow year round, even in places which couldn’t support regular farming—such as urban factories and multistory warehouses.

Research has shown that particular wavelengths of light play different roles in how plants grow. Plants respond better to wavelengths specifically in the 400 to 500nm (blue) and 600 to 700nm (red) spectra.

Growth is strongly influenced by the number of photons absorbed in the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) region, which covers only 45 percent of the total light spectrum.

Scientists are currently studying how to cook up lighting “recipes” for specific horticultural uses.

In horticultural applications, using Lux or lumens as a measure of light output is deemed inappropriate, as they imply a heavily biased human perception of light. Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) is a more appropriate measure for the light energy that reaches the surface of plants

Engineers at NXP Semiconductors say they’ve found a way to take the “coldness” out of dimmable white light-emitting diode (LED) light.

Using a combination of new technologies that earned the company 15 patents, the company’s engineers can reportedly remove the harshness from white LEDs and replace it with the “warmer” combination of yellow and white that’s familiar to consumers

“LED lights have always had this cold white — a hospital white,” Radu Sudeanu, senior scientist for NXP, told Design News. “But now we know how to correct it to get the right color.”

With its new technology, NXP hopes to make LEDs acceptable to a broader swath of consumers. In the past, some retailers have reportedly received dimmable white LEDs back from unhappy customers, some of whom say the light is too much like that of a fluorescent bulb. “Many people don’t like it,” Surdeanu told us. “They want the same yellowish light that we’ve all grown accustomed to for a hundred years with the Edison bulb, and for a thousand years before that with fire.”

NXP engineers remove “coldness” from LED light with a three-pronged solution. By combining the black body radiation curve (which relates light wavelength to light intensity) of an incandescent bulb with a logarithmically-based dimming technique, and then correcting for temperature variation, they say they can produce a color that lies between amber and white.

The recent ban on the incandescent light bulb, government incentives, and the ingenuity of industry experts have all played a role in LEDs becoming the predominant new product in the North American lighting market today. As this technology continues to rapidly evolve, lighting manufacturers and others involved in the industry are finding it increasingly challenging to validate product claims and keep up with industry standards and testing requirements.

In an attempt to offset the price, lighting manufacturers highlight the performance of their products, some claiming 10-year lifespans compared to the typical one-to-two-year lifespan of traditional lighting products. Since these marketing claims are difficult to prove, new criteria has recently been developed for LEDs to help manufacturers avoid customer backlash and negative publicity and provide verification for their products.