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New LED Backlights For LCD Screens
stuffman64 writes: "LumiLeds has a new LED backlighting technology based on their Luxeon Star LEDs. It is meant to replace the power-hogging CCFL lights currently in use. Benefits include longer battery life for notebooks, less weight, and a larger color gamut (up to 130% of the NTSC standard). The release can be found here." I wish I could hook up one of their evaluation kits to my machine right now;) The same site has quite a lot of LED-related information throughout.
". The shade of red lipstick you purchased on the Internet and viewed on your LCD monitor will be the exact color red you receive in the mail. "
That's great. Exactly who is this press release for, anyway?
I think that LEDs are pretty. Horsies are pretty.
San Jose, Calif. March 20, 2001
LumiLeds Lighting, the leader in high flux, high powered LED (light emitting diode) technology, today announced a new solution for LCD display backlights that will quickly and dramatically change the LCD backlight industry.
Joseph?
I think this would make a very cool addition to a mobile mp3 player. Instead of the little screens they have now, we can get some larger ones with better GUIs, due to much lower power usage.
visit my free wallpaper collection, wp.erasei.com
CamCorders For Lesbians
:D
I love the Man Show
Now we can have a backlit GBA and still get reasonable battery life... Nintendo, are you listening?
Think this could be used in the Game Boy Advance? ...mmmmm backlighting.
Yeah. And have them first read the FAQ before starting to moderate. Seems like they are very clueless. I think we need to having something like the following with the new Banjo system:
'Flashy Screen'
'You've got moderation points (oh jolly!)'
'Guidelines screen'
and then:
'I agree / Do not Agree'
And finally give them those moderations points.
Because moderators don't moderate that well anymore.
Their power-saving plan works by alternating the duty cycle of their red, green, and blue LEDs at 1-65Hz. I can feel a headache coming on already.
Wish one of these companies would get a clue and do Christmas tree lights. Extreme low power, long life compared to current plugins (skip the plug-in and go with a straight built) and possibly programmable. Yeah a string might cost $30 but would be paid for in 1-2 seasons . Any of you looking at your Electrical cost?
OLEDs are the future. Backlighting is irrelevant.
Can we have a new section specifically for LCD topics, instead of Science, so I can remove these boring little stories from my Slashdot homepage? Please?
Chris
--
I like to watch.
Then again, maybe not.
Free Hans!
Just look at the numbers. The number of USENET posts about LEDs last month as 33,237. The number of posts about OLEDs was 327. Divide the numbers out and you see that there are 37% fewer posts about making love to female zebras in heat. Truly, OLEDs are dying.
I haven't owned a laptop for sometime (sold the last one because I didn't need it anymore), but the one thing that really bothered me was short span of battery life.
:)
It seems that a lot of the hardware (processors, drives, lights) are being tuned to use less and less power (which is a good thing, mind you), but it makes me wonder...has battery technology become stagnant? I don't claim to be an expert on batteries (or anything else), but is the general thought that battery technology has gotten about as good as it's going to get (can't recall the last time I saw anything about better batteries), so let's concentrate on making the parts more effecient? Of course, I'd like to see more efficient parts as well as better batteries, but I won't be greedy yet.
My sigs always suck.
if your laptop uses one of these backlights! 80 W power consumption -- OUCH!
Is it possible to replace regular light bulbs and floresents with these Luxeon Star LEDs? Better power savings and more stable white color, but what would the cost per light fixture be?
According to HP's Agilent optoelectronics spinoff, in the time it takes for the tungsten filaments in your car's brake lights to become red hot, at 75 MPH, your car would have travelled 25 feet.
I've already got some on my 1976 Dodge Ram. When the brake or turn signals go on, it looks like one of those new Cadillac Eldorados. :) Any news of newer and brighter LEDs is always welcomed. They affect our lives in myriad ways.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Idiot.
How does this improve the color of the lcd display? I thought that the purpose of a backlight just that, illumination just like that lamp on your desk not coloring. I guess if the led backlight has a better (ie more white) spectrum than a traditional backlight it would allow the colors of an lcd to show through more accuratly.
And I think the switching rate would be 10Mhz not the 60Hz another poster mentioned.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose."
I personally, think this is very worthy news. It affects everyone who uses LCD's. And I'm pretty sure that the majority of /. users have LCD's somewhere in their life. Think of all the time that your laptop is on, while you are writing down notes, reading a manual, etc. How many times have you wanted just 10 more minutes of battery time to finish something up? Many of you are questioning the relevance of LED's, but you have to remember that its the little things that count.
Pseudocode is code to demonstrate a concept, not designed to be run. Like certain M$ software.
With your kind of attitude, you shouldn't be moderating at all. *plonk*
This page is well on its way to being hosed. Here's what I got off it.
[BOF]
LumiLeds Lighting Announces a Breakthrough LED Backlight Solution for LCD Monitors, Notebooks, and LCD Televisions.
This solution offers larger color gamut, longer battery life and eliminates the last non-solid-state component in the display.
San Jose, Calif. March 20, 2001
LumiLeds Lighting, the leader in high flux, high powered LED (light emitting diode) technology, today announced a new solution for LCD display backlights that will quickly and dramatically change the LCD backlight industry.
This LED backlight solution has been optimized around LumiLeds' new high flux LuxeonTM light sources and will enable a whole host of new features that are currently not available via conventional CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) backlight technology. LumiLeds' LED backlights are the first solid-state solutions for medium to large LCD displays in the industry, immensely more durable than the fragile CCFL while eliminating EMI and mercury completely.
The benefits to end-users are huge. The larger color gamut, up to 130% of NTSC in the backlight, will let the user enjoy an enhanced viewing experience with more saturated and real-life colors. The shade of red lipstick you purchased on the Internet and viewed on your LCD monitor will be the exact color red you receive in the mail.
Color sequential technology enabled by a fast switching LuxeonTM light source, less than 100 nano seconds, will potentially result in a battery life that will allow you to leave your power adapters at home on a typical business trip.
"We're extremely excited about our LED backlight technology", claims Mark Pugh, LumiLeds' VP of strategic marketing, "This solution will allow the LCD display market to go head-head with the incumbent CRT market and win on all performance fronts adding real value for the end user".
LumiLeds is already working with LCD panel manufacturers for mass adoption and has targeted having LuxeonTM powered backlights on the market by the end of this year.
About LumiLeds
LumiLeds Lighting is the leader in high power LEDs, dedicated to developing innovative solid-state lighting solutions in the automotive lighting, traffic signaling, signage, and general lighting markets. The company is vertically integrated, producing core LED material, LED packaging, and light source solutions. LumiLeds is one of the few companies with LED material producing capabilities in all three base colors- Red, Green, Blue.
LumiLeds Lighting, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a joint venture company between Agilent Technologies and Philips Lighting. LumiLeds maintains a global infrastructure including operations in Best, The Netherlands, Penang, Malaysia, and sales offices throughout the world.
Note:
Information in this release is accurate at time of release. However, product specifications and availability, promotions, prices, relationships, contact numbers and other specific information is subject to change over time. Information as stated in the release may or may not be in effect after the date of release.
In addition, the news releases may contain statements that are forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations as of the date of a particular release. Actual results may differ materially from those projected because of a number of risks and uncertainty.
[EOF]
funny munging
Dear god the game boy advance needs this. Its so dim i can bearly see the screen, even in full light.
-linux... they can't *give* that shit away.
The Slashdot site seems to react very slow, wethers it's loading a new page, or submitting a comment.
Is it my ISP, or Slashdot ?
Isn't that kind of like saying your new car has better acceleration than a diesal Rabbit? NTSC doesn't have particularly good color fidelity last time I checked. Besides, I'd try to avoid associating color performance with NTSC[1] as much as possible from a pure stigma point of view.
[1] Never The Same Color
I read the internet for the articles.
Just like your mom.
that is took this long to get something like this working. LED flashlights have been around awhile...using clusters of super bright white LED's...the light usually has a minorly blue hue to it, but it's the damn coolest thing to see. I have a headlamp that I use for camping made with 3 of those LEDs in it (you can find stronger ones with more) and you can get about 40 hours of life from the thing on a pair of AA batteries...pretty sweet. (Lithium batteries give 100+!)
The other cool thing about LED's is that if you run more of them at lower power levels, you actually get a more efficient light array out of it. Running them at half their rated power gives more than half the light of the max rated power. You can do some really efficient lighting if you really capitolize on that...and it even scales like that further down the power scale...Plus the buggers won't burn out for quite a few years.
What's the power usage of an LCD screen? I mean, it's great that we're cutting power usage to extend battery life, but I always thought that the hard drive and CD/DVD drives sucked up the most juice. Around where does the processor power usage fall into place?
I'm just wondering if power saving in the LCD is really all that worth it. "You can leave your power adapters at home because your screen is more efficient!" Ummm... OK.
In other news, at least they're getting the lead out.
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
I have one of those blue LED key chainlights you can get at ThinkGeek.com. My friends and I have a new favorite saying:
DO NOT STARE INTO LASER WITH REMAINING EYE!
"I'm The Bounty Bear. I will find him anywhere. I'm searching."
That's not efficient!
These LEDs aren't meant for battery powered displays or laptops! Where did that idea come from?? Take a look at the specs for just one LED: 17 lumens of output in exchange for a power consumption of 350 milliamps at 3 volts = 1 Watt! A high-end laptop computer consumes about 20 Watts, with the cpu, display, and disk drive all contributing about equally. No way is a small bank of these LEDs going to compete with what we've got, without severly sacrificing battery life or brightness.
when will you stupid americans realise the correct spelling is COLOUR
using COLOR just makes you look stupider than you already are
Let NTSC die... over 50 years old and technically inept, we really should cast it aside. Even PAL is more advanced than NTSC and its been supplanted by by DVB.
I've been thinking about doing this to my Ranger - where did you pick up the LEDs, and are you using integrated 12V ones, or do you have a seperate regulator for them?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
If you know any thing about GBA hacking, you would know it it IMPOSSIBLE to back light a GBA, the GBA screen is a 'reflective' LCD display, not a passive LCD. Currently they are hoping to use a semi-translucent film placed over the screen that projects light from one side but not the other, thus projecting light on the screen and allowing half of it to bounce back out to your eyes.
The S100/S110 and S300 Digital Elph digicams use white LED backlights. I'm not sure about the bigger models (G1, G2, Pro90IS). I have an S100 and the backlight is great. Good color, and none of the turn-on delay or flickering of fluorescent backlights. The LED's are at the edge of the screen, but the lighting is still pretty even. That may be because it's just a 2" digicam screen. I've been wondering for a while whether it would be a problem for bigger (laptop sized) screens.
Slashdot
NTSC's poor color is mostly due to the way color is encoded (phase modulation), not the color gamut.
Any computer display lacks NTSC's major color problem, but most CRTs are only slightly better color gamut wise and CCFD based LCDs are a lot worse then NTSC.
The difference in color gamut is caused by the spectral width of the sources, the more narrow each source is, the wider perceptual color range you can cover. LED's are a fairly narrow emitter, the only thing more narrow are lasers (any laser is more narrow then an LED except for those femtosecond pulsed lasers)...
The most beautiful display I'd ever seen was a 21" SGI flat panel which had it's backlight removed, and replaced with a lense fed by three high power tunable dye lasers tuned right to the visual peaks of R,G, and B. I think the dye lasers were pumped by two 20w argons which probably consumed 300KW each, talk about inefficent, but man did it look amazing.
Most LCD monitors are probably far beyond 130% better than NTSC. No big deal. They don't call it "Never The Same Color" for nothing.
Being lower power than CCFL isn't impressive. I also would not want to buy a laptop that used a side-lighting system of any kind, be it fancy-dandy LED or CCFL, because side lighting systems simply can't illuminate the whole screen.
LED side-lights have been around a long, long, long, long, long time. They are lower voltage than ccfl or EL, but both ccfl and led draw more amps than electro-luminescent backlighting.
That being said, the reason not everything uses EL is because EL is *expensive. And sometimes it's not bright enough for the task. iPaqs appear to be CCFL side-lit, for instance, and are freakin bright. side-lighting works well on a pocket computer becaise the screen is small enough that it can be uniformly lit from the side.
LCD technology has been improving every day, getting brighter and lower power. Maybe they've figured out a way to run a lot of white LEDs on only a little power, and this may presumably save you the cost and space of implementing an inverter to drive an EL or CCFL.
But it sounds to me like the the major thing they're shooting for is cost savings. if you wanted bright on a real small screen you'd go CCFL, and if you wanted low power you'd go EL. this sounds like they've made LED side-lights better than they used to be, but I doubt they're as good as other technologies.
I'd have to see a CCFL side-lit device right next to one that's been retrofitted with one of these fancy new LED side-lights before I'd advocate it from a quality-of-experience perspective.
This is just like television, only you can see much further.
CCFL back-lighting uses an extremely dangerous and
complex system since it uses special inverter circuitry as well as dangerously high voltage.
A hobbyist who doesn't know what he's doing with CCFL can easily get an electric shock, do the back-flip and break his neck.
I also wonder about EMI issues with the backlighting, reducing the voltage should be really good for that.
That won't help. All it'll do is delay the moment you want those extra ten minutes.
"Let me add just one more finishing touch... Maybe if I..."
LEDs use less power than LCDs? I remember back when LED based calculators, handheld games and digital watches would go through batteries in no time. In fact, most watches would shut down their display, and you had to press a button to see what time it was. Then LCD tech came along, and took the world by storm. Digital watches could have continuous displays, and calculators would last years on the same set of batteries. Man, I can't remember when I last changed the battery in my watch. I can't even remember IF I've changed the battery in my watch. I've had it for at least seven or eight years.
All of these parameters that can be adjusted about the backlight... white point, brightness, color-cycling (ugh)....
I'd only be happy with one of these if all three of those were user-adjustable (and that includes turning off the last one).
I see this as a boon for handheld gaming systems. Nintendo says that they didn't put a backlight on Gameboy Advance because of power requirements. Mayby they knew this was comming and so can produce another game system relese EVENT next year. I know I'd sell my Advance in a second and get a backlit one at even double the current price. I can only see mine in the bathroom on a sunny day... very lame of Nintendo.
grimzap
grimzap
Maybe I can finally get some decent backlighting for the Gameboy Advance ;-)
If it's supposed to move and doesn't, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape.
it seems to me that LCD backlighting will only be a short term application. other display technologies are coming out that don't require backlighting: LED (grid of diodes), EL (electro-luminescent) & FED (field-emission displays). all of these will be lower in power because no backlighting is required. however, what's cool about the LED stuff is that it emits white light (not a combination of RGB light). that means that a low-power/high-efficiency/long-life lightbulb is only a small prodcution step away. imagine a lightbulb lasting longer than one's childhood.