October 15, 2007Billerica, Massachusetts – Luminus Devices, Inc. and Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) Inc. today announced that they will demonstrate their PhlatLight™ BLU (Backlight Unit) for LCD TVs during the Flat Panel Display International 2007 Conference, taking place from October 24-26, 2007 in Yokohama, Japan, in Midoriya Electronics’ booth number 120. The PhlatLight BLU uses Luminus’ PhlatLight LEDs and GLT’s MicroLens™ light guides to create a cost-effective BLU for large screen LCD TVs with a very low LED count.
Backlighting using conventional LEDs requires hundreds or thousands of LEDs behind the screen. The PhlatLight BLU demonstrated by Luminus and GLT uses only seven PhlatLight LED modules, each containing a single red, green and blue chip, to illuminate a 37” LCD television screen. Each PhlatLight module couples light into a MicroLens light guide, which uniformly spreads light across the screen. This unique, cost-effective approach is less than 20 mm thick and is easily scalable to larger screen sizes. Color uniformity and intelligent features such as progressive scanning and local dimming are more easily implemented with the design’s dramatically reduced LED count.
“Manufacturers want LED backlighting to improve color, contrast and motion performance. Unlike CCFL lamps, LEDs are a ‘green’ technology and do not contain any hazardous materials,” said John Langevin, vice president of sales and marketing at Luminus. “With fewer LEDs, our approach provides these benefits in a thin design and at a lower cost.”
Luminus and GLT formed a partnership in 2006 to develop and produce modular LED-based edge-lighting assemblies for large-screen LCD TVs. Luminus’ PhlatLight LEDs are an advanced solid state light (SSL) source based on the company’s patented photonic lattice technology and have already been commercialized in other display technologies.
“The scalability of this BLU technology allows our customers to utilize LED backlighting in increasingly thinner and larger screen products,” said David DeAgazio, director of sales worldwide at GLT. “A solution that can be tailored to fit a variety of models will prove more important as consumers continue to look for better quality in bigger screens.”
About Global Lighting Technologies
GLT, founded in 2000 and an innovator in LCD backlighting technology with 100+ patents issued or pending and over 2,000 employees worldwide, developed MicroLens pixel-based light extraction technology. In this proprietary, patented process, micro-optical elements are molded directly into a light guide, and are optimized to deliver more collimated light, which increases the efficiency of the optical system. By using 3-D optical design, proprietary MicroLens pattern development software, precision manufacturing equipment and in-house tooling design and fabrication, GLT is able to develop and produce the world’s most efficient LCD backlights.
About Luminus Devices
Luminus Devices, Inc. develops and manufactures high performance solid state light sources for a variety of illumination applications, including high definition TVs, video projectors, avionics displays, and lighting systems. Its patented PhlatLight™ (Photonic Lattice) LED products are the brightest and most versatile solid state light sources available today and are enabling innovative products and applications never before possible. Luminus Devices’ headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities are located in Billerica, Massachusetts, U.S.A. For more information, visit www.luminus.com and www.phlatlight.com.
Editorial contact for Luminus Devices:
Bree Clidence or Jill Colna
SVM Public Relations
760-940-9025 or 401-490-9700
bree.clidence@svmpr.comor jill.colna@svmpr.com
Editorial contact for Global Lighting Technologies:
Charles Birkhead
Macrovision, Inc.
(215) 348-1010
charles@macrovis.com
Note to editors: PhlatLight™ is a trademark of Luminus Devices. MicroLens™ is a trademark of Global Lighting Technologies, Inc.
