Sharp 3D Quattron LED TV Range Extended

The impressive range from Sharp has had some amazing new models added…

The technology that Sharp uses within its range of TVs is some of the best LCD technology out there today, and its 3D technology is up there with the best too.

The Quattro range has been extended with three new models to the Aquos Quattron LE835 range which is available in sizes 60, 52, 46 and 40 inches. To ensure the ultimate in 3D viewing is achieved, Sharp has included edge-lit LED back-lighting, AquoMotion 240 image processing. They are also well connected with web based apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr along with on-demand movies such as Netflix.

Sharp’s flagship model LE935 3D TV, also includes the Sharp X-Gen Panel and Quad Pixel technology.

Look out for the above new models, hitting stores in the Spring.

Philips enters new decade of sustainably lighting Times Square Ball

New York, USA – In 2010-2011, Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) enters a new decade of energy efficiency, celebrating its 11th anniversary as the official Lighting Partner to the world-famous Times Square Ball, a beacon of LED innovation. Both the Times Square Alliance and Philips share a commitment to sustainability, reflected in the Ball’s ongoing upgrades with Philips energy-efficient lighting products, culminating in the recent upgrade to LED lighting, which have reduced its energy usage by 88 percent over the halogen technology it replaced.

Originally lighting the Ball with specially designed halogen “Millennium” bulbs to mark the century passage from 1999 to 2000, Philips converted the Times Square Ball to all Philips LUXEON® LEDs (light emitting diodes) in 2007-2008 to mark the Ball’s milestone 100th anniversary. The Ball was upgraded to higher-power, more energy-efficient LUXEON LEDs yet again in 2008-2009 when the ball was doubled in size. Today’s Ball is lit all year round and uses just 12 percent of the energy that would have been required to light it with the original technology.

The Ball benefits from Philips’ unmatched investment in LED technology, with its modules lasting about 30,000 hours and using just 22 watts of electricity. If the Ball were still lit with Halogen lamps, it would use 1.1 million KWh, whereas the new LED Ball uses just 140,000. In addition, these LED modules will last years, compared with months for the halogens which they replace, drastically reducing the amount of maintenance and re-lamping required by the Ball. This same LED technology is available to consumers through Philips’ AmbientLED line, which includes such innovations as the world’s first 60 watt LED equivalent lamp, the Philips AmbientLED 12 watt.

At a Glance: Times Square Ball Lighting Facts

* As a result of being lit by Philips LEDs,
- The Ball will consume only the same amount of energy per hour as it takes to operate just two traditional home ovens. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy – Consumer Appliance Energy Use)
- The numerals will consume the same amount of energy per hour as it takes to operate just one 40 gallon home water heater. (Source: U.S. Department of Energy – Consumer Appliance Energy Use)
* The Ball is lit by 32,256 Philips LUXEON® LEDs, each of which can be digitally controlled to create extraordinary effects.
* Red, green, blue and white LEDs in the Ball create a palette of more than 16 million vivid, vibrant, and highly-saturated colors as well as billions of possible lighting effects.
* The LED lighting in the Ball has a rated average life of 30,000 hours, compared to the roughly 1,000 hour life span of previous incandescent and halogen solutions. This is especially important as the Ball is now lit year-round.
* The light source in the Ball is 88% more energy efficient than in previous years, requiring only 22 watts of power for Philips’ red, green, blue, and white LUXEON LEDs to produce the same amount of light output as it took 180 watts of incandescent light bulbs to produce in previous years. This represents a 158-watt (or 88%) reduction in electricity consumption per four-color series.
* The Ball features waterproof modules and connections as well as the ability to passively dissipate heat. Each LED in the ball has its own specific address, enabling a level of two-way communication and digital controllability never before possible.
* LEDs demand far less electricity than incandescent or halogen technology by delivering an equivalent level of light output with significantly fewer watts of power. This reduces the amount of electricity that utilities will have to generate, which helps avoid the airborne emission of such hazardous pollutants as CO2, mercury and sulfur dioxide – all by-products of the electricity generation process.
* Whereas incandescent and halogen bulbs may be subject to failure if dropped or bounced, LEDs can withstand vibration and shock, delivering superior durability.
* Philips LEDs are lead and mercury-free as well as RoHS-compliant (a European standard known as “reduction of hazardous substances”).

+ Backgrounder “Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball”

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs more than 118,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 23 billion in 2009, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare.

Wining and dining this weekend

End 2010 and start 2011 with great food and drinks this weekend in Beijing. Friday night has lots of dinners: Mosto has a five-course dinner with a Champagne toast. Brasserie Flo is offering a four-course meal with a great lucky draw. TERRA’s throwing a party with a four-course meal and free-flow bubbly. Celebrate New Year’s Eve the Spanish way, by eating 12 grapes at midnight, and drinking lots of cava, at Olé. Or, toast the new year overlooking Tian’anmen Square after a seven-course dinner at Capital M.

The next day, as well as on Sunday, there are several brunches around town to help you recover from the party the night before. Sip on bloody Marys at SALT or hit up the buffet at the Rennaissance Beijing Capital Hotel’s BLD Cafe. Alternately, check out our recommendations for Beijing’s best hangover-cure meals, including fresh, healthy smoothies and greasy, alcohol-absorbing breakfasts.

Also, to celebrate New Year’s, the Wine Republic is offering 15 percent off Champagne and 20 percent off sparkling wines through the end of January.

Happy New Year!

PC Memory Company Rambus Focus on LED Market

Rambus is best known for its PC memory technology. Recently it has developed a process for making flat LED plates to replace overhead office lighting.

The company on Wednesday at the Lightfair Intenrational conference will show off prototypes of a system that it says can lower the manufacturing costs of LED lighting for commercial buildings and flat-panel displays.

Last year, Rambus bought patents from Global Lighting Technologies related to components of a flat LED fixture. Having developed product prototypes and a manufacturing process, Rambus is now seeking to license that technology to other companies, executives said on Monday.

The components to a flat-plate LED designed for overhead lights. The textured gray layer is a lens to reflect light uniformly on a flat surface,
(Credit: Rambus)

The technology itself is not the actual LEDs, but components for an edge-lit lighting panel. LEDs are placed on the edge of a panel, which is about a half-inch thick. A “light guide,” made up of textured plastic, acts as series of tiny lenses to reflect the light so that it emits uniformly from the flat plate.

The prototypes that Rambus plans to show are two rectangle shaped light sources–one 2 feet by 2 feet and the other by 3 inches by 43 inches.

If the company is successful, larger versions of those flat-plate light sources would replace florescent bulbs used in office buildings. In a commercial product, manufacturers would license the process technology and use LEDs from another supplier, Rambus executives explained.

“My guess is that we’re about two years away from parity with fluorescents because LEDs are on a faster cost curve,” said Tim Messegee, vice president of marketing at Rambus.

Now companies or consumers buy LEDs based on the cost savings over time and for other benefits, such as the lack of mercury and the longer life of LEDs, he said.

LED for Backlighting LCDs in Shot Supply

According to market researcher iSuppli Corp, the LEDs used for backlighting LCDs larger than 10 inches diagonally are in short supply at a time when shipments of LCD panels are to expected to soar.

The shortage is likely to last until the end of this year. ISuppli predicts large-sized LCD display shipments with LED banklights will more than double this year to 276.7 million from 117.8 million units a year earlier. By comparison, total display shipments are expected to rise to 642.5 million from 526.6 million.

ISuppli predicts shipments of LED backlights to rise another 73% to 477.6 million units in 2011 and take up 88% of the total large-sized LCD television market by 2014.

“There have been mounting concerns in the industry about supply constraints for LEDs and light guide plates, two of the major components for LED backlights,” said Sweta Dash, senior director for LCD research at iSuppli. But Dash expects the supply will increase and the constraint will ease going into 2011.

The increased popularity in LED backlighting is due to its substantial advantages, compared with the older cold-cathode fluorescent lamp technology. LED are slimmer, lighter in weight, consumes less power and are free of mercury.

More than 40% of the LED backlights are used in LCD televisions, mobile computers and desktop monitors. While used in electronic signage, industrial and medical applications are on the rise. By 2012, LED backlights will be used by all notebook panels, iSuppli said.

Philips Offers its $10 million LED bulb

Recently, Philips stands as the lonely first in the would-be line of contenders vying for the $10 million prize slated by the US government for offering an energy efficient alternative to the 60 Watt light bulb.

The idea of an XL prize money on developing a light bulb may seem absurd but the amount of energy it would help save, which comes to 34 Terawatt-hours of power nationwide per year, does validate the huge offering. The entries were supposed to deliver at least 900 Lumens output, with a consumption of less than 10 watts, and a lifespan of at least 25,000 hours.

Energy saving is good, we hope they also keep the cost economics of the 21st century lighting substitute in mind.

Affordable LED Lamps Come to Korean Homes

As we all know that LED lamps have long been known for their efficiency, but due to high prices they have been mostly restricted to expensive industrial and consumer goods like billboards, TVs and automobile lights.

But yesterday Philips, the Dutch electronics company, announced it would begin selling LED bulbs at the local discount chain E-mart.

Branded “Ambient LED,” the lights work in sockets for incandescent or halogen lights. Ambient LEDs last 45 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Replace one incandescent light with an LED, and it can cut 30 kilograms of carbon dixiode emissions per year, the same as planting a tree.

“With hopes of introducing high-quality lighting to consumers, we are offering LED lights at a very competitive price,” said Kim Yun-yeong, vice president of the company’s light division.

Ambient LEDs are priced around 20,000 won ($18), about half the cost of previous varieties.

LG Electronics also began selling LEDs for homes in February. The Seoul-based company announced yesterday that it received a certification from the Korea Energy Management Corporation for the product’s exceptionally high energy efficiency.

Compatible with halogen sockets, LG LEDs can be used for 12 hours daily for 10 years and cost 34,000 won.

“We plan to accelerate our LED light business in the coming days by introducing eco-friendly bulbs different from other lights,” said Kim Yong-hwan, director of the company’s solution business team.

LG plans to use those lights at its Yeouido headquarters when they are renovated this year.

Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, is adopting a wait-and-see approach, still uncertain whether LEDs will succeed in the consumer market. Samsung has been making LEDs for industrial purposes since 2007.

GE Developed a New Energy-saving LED Bulb

It is reported that GE Appliances & Lighting, a dealer in major appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential use, has developed a new LED bulb that consumes only 9W of power and provide 77 percent energy savings while at the same time offering the same lighting output of a 40-watt incandescent bulb.

The new LED bulbs can last for 17 years and are expected to outperform currently available products that may be underwhelming consumers right now.

GE has claimed that their new LED bulb is better at directing the light downwards onto the intended area and produces 450 lumens whereas LED bulbs offered by other vendors can only produce 350 lumens. GE has also filed multiple patent applications for the bulb and expects it will be an ENERGYSTAR (News – Alert)-qualified LED omni-directional light bulb.

John Strainic, global product general manager at GE Lighting has commented that this is a bulb that can virtually light users’ kid’s bedroom desk lamp from birth through high school graduation. It’s an incredible advancement that’s emblematic of the imagination and innovation that GE’s applying to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Strainic added that consumers are reluctant to move away from the less efficient incandescent because they prefer the light quality they produce. The new GE Energy Smart LED bulb will address that lighting preference head-on and give consumers yet another option to light their homes and businesses.

GE will put prototypes of the bulb – outfitted with Cree (News – Alert) XLamp XP-G LEDs – on display at two upcoming trade shows: Light + Building 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany, and LightFair 2010 in Las Vegas. The high-efficiency, high-lumen-output LEDs used in the GE bulbs are Cree’s smallest and brightest lighting-class LEDs, designed specifically for general lighting.

Analysts have suggested that the introduction of high-quality retrofit light bulbs, like the GE Energy Smart LED bulb can be the next step in LED lighting revolution.

Energy Saving Light Jamming Cable TV?

It is reported that ever since old style incandescent bulbs initiated to be phased out, some viewers having certain types of set top box have experienced strange incidents, with their televisions acting weird.

Extending a confirmation, Philips Electronics has affirmed that the culprit behind the problem could most probably be with an early type of energy saving light bulb, which can lead to an interference with cable TV equipment.

To further expatiate, experts believed that the infra red produced by the low energy light bulb can be mistaken by the set top box as a signal from the remote control thereby causing an interference.

A spokesman for the firm said, “Some very early compact fluorescent lamps, shortly after starting, could cause interference with TV controls due to the frequency of operation of the bulb and when placed near a TV”.

However, technicians related the problems to an early type of Philips bulb combining with certain brands of set top box.

Normal light bulbs also emit infrared, however, they do not flicker the way energy efficient light bulbs do.

Philips Unveils a 12-watt LED Light Bulb

It is reported that Royal Philips Electronics unveiled a 12-watt LED light bulb that it will begin selling as a substitute for standard 60-watt bulbs by the end of the year.

The bulb will be dimmable and will provide 806 lumens, with the potential to save up to 80% in energy consumption, compared to incandescent bulbs.

Philips said the bulb has a 25,000-hour lifetime.

With federal legislation phasing out inefficient lighting in the years to come, it’s likely that additional LED replacement bulbs will hit the shelves in 2011. Last week GE (NYSE: GE) unveiled its first–a replacement for 40-watt bulbs.

Philips also detailed broader marketing plans for its LED offerings in years to come. The company is introducing a home lighting system called LivingAmbiance, which wirelessly integrates luminaires and lamps to create different light settings–including a range of thousands of different color–with touch-button control.

In 2010, the company will introdue a product platform of outdoor luminaires that it hopes municipalities will adopt for streetlighting.

The company is currently exhibiting its new products and concepts at the Light + Building architecture fair Frankfurt Germany.