Abstract
Low Efficiency of Existing Lighting Technologies Fosters the Development of
Innovative Lighting Solutions
Confronted with the low efficiency of existing lighting systems, the lighting
industry is seeing rapid innovations in the development of advanced,
energy-efficient, and environment-friendly solutions. In line with these
developments, solid-state lighting offers the promise of high energy savings.
The traditional lighting systems, however efficient, cannot match the
performance levels of these lighting sources. Nevertheless, while the
technology slowly emerges as a viable option for the lighting industry, there
is a need for further improvement in terms of light output levels and color
quality as well as a reduction in initial costs in order to make a greater
impact on the vast lighting market.
This Technical Insights research service reviews advancements in the field of
lighting systems and details the emergence of solid-state lighting using light
emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). It also
covers ongoing R&D in promising areas of light sources and provides
information on organizations, companies, universities, research institutions,
and government labs involved in these efforts.
LED and OLED Technologies see Massive Advances
LEDs are developing along different paths depending on their applications. The
LED industry is focused on the development of more compact LEDS; on the other
hand, the industry is also focusing on the development of high-power LEDs with
large dimensions. Recent advances have led to LEDs that offer
customer-specific colors. By using a converter material in the plastic
molding, every conceivable hue can be achieved: be it ice blue, magenta,
blue-white, or even warmer tones. However, the most interesting advancement is
the development of white-lighting LED, which could have a direct impact on the
massive lighting industry, conquering the area of general illumination and
posing a threat to traditional light sources such as the incandescent and the
fluorescent ones.
"On the other hand, customer requirements for innovative lighting that gives
better control over the color, shape, and intensity of light continues to
drive the demand for OLEDs as light sources," explains the analyst of this
research service. "OLEDs are widely believed to be key to the next generation
of solid-state white lighting, promising substantial advantages over
incandescent, fluorescent, and inorganic LED devices."
Value-added Applications Drive the Market for Solid-state Lighting
The high reliability and durability provided by solid-state light sources have
opened up key application areas such as decorative, signage and signaling,
entertainment, display, as well as automotive lighting. LEDs, being
high-brightness point sources, are most likely to dominate in the areas of
signage and signaling as well as backlighting for liquid crystal displays
(LCDs). OLED devices, due to their numerous benefits including self luminosity
and flexibility are being used across a wide range of applications including
flat panel display (FPD), cell phones, as well as other electronic
applications such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital cameras.
"Increasing R&D in the lighting industry is expected to make next-generation
lighting sources more efficient and reliable, along with enabling them to
provide increased design flexibility over conventional light sources," says
the analyst. "Also, as solid-state lighting sources need to be equipped with
luminaries specific to them, this is likely to lead to the formation of a
whole new industry for LED luminaries."
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