Appliance Design - November 2007 - (Page 21)

DISPLAYS & INDICATORS Kingbright’s new blue SMD LEDs features an ultra-thin design (2.0 mm x 1.25 mm x 0.4 mm) with wide viewing angle of 110 degrees, making handheld devices and consumer electronics lighter, smaller, and sleeker. volts, which is much more user friendly than before, when it was about 4 to 4.5 volts.” This is important when power efficiency is pivotal. “In terms of cell phones and all portable electronics, battery life is a major issue,” says Yeoh. “What our customers always want to do is get the maximum light output with minimum power or minimum current.” Despite their size, LEDs are a robust product, physically tougher than incandescent bulbs, but they still must reckon with some electrical and heat issues. Often, the LED will require a current-limiting resistor to protect it from over-current. A diode is also used to protect the LED from over The Nokia 7900 Prism phone offers 49 LED color choices to illuminate the keypad. designers now have a myriad of choices. Just like paint, all white is not white, with many companies offering gradations of white from which to choose. “Depending on the look the designers want to achieve they can choose a cool white, which is more of a fluorescent type light, or something that is a warm white that gives you more of an incandescent type color,” says Janie Haynie, product marketing director for Optek Technology. “Of course, they can also choose a cool blue or a hot red.” New fabrication technology has also helped to reduce operating voltages. LEDs in most colors operate in the range of 2 VDC to 2.5 VDC, but other colors such as blue and bright green require higher operating voltages. “The fabrication technology has lowered the operating voltage for blue LEDs to the level that is much more application friendly,” says Yu. “It is around 3 to 3.3 For more Information Enter 109 www.applianceDESIGN.com applianceDESIGN November 2007 21 http://www.swellsoftware.com http://www.swellsoftware.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - November 2007 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Today’s LEDs are Brighter and More Colorful than Previous Versions, Allowing Designers More Opportunities to Improve and Differentiate Their Products. When Converting from CCFL to LED Backlights in LCD Panels, New Driving Methods are Needed. Electrowetting Technology Allows Displays to be Designed in an Extensive Range of Colors. Noise Problems are Not Always Easy to Find or Fix, but Acoustic Labs Can Help Designers Ferret Out the “Good” Noise from the “Bad.” A New Sanitization Protocol for Clothes Washers Combines the Best of Three Well-Established Provisions to Ensure Efficiency, Quality and Safety. Stricter EMC Requirements Raise the Bar for Appliances with Electronic Controls and Require Testing to New Levels. Despite Added Cost and Complexity, Gas-Modulating Systems have Migrated from Large-Scale Boiler Applications to Smaller Residential and Commercial Furnaces and Appliances. A New Treatment Technology Hardens the Surface of Light Alloys such as Aluminum and Magnesium and Expands Their Potential Applications. DesignMart Advertiser’s Index Association Report: AHAM

Appliance Design - November 2007

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