Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Aug. 21, 2020. We’ve been on a bit of a new car slant of late with 2021 vehicles showcasing solid-state lighting (SSL) in more ways than ever. So we figured let’s tackle RVs next.
Actually, I’m not sure how our Mark Halper uncovered our story on how RVs are a very hot market for OLED technology. Now I got the synergy immediately. Our family spent almost a decade nurturing a very unglamorous motor home though adventure when our son was young. Lighting was problematic in many ways ranging from battery use to inconvenient form. OLEDs can deliver pretty good efficiency and can be mounted almost anywhere while delivering beautiful and uniform light. Now I’m not sure that RVs can make OLEDs a long-term success. But I suppose you never know.
Unrelated to our story, I had done some virtual window shopping for RVs given the coronavirus pandemic. I figured it would be a way to isolate and still see something other than my house and yard. I guess I never have an original idea. By the time I looked, RVs were selling above retail prices and there were waiting lists for units. The bargain time will come about six months after a successful COVID-19 vaccine emerges.
In other SSL news, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has a new research study on smart end nodes in connected lighting reporting energy usage. The initial study was very simplistic. But the concept is profoundly important for our LED and SSL sectors. Concepts such as tunable lighting will simply never meet power-density regulatory requirements based on legacy specification practices. But self-reporting of energy could change all of that. I really look forward to the PNNL’s next steps in this area.
In our newsfeed, we have an interesting case study about the Beverly Center Mall in Los Angeles, CA. The project is quite impressive and involves lighting as well as the use of self-emissive LED video technology of which I am a big fan. Now, of course, we wait to ever visit the mall.
And speaking of such LED video displays, have you followed what has happened in professional sports being played in empty stadiums? I know I should devote less time to sports, but... Major League Baseball (MLB) is placing quaint cardboard cutouts of fans in seats around the infield of ballparks. Some fans actually pay to have their likeness at a seat. Still, there is no wow factor.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) appears to be using video screens along one side of the court located in the proverbial fan-free bubble to display fans in a dynamic fashion. The effect is pretty amazing and again shows just what micro LEDs will ultimately bring to our living rooms.
And now I learn that movie producers are using LED screens as a backdrop for some scenes and evidently the result is virtual realism. We will look into whether that usage concept deserves more coverage in an upcoming issue.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]