Originally Published MPMN April 2002

INDUSTRY NEWS

LED Monitor Backlights May Mean Lights Out for Fluorescent Lamps

Zachary Turke

High-flux LEDs that offer improved color fidelity and increased product lifecycles may replace cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) in monitor backlighting applications. Produced by Lumileds Lighting (San Jose, CA; www.lumileds. com), Luxeon diodes facilitate more-accurate diagnoses in a range of medical applications by providing users with tunable white points and adjustable color spectrum control. "With these diodes, you can dynamically control and tune in colors to get just the image perspective that you want," says director of corporate communications Doug Silkwood. "And unlike CCFL products, LED-backlit monitors allow this color manipulation without requiring a reduction in gray-scale levels."

In addition to providing enhanced control, Luxeon diodes also offer display manufacturers the ability to produce a greater range of colors. According to company estimates, monitors backlit with these diodes generate 120% of the NTSC color spectrum; conventional displays typically produce only 70%. Other product benefits include the capability to generate twice the brightness levels of some liquid-crystal displays, and the ability to calibrate different monitors to the same white point to ensure a common view when the same image is viewed at multiple locations. LED-backlit monitors also last longer, adds Silkwood. "With no tubes to break or degrade, these devices have a 50,000-hour life expectancy."

Though primarily marketed for 15- to 18-in. monitors, the LEDs are suited for use in displays ranging in size from 5 to 20 in. FIMI S.r.l. (Saronno, Italy; www.fimi.philips.com) will be the first company to take advantage of this novel technology when it begins production of a 15-in. medical display in the third quarter of 2002.

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