Omron develops "green" backlights for LCD TVs

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

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Omron has developed a backlight for LCDs that reduces the amount of power conventional backlights, mostly cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), need by 33% to just 39W. Existing 32-inch LCD TVs are using about 10 CCFLs.

Omron says it has found out that these lamps achieve maximum performance at temperatures of about 50°C. Just reducing the number of CCFLs results in a dimmer display, but Omron’s approach involves using heat-storing resin sheets that are placed inside the backlight, which makes it possible for the tubes to operate at maximum brightness.

As a result, the Omron backlights are based on just three U-shaped CCFLs, the equivalent to six conventional lamps. The company plans to offer its new product to LCD TV makers as early as January next year.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]

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