Brief
history of LED lights adopted uses
Indicators
and direct ledlights
LEDs
were used in electronic devices and transport vehicles as
indicator
signals - marker lights if you will. But they were dim and
for the most part dumb too.
However, Moore's law
appears to be applicable to LED semiconductors much the same way they
were to
computer processors.
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Moore's
law roughly states that the continuing advance in transistor
(ie
semiconductor) power per cost is achievable because of an increase in
transistor count on a semiconductor circuit (ie engine) that doubles
roughly
every 12-18 months.
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The
brake light of the car in front of you and most traffic lights already
use LED technology. But they use it as "look-at-me" kind of
indications or signal lights. In other words they are
direct
lights that need relatively less light output.
Low-price
applications
Good
example of adopted uses for the least expensive LED products are LED
flashlights, nightlights and glow gadgets - all kinds. These fall into
one of the three
categories of marker, decorative or accent
lighting. The products in this category generally
require
less brightness and light output.
Next
step in Ledlights
For LED lights to be effective as
indirect
light and bounce off other surfaces to
illuminate
(not indicate) they need to have sufficient power to be able to lose
some during
reflection. But as LEDs get more and more bright and powerful, they
become more establsihed in this segment of the market.
In
that segment both the commercial and the residential areas
appear to accommodate the coming LED illumination
technology.
Display,
signage and stage lighting fall into the first, while
landscape,
pool and room lighting fall into the second.
In
light therapy it is LEDs that will first
open the
possiblity for skin
cancer treatment and more generic depression treatment, not just SAD.
New
and exciting area of LED illumination is
special effect
lighting for
movie applications that will also greatly reduce the cost of
post-production.
