Researchers develop higher-efficiency LEDs

Terrific-looking LED-backlit HD displays were all over CES this year, and it sounds like they're only going to get better -- scientists from Renssalaer Polytechnic Insitute and Samsung have developed a new polarization-matched LED that cranks out 18 percent more light while being 22 percent more efficient than traditional LEDs. The improved performance is due to a reduction in "efficiency droop," which causes regular LEDs to turn less power into light when fed higher currents -- the team replaced the traditional active layer of the LEDs with a new specially matched layer. No word on when any of this is coming to market, but we're holding out hope for CES 2010.

[greg @ Jan 14th 2009 5:25AM]

sweet. one more step towards the 24 hour laptop

[Like_A_Glove @ Jan 14th 2009 6:05AM]

For me, 24-hour is a luxury, 16-hour is more than enough. the rest 8-hour is for rechanging both me and the lappy.

[Shinigami @ Jan 14th 2009 6:20AM]

Yeah. Great step. Adds 2 minutes of battery life.
Come on, you didn't believe LED eat most of the battery, did you?

[Like_A_Glove @ Jan 14th 2009 9:51AM]

@Shinigami

Your negativity amazes me.
People nowadays tends to forget the fact that Rome was not built in a day, and even Himalaya can be conquered by take one small step at a time. Look at the brighter side, it's better than no improvement at all. And it is a friendly approach to ease the burden for our mother nature.

[Levi @ Jan 14th 2009 10:08AM]

He's got a point though, in that LED's are already very energy efficient. OLED screens in laptops and TVs will be the real improvement.

[Jon @ Jan 14th 2009 8:37AM]

This is great news... means better color and longer lasting batteries for laptops!

Jon
http://WoodMarvels.com - Create Unique Memories

[Plothole @ Jan 14th 2009 6:13AM]

I wonder if this will significantly raise the cost of the diodes? I suppose, even if it did, that might still be offset by the fact that you'd need smaller clusters to produce the same amount of light. (if I understand correctly)

[Shinigami @ Jan 14th 2009 6:19AM]

Holding hope for LED? Why? OLED should come any time now. If mega-corporations like Samsung and LG don't stop its progress........

[MacBandit @ Jan 14th 2009 9:55AM]

OLED is organic and therefore has a set lifetime. LED is not and will last practically forever.

[SoreThumb @ Jan 14th 2009 12:21PM]

As far as I know, the real enemy of OLED Is itself-- blue colored OLED organisms have the shortest lifespans still. In comparison to the current durability of LED, that's not good-- the first OLEDS will cost a lot of money, so they better be worth it. The R&D cost a lot more than the manufacturing. They will want to recoup the R&D costs by establishing a good value to the brand, I suppose.

[ethana2 @ Jan 14th 2009 6:36AM]

I love progress; it's exciting :)

[Ian @ Jan 14th 2009 1:50PM]

sadly i keep seeing progress, but it just takes SOOO long to get to market i kind of forget about it because they already have started developing the next big thing. Not that I'm saying no more innovation, I just wish it could get to market quicker thats all.

[Corrid @ Jan 14th 2009 8:13AM]

RPI FTW!!!!!

[Jason @ Jan 14th 2009 8:28AM]

I am happy for any increases in efficiency...Could this have significant impact on consumer (home lighting) and municipalities. e.g. lower energy bills, more balanced budgets??

[sam @ Jan 14th 2009 9:31AM]

Yes, this appears to be aimed at lighting applications as well as high-tech stuff.

If the 22% efficiency improvements are genuinely applicable then this would move efficiency of LEDs closer to the efficiency of CFLs. (According to Wikipedia, on average in 2008 CFL lamps are twice as efficient as LED lamps; so there's still a way to go. I don't know what a best-to-best comparison looks like, however.)

In other words there isn't a particular environmental implication to this technology in lighting, since if you want something 22% more efficient than an LED light you can plug in a cheap CFL right now and get a lot more into the bargain. But in terms of making it more feasible to move lighting technology to LEDs which might be more flexible in various ways, it's a positive development.

[Rick @ Jan 14th 2009 9:20AM]

I hope this translates into other uses for LEDs. If they can ever make a viable incandescent replacement bulb, I'd be happy.

[Blastar @ Jan 14th 2009 9:39AM]

Will that make my eyes bleed and my skin burst in flames while standing in frond of the screen ?

[CosterMonger @ Jan 14th 2009 11:20AM]

efficiency... good!

[TheWB @ Jan 14th 2009 9:18PM]

This would have higher resolution than a HDTV (only 1080 lines of resolution) so I still can't understand why HDTVs cost so much.

[dBs @ Jan 14th 2009 1:44PM]

Homojunction or heterojunction LED? I would presume heterojunction since that produces better efficiency. I wonder if this method could be adapted to LASER diodes, that could really improve the efficiency and optical power for fiber optics.

[dBs @ Jan 14th 2009 1:47PM]

Nevermind, it actually looks like it might be heterojunction if its GalnN on both sides. This could be really useful if it could be adapted to lasers.