LG Chem - Page 7

Alkilu was established in 2013 with an aim to develop innovative consumer OLED lighting products, and the company unveiled their low cost OLED products at CES 2014, promising to release the first panels in April or May 2014. Those OLEDs aren't shipping yet, the company announced that they now accept pre-orders for some of the devices.

Alkilu also announced several new products, including the Trio OLED Light, shown above. This $59.95 lamp use a single 4x4 inch OLED panel made by LG Chem that features a color temperature of 3000K and a lifetime (LT70) of 20,000 hours. The company stated before that they are in talks with several OLED producers, and now we know that LG Chem is one of them. LG will co-market the Trio OLED Light with Alkilu.

A couple of weeks ago Acuity Brands launched new editions of their OLED luminaries with the latest LG Chem panels. A day later the company published a video showcasing those luminaires and explaining how perfect those OLED panels are.

Following this launch, I asked Jeannine Wang, Acuity's OLED business group Director of Business Development & Marketing to participate in a short Q&A. She was kind enough to answer my question and share the company's OLED vision. So first of all - thanks Jeannine for your time...

LG Chem announced today that they are going to cut the prices of their OLED panels at Q3 2014. LG Chem is aiming to cut their prices by about 60% (!) - from about $600/Klm to about $200/Klm. LG Chem will offer these prices at first to selected prices that are willing to "stimulate the market with mass-production of OLED luminaires".

LG Chem explains that this price drop was possible because the company changed the glass substrate and the encapsulation materials in their production process. This enables them to create thinner, light and cheaper panels without any effect on the performance. LG Chem will first upgrade and lower the price of their popular 100x100 mm and 320x110 mm panels, and later on they will upgrade all of their panels.

Yesterday we posted that Acuity Brands launched new editions of their OLED luminaries with the latest LG Chem panels. Today the company sent us this nice video showing their luminaries while also telling us how great OLEDs are:

I liked the part where he says that up until now, we always had to hide the light source because it is uncomfortable to look at. But with OLEDs - you want to look at the light, it's a pleasure and a joy to look at. Like they say in the movie: OLED is perfect.

Acuity Brands launched new editions of their OLED luminaries, that use the latest generation OLED panels. Acuity is using LG Chem's panels, and those newer panels offer a higher CRI (85-90), longer lifetime (30,000 - 40,000 LT70) and are available in 3000K, 3500K and 400K. Currently Acuity offers four luminaries - the Trila, the Revel, the Canvis and the Kindred.

A couple of week ago LG Chem showed several new OLED panels and luminaries at L+B 2014, and the company now released a nice video (apart from the somewhat annoying music) covering the event:

The video shows the new panels and luminaries, and also explains the benefits of OLED lighting. The video also shows the company's roadmap for the next few years.

LG Chem had a large presence at L+B 2014, and the company sent us a few photos and a video of their OLEDs in action. In the past few weeks, the company announced new 320x110 mm panels and also the world's largest OLED at 320x320 mm. All of their new panels feature an increased lifetime (to 40,000 LT70) and a high CRI (over 90).

LG Chem also revealed their efficiency roadmap. Currently all their panels feature 60 lm/W. They already developed 100 lm/W panels and these will be released commercially later in 2014. By 2016 the company hopes to reach 140 lm/W. The standard luminance of the company's panels is 3000 cd/m², but they can also supply panels with 5,000 or even 8000 cd/m² (this decreases the lifetime, though).

German based lighting expert Hella showed a new automobile rear light module prototype that uses curved flexible OLEDs. The module uses 28 flexible OLED lighting panels (made by LG Chem) that were bent so each is shaped differently and so it creates a unique 3D structure.

Hella designed this module in collaboration with BMW. Hella says that because OLEDs offer light emitting areas (in contrast to LEDs which are spot lighting) they open new possibilities for lighting in and around a vehicle.

LG Chem announced the world's largest OLED lighting panel at 320x320 mm (and it's only 1 mm thick!). The N6SD30 features 60 lm/W, 850 lumens brightness (max 1,000), a high CRI (>90) and a color temperature of 3000K.

The lifetime of the N6SD30 is 40,000 (LT70) at 3,000 cd/m². LG Chem says they managed to extend the panel's lifetime (compared to their older panels) mainly by using the company's own  Face Seal encapsulation technology. In fact, LG Chem upgraded all of their OLED panels to feature this new encapsulation and so all of their panels now feature 40,000 (LT70) lifetime hours.

LG Chem introduces what I believe to be the largest OLED Lighting panel on the market at 320x110 mm. The panel features an efficacy of 60 lm/W, a high CRI (90) and is only 1 mm thick. It comes in two color variants: 3000K and 4000K.

Together with this large bar-type panel (model N6BB), LG Chem also released a circular panel with a diameter of 100 mm. The N6OA has the same features as the bar panel, and both panels will be shown at the Light + Building exhibition in April.