Toshiba to Release New Home LED Lighting Devices on Oct. 16

LEDs were first built in the 1920s by Oleg Vladimirovich Losev. As a radio technician Losev noticed that diodes from radio receivers emitted light when current passed through them. It was only 42 years later(1962) that LEDs entered the electronics industry as a practical component. All early devices emitted low-intensity red light. Nowadays LEDs are available in different colors accross the visible spectrum but also ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, going to very high brightness in different applications (like for the head light in the automotive industry).

With small steps, LEDs entered in the home and industrial lightning as well. Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp will soon release a high-output LED light bulb which will have a power equivalent to an incandescent bulb of 60 W. The 15 X 15 mm device will be provided in natural white and also warm white featuring a total flux of 810lm and respectively 600lm. The nominal voltage is only 8.7V with a luminous efficiency of 93lm/W for the natural white device. The illuminance right below the bulb is incredible compared to the incandescent bulb. For the natural white bulb the equivalent is a 150W incandescent bulb and for the warm white the equivalent is a light bulb with more than 100W.

By dispensing more than 100 LED chips in a large package, Toshiba Lighting & Technology improved luminous efficiency preventing heat to concentrate. By this Toshiba raised the level of the total flux from the previous design with 1,5 times(former product had an equivalent of a 40W incandescent lamp). But more light comes with the price of heating. This factor has been solved by elongating the chassis by 10mm to 119mm in order to expand the radiating area. The device has 160g and the lifetime is about 40,000 hours. The device has a a price of around $100 mostly because of the dedicated LED package and chassis.

The release date of the new LED light bulbs will be Oct 16, 2009, and Toshiba Lighting & Technology aims to sell 70,000 units in fiscal year 2009.

We really needed something to replace our old incandescent light bulbs and now we have it. Let’s make our best in reducing costs with LED home lightning!