Agilent Technologies Inc. (Palo Alto, CA) introduced the HSDL-9000 ambient light photo sensor, which detects the amount of light at any given time and sends a signal to adjust the backlighting as necessary in a mobile screen or keypad. If there is sufficient ambient light, the backlighting is not turned on, thereby extending battery life in mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and laptop computers.
The new device outperforms silicon photodiode light detection solutions because the spectral response peaks at the same frequency (550nm) as the human eye. It accurately predicts when backlighting is needed to be able to see a display clearly, especially in different light sources such as fluorescent and halogen.
The HSDL-9000, housed in a 1.1mm x 4mm x 3.2mm, lead-free package, is available now and is priced at less than $1.00 each in 25,000-unit quantities.
