Sharp Announces New Ambient Light Sensor & LED Product Lines
Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas (SMA) announced an expansion to its lighting component product line. The new line includes ambient light sensors and high luminosity white Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), along with updated LED module and LED driver products.
"Sharp has been building optoelectronic solutions for 25 years," said Mark Hampson, Director of Electronic Components and Devices Business Unit, at Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas. "This collective knowledge allows us to develop components with high performance combined with a soft quality of light. Our customers’ success depend upon the user’s experience with their products. By expanding our suite of lighting solutions, we are empowering developers with more choices to find just the right type of luminosity needed for their designs."
The new components are suited for general, architectural, and commercial lighting applications, including portable illumination, backlighting, environmental lighting, and other specialty needs.
The all-new GW5Bxx15xx series module offers 30 LEDs in a compact, thin package (18 x 18 x 1.5 mm) and time-saving integration into optical designs and light modules. The modules provide energy efficiency of up to 80 lumens per watt. It also offers a long life cycle, with up to 40,000 hours operating time, compared to a maximum of 12,000 for a fluorescent light. The modules are suitable for general illumination such as general lighting, architectural lighting, down-lighting, concentrated-specialty lighting, and large-area backlighting. Four different spectral versions are available: Normal White (GW5BWC15L02), Warm (GW5BDC15L02), High Color Rendering 5000 (GW5BNC15L02), and High Color Rendering 6500 (GW5BNC15L12).
Sharp adds to its family of white Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with four products. These High Brightness (HB) LEDs provide brightness levels of 1400 and 2000 mcd at IF = 20mA, and are specifically designed with a small package (3.2 x 2.8 x 1.9mm or 2.64 x 1.64 x 0.7mm) for space-limited applications such as display illumination for hand-held or portable devices. The LEDs offer matched radiation patterns, ensuring consistent color mixing and uniformity. They are well suited for many consumer and commercial lighting applications that have traditionally used conventional incandescent or other technologies, but offer long operating life and low power consumption.
Sharp’s PQxxxxxxxx Series offers a variety of low-cost, high-performance LED Drivers that allow for fast and flexible product design. The IRxxxxx Series is available for complex applications, and can power up to 35 RGB or white LEDs, resulting in fewer onboard driver chips and low power consumption. The drivers integrate seamlessly with Sharp LEDs and LED modules, and Sharp’s "drop-in" solutions provide the option of adding an ambient light sensor for intelligent control, or using Logic, 3-line Serial, or I2C. Models with failsafe circuits are available, as well as soft-start, animation, or gradation controls. Sharp LED Driver ICs have been developed to make it easy to drive LEDs (whether high-power type or backlight), allowing designers to get their ideas to market quickly.
Sharp is also introducing its first ambient light-sensing technology. The devices have the option of linear or logarithmic output with a response curve similar to that of the human eye, and built-in spectral application that ensures highly-accurate and predictable response. The sensors help extend battery life while providing optimum illumination in diverse lighting conditions. The GA1A1S100WP (1.6 x 1.5 x 0.55mm) and G1A1S201WP (1.6 x 2.0 x .06mm) have compact surface-mount packages and a suitable fit for mobile phones, LCD TV, LCD monitors, digital cameras, PDA’s, and other handheld products. The G1A2S100LY and GA1A2S100SS (both 4.0 x 3.0 x 1.8mm) are leaded for through-hole and higher-current applications. They are suitable for auto-dimming circuits, office automation equipment, audio/visual equipment, home appliances, touch panels, and general lighting.
