Japanese manufacturers develop eye-safe LEDs

Showa Denko has developed an LED chip that can reduce the "blue light" emitted by personal computers and smart phone screens by 95% compared with conventional products. Blue light is thought to cause eye fatigue or sleep disturbances, so protective goggles that can block blue light are welcome. Showa Denko plans to realize the productization of new LED chips in 2014 and open up the demand for liquid crystal displays and LED lighting.

At present, LED lighting and liquid crystal displays mainly use blue LEDs as light sources. The blue light emitted by the blue LED is considered to be the main reason that may cause dry eyes and difficulty falling asleep.

Showa Denko has combined purple, yellow and dark green LED chips to achieve the same effect as a blue LED light source. The brightness of the conventional magenta LED cannot be used as a light source for lighting, but Showa Denko has improved its brightness through its own technology.

Since the blue LED is not used, the blue light can be reduced by more than 95%. It is said that although the price is high, it is 2 to 3 times that of the blue LED. However, when it is used for lighting and LCD products, it is expected that the price of the product itself will only increase by 2 to 30%.

Showa Denko has also been producing LED chips before, but does not produce blue LEDs. The company hopes to use new LED chips as substitutes to tap market demand. It plans to use the existing facilities at Chichibu Office in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture for production. In addition to LCD screens, it is expected that it can also be applied to lighting in offices and desks.