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Occhio Magazine
Big in Japan
A clever patent for quality and sustainability
substance converts the short-wave high energy light into a wide spectrum of colours that result together in white light, known as phosphorescence. The phosphor plays a decisive role in determining luminescent colours ( cool, neutral or warm ) and colour rendering. Mr. Nakao continues, clearing his throat, »And now, I’ll show you what makes our LEDs so very special« and guides us to the third floor.
Each manufacturing step is checked carefully; the human eye is still more observant than any computer in the world.
sources such as incandescent or halogen lamps, light in LEDs is not produced by a glowing filament, which is heated by electricity. Instead, it is brought about through the use of electrical currents, which directly emit light photons. This process is called luminescence.« As such, the unassuming Mr. Funakubo further elaborates that LEDs are unable to directly emit white light but only a selected spectrum of colours. The socalled »white LEDs« are actually produced from blue diodes, which emit their light through a layer of yellow phosphor. This
The latest chip-on-board technology – and Occhio is there from the start Having hardly put the white lab coats from the Citizen Electronics futuristic factory aside, we move onto the ultramodern production hall. Here, Mr. Funakubo and his younger colleague, Maki Takehara from the »Opto Devices Development Section« continue explaining. »It has been a clear decision from Citizen Electronics to offer the lamp industry its LEDtechnology, which has made us become the right partner for Occhio«. With a friendly smile, they then beckon us into the machinery park. »This is what makes our ›chip-on-board‹ ( C OB ) technology at Citizen Electronics so unique. In our high-wattage LEDs many blue diodes are placed and connected under one joint layer of phosphor. With the newest generation of LEDs, already introduced in the middle of 2012 and promptly used by Occhio, we spread them out in a circular layout conforming it to the shape of the light-emitting area and not in quadratic form on the surface. Through this, a minimal light source is produced, which distributes light equally and to a large extent, better than single LEDs, which other manufacturers use, to reach a similar performance.« Mr. Funakubo and Ms. Takehara, enthusiastic about this rapidly developing technology, continue talking about the further advantages of LED: It is evidently more important for them to continue talking about the further advantages of LED: This illuminant saves tremendous amounts of energy and emits light over many years. A chip can last a good fifteen or twenty years with more than 20,000 operating hours, whereby the quality of the color rendering changes minimally. She convincingly adds, »Our LEDs are very durable. They can withstand extreme temperatures and still remain stable«.