Saturday, August 09, 2008

Plasma Bulbs, Better than LEDs!!!

Silicon Valley's Luxim has developed a lightbulb the size of a Tic Tac that gives off as much light as a streetlight. CNET News.com's Michael Kanellos talks to the company about its technology and its plans to expand into various markets.

LUXIM Corporation
1171 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
408-734-1096

They are already being used in Panasonic LiFi rear-projection HDTVs where they've replaced the usual halogen or xenon arc projector bulb.

Instead of a glowing hot filament or electrodes passing high voltage through xenon gas; it uses RF energy (basically the same as microwaves) to excite the gases inside the capsule. The gases heat up and give off light.

The technique is like microwave powered sulfur lamp. It uses electromagnetic induction at high frequencies rather than current flowing between electrodes stuck in the plasma.

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