Lighting

Since LEDs are available in a series of colors that cross the spectrum of white, there is a high degree of variation of color temperatures in lamps. This can make it difficult for consumers to blend new LED bulbs with existing lighting and can increase complexity of inventory management for professionals.

Rambus’ color temperature change (CTC) LED lamps can adjust from warm to neutral to cool with the simple turn of a dial – illuminating every application in its best light. This innovative technology cost effectively enables in-lamp color temperature change through the use of a remote phosphor and a color mixing light guide, without requiring additional LEDs or expensive multi-channel drivers.

What is Color Temperature Change Technology?

Rambus CTC technology uses a remote phosphor and a rotating color mixing light guide to continuously adjust the light output of the lamp from 5000 kelvin (K) to 3000K and all points in between. By turning a dial that controls the coverage amount of the remote phosphor, a user can control the amount of blue light emitted by the LEDs that is converted to amber, shifting the color temperature of the lamp. This technique enables the lamp to track along the black body curve and maintain a pure color temperature and high quality of light.

Who Benefits?

Consumers, store owners, distributors and facility managers alike benefit from the simple, cost-effective and flexible color temperate change technology that is integrated directly into the lamp. The Rambus in-lamp color adjustment technology allows the end user to continuously adjust color temperature to create the desired environment, from cool white of 5,000 kelvin to warm white of 3,000 kelvin, and all points in between. In the commercial sector, this technology enables simplified SKU management and is scalable to meet changing needs. Retailers need only one bulb on the store shelf to cover all the different color options that consumers require.

VirtuOptic™ reflectors deliver a highly efficient, collimated light pattern that can be evenly distributed over wide areas, making it ideal for high brightness architectural, entertainment and commercial lighting applications. When combined with Rambus’ proprietary optical modeling and design techniques, the shape and size of the VirtuOptic reflectors can be optimized to achieve a highly-controlled, directed light output at the desired ray angle for minimal glare.

• Greater than 90% optical efficiency
• Reduced glare with a highly-controlled, collimated light output
• Even light distribution over wide areas

What is VirtuOptic Reflector Technology?

VirtuOptic™ Reflectors take advantage of the optical property of total internal reflection (TIR), which is an extremely efficient means of transporting light. Light is injected into the end of a light guide using Rambus’ TruEdge™ LED coupling technology. It is transmitted down the length of the light guide through TIR with minimal loss, producing a uniform emission of light from the reflective optical elements.

VirtuOptic™ Reflectors are created by bonding an array of high precision reflectors to an optical light guide, using a material with a matching refractive index. Light is extracted from the light guide at the optical coupling points at the center of each VirtuOptic™ Reflector in a near zero-loss transition, creating a uniform array of virtual light sources.

Who Benefits?

Light fixture designers can take advantage of the high-efficiency and unique aesthetic of the virtual light sources created by VirtuOptic™ Reflectors to create cost-effective fixtures with customizable light outputs. The even light distribution produced enables commercial lighting specifiers to save costs and reduce the total number of fixtures required to deliver the desired amount of light to a given surface.

The growing popularity of LEDs in general lighting applications has introduced great opportunities for a new generations of energy-efficient lighting, but LEDs are not without their difficulties. Designers are challenged with how to transform single, or multiple point sources of light into an aesthetically-pleasing, uniform distribution of light. The use of edge-lit architectures—where LEDs are placed along one or more edges of a light guide—is a highly-efficient means of directing and distributing light. A key component to those architectures, TruEdge™ LED coupling technology optimizes the interface between the LED light source and the light guide to maximize the amount of light injected into the light guide. By combining Rambus’ proprietary optical modeling and design techniques, TruEdge technology can achieve 93 to 96% LED-to-light guide coupling efficiency.

• Optimizes LED-to-light guide interface to maximize coupling efficiency
• Reduces fixture cost with fewer LEDs
• Enables thinner form factors

What is TruEdge™ LED Coupling Technology?

TruEdge™ LED Coupling coupling enables highly-efficient, edge-lit general lighting fixtures that utilize the fewest number of LEDs for a desired light output level. Edge-lit systems can be implemented in a myriad of form factors while producing aesthetically pleasing, diffuse light with minimal glare. This is achieved by optimizing the interface between the LED and light guide through the use of reflectors, couplings lenses and tight LED-to-light guide integration. The combination of these techniques maximizes the efficiency of coupling interface and, in turn, the amount of light delivered from the fixture.

Who Benefits?

When implemented in an edge-lit architecture, TruEdge™ LED Coupling coupling delivers tremendous flexibility of form factor and freedom of design without sacrificing efficiency or control. This will enable designers to create a new age of beautiful and functional lighting. End users will also benefit from the energy-efficient and cost-effective fixtures that are made possible with TruEdge technology.

Fixtures that use traditional free-space reflectors — those that allow light to travel through air — can be cumbersome and inefficient when producing high-intensity beams of light. As an alternative to free-space reflectors, SolidCore™ reflectors are compact optics that produce high-brightness, collimated beams ideal for high-powered spotlights. SolidCore™ Reflectors enable smaller, thinner and lighter-weight fixtures that can be white or multi-colored by combining reflectors using red, green and blue LEDs.

• High-efficiency, molded reflectors
• Up to 75% reduction in reflector size for equivalent beam angle
• Produces tightly controlled, high-intensity beams ideal for spotlights
• Adjustable light emission according to the radius of the optic

What are SolidCore™ Reflectors?

SolidCore™ Reflectors take advantage of the higher refractive index of plastic versus free space to produce a tighter angle of reflection. They are made of molded plastic, and unlike free space reflectors produce less variation in magnification and are far more compact. Each SolidCore reflector uses a single, high power LED. Light is directed to the reflective surface using a customized light pipe. The angle of the high-intensity, concentrated beam emitted by the SolidCore reflectors is determined by the radius of the optic. For example, beam output angles as tight as 3 degrees can be achieved with a 4″ radius optic.

Who Benefits?

With SolidCore reflectors, lighting designers are able to effects with much greater control, precision and intensity than ever before while maintaining power efficiency. The ability to control the beam angle and achieve color mixing delivers a richer and safer experience to consumers in multiple applications including entertainment, architecture, and outdoor lighting.

The introduction of LEDs to the application of general lighting presents lighting architects and fixture designers with unprecedented capabilities unachievable with the constraints of bulb and fluorescent tube-based luminaires. In addition to lower cost, lower energy consumption, and greater control and directionality of light, LEDs offer tremendous freedom of design. However, as point sources of light, LEDs have introduced a new challenge of delivering uniform, controlled light while maximizing the efficiency of fixtures and lamps. MicroLens® optics are 3-dimensional elements embedded in optical light guides to provide customizable control of the uniformity and distribution of light. When utilized in edge-lit architectures for LED-based fixtures and lamps, MicroLens® optics provide a cost-effective, high-efficiency solution for unmatched design possibilities.

• Customizable control of light output uniformity and distribution
• Up to 95% optical efficiency
• Enable ultra-thin form-factors with unmatched freedom of design
• Proven, low-cost manufacturing process

What are MicroLens Optics?

MicroLens® optics are 3-dimensional elements that are embedded in an optical waveguide or film, that provide customizable control of uniformity and output ray angle distribution for superior application efficiency. Through the use of proprietary optical modeling software and design techniques, the MicroLens features and their pattern can be customized to efficiently spread the light across the entire lighting surface, or direct it in specific locations.

When combined with Rambus’ TruEdge™ LED coupling technology in edge-lit applications, MicroLens optics enable 92-95% optical efficiency in ultra-thin form factors with an unmatched freedom of design. Leveraging proven and low-cost manufacturing processes, MicroLens® optics provide a cost effective, high performance and low risk solution for lighting fixtures and lamps.

MicroLens® optical features are embedded directly into the light guide using injection molding, extrusion, or hot embossing processes. With advanced modeling techniques, the depth, shape and density of the MicroLens® features can be optimized to support a broad range of lighting solutions. Light injected at the edge of the light guide is precisely directed using the custom design of the MicroLens® optics.

Who Benefits?

When implemented in an edge-lit architecture, MicroLens® optics deliver tremendous flexibility of form factor and freedom of design without sacrificing efficiency or control. This will enable designers to create a new age of beautiful and functional lighting. The increased efficiency and control delivered by MicroLens optics translates to fewer fixtures and lamps required to deliver the desired amount of light and lower energy consumption and cost.

Consumers can reap the benefits of the cost-effectiveness of MicroLens through broad availability of reliable and affordable LED lighting solutions that deliver on the promise of green lighting technology.