2 October 2012

Osram Opto unveils smallest LED format for automotive lighting, allowing flexible headlight design

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany has unveiled the prototype of its Oslon Compact, which it claims to be currently the most compact high-power LED for the automotive market. Due to the flexible arrangement of the small LEDs, it will be much easier and more cost-effective to create unique, signature headlight designs, claims the firm. A prototype of the Oslon Compact LED will be unveiled at the SIA-Vision conference of the Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile (French Automotive Engineers Society) in Versailles, France (9-10 October).

Despite their high efficiency, luminous intensity and durability, LEDs have faced a major challenge as light sources in vehicle headlights, in that different LEDs have had to be used for different areas in order to achieve a uniform arrangement of the light-emitting surfaces, notes Osram Opto. Sophisticated design concepts therefore involved a large amount of effort and high costs.

The extremely small size of the new Oslon Compact – combined with its high light output – enables a single LED type to be used as the default light source for all automotive forward-lighting applications, the firm claims. The light points in the headlight can be placed in any arrangement, for example, and customized designs can be developed to give different vehicles a unique appearance. The small size of the LEDs also means that they can be grouped very close to each other, so they can even be used for light-guide solutions and adaptive frontlighting systems (AFS).

Osram Opto’s Oslon Compact LED. 

The compact design has been achieved by reducing the LED to its bare essentials, says Osram Opto. The entire LED package is not much larger than the actual light-emitting surface of the chip. The platform is Osram Opto’s UX:3 chip technology, which provides high luminous efficacy even at high currents. The prototype showcased at SIA-Vision measures only 1.5mm x 1.9mm and produces 200 lumen from 700mA. The clear white light from the chips is achieved through Osram’s C2 technology, which converts blue light with the aid of ceramic conversion.

“The development of the Oslon Compact is a direct response to changing market requirements in the automotive sector. There is a need now for high-power LEDs that are more compact and more cost-effective than before,” says Peter Knittl, director Marketing Automotive at Osram Opto. “We have been able to adapt the reliable chip and package technologies that have proved so successful in the Oslon Black Flat and Ostar Headlamp Pro LEDs to fit this smaller design,” he adds. “The introduction of this space-saving solution makes a huge contribution to the spread of LED technology in the forward lighting sector and makes efficient and durable lighting solutions available as standard for more vehicle models.” 

Tags: Osram LEDs

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