Flash LEDs Now Out Perform Traditional Xenon Lamps

Seoul Semiconductors has announced that they have developed a new Flash LED that out performs the traditional flash light source - the xenon lamp. Not only are the new super bright Flash LEDs comparable in brightness to a traditional xenon lamp, but their ultra-miniature size (1/3 the width, 2/3 the length, and 1/5 the height) provides a considerable space savings, and they can run continuously for use in video cameras, something that a xenon lamp can’t do because it requires charging.

They already have at least one camera company interested “Flash LEDs will be applied to digital camera s flashes of a global digital camera manufacturer”. This means that Palm (and others of course) will finally be able to incorporate a usable flash into their PDAs and Smart Phones! I can’t wait! ~ Are you listening Palm?

Here's their press release:

Flash LEDs Reach High Resolution Level of Xenon Lamp for Digital Cameras

SEOUL, KOREA (5 July 2007) - Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 046890), one of the ten largest LED manufacturers in the world, announced today that it has launched a super bright and ultra-mini flash LED that will replace xenon lamps which are generally used as a flash light source for digital cameras or 5 mega pixel camera phones. Seoul Semiconductor s Flash LEDs will be applied to digital camera s flashes of a global digital camera manufacturer.

Seoul Semiconductor s new flash LED, FCW211Z series, features super brightness, ultra-mini size, display of moving image, and long lifespan.

FCW211Z can operate at high current of 2 Amp, and emit up to 100 candelas, which indicates more than twice the brightness level of conventional LEDs for Flash. The Light Energy of the product at 26.49 lux-secs is comparable to that of high capacity xenon lamp, and it is expected to exceed the level of xenon in the near future.

The Flash LEDs small size supports the miniaturization of devices. It is suitable for ultra-small products such as mobile phones, digital cameras and video cameras.

Comparison of dimensions between FCW211Z Series and xenon lamp
- FCW211Z Series: width 3.5mm, length 3.0mm, height 0.75 mm
- Xenon lamp for mobile phone: width 10.1 mm, length 4.6mm, height 3.5 mm

FCW211Z series enables displaying of moving images and continuous shooting without a need of charge while conventional xenon lamps are not available for those functions. Furthermore, the series offers more than two times longer lifespan than conventional xenon lamp.

"The performance of conventional LEDs were not the best for flash due to its poor brightness despite its availability in moving image, ultra-mini size, and long lifespan. However, with our new FCW211Z series, we can now enjoy both the advantages of LEDs and superior image quality with brightness that is comparable to xenon lamp," says Byung Hack Lee, head of the chip and module business division at Seoul Semiconductor.