Cree LED

Cree LED, an SGH company (Nasdaq: SGH), and Current Lighting Solutions, LLC announced that they entered into a patent license agreement, effective October 2022, with respect to Current’s patents related to KSF (also called PFS) red phosphor.

Under the agreement, Cree LED has been granted by Current, a limited, nonexclusive, and world-wide license under U.S. Patent Nos. 7,358,542; 7,453,195; 7,497,973; 7,648,649; 7,847,309; and 9,680,067.

This license covers Cree LED products featuring Pro9™ technology which utilizes Potassium Fluoride Silicon (KSF/PFS phosphor). This phosphor boosts the efficiency of LED components, especially those delivering higher CRI (Color Rendering Index).

Cree LED’s product portfolio includes a broad range of Pro9 LED products, including XLamp® COB LED arrays, high-power LEDs, and J Series® mid-power LEDs. Cree LED customers using Pro9-enhanced products benefit from the high color quality, efficiency, and reliability of these LEDs.

“We are pleased to work with Current to license their KSF/PFS patented technology,” said Joe Clark, president of Cree LED. “As a result, we have expanded our Pro9 product options, which includes the only high-power products with the advantages of KSF/PFS phosphor, benefiting customers across all lighting applications.”

The Cree LED Patent License Verification notice can be reviewed here: https://www.cree-led.com/patent-license-verification-letter-pdf

Specific licensing terms are confidential.

Cree LED, XLamp and J Series are registered trademarks of CreeLED, Inc. Pro9 is a trademark of CreeLED, Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

The XLamp® XP-G LED delivers unprecedented levels of light output and efficacy for a single die LED. The XLamp XP-G LED continues Cree LED’s history of innovation in LEDs for lighting applications with wide viewing angle, symmetrical package, unlimited floor life and electrically neutral thermal path. XLamp XP-G LEDs are the ideal choice for lighting applications where high light output and maximum efficacy are required, such as LED light bulbs, outdoor lighting, portable lighting, indoor lighting and solarpowered lighting.

Cree LED’s highly anticipated XLamp® XP-G4 White LED incorporates the latest advancements in high-power LED technology for improved optical performance while delivering industry leading efficacy. XLamp XP-G4 Pro9™ LEDs deliver up to 10% higher lumens & LPW than Standard version at 90 & 95 CRI.

XP‑G4 provides higher maximum current and lower thermal resistance than competing high-power LEDs, enabling new levels of output and reliability for many lighting applications. XP-G4 also features a wider range of phosphor options than any previous generation XP-G LED to provide optimized spectral output to the widest range of lighting applications yet.

XP-G4 is optimized for a wide range of both indoor and outdoor directional lighting applications requiring precise light control, good color over angle and long-term reliability.

• The standard version works best for many applications, including outdoor, torch and specialty
• The broadcast version is optimized for stadium, arena and medical applications where extremely high TLCI is required
• The Pro9™ version delivers breakthrough efficacy for applications that require high fidelity 90 & 95 CRI, such as indoor directional and retail

DURHAM, N.C. — Cree LED, an SGH company (Nasdaq: SGH), today unveiled the fourth generation of its industry-leading XLamp® XP-G product family. With more than two billion XP-G LEDs shipped to date, the highly anticipated XP-G4 incorporates the latest advancements in high-power LED technology for improved optical performance while delivering leading efficacy. The XP-G4 also boasts a maximum drive current of 3000 mA, which is a first for the XP-G family of LEDs.

The fourth generation of XP-G products introduces an optimized optical profile designed to maximize on‑axis light output and yield substantial improvements over the previous XP-G3 LEDs. These enhancements include a smaller light emitting surface (LES) and up to 69% higher intensity, resulting in tighter beam angles and higher candela. The XP-G4 delivers exceptional color-over-angle performance and a 70 degree cutoff which dramatically improves coupling efficiency with secondary optics compared to all competing high-power LEDs.

“We are excited to launch the next generation of our industry-leading XP-G family of products. This fourth generation offers a remarkable 41% increase in maximum light output compared to XP-G3 Standard, reaching a maximum of 1,130 lumens,” said Joe Clark, president of Cree LED. “This notable performance combined with the latest optical system delivers a ‘no compromise’ solution for both new and existing systems alike.”

Todd Ernst, vice president product at COAST Products, a Cree LED customer, added, “COAST has a 100+ year history of product innovation. As we design our next generation of portable lighting products, we will use Cree LED’s new XP-G4 LED based on its clear product advantages. This new LED family offers both higher intensity and higher maximum current in the familiar XP-G footprint, allowing us to improve the performance of our products.”

The latest generation of XP-G products is optimized for a wide range of both indoor and outdoor directional lighting applications requiring precise light control, good color over angle and long-term reliability. The new XP-G generation is available in correlated color temperatures (CCTs) ranging from 1800K to 6500K and color rendering index (CRI), including 70, 80 and 90 CRI. Additionally, broadcast color options featuring Television Lighting Consistency Index (TLCI) will also be offered.

Product samples are available now and production quantities are available with standard lead times. To learn more about Cree LED’s XPG LEDs, visit: www.cree-led.com/xp-g4.

Cree LED and XLamp are registered trademarks of CreeLED, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

About Cree LED
Cree LED offers one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of application-optimized LED chips and components, leading the industry in performance and reliability. Our team delivers best-in-class technology and breakthrough solutions for focused applications in high power and mid-power general lighting, specialty lighting and video screens. With more than thirty years of experience, Cree LED develops products backed by expert design assistance, superior sales support and industry-best global customer service. For more information, visit www.cree-led.com.

Click to expand...

Cree LED’s precision dimming is a new production technique that addresses unacceptable light output and hue variations when dimming parallel strings of LEDs to low current. These light output variations are caused by normal production variations in characteristics of LEDs and can be reduced substantially with proper system design.

• A novel production technique has been introduced to address the problems of inconsistent light output and hue experienced when dimming LEDs to low current
• With precision dimming, manufacturers gain simplified control over voltage, light output and color rendering
• This method enables precise adjustment of key color rendering parameters while reducing the need for multiple bins
• TM-21 reported L80 >102K hrs lifetimes across all 2835 LEDs

When operated in parallel strings, as is common in many linear LED designs, LEDs driven at relatively low currents (e.g., less than 20 mA for 3-V mid-power LEDs) will exhibit unacceptable light output and hue variations across the strings. These light output variations are caused by normal production variations in characteristics of LEDs and can be reduced substantially with proper system design.

Lighting designers, specifiers, architects and end users have observed this inconsistency issue while dimming in many common linear-style LED designs, including cove accent lighting, wall texture graze lighting, indirect lighting and in some recessed linear general illumination.

Other LED manufacturers tackle LED inconsistency by conducting two rounds of forward voltage sorting. First, they perform sorting during the binning process at the specified current, and then they repeat the sorting at a lower current. However, this approach introduces additional voltage bins that can be challenging to effectively manage during production.

Precision dimming provides manufacturers of no-compromise, specification-grade lighting with a straightforward solution. The precision dimming system offers a total of four bins: J, K, L and M. Moreover, for each combination of CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) and CRI (Color Rendering Index) of an LED equipped with precision dimming, there will consistently be a maximum of two precision dimming bins.

Cree LED tapped into our extensive LED performance and manufacturing knowledge to address this issue of inconsistent LED dimming. Our engineering team has developed a new method to bring consistency for low-input intensity and color performance-critical applications. Industry standard 3-dimensional binning (chromaticity, voltage and flux) is greatly improved by the introduction of a simple fourth dimension that Cree LED calls Precision Dimming.

Precision Dimming provides the easiest solution to manufacturers of no-compromise, specification-grade lighting. There are only four total Precision Dimming bins: J, K, L & M. In addition, each CCT & CRI combination of an LED with Precision Dimming will only ever have two Precision Dimming bins.