Architectural Lighting Solutions
A New Era in Lighting
LED technology has advanced at a remarkable pace in recent years. No longer confined to electronic devices such as mobile phones or watches, LED-based solutions are becoming ever more widespread. They improve the quality of people’s lives in retail outlets, hotels, restaurants, offices, domestic environments and in many different features of the urban landscape including public buildings, bridges, footpaths, market squares and façades. It’s hardly surprising LEDs are proving so popular. Compared with traditional non-solid-state lighting, they are energy-efficient, produce fewer CO2 emissions and radiate little heat, cost less to run and maintain, are small and flexible, last longer and produce a light that is precisely controllable and programmable. Although the colour properties of LEDs have been frequently applied by designers for atmosphere creation, entertainment and architectural highlighting, there is another area where LEDs are becoming increasingly popular; white light. For more than a decade, LEDs have been offering a viable alternative to conventional light sources, and with ongoing improvements in brightness, this is a trend definitely set to continue and broaden in scope.
What are LEDs?
LED stands for light-emitting diode. A diode is a device made from two different conducting materials that allows current to flow in only one direction. When electricity is passed through the diode, the atoms in one material are excited to a higher energy level. This energy is released as the atoms transfer electrons to the other material. During this energy release light is created. The colour of the light from the LED depends on what the diode is made from and how it is configured.
Chromacore®
Chromacore® technology is fundamental to all of Philips' intelligent LED lighting systems. It broke ground in 1997 as an unprecedented means for adding intelligence, such as a microprocessor coupled with network addressability and/or user interface, to LED illumination devices. It makes colourchanging effects and variable colour temperature possible, among other feats.
Chromasic®
Chromasic® is a custom-designed microchip that integrates digital LED control and communication technology in a single silicon chip. The device can be used in numerous system configurations and creates whole new possibilities for both small and large-scale installations, even those that comprise many thousands of individual light nodes - each now equipped with the intelligence to be automatically addressed and controlled.
Powercore®
Powercore® is a digital power processing technology that increases efficiency, lowers the overall cost and eases installation of solid-state lighting systems by integrating power and data management within the fixture itself. It uniquely controls power output to LED-based systems directly from line voltage, eliminating the need for an external power supply and thereby simplifying installation.
DIMand™
DIMand™ technology allows LED lighting devices to interpret standard dimming signals, essentially allowing the dimmer to become a control interface to the device. It makes certain of Philips' fixtures and lamps compatible with standard dimmers for ease of use.
Optibin®
Optibin® is an advanced proprietary production binning optimisation process that assures consistent light output from one fixture or lamp to the next. It minimises the effects of the inherent variance and inconsistency of the “bins” delivered by LED manufacturers to achieve optimal colour consistency in Philips' products. Philips Core Technologies