JanneGiovannaALex

Color, control and function are all being reassessed, and new players have emerged like a wave of Silicon Valley start-ups.

Now, some lighting scientists say, both consumers and investors are leery of buying into something they suspect might be substandard.

AFTER the joy of the birth itself, parenthood sometimes brings the unwelcome news that a newborn has jaundice and must wear goggles and be placed under special lights.

The efforts start with energy efficiency and cost savings but go far beyond replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs.

“This is the move from the last industrial-age analog technology to a digital technology,” said Fred Maxik, the chief technology officer with the Lighting Science Group Corporation, one of many newer players in the field.

AFTER the joy of the birth itself, parenthood sometimes brings the unwelcome news that a newborn has jaundice and must wear goggles and be placed under special lights.

Imagine how different this experience might be if there were no goggles, just a warm blanket covering the tiny body, a healing frequency of blue light emanating from its folds.

Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo.

Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo.

At the University of California, Davis, a bike path illuminated at night with a “just in time” system has one light node alerting another and another down the line as a bicycle goes by, progressively lighting the rider’s way, then dimming back into an energy-saving mode.

At the University of California, Davis, a bike path illuminated at night with a “just in time” system has one light node alerting another and another down the line as a bicycle goes by, progressively lighting the rider’s way, then dimming back into an energy-saving mode.

Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo.

That comforting scene, already a reality in some hospitals, is evidence of the fundamental rethinking of lighting now under way in research labs, executive offices and investor conferences.

Related Go to Energy Special Section » Add to Portfolio General Electric Company Lighting Science Group Go to your Portfolio » Enlarge This Image Kathreen Fontecha/California Lighting Technology Center, University of California, Davis BRIGHT PATH Lights outside Wellman Hall at the University of California, Davis, are designed to brighten as bicyclists approach, then dim once they have passed.

Light’s potential to heal, soothe, invigorate or safeguard people is being exploited to introduce products like the blanket, versions of which are offered by General Electric and in development at Philips, the Dutch electronics giant.

Now, some lighting scientists say, both consumers and investors are leery of buying into something they suspect might be substandard.

In pursuing their goals, advocates played down problems like the harshness of fluorescent light, and difficulties with dimming the bulbs and dealing with the toxic mercury they contain.

LEDs — also called solid-state lighting — are already a $12.5 billion business worldwide, according to analysts at the research firm Strategies Unlimited in Mountain View, Calif. A 2012 McKinsey report estimates LEDs will be an $84 billion business by 2020.

But a new poll done by the lighting company Osram Sylvania showed that fewer consumers were listing “burned out or broken” as the main reason for switching bulb formats.

Innovations on the horizon range from smart lampposts that can sense gas hazards to lights harnessed for office productivity or even to cure jet lag.

Innovations on the horizon range from smart lampposts that can sense gas hazards to lights harnessed for office productivity or even to cure jet lag.

But a new poll done by the lighting company Osram Sylvania showed that fewer consumers were listing “burned out or broken” as the main reason for switching bulb formats.

Related Go to Energy Special Section » Add to Portfolio General Electric Company Lighting Science Group Go to your Portfolio » Enlarge This Image Kathreen Fontecha/California Lighting Technology Center, University of California, Davis BRIGHT PATH Lights outside Wellman Hall at the University of California, Davis, are designed to brighten as bicyclists approach, then dim once they have passed.

The efforts start with energy efficiency and cost savings but go far beyond replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs.

In the United States, lighting consumes more than 20 percent of electric power generated each year; the Energy Department says LEDs can cut consumption by up to 80 percent.

The efforts start with energy efficiency and cost savings but go far beyond replacing inefficient incandescent bulbs.

In the United States, lighting consumes more than 20 percent of electric power generated each year; the Energy Department says LEDs can cut consumption by up to 80 percent.

Light’s potential to heal, soothe, invigorate or safeguard people is being exploited to introduce products like the blanket, versions of which are offered by General Electric and in development at Philips, the Dutch electronics giant.

Light’s potential to heal, soothe, invigorate or safeguard people is being exploited to introduce products like the blanket, versions of which are offered by General Electric and in development at Philips, the Dutch electronics giant.

One reason adoption will speed up, Mr. Crawford believes, is that in recent years, consumers have been asked to compromise on quality to get energy savings.

Digital revolutionaries have Edison’s 130-year-old industry, and its $100 billion in worldwide revenue, in their sights.

James Highgate, an expert on the new technology who runs an annual LED industry conference, sees a transition period ahead “for the next three to five years, until the eight billion sockets in the U.S. get filled” with LEDs.

Color, control and function are all being reassessed, and new players have emerged like a wave of Silicon Valley start-ups.

Another powerful force for continuity is the psychological legacy of light as we know it — from sun to candle to bulb.

Now, some lighting scientists say, both consumers and investors are leery of buying into something they suspect might be substandard.

In 2008, that number was close to zero.

Light’s potential to heal, soothe, invigorate or safeguard people is being exploited to introduce products like the blanket, versions of which are offered by General Electric and in development at Philips, the Dutch electronics giant.

Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo.

Another powerful force for continuity is the psychological legacy of light as we know it — from sun to candle to bulb.

In the United States, lighting consumes more than 20 percent of electric power generated each year; the Energy Department says LEDs can cut consumption by up to 80 percent.

Innovations on the horizon range from smart lampposts that can sense gas hazards to lights harnessed for office productivity or even to cure jet lag.

James Highgate, an expert on the new technology who runs an annual LED industry conference, sees a transition period ahead “for the next three to five years, until the eight billion sockets in the U.S. get filled” with LEDs.

But there is an obstacle or two facing the LED revolutionaries.

Another hurdle is public wariness after the environmental exhortations of the 2000s, which led to much-disputed federal legislation to phase out the old incandescents, often in favor of compact fluorescent bulbs.

One is existing modes of lighting: Edison’s screw-based socket, the office’s fluorescent ceiling tubes, and metal halide or sodium lights in parking lots are not going away anytime soon.

Philips is producing a bulb called Hue that fits into the old sockets and not only dims and brightens, but also changes colors on command.

LEDs — also called solid-state lighting — are already a $12.5 billion business worldwide, according to analysts at the research firm Strategies Unlimited in Mountain View, Calif. A 2012 McKinsey report estimates LEDs will be an $84 billion business by 2020.

In pursuing their goals, advocates played down problems like the harshness of fluorescent light, and difficulties with dimming the bulbs and dealing with the toxic mercury they contain.

Another hurdle is public wariness after the environmental exhortations of the 2000s, which led to much-disputed federal legislation to phase out the old incandescents, often in favor of compact fluorescent bulbs.

The cost barrier is getting lower.

Another hurdle is public wariness after the environmental exhortations of the 2000s, which led to much-disputed federal legislation to phase out the old incandescents, often in favor of compact fluorescent bulbs.

“This is the move from the last industrial-age analog technology to a digital technology,” said Fred Maxik, the chief technology officer with the Lighting Science Group Corporation, one of many newer players in the field.

In pursuing their goals, advocates played down problems like the harshness of fluorescent light, and difficulties with dimming the bulbs and dealing with the toxic mercury they contain.

At the University of California, Davis, a bike path illuminated at night with a “just in time” system has one light node alerting another and another down the line as a bicycle goes by, progressively lighting the rider’s way, then dimming back into an energy-saving mode.

One is existing modes of lighting: Edison’s screw-based socket, the office’s fluorescent ceiling tubes, and metal halide or sodium lights in parking lots are not going away anytime soon.

At the University of California, Davis, a bike path illuminated at night with a “just in time” system has one light node alerting another and another down the line as a bicycle goes by, progressively lighting the rider’s way, then dimming back into an energy-saving mode.

That comforting scene, already a reality in some hospitals, is evidence of the fundamental rethinking of lighting now under way in research labs, executive offices and investor conferences.

Color, control and function are all being reassessed, and new players have emerged like a wave of Silicon Valley start-ups.

“Now it impacts what I do, how I feel, in emotional ways.”

Now Cree, a semiconductor manufacturer, has 40-watt and 60-watt LED equivalents for $10 and $14.

Light’s potential to heal, soothe, invigorate or safeguard people is being exploited to introduce products like the blanket, versions of which are offered by General Electric and in development at Philips, the Dutch electronics giant.

In the United States, lighting consumes more than 20 percent of electric power generated each year; the Energy Department says LEDs can cut consumption by up to 80 percent.

LEDs — also called solid-state lighting — are already a $12.5 billion business worldwide, according to analysts at the research firm Strategies Unlimited in Mountain View, Calif. A 2012 McKinsey report estimates LEDs will be an $84 billion business by 2020.

Related Go to Energy Special Section » Add to Portfolio General Electric Company Lighting Science Group Go to your Portfolio » Enlarge This Image Kathreen Fontecha/California Lighting Technology Center, University of California, Davis BRIGHT PATH Lights outside Wellman Hall at the University of California, Davis, are designed to brighten as bicyclists approach, then dim once they have passed.

That comforting scene, already a reality in some hospitals, is evidence of the fundamental rethinking of lighting now under way in research labs, executive offices and investor conferences.

That comforting scene, already a reality in some hospitals, is evidence of the fundamental rethinking of lighting now under way in research labs, executive offices and investor conferences.

Digital lighting based on light-emitting diodes — LEDs — offers the opportunity to flit beams delicately across stages like the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — creating a light sculpture more elegant than the garish marketers’ light shows on display in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus and the Shibuya district in Tokyo.

In pursuing their goals, advocates played down problems like the harshness of fluorescent light, and difficulties with dimming the bulbs and dealing with the toxic mercury they contain.