What is Light Tape

Light Tape® was used to add the finishing lighting touches both above, in 1" wide and below on the plinth in 6"wide on the Nike products display stands shown in the pictures above and directly below. I'm sure you will agree that the effect proves more eye catching than the other displays featured at the trade event. The Light Tape® adds a touch of finesse that is both in keeping with the clean, no nonsense Nike product arrangement on the stand whilst not overpowering the display.

Light Tape® was fitted at a relatively low level in a home cinema room, offering a dual purpose solution by providing added interest to the room design with the simple, yet effective use of light decoratively, whilst also providing a low cost visual aide that provides a non-invasive, non-glare source of edge lighting that can help prevent tripping while walking in the room in low light levels.

A former railway station, it retains many of the original station buildings. The Station serves Benton in North Tyneside just north of Newcastle Upon Tyne, in the North East of England.

During 2011 Benton Metro Station Footbridge was upgraded to give better disabled access, providing lift access to both platforms.
Light Tape® has been used to create a modern display lighting effect to both lift shafts and the main bridge walkway.

YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/eCWhisVnZB4

For further details on Light Tape® go to: http://www.lighttape.co.uk

For more information on Light Tape contact us on: 08456 170 697 or visit our web site at: http://www.lighttape.co.uk or for the latest update's our Blog at: http://lighttapeuk.wordpress.com/

About Light Tape UK Limited

Based in Barnsley South Yorkshire Light Tape UK Limited is the exclusive distributor for Electro-LuminX products in the UK and Ireland.

For further information please contact: Mike Hardcastle, Managing Director,

Light Tape UK Limited.
7 Meadowfield Drive, Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S74 0QE

Telephone: +44 (0)845 617 0697 Mob: +44 (0) 7899 790 669
email: info@lighttape.co.uk web page: http://www.lighttape.co.uk

Electroluminescence (EL) or the generation of light by the electrical excitation of light emitting phosphors has been around for many years. Electroluminescent was first observed in silicon carbide (SiC) by Captain Henry Joseph Round in 1907. Round reported that a yellow light was produced when a current was passed through a silicon carbide detector. An employee of the Marconi Company and a personal assistant to Guglielmo Marconi, Round was an inventor in his own right with 117 patents to his name by the end of his life.

The next recorded observation of Electroluminescence of any great significance came at the time of the Second World War, though there had been various reports of work done in this area during the 1920's and 1030's. In1936 George Destriau, once again noted that Electroluminescence could be produced from, this time, zinc sulfide (ZnS) powder after applying an electrical current to it so producing light. It was said that it was Destriau, who first coined the word "electroluminescence" to refer to the phenomenon he observed. Destriau, who worked in the laboratories of Madame Marie Curie in Paris (the Curies being early pioneers in the field of luminescence because of their research on radium), published a report of his findings.

During World War II, a considerable amount of research was done on phosphors in connection with work on radar displays (which was later to benefit the television industry in the form of better cathode ray tubes). Wartime research also included work on the deposition of transparent conductive films for de-icing the windshields of airplanes. That work was later to make possible a whole generation of new electronic devices.

In the 1950s, GTE Sylvania fired various coatings, including EL phosphors onto heavy steel plates to create ceramic EL lamps. During this period, most research focused on powder EL phosphors to get bright lamps requiring minimal power and with a potentially long lifetime. Research funding was cut back when it was determined that product lifetimes were too short (approximately 500 hours).

The first thin-film EL structures were fabricated in the late 1950s by Vlasenko and Popkov. These two scientists observed that luminance increased markedly in EL devices when they used a thin film of Zinc Sulfide doped with Manganese (ZnS:Mn). Luminance was much higher in thin film EL (TFEL) devices than in those using powdered substances. Such devices however were still too unreliable for commercial use.

Several large U.S. companies were also conducting research on ELDs in the 1970s, including: IBM, GTE, Westinghouse, Aerojet General, and Rockwell. All of these companies realised that ELDs had potential advantages over existing LCD technology in the following areas: Contrast, Multiplexing, and Viewing angle.

The most important problem that had to be solved before mass production of ELDs could begin was increasing the reliability of the EL thin film stack. Since the devices operated at very high field levels - about 1.5 MV/cm - there was a high probability that they would break down, especially if there was insufficient uniformity in the stack. Sharp, Tektronix, and Lohja Corporation in Finland were able to solve this problem between 1976 and 1983 using slightly different approaches.

The introduction to the market in 1985 of Grid and Data General laptops with EL displays from Sharp and Planar respectively helped to build the foundations for the nascent laptop computer industry at a time when LCDs did not have sufficient brightness or contrast to be used in commercial products. Both Planar and Sharp monochrome ELDs used a phosphor layer made from zinc sulfide doped with manganese (ZnS:Mn). These displays gave off an amber (orange-yellow) colour that was bright but also pleasing to the eye.

One of the key disadvantages of ELDs relative to liquid crystal displays (LCDs) was that until 1981 ELDs were not capable of displaying more than one colour. Even after 1981, colour ELDs were restricted to a limited range of colours (red, green, and yellow) until 1993 when a blue phosphor was discovered.

A SrS: Cu blue phosphor showing improved blue colour and efficiency was reported by Sey-Shing Sun of Planar in 1997. Planar demonstrated true white colour EL prototype displays using this blue phosphor in a SrS:Cu/ZnS:Mn multi-layer structure. The SrS:Cu phosphor will enable colour EL displays to be produced with a wider colour gamut.

Because of Planar's willingness to work with customers to adapt products for specific applications, it was able to command a price premium over the products of its main competitor, Sharp. By the late 1980s, Planar controlled over 90 percent of the world market for ELDs.

In spring 1995 Planar organized a consortium to develop the next generation of High Resolution and Colour TFEL Displays. This consortium was funded by the Department of Defense under the DARPA managed Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP). The total funding for the consortium was to be $30 million; half funded by the government and half by the consortium's private firms. Other members of the consortium were: Allied Signal Aerospace, Computing Devices of Canada, Ltd., Advanced Technology Materials, Boeing, CVC Products, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oregon State University, Positive Technologies and the University of Florida.

In 1989, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began to fund work on advanced displays as part of its High Definition Systems program. DARPA issued a Broad Area Announcement in that year and in subsequent years asking for proposals. Planar won one of the first grants from DARPA in 1990 and used the funds to set up a laboratory to develop colour ELDs.

Electroluminescent displays (ELDs) have a venerable history starting with the experiments of Captain Henry J. Round in 1907, O.V. Lossev in the Soviet Union, and Georges Destriau in France. Electroluminescence was mostly a scientific curiosity until the invention of thin film deposition techniques and the discovery that a sandwich of conductors, insulators and phosphors could result in a very efficient and long-lasting form of emissive display. ELDs were very important in the early days of the laptop computer industry and remained important in niche markets for military, medical and industrial equipment where high brightness, speed, contrast, and ruggedness are necessary.

The rise of the colour TFT LCD display forced the ELD producers to engage in research on colour ELDs with the result that by the mid 1990's there were multicolour ELDs on the market and full-colour AMELs in development for microdisplays. By 1999 the ELD industry was limited to two major players: Planar and Sharp. Planar acquired its only European competitor, the Finlux Display Division of Lohja Oy, (Finland) in 1990. Sharp remains committed to competing in ELDs but its main focus is on liquid crystal displays. Most of the important research on ELDs remains within the corporate laboratories of Planar and Sharp, but several publicly funded research laboratories and consortia have also made important contributions to ELD technology.

The use of Electroluminescence has been limited until relatively recent times. The major obstacles to effective use of EL in the past have been: low light output, susceptibility to moisture and ultraviolet, colour shift, cost effective manufacture and short life.

In the past several years improvements have been made in the manufacture of EL lamps that have for the most part meant the product being recognized as a modern alternative to Neon and Cold Cathode lighting, where a non pollutant light source is required. A non pollutant light source being one that is not incandescent and so does not produce glare or effect night vision.

Not only that, but EL lighting proves to consume less energy, produces little to no heat and is much less bulkier than incandescent lighting systems. It must also be said that the improvements made in EL lamps have provided higher output, long life phosphors, micro encapsulation to prevent degradation by moisture, ultraviolet absorbers, the control of colour shifts - dye conversion and provides an efficient, lightweight power source.

EL technology has expanded into other areas of use ensuring further development in key areas, including improved brightness and extended life expectancy of phosphors sure to benefit. To days EL lamps show massive improvement and are proving a viable alternative to incandescent lighting forms where application is appropriate.

EL lighting has several advantages over incandescence lighting which makes it a prime candidate for its replacement in subdued lighting and night time environment applications. EL provides improved night vision capability because it has no infra-red or ultraviolet emissions. This helps eliminate glare, improves contrast and visibility, and the product is flexible and durable, more reliable, is low maintenance, offers low power consumption and is cool to the touch when in operation.

It is for these reasons that the US Air Force made a recommendation for the usage of Electroluminescent lighting to be used on austere runways and in aircraft cockpits to increase operational readiness, system reliability, reduce operational and support costs and to eliminate the problems incurred using incandescent lighting: examples of which have already been mentioned above. The same Air Force study found that the Light Tape® lighting system was easily visible from distances up to five miles away. Notably Light Tape® light penetrates fog, smoke, snow, haze and other normally poor visibility conditions so opening new areas of application with the outdoor product.

In more recent years some EL lighting products have been produced and are available for purchase in the Far East, at extraordinarily