High-Performance Light Guides Lower Backlighting Costs

Portable and handheld devices can now take advantage of the high-performance, low-cost MicroLens family of light guides. For color cell phones, there's an assembly with a 30- by 22- by 0.8-mm output display area. Output luminance is 3000 cd/m² for a 1.5-in. diagonal screen. It uses two l5-mA LEDs and costs from $0.75 to $1.25. For PDAs, there's a 45-mm² assembly with 2000 cd/m² luminance for a 2.5-in. diagonal screen that costs about $6. With MicroLens technology, various LCDs or the entire display assembly can be mounted into the host application.