New, Compact OSTAR LED Breaks 200-lumen Barrier

SAN JOSE, Calif.--May 1, 20057, 2005--OSRAM Opto Semiconductors today announced the development of the company's brightest light-emitting diode (LED) component to date. The new, compact OSTAR(TM) "Lighting" LED has broken the 200-lumen barrier with a drive current of only 700 milliamps (mA). The OSTAR's tiny 3x1 centimeter (cm) size, the ability to emit such bright light and its 50,000-hour lifetime rating enable it to become a serious contender for general lighting applications, such as spotlights, reading lights and safety and effect lighting.

"OSRAM's high-performance OSTAR Lighting LED offers an ideal design comprising small dimensions and a low, six-millimeter profile in conjunction with extremely high luminance," said Ellen Sizemore, director, LED Products Group, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. "This combination gives designers enormous freedom to incorporate the OSTAR into luminaires and other traditional light sources where size, consistent lighting coloration and performance are critical."

In contrast to the OSTAR "Projection" LED, announced in October 2004, which uses color mixing (red, green and blue chips) to produce a full-color display, the OSTAR Lighting LED produces white light from a color conversion process based on the chip-coating method. Unlike conventional white LEDs, the converter material is applied directly on the blue chip. This method produces a uniform color that remains consistent from all viewing angles and does not create color rings at the edges. The combination of OSRAM's thin-film, front-emitting technology chips and the precision placement of the chips enable the OSTAR to be integrated with external optics to generate tight, focused beams useful in spotlight and theatrical light applications.

The high-performance, OSTAR light source is ready-to-install and includes a built-in heat sink, mounting holes for accurate positioning, a built-in, quick electrical connector and an on-board Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) thermistor for thermal management.

Availability

OSTAR Lighting LED samples will soon be available in limited quantities, and production quantities are scheduled to become available in the fourth quarter of 2005. For more information, please contact your local OSRAM sales representative at www.osram-os.com.

About OSRAM Opto Semiconductors

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is a wholly owned subsidiary of OSRAM, one of the world's two leading lighting manufacturers. It offers its customers solutions based on semiconductor technology for lighting, sensor and visualization applications. The company employs more than 3,400 people worldwide and operates sites in Regensburg (Germany), San Jose (USA) and Penang (Malaysia). Sales for the year ending September 2004 totaled EUR 459 million, 11% of the total sales of OSRAM of EUR 4.2 billion. For more information, visit www.osram-os.com.

OSTAR is a trademark of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.