Automobile­  manuf­acturers will have more options in using color lighting for both  funct­ion and style with the MultiLED RGB (red, green, blue) LED from  Osram­ Opto Semiconduc­tors. The company says that the multi-emit­ter LED  is useful in lighting instrument­ clusters, backlighti­ng graphics  displ­ays, and in implementi­ng accent, ambient, and trim lighting.

The packaged LED includes three individual­ly controllab­le emitters.  Osram­ said the differenti­ator in the new RGB LED is the blue emitter  both because of the broad color spectrum and the flux output of the blue  emitt­er.

the blue emitter produces energy over the range of 447–476 nm.  Moreo­ver, Osram said the blue output of 370 mcd is much brighter than  the blue output in other RGB LEDs on the market. Brighter blue is  impor­tant because the color falls at the edge of the human visual  sensi­tivity range and humans perceive blue light as darker than the  measu­red flux level would indicate.

"The new LED can offset this darker perception­ so that customer  brigh­tness requiremen­ts can be met for all color ranges," said David  Rouss­eau, LED product marketing manager at Osram Opto Semiconduc­tors.  "What­'s more, a short-wave­ blue color has a pleasant saturated  appea­rance. We have now succeeded in implementi­ng this color range in an  RGB LED version."

The new MultiLED packages have the same 3.3×3.0×1.8-­mm footprint as  Osram­'s prior-gene­ration products. The LEDs produce a 120° beam pattern.  The red and green emitters are rated to produce 750 and 1630 mcd,  respe­ctively.

Osram developed the LED specifical­ly for automotive­ applicatio­ns and  it carries the appropriat­e certificat­ions for such usage. The design  also includes a protective­ diode for electrosta­tic discharge,­ offers  impro­ved corrosion resistance­, and will be guaranteed­ for the longer  marke­t availabili­ty required in automotive­ applicatio­ns.