Dual-colour display backlight status indicators

OMC has released the Dual Status Profiled Backlights combining two colours of an emitter in a single profiled backlight, allowing designers to utilise the single backlight source to indicate status exceptionally clearly, rather than a single colour backlight that is simply on or off. The backlights offer a clean, bright and clear illumination for a display to make the machine-human interface easy to understand. As robust components with an extended product life, they can be employed in multiple applications and industries, including harsh environment applications like the petrochemical industry (explosive gas detector systems, display systems for oil pipeline valves, gas and electricity metering) and in research, instrumentation and medical applications (life support system displays, imaging applications, measurement instrument displays).

The backlights bring advantages to industrial applications where colour backlights have yet to be a practical solution for displays, as they solve the extra cost and reliability issues around adding multiple LEDs to a backlight cost-effectively when custom dimensions are needed. They are simple to drive, take up less space in a design and offer a cost-effective solution, even for small to medium-volume needs. The two colours clearly indicate status and supply a way to attract attention, even from an oblique angle. Temperature status is a common application, where using a red LED emitter alongside a green LED emitter enables a fast 'switch to red' warning.

The backlights have individually addressable LED emitters, and available colours range from ultrabright blue, four greens, three yellows, orange, and three reds to ultrabright white.

OMC commercial director, William Heath, comments: "We pioneered the introduction of LEDs as a backlighting technology over thirty years ago with our Profiled Backlight range and invented our side-firing backlight emitter, which illuminates backlights in a wide range of colours and brightness levels. Our new Dual Status Profiled Backlights are a further development of our award-winning technology, and our unique manufacturing techniques mean any quantity can be produced cost-effectively, from less than ten parts to tens of thousands, with samples available in as little as five to ten working days."