The Secret History of LED Technology in the Past 50 Years: From Zero to the World (Part 2)

　　As the light that LEDs can produce becomes stronger, the flashlight industry has begun to use LEDs to replace incandescent bulbs. Flashlights use relatively little electricity, and the bulbs rarely need to be replaced. It is now difficult to find a flashlight that does not use LEDs.

　　Make shoes glow

　　LA Gear launched a pair of luminous shoes in 1992. The shoes were initially launched for children. When the heels were stressed, the LED lights installed on the shoes would emit red light. This was a very interesting idea that injected new vitality into the development of LA Gear.

　　LG Gear believed in the potential of these light-up shoes and later launched a new adult version called the Light Gear, which has been worn by Robert Downey Jr. and characters in the Batman movies.

　　The optical mouse was invented in the 1980s. However, it was not until 1999 that Microsoft launched its optical mouse IntelliMouse Optical. Now, the optical mouse has been widely popularized. This new mouse has completely replaced the previous roller ball mouse.

　　The advent of the optical mouse, which uses an image sensor connected to an LED light to track the mouse's movements on any surface, also marked the end of the mouse pad product lifespan.

　　Over the past 15 years, the HDTV industry has been growing rapidly. CRTs have been phased out, and HDTVs have unified the market. One important component driving this trend is LED. LED backlight technology replaces CCFL backlight technology, which can provide higher contrast and wider color gamut. In addition, LED backlight technology helps TVs reduce energy consumption.

　　The world's first TV with LED backlighting technology was Sony's Qualiia 005, a 46-inch TV launched in 2004 for $10,000. The Qualiia 005 changed the entire TV industry. Now, a 60-inch HDTV with LED backlighting technology costs only $1,500 to $2,000.

　　However, the penetration of LED technology into HDTVs does not stop at backlight technology. LG exhibited a 55-inch ultra-thin OLED HDTV at the 2012 CES Consumer Electronics Show. The organic carbon components used in OLED can emit light when an electric current passes through it, so there is no need for a separate backlight component. As a result, the OLED TV is only 4 mm thick and weighs only 16 pounds. Compared with LCD TVs, OLED TVs use less electricity, support wider viewing angles, and produce richer and more vivid colors with higher contrast.