Imagine energy-efficient lighting that is able to closely replicate natural light and can be tuned (warm or cool) according to its environment. This is what Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation’s (MCHC) VxRGB^TM technology can do. MCHC is able to create such lighting by developing all of the materials required to manufacture a Violet Chip LED package. This includes the semiconductor substrate, the high power violet LED chip (which emits the light), the encapsulant material that surrounds and protects the chip, and the phosphors, which are excited by the violet light chip to produce white light.  

Natural light from the sun is composed of all visible wavelengths: blue, green, yellow, red. So, to produce natural light with LEDs, the emitted light must have a wide, even spectrum of these wavelengths. Typical “pseudo white” LEDs use blue exitation plus yellow phosphors. But those LEDs have separate blue and yellow/green peaks, and are very weak in the red wavelengths. This may cause items, like a red apple, to appear dull, almost brown, when illuminated with such lighting.

Lighting created with MCHC VxRGB^TM technology emits a spectrum that more closely resembles sunshine. So, the quality of light is very high and exhibits true color. The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is over 90, and the R9 (red) component over 85, so red colors look realistic and vibrant. We call the finished Violet Chip product a Natural Vision LED.

Tunable Lighting

MCHC has also developed color-tunable lighting utilizing VxRGB^TM technology. Product features include:

• Ability to tune the color temperature from 2500K (very warm white) to 6000K (very cool white)
• Lumen output remains constant through the entire color temperature range
• High CRI is maintained over the color temperature range
• Fully-dimmable over the color temperature range

Tunable, high-CRI lighting products will have a broad range of applications in many areas including hospitality, retail and healthcare. Imagine utilizing the same lighting fixture to create cool white in the daytime for a task-oriented environment, and then changing to warm light in the evening to create a relaxing mood; or using tunable, high-quality lights in a department store dressing room or makeup counter to simulate your appearance in the daytime versus nighttime. It is easy to understand how VxRGB^TM LED tunable lighting was born out of MCHC’s KAITEKI philosophy, which promotes a comfortable, healthy and sustainable environment.