Japan and LED screens
After the Second World War the Japanese economy went through a period of fast growth. This dynamic recovery was named “Japanese economic miracle”. The economy boomed, especially in high-tech areas. Starting from the 1970ies, Japan steadily holds the second place in the world in gross national product, remains a powerful financial center, and the leader in high-tech industry. For many years Japan has been setting up an example of quality and workmanship in many high-tech areas, including LEDs and LED screen manufacture.
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| The informational LED display coupled with an LED screen in Tokyo airport Narita. Such LED screens and LED displays are installed in many air and train terminals throughout Japan. | |
The LEDs as a product date back to early 20th century but were not invented in Japan. However it was Shuji Nakamura from “Nichia Corporation” who came up with the ingenious idea of a blue LED. In 2006, he was given a prestigious international award Millenium Technology Prize as recognition of his important discovery. Since then, LED products became full-color RGB-pixel-based. Few people realized then that this discovery was revolutionary for advertising and lighting industry.
LED display in an airport
Today the market leader who set up standards for innovation for the whole world are the Japanese companies Nichia and Toyoda Gosei (TG). The companies Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony and others have become well-known not only for their consumer electronics but for the excellent LED screens as well. Their LED screens are the examples of superb quality and irreproachable design. Serious competition from Chinese and Korean companies forces Japanese manufacturers to actively invest in R&D and search for innovative solutions and products.
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| The LED screen on a façade of a commercial building | An interesting design of in-built LED screen |
On November 26-30, 2007, the first international conference on white LED lighting was held in Tokyo. The conference was attended by all world leaders in the field of lighting who could not miss the opportunity to discuss standardization and international cooperation in this new fledging but fast-growing industry. It is only fair that such conferences are conducted in the world capital of LED screens, such as Tokyo.
Even a short walk along Tokyo streets reveals dozens of LED screens of various sizes and shapes, well-adapted to the city environment. We should mention that the architecture of the city is rather eclectic, no building resembles another, the busy streets are full of outdoor advertising, and LED screens and signs in particular. It’s impossible not to admire the unique design solutions that allow LED screens to become fully integrated into the city architectural landscape.
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| The glass-covered video LED screen on the façade of the commercial center. Apart from the LED screen in the middle, the whole façade is covered by LED strips that display flash-animation and textual messages during the day. | The LED strips as seen from the inside of the building |
The LED screens are everywhere, of different shapes and sizes they are always incorporated into the surrounding environment in a way that seems “natural” for observers.
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| The corners of small Tokyo streets are ideal for installing curved LED screens | |
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| LED signs are positioned in the best way to complement traditional outdoor advertising | |
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| One of the possible solutions for positioning LED screens on busy streets | An LED screen as an indispensable part of the building |
It is obvious that the LED screens are not “isolated”, but are always surrounded by other media carriers. This makes one think of the comprehensive approach to planning and installing high-tech and traditional advertising in the city environment.
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| Indoor LED screens are as numerous as outdoor ones | The huge LED screen on the façade of “Panasonic” commercial center |
The LED screen and informational LED sign
The Japanese LED screens are now installed all around the world, especially in places where the need for high quality and reliability prevails over financial considerations.
In the next issue of our magazine we’ll continue this topic with the article by a well-known US journalist and expert on LED industry, Louis Brill. In that article he discusses the recent modernization of the LED screens in Times Square in New York. Before and after the modernizations the Japanese LED screens (made by Sony and Panasonic) feature prominently in the area which is probably the best known place in the world.
