On the occasion of Philips sixth consecutive Cape Town to Cairo roadshow, Philips today unveiled the newly illuminated Cairo Opera House.
– Philips 21st century connected LED lighting technology revitalises Cairo’s Opera House – bringing new life to this iconic building, whilst also reigniting cultural pride and saving energy.
– Over the past five years the Philips Cape Town to Cairo roadshow has spread light across Africa improving and beautifying cities, and illuminating iconic landmarks
Philips has provided the Cairo Opera House with a stunning makeover that has radically boosted the beautification of this iconic building. By using its latest LED lighting technology, which has a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours(1), Philips will enable the Opera House to reduce its energy consumption by up to 80% compared with conventional lighting currently used in the Opera House.
Reigniting cultural pride
The Cairo Opera House is a cultural landmark renowned for leadership, excellence and imagination. It has carved itself a significant position in the cultural landscape of Egypt and the Middle East. With its appealing mix of high-quality traditional events, and its unique venues as well as its state of the art facilities, the Cairo Opera House is exceptionally suited to fulfill its mission to become a representation of art in Egypt and across the world.
Tamer Abol Ghar, Country Manager Egypt & General Manager Africa, Lighting Professional End User Sales, commented : “It is with great pride that we can today unveil the stunning LED makeover of the Cairo Opera House. The lighting not only magnifies the beauty of the renowned building, but it will also enable a significant reduction of energy consumption at the Opera House. As the global leader in LED lighting, we have made massive strides in recent years with regards LEDs, and it’s really quite remarkable to witness the effect the lighting of a building or a landmark can have on an entire city or region. We have no doubt that the people of Cairo will enjoy the Opera House for many more years to come, and hopefully as a result of the dynamic new lighting it will be seen in a completely new light not only by locals, but by the world.”
Philips’ new lighting concept focused on highlighting the importance of the building as a source of cultural pride. Located in the southern part of Gezira Island, this iconic building now houses new Philips dynamic lighting, which ensures it is visible from anywhere up to half a kilometre away on the River Nile. The new Philips lighting design has guaranteed that the viewing points of the Opera House are the main feature, with light and shadow applied in such a way that the building’s structures are also emphasized.
The initial challenge for Philips’ design team was to give the iconic Opera House a more innovative look while maintaining the authentic and historic atmosphere of the Opera House. The Philips team applied its innovative Vaya LED lights which create an endless spectrum of colors to highlight the features of this architectural masterpiece, and allowed Philips to introduce a vibrant ambience that changes depending on the performance happening inside the Opera House.
The usage of intelligent RGB (Red, Green & Blue) flood lights on the façade of the Cairo Opera House turns the hall into a landmark that is highly attractive, adding visual comfort as well as an expressive environment at night. The domes of the building have been illuminated using intelligent RGB floodlights with wide beam angle to highlight the octagonal base shape
The entire project at the Cairo Opera House took Philips four months to complete – this included the design, implementation and installation of 160 Philips latest Color Kinetics Vaya LED RGB (Red, Green & Blue) Lighting luminaires.
Ninth and final stop of the Cape Town to Cairo roadshow
Cairo marks the grand conclusion of Philips’ annual pan-African Cape Town to Cairo roadshow that kicked off on 11th May 2015, in Cape Town. Cairo is the ninth stop on the roadshow’s journey which covered 12,000 km across 11 cities and 8 countries over a period of 4.5 months. Cape Town to Cairo has gained significant momentum over the past five years, allowing Philips to get to the heart of some of the key issues facing Africa – including Mother and Child Care, the rise of non-communicable diseases, energy efficient LED and solar lighting solutions, as well as shining a spotlight on the need for clinical education and training.
The 2015 roadshow continued to drive the conversation around sustainable energy solutions. As part of Philips dedication to improving healthcare in Africa many substantial innovations and partnerships were announced and Philips illuminated a number of iconic buildings, which will leave behind a permanent legacy, while also reducing energy consumption.
War and Peace TV series uses Verbatim candle-effect LED lamps
Monday, November 30, 2015
Egham, England, UK
Egham, England, UK – 30 November 2015: Verbatim’s hi-tech LED candle lighting is being used as a safe, realistic and practical alternative to open flame candles by the producers of War and Peace, a TV adaption of Tolstoy’s classic Russian novel to be screened by the BBC in 2016.
The TV series is being made by BBC Cymru Wales Drama in partnership with The Weinstein Company and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point. During filming in Russia, local production company Globus Film Studio took the decision to install over 1200 Verbatim LED retrofit lamps to create appropriate lighting when shooting important scenes such as those in a historic ballroom.
The chandeliers of the ballroom were equipped with Verbatim LED VxRGB Natural Vision Candle lamps which deliver up to 50lm output and offer up to 25,000 hours of guaranteed lifetime. These lamps provide a warm candle-like glow that closely matches the colour spectrum of a real flame (with a colour temperature of 1900K). The lamp’s VxRGB technology ensures the accuracy in perceived colours and illuminates objects, showing them in finer detail. It also makes skin-tones more natural and helps viewers to perceive subtle hues often indistinguishable when employing other lighting solutions.
Besides avoiding the risk of fire from using thousands of candles on set, the use of Verbatim’s LED candle lamps prevents the possibility of continuity errors between scenes arising from candles burning at different lengths. The time-consuming task of lighting and extinguishing flamed candles every day is another major inconvenience bypassed in the process. Compared with other lighting solutions, using LEDs has significant energy saving benefits and the advantage of obtaining full brightness instantly when a lamp is turned on.
“Supplying our products to the makers of the BBC’s War and Peace TV series has provided Verbatim with a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of LED lighting in practical scenarios,” explains Dick C. Hoogerdijk, General Manager LED EUMEA, Verbatim. “It is particularly satisfying to receive so much positive feedback from members of the film crew and set design team from what is destined to be a multi-award winning TV production.”
The TV series features a formidable all-star cast including Paul Dano (12 Years a Slave), Lily James (Downton Abbey), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), James Norton (Happy Valley) and Jim Broadbent (Paddington). Directed by Tom Harper (Woman In Black: Angel Of Death), the drama will consist of six 60-minute episodes to be screened in the UK by BBC One and eight 45-minute episodes for broadcast in international markets.
Verbatim’s LED VxRGB Natural Vision E14 2.5W candle lamps (product reference: 52243) are available to buy across Europe. For more information, visit the company’s website.
Press images are available to download (copy and paste this link in your web browser):
http://download.publitek.com/VER096.zip
Nayl D’Souza, on behalf of Verbatim – PR Agency: Publitek
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 470000
Email: nayl.dsouza@publitek.com
About Verbatim
Verbatim is a leading global company in data storage and LED lighting with a broad product portfolio spanning consumer and professional applications. Verbatim has been shaping the development of data storage devices since 1969 and is the world’s No 1 supplier of optical media (Blu-ray, DVD and CD). The company also markets flash memory, external hard drive storage solutions and a wide range of computer accessories.
In addition, the company is an innovator in fast-growing LED and OLED lighting, developing products that offer low power consumption, long life and a better lighting experience. It is also an emerging supplier of water filtration systems; its Cleansui brand is Japan’s favourite water filter, and most recently it has launched a range of plastic filaments for the 3D printing industry.
Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Kagaku Media owned by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, which invests heavily in R&D across many diverse sectors. The company’s operating principles are founded on helping people to live in a healthy, comfortable and sustainable way. Verbatim’s regional organisations are EMEA, APAC and Americas, with offices in most countries in the world. The company’s European headquarters are based in the UK. For further information, visit http://www.verbatim.com
Tech start-up company Velmenni has used Li-Fi-enabled lamps to transmit data at speeds of 1Gbps. Laboratory tests have shown theoretical speeds of up to 224Gbps.
The company tested the method of delivering data, which uses the visible spectrum rather than radio waves, in a working office.
The visible light spectrum is 10,000 times greater than the RF spectrum used in Wi-Fi, and Li-Fi can achieve about 1000 times the data density of Wi-Fi because visible light can be well contained in a tight illumination area, whereas RF tends to spread out and cause interference.
Velmenni tested the technology in an office in Tallinn, Estonia, to allow workers to access the internet and in an industrial space, where it provided a smart lighting solution.
Speaking to the International Business Times, chief executive Deepak Solanki said that the technology could reach consumers “within three to four years”.
The term Li-Fi was coined by Professor Harald Haas, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Edinburgh-based pureLiFi. He demonstrated the technology at a TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in 2011.
His talk, which has now been watched nearly two million times, showed an LED lamp streaming video. Professor Haas described a future when billions of light bulbs could become wireless hotspots.
One of the big advantages of Li-Fi is the fact that, unlike Wi-Fi, it does not interfere with other radio signals, so could be utilised on aircraft and in other places where interference is an issue.
But the technology also has its drawbacks – most notably the fact that it cannot be deployed outdoors in direct sunlight, because that would interfere with its signal.
Neither can the technology travel through walls so initial use is likely to be limited to places where it can be used to supplement Wi-Fi networks, such as in congested urban areas or places where Wi-Fi is limited, such as hospitals.
pureLiFi, established in 2012 as a spin-off from the University of Edinburgh, where its research has been in development since 2008, demonstrated a commercial Li-Fi network system, Li-Flame, this year at a major mobile technology show in Barcelona. “This is developing very quickly – it’s just a question of maturity,” says Nikola Serafimovski, pureLiFi’s director, product marketing. “My expectation is that this will be a widespread technology in a 24-month timeframe.”
Philips and Cisco team up while Gooee unveils its latest generation of internet-connected products. Lux Today for 15 December 2015 presented by Courtney Ferguson.
With the cost of lamps and luminaires from Asia continuing to fall, experts are warning over compromises on quality. Special interview with Barrie Vesty of Shenzhen-based Auraled Lighting. Lux Today for December 8 2015, presented by Courtney Ferguson.
Gupta: Feilo is keen to preserve the successful entrepreneurial fabric of the Sylvania family
Havells India is to sell an 80% stake in Sylvania to Shanghai Feilo Acoustics Co Limited, a listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. State-owned Inesa is one of Feilo’s key shareholders.
The deal puts the equity value of Havells Sylvania at €186 million (US$204.6 million). Havells will receive €148.8 million (US$163.7 million) on the completion of the deal by February 2016. Havells will sell its remaining 20% stake in the next 3-5 years.
Havells acquired Sylvania in 2007 and, according to India’s Economic Times, invested around €104 million (including interest, US$114.4 million) over the last seven years. Under the deal, the entire debt of about €30 million (US$33 million) in addition to the pension liability of Sylvania will be transferred to Feilo.
Commenting on the deal, Anil Rai Gupta (pictured), chairman and managing director of Havells India and director of Havells Holding Limited said: “Havells Group has successfully contributed to develop Sylvania into an entrepreneurial organization with a global objective and local execution empowerment. Feilo is keen to preserve the successful entrepreneurial fabric of the Sylvania family. We are convinced that the current alliance with Feilo has the requisite attributes to gain immensely from emerging trends in disruptive lighting.”
Zhuang Shenan, president of Shanghai Feilo Acoustics, said: “Feilo is proud to partner with Sylvania to create a world leading lighting brand. Feilo would contribute to Sylvania through a wide portfolio of competitive LED products.”
Havells India shares jumped nearly 8% after the announcement.
Lux reports: Ringing the changes: connected lighting using PoE technology means office workers can adjust the lighting to suit their preference
Philips and Cisco have formed a global strategic alliance that will combine Philips’ LED based connected lighting system with Cisco’s IT network to address a global office market estimated to be worth EUR 1 billion. The Alliance is designed to bring the benefits of the Internet of Things in offices to facilities managers, building owners and office workers.
The pair will combine Philips’ connected office lighting system using Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology with Cisco’s network technology. Light points in the Philips system, equipped with sensors and software applications, can be connected using Cisco technologies.
The lighting network creates a pathway for information and helps enable new services. The system can provide data to optimise user comfort and improve the office environment and office workers can personalise their lighting via their smartphones.
To showcase how Philips and Cisco can work together to unlock the benefits of the IoT in offices, Cisco is installing a state-of-the-art Philips connected lighting system at its Canadian headquarters in Toronto. Philips and Cisco will also collaborate on a joint go-to-market strategy.
Bill Bien, SVP, head of strategy and marketing, at Philips Lighting, said: “Our alliance has two of the world’s biggest and trusted lighting and connectivity brands working together to bring the Internet of Things to life in offices and commercial buildings across the world. Customers will receive the best energy efficient lighting experience in the connected world and be able to use information acquired from their connected lighting system to save energy, reduce costs, improve productivity and optimise their workspace environment. Lighting that is connected to highly secure, reliable IT infrastructure will form the backbone of the smart office of the future.”
Together Philips and Cisco aim to accelerate adoption of this technology in the market and deliver increased connectivity, comfort and efficiency.
Edwin Paalvast, SVP EMEAR, Cisco and executive sponsor of the Cisco – Philips Alliance, said: “The world is becoming digital, and by working with Philips, we can help building owners more quickly digitise their lighting networks to drive better user experiences and efficiency. By partnering with Philips, we are delivering a reliable PoE-powered LED lighting solution using a highly secure IT network.”
Typically, lighting is responsible for 40 percent of a building’s electricity use. The pair estimate that nearly 80% in energy savings and reduced building maintenance costs can be realized by managing, integrating and controlling a Philips LED connected lighting system through a network with Cisco.
To make offices more comfortable, office workers can personalize and adjust LED lighting to their preferences and tasks. For mobile access, office workers can use a smartphone app to access other building services through a communications network.
“The possibilities of this connected lighting system are endless,” said Richard Lees, senior project manager at CBRE, a commercial real estate and investment services firm. “There are so many capabilities of this system that we haven’t even explored yet.”
The winning project is the Wembley Stadium Arch and it was described by the judges as: The winner rose to the occasion of this demanding lighting task!
Congratulations go out to the team at Thorn and of course our partners at Wembley Stadium connected by EE!
At the end of last year Thorn Lighting has replaced the stadium’s iconic arch lighting with a custom LED lighting system designed for full colour as well as special moving light effects. You can find more information and a video showing what the lighting of the arch can do now here.
Kevin Stubbs, UK Technical Manager, and Pat Holley, Senior Lighting Designer, who were heavily involved in the project, say: “This is a huge achievement for the Thorn brand and we are more than happy to receive the award! It was a great team effort and we are so proud. The project really shows what lighting can do!”
Visit www.novelenergylighting.com to explore the range of Thorn LED products offered, or call us 0208-540-8287
Megaman has extended the comprehensive Economy Lamp range of LED lamps that have been designed to offer the perfect alternative to their CFL counterparts, using only a fraction of the power with no sacrifice in performance, output and quality of illumination. The Economy 15,000 hour lamp range, represents unbeatable value and provides a myriad of options to cater for the requirements of most domestic and leisure installations.
This extended range introduces the new Gold Filament range of classic and globe shaped lamps that have been designed for use in decorative applications, including restaurants, bars and other hospitality areas. These visually striking lamps have been designed with a 2200K colour temperature to provide an extra warm illumination for mood lighting. All lamps in the Gold Filament range are 3W and dimmable available in Classic, 95mm Globe, 125mm Globe and ST58, providing endless design possibilities. The lamp life across the range is an impressive 15,000 hours with 210 lumens.
No lamp range would be complete without the popular Candle lamp and the Economy Range includes 3.5W and 5.5W opal, both with an even light distribution of 330º and the 5.5W opal 4000K that also provides a 330º distribution but differ in its cooler appearance. Megaman’s LED Candle lamps are infinitely suitable for use in chandeliers and decorative fittings plus a host of other applications.
The Classic lamps in the range are available in 5.5W, 11W, 9.5W and 9.5W in 4000K/6500K colour variants that produce a ‘daylight’ effect for crafting and art use. All Megaman Classic LED lamps have an intelligent heat sink design and an even light distribution of 330º. A 10.5W Classic Shatterproof has also been included in the range, featuring a polycarbonate cover that makes it suitable for use in areas where glass covered lamps are not an option.
To complete the range, Megaman has included Globe, Golf Ball, G4 and G9 lamps, plus a revolutionary new LED tube in 9.5W, 18W and 22W that is compatible with traditional magnetic ballasts, offering a real alternative to traditional T8 fluorescent lamps.
The Economy Lamp range from Megaman carries a 2 year warranty and are manufactured using the same expertise that has made the Megaman name synonymous with reliable, energy efficient lighting that uses the very latest technology.
Visit us today to explore the Megaman LED range: www.novelenergylighting.com, or call us for quotations: 0208-540-8287
Megaman Reports: The LED lamp market is growing steadily with sales expected to reach £600 million by 2018 and it is still a rapidly changing technology. LED’s have become extremely popular for both domestic and commercial applications, with huge growth in the retail sector. The only problem with LED lamps is that whilst they will save up to 80% in energy when compared to a traditional light source, they tend to look very similar to each other, irrespective of the quality of the components that have been used to make them. The trouble is, they may look the same but their performance can vary considerably. This may be in terms of the light output, consistency of colour temperature, energy consumption or the longevity of the lamp.
In many ways, this is potentially more of a problem with LEDs than other light sources because they are more complex than traditional lamps. For example, a typical LED lighting system comprises of a power supply that converts the mains voltage to a constant voltage, which is then supplied to the LED lamp. The role of the LED driver is to convert the mains supply into either a constant voltage or a constant current that is then supplied to the LEDs themselves. The constancy of the current ensures a constant light output, with the light output being proportional to the current applied.
An important point here is that energy is lost at each of the conversion stages described above and this can have a significant impact on the overall power supply efficiency. In fact, the power supply efficiency of LEDs from different manufacturers can vary from 50% to 90% and this will influence the overall energy savings that are achieved.
Also, the light energy generated by the LED is then converted to white light by exciting phosphors that coat the LED, in the same way that fluorescent lighting works. The quality and consistency of the phosphor coating has a direct impact on the consistency of colour temperature and colour rendering. There are huge advantages to be had for commercial lighting by getting the colour temperature right – mood can be increased and atmosphere created for hospitality, whilst the colours of merchandise can be highlighted in retail applications. Megaman lamps can achieve a warm temperature of 2400K for mood creation up to 5500K for colour enhancement in retail applications. Megaman is now concentrating on improving the quality of light and the CRI not reducing the wattage.
While the factors described above apply to all LED light sources, there are also other considerations relating to retrofit lamps that are designed for fitting to an existing luminaire. For instance, the optical design of the retrofit LED lamp has a significant impact on overall performance.
In many retrofit lamps there are both primary optics and secondary optics. The primary optics are frequently built into the LED source, often in the form of a dome that helps to increase light output. There may then be secondary optics added to modify the beam width or light distribution, adding further to the complexity of the design and the intricacy of manufacture.
There is also the whole issue of thermal management as LEDs can generate a considerable amount of heat. If the temperature in the vicinity of the LED and its electronic circuitry is allowed to get too high this will both reduce light output and the life of the lamp. Retrofit lamps therefore have a built-in heat sink to conduct heat away from the sensitive electronics – so the efficiency with which the heat sink does its job is another important element in performance and reliability.
A lack of effective surge protection is also important, as is the use of a sealed housing to prevent moisture infiltration.
For all of these reasons it is clear that each of these components is important in the overall performance of the lamp that the end user experiences, thus reinforcing the importance of high quality manufacture using proven, reliable components.
Trusted brands
Given the complexity of LED lighting, as described above, the reasons for being very cautious when sourcing LED lighting products become immediately apparent. Megaman has addressed the issues above by launching product ranges using TCH technology (an ingenious highway design across the reflector to dissipate heat efficiently) for thermal control, instant start, smooth dimming, Perfect White and Dim to Warm. Megaman also use a ‘true size shape’ that allows easy retrofit and the process of ‘LEDification’ of the traditional light source formats is pretty much complete so there are now LED alternatives for the vast majority of lamp types.
Megaman’s Dim to Warm allows linear dimming from 2800K to 1800K, providing a perfect solution for many applications where it is desirable to change the ambience at different times of day. A cosy hotel bar is one obvious example of this. The fact that these lamps are available in candle, GLS, AR111 and GU10 formats also gives them very wide scope. Tuneable White allows commercial projects to choose between 3000K and 6000K so that users can tune the lighting to the shade of white they want, without needing to change light source, and dim it if necessary. Tuneable white lighting is ideal for multi-use areas or where there is a requirement to link to human-centric lighting systems. Perfect White which makes white clothes in retail look really amazing. This is a significant development because general LED lighting tends not to show plain white fabrics at their best, but by adding a violet spike to the phosphor mix their appearance is transformed.
Megaman is also producing fittings that meet the requirements of the hospitality and leisure sectors. Indeed, as the LED light source has become well established there has been a corresponding boost in the introduction of luminaires that have been designed specifically for LED light sources. This is a clear benefit as these luminaires are able to optimise the particular optical characteristics of LEDs to achieve maximum light output ratio and efficient light distribution. In parallel, the ability to use new thermoplastics in the manufacture of LED luminaires – something that couldn’t be done three years ago – is enabling luminaire designers to broaden their creative output.
2015 is set to be a very significant year for low-energy lighting in general, and LED lighting in particular. In order to achieve the maximum benefits available it is important to start thinking beyond simply swapping an energy-hungry light source for a more efficient one and begin to take advantage of the extra functionality that are now making possible. Additionally, Megaman has its own test facility and is able to subject its products to continuous assessment to ensure good quality control and consistent performance.
