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Trend Spotting: Non-Traditional Colors for LED Technologies
Consumers are demanding enhanced visual options for their products in every type of market today from an assortment of color shells for PDAs to unique illumination in appliances and automobiles. As a result, many manufacturers are striving to differentiate their brand and offer consumers greater product personalization with a distinctive color set.
LEDs offer a simple and cost effective way to add unique illumination and indication in the technology marketplace. As a result of recent advancements in phosphor-coated single die LED technology, leading manufacturers are looking beyond the traditional red/green/blue (RGB) LEDs which offer the full spectrum of color choices but have inherent cost features. The more innovative LED companies are offering single die LED options in a full range of unique, non-traditional colors such as purple, pink and turquoise.
One of the first industries to widely utilize color customization to add uniqueness was the automotive aftermarket. Whether it’s a car, SUV, truck, motorcycle or minivan, consumers are adding colored LED taillights, exhausts, undercarriages, spoilers, running boards and license plate holders. Naturally, the array of color choices is nearly limitless. While this market is driven by price to some extent, the key to its success has been appealing to the visual desires of the consumer. Many consumers are willing to pay a premium to have a product look that is uniquely theirs.
Even the cost-sensitive mainstream automotive market is looking to tap this competitive edge by utilizing unique LED colors to illuminate different parts of a vehicles cabin. With the transition to LEDs, automakers are looking for non-traditional colors to differentiate themselves not simply from their competitors but even by model. In some cases non-traditional colored LEDs are being used only for accent lighting of items such as infotaiment systems, armrests and cupholders. However, many manufacturers are looking at ways to have the entire cabin of the vehicle illuminated by a distinctive LED wavelength.
In the PDA marketplace, companies are paying attention to consumers demand for distinctive colored skins, backlights and indication. One company offers their PDA with seven different LED colors that can be attributed to different alerts through the device software. Another competing device has an LED backlit navigational ball which can be altered from standard white to other colors, but only with some careful aftermarket manipulations. While some consumers are technically savvy enough to do some of this aftermarket adjustment, the average consumer is looking to the hardware manufacturer to offer out of the box solutions that are widely varied.
The same creativity applies to logo backlights for any range of products. Although it is seen most heavily in the computer industry, backlighting company logos is becoming a way to differentiate your products. Some of the most well known brands that are consistently backlighting their logos in their product offering are Apple, Bluetooth, Dell, Sirius, PS3, Xbox, and HP. In some cases they are just a white backlight but in others, like Dell, they use a very specific wavelength of blue for their server products.
Companies are looking for new ways to create a competitive point difference for their product at the retail level. Utilizing color through distinctive LEDs and backlights is just one example of how today’s designs engineer is finding creative inspiration in new product development.