Sustainability –

You may have asked why Norsk Display AS make their LCD line of products when hardly no other manufacturer makes them?

Well – it is true that LEDs have become very reliable and light-efficient. However, these LED benefits require a well designed product – from selection of component manufacturer to the handling optical solution and excess heat. We DO make LED systems as well as they are good for many applications, plus they are far cheaper & faster to develop and produce. With careful design they will be ok for a number of years. Much of the problem lies within heat management; the more shiny (and often warm) day, the more light intensity it requires. Thus more internal heat generated which adds to the temperature rise in the display enclosure.

Did you know that most electronic components are specified for a lifetime at 20-25°C? And that life expectancy (and also MTBF Mean Time Between Failures)  is cut in half at 40°C? Then add 20 degrees more, to 60°C and you will radically lower life expectancy. But the LCD also need some LED backlight?  Yes. The 100mm draws 4W and the 150mm takes 6W. But on a sunny day, a comparable outdoor LED sign will take 30-60W, some even more.  So you see: temperature rise and power consumption sets our LCD and LED signs apart.

We could add that the LCD has no inherit degradation effects apart from UV-light, whereas LEDs in addition have a slight burn-out process going.

THAT IS WHY we still do the more complex LCD displays: to enhance life expectancy in extreme conditions. And ‘extreme conditions’ are found in all countries – all around the globe.

So we really mean it when we say Sustainability: We design our LCD signs for a 25 year life. Do you know anyone else doing that in outdoor commercial electronic products?