SCHOTT, Lufthansa Technik Create Homogeneous Colors with HelioJet SpectrumCC

With their new lighting solution HelioJet SpectrumCC (Color Control), SCHOTT and Lufthansa Technik will introduce an innovative cabin lighting solution that ensures that color is rendered in a stable manner and is known for its cost efficiency. This is made possible by innovative sensor technology that displays colors homogeneously. SCHOTT will be unveiling HelioJet SpectrumCC at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany at Booth 6B57 in Hall B6.

Conventional LED systems are unable to render color in a consistently homogeneous manner because they contain a single chain of individual LEDs. Each individual diode in the LED chain ages at a different pace and colors are rendered differently, depending on the color shade and the temperature of the LED.

With HelioJet SpectrumCC, SCHOTT and Lufthansa Technik have taken a more innovative approach. The new True Color Sensor ensures that each and every LED installed in the system renders colors in a perfectly balanced manner and emits precisely the right color shade. The sensor is about as sensitive as the human eye in order to be able to render the results as realistically as possible. The individual diodes are controlled by managing the light online and comparing it with a predefined target value.

HelioJet SpectrumCC is based on an optical light converter at the ends of which four LEDs each emit red, blue, green, and white light. The HelioJet system consists of up to three subsections that are each illuminated by colored LEDs at the ends; that is, there are six LED clusters in total per product unit. The individual LEDs in RGBW emit points of light in the primary colors that are then mixed into even color shades inside the light converter.

HelioJet consumes considerably less energy than conventional fluorescent tubes and lasts much longer. This also lowers the operating and maintenance costs. When compared with LED lighting solutions, HelioJet beats out the competition in a cost comparison, thanks to its average lifespan of at least 50,000 hours of Mean Time Between Failure. Furthermore, maintenance and repair costs are lower because the LEDs can be replaced very easily and cost-effectively when they cease to function. With conventional LED systems, the entire lamps need to be replaced.

“We have received extremely positive feedback from potential customers. This confirms that we are on the right track. We expect the qualification phase for HelioJet SpectrumCC to be completed in the second half of 2014,” said Dr. Armin Plichta, general manager transportation at SCHOTT Lighting and Imaging.