You may think of light-emitting diodes as tiny little things that tell you whether your FM stereo set is locked properly onto the station or your shaver is charging, but Hewlett-Packard Co reckons the inoffensive little glowers can serve an altogether more mighty purpose. It has come out with the SnapLED assembly, an array of diodes that it reckons are ideal long-lasting and cheaper replacements for those bulbs in the tail lights, stop lights and indicator lights of cars. Advantages are claimed to be improved safety and reliability and lower design and assembly costs. The SnapLED assembly uses the world’s brightest light- emitting material, the company’s Aluminium Indium Gallium Phosphide. Their brightness is claimed to reduces the total number of diodes typically required, and the firm says the SnapLED assembly is a flexible enough that it can be formed to the shape of the vehicle, making thin tail-lamp assembly possible.
