Hi All, I am surprised that no one has made mention of the suit that was filed in order to have the red LED displayed on their disc drives. I believe the co lost on this matter. It was determined - at that time - that a red color was to be only used as a warning of impending disaster. It was several years later, as I recall, that it was finally decided that because of the use of computers as control equipment on the factory floors, that the LED was not the same as a flashing red light. That you can discern if something is on vs. on fire. This was mainly due to the machinery directive allowing the use of hazard based evaluation techniques :<). It should also be mentioned that at this time the only choice in monitor color you had was tan and the screens were orange on black (Europe before union) or white, sort of, on grey. The wonderful folks certifying for GS marks also had a color wheel in order to make sure the colors used were not too contrasting. BTW I think it was Silicon Graphics that were the first to be able to use black as a color for their equipment. Memory might be hazy, but that is how I recall all of that. Scott
richhug...@aol.com wrote: Folks, As I recall it, the text in IEC 60950-1 was added many, many years ago to make it clear to all (but particularly Germany) that just because a red LED was illuminated on your keyboard didn't mean that it - or the attached terminal (computers were big in those days!) - were not about to self destruct. To give you an idea how long ago this was, you could have any colour LED you liked - just so long as it was red. Regards, Richard Hughes From: neil.bar...@e2v.com To: csumm...@pelco.com; emc-p...@ieee.org CC: cbo...@pelco.com; sdo...@pelco.com Sent: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 9.50AM Subject: RE: red LED restrictions for China? Consider this extract from IEC 60950-1: 1.7.8.2 Colours Where safety is involved, colours of controls and indicators shall comply with IEC 60073. Where colours are used for functional controls or indicators, any colour, including red, is permitted provided that it is clear that safety is not involved. Also consider this extract from IEC 60073: 4.2.1.1 Choice of colours The general principles for the meaning of colours for the indication of information are given in table 2. Table 2 - Meaning of colours - General principles Meaning Colour Safety of persons or environment Condition of process State of equipment RED Danger Emergency Faulty YELLOW Warning/caution Abnormal Abnormal GREEN Safe Normal Normal BLUE Mandatory significance WHITE GREY BLACK No specific meaning assigned Sorry that the table does not reproduce properly in e-mail, but I think you can get the idea. The conclusion has got to be, that regardless of other specific regulations, the use of RED is generally to be reserved for Danger, although 60950 does not preclude it for other purposes as long as the purpose is very clear. Best regards Neil R. Barker CEng MIET FSEE MIEEE Manager Quality Engineering e2v technologies (uk) ltd 106 Waterhouse Lane Chelmsford Essex CM1 2QU UK Tel: (+44) 1245 453616 Fax: (+44) 1245 453571 Mob: (+44) 7801 723735 From: Summers, Chet [mailto:csumm...@pelco.com] Sent: 29 January 2007 19:35 To: emc-p...@ieee.org Cc: Boyle, Conan; Doyle, Skip Subject: red LED restrictions for China? Hello listmates, are there any restrictions on using red indicator LEDs in electronic products intended for export to China? The former employer of a colleague apparently had some sort of restriction placed on its OEMs, strictly forbidding the use of red LEDs anywhere on their products. The red LEDs were assumed to indicate extreme caution or similar state, according to the Chinese authorities (don't know the regulating body). I am not aware of any such restriction, but perhaps it has to do with specific product families. any insight will be appreciated! thank you, Chet Summers Pelco - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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