LCD TVs: Technology Advancements Thread - Page 2

Live pics of Sharp's 108-inch LCD HDTV!
7 January 2007




We just happened to be cruising through the under-embargo soon-to-be-released NDA under-wraps Sharp booth at CES, and we caught some pics of their absolutely mammoth 108-inch LCD HDTV. Holy hot damn this thing is enormous.

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Shedding light on Taiwan's LED developments: An interview with Dr. Ching-Cherng Sun of the Optical Sciences Center
11 January 2007








The issue of whether LEDs will replace cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CFFL) to become the major backlighting source for display products in the short-run has been widely discussed. LED makers and research firms used to be fairly optimistic about the replacement time schedule coming in early 2005. However, they have become more conservative about the speed of the replacement due mainly to the speed of cost reduction for LED backlighting.

In addition, Taiwan-based LED makers have undergone a series of consolidation moves over the past few years. With LED developers in Europe and the US - Osram Opto Semiconductors and Cree - and in Japan - Nichia - possessing a full portfolio of patents and R&D capabilities, Taiwanese competitors will need to find their competitive edge and develop more overseas partners, while also securing more downstream clients from the local market.

DigiTimes had the opportunity to interview Dr. Ching-Cherng Sun, coordinator of Solid-State Lighting Group, Optical Sciences Center (OSC), National Central University (NCU), to talk about the developments from the lighting group, its new models, partners and future developments.

Q: When was your team established? And what are some of your major areas of focus?

A: Our team was established about ten years ago and our focus has included optics in storage, display, communication and sensing. More specifically, this includes areas such as optical holography, noon-imaging optics, optical communication and optical engineering. Five years ago, LED solid-state lighting became one of our major research topics. For the LED solid-state lighting optics segment, we are dedicated to LED optical modeling, LED light extraction, LED light guide, LED color mixing, LED lighting design, LED backlight for LCD TV and diffuser/diffusing elements.

Over the course of our development, we have been aiming at white LED as well as RGB LED. The former is easier to make, as it is already a single-color lighting source. We have developed a 28-inch white LED backlight unit (BLU) and a 30-inch BLU. Both models meet the brightness requirements of TV BLUs. Each of them employs hundreds of LEDs, has a power level of 250W and is around 5cm thin. The newest generation we have developed is less than 3cm thin. Also, the color gamut for the RGB BLU has been improved from 96% NTSC to 106%.

Another focus for our team is a car-use lighting source. Over the past years, we have developed an LED module for car headlights. The reflector of the module is 6×4×3.25cm in size, with each lamp cover employing a side-emitting LED from Lumileds. Q: Can you elaborate on the advantages of the car-use LED module over a traditional lighting source? Who are your partners for making the product? When will it be volume produced?

A: In fact, we have developed a variety of LED modules for both car use and bicycle use. The volume production schedule for car-use products will take longer, and we are aiming at two to three years for the segment to be volume produced.

For bicycle-use LED modules, we are the world's third earliest developer, with the first being Japan's CatEye (note: CatEye said it was the first in the industry to create a flashing lamp for bicycles, in 1964, followed by the very first bicycle head lamp using white LEDs in 2001). We are working with Taiwan's ProLight Opto Technology to develop the LED modules and volume production will kick off soon. Q: How about large-size applications? Can you introduce us to your newest developments of TV-use LED BLUs? What is the volume production plan for the segment?

A: We have successfully developed a 42-inch LCD TV prototype using our fifth/sixth-generation LED BLU. We spent one month from the design of the module, to the LED package to the complete prototype, with the overall expense at around NT$300,000 (about US$9,211). We have worked with Taiwan-based LED packaging houses such as ProLight, Ledtech Electronics and Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) for developing the prototype.

The model has a 558-nit brightness, compared to 400nits from traditional CCFL-based models, and the performance of red and green colors is significantly better than that from a CCFL-based one. We have filed related patents for the model, with those for the US also under preparation.

We are now in the stage of 9G and 10G versions of LED BLUs. The 9G concept is workable now whereas the 10G version is still just a prototype.

The major breakthrough of the 9G version is solving the issue of color fading phenomenon for LEDs (especially for red LEDs). Red LED tends to significantly decrease in relative light output (measured in percentage) in a high-temperature environment, so we regulate the relative light output level of red LEDs actively by constantly applying power to red LEDs and we already have patents for the achievement.

For the 10G version, we have been able to maximize the color gamut of the LED BLU and improved the performance of blue LEDs, so that panel makers from Taiwan will not have to alter their LCD production procedure.

The 10G version features a 122% NTSC color gamut (measured after the light passes through the color filter; CF), which almost reaches the theoretical limit with RGB LEDs. The level is a significant achievement, as the best color gamut result from RGB LED (after light passes through CF) is around 106% and that of CCFL is 70%. More importantly, the result is achieved by using RGB LED instead of the four-color LED technology developed by makers in Japan. Since our technology uses only three colors instead of four, the production costs will be less than that for four-color devices. Q: What are the near-term breakthroughs that your team is aiming for?

A: The luminous efficiency of the LEDs we have developed so far is one half that of the best LEDs in the industry. However, we expect to improve the luminous efficiency of our LEDs by four times in 2007 or 2008, which means our new LEDs will have to have double the luminous efficiency than the best current LEDs. We are estimating a power consumption of 90W for our LEDs BL, compared to 350W now for LEDs and 170W for CCFLs. The new model should contain less LED pieces than any existing model, so the operation of each LED can be well controlled with our feedback system. Q: Cost has always been an issue for LED makers and a major reason for a longer replacement time for LED over CCFL. What is your opinion on that?

A: For some time LED makers have expected LED to become more popular in the adoption as a lighting source but the costs for LED production remain relatively high. However, we believe the issue will be gradually solved by the improvement in luminous efficiency. For example, with the improvement of luminous efficiency of our LEDs over the next two years, the area of the heat sink can be reduced by 25%, thereby lowering production costs significantly.

In my opinion, with the speed of LED cost reduction now, the technology will take over CCFL in two to five years.

LED lighting is energy efficient, has a longer life (can last up to 100,000 hours, compared to 1,000 for typical incandescent bulbs), gives pure saturated colors, is highly reliable, is environmentally friendly (because it contains no mercury), is safer for car-use brake lights and can be applied to a variety of products. In contrast, CCFL is more fragile, contains mercury and is not as competitive in color performance. Q: Along the course of your developments of LEDs for small- to large-size applications and continued breakthroughs in related technology, you must have worked with a variety of Taiwan-based makers. Can you tell us about your partners since the inception of the team?

A: We indeed have worked with various players in the display industry in Taiwan. In fact, the major aim of our team is to provide R&D breakthroughs for Taiwanese display makers. An unspecified panel maker from Taiwan has adopted our LED backlighting technology (3G/4G versions) and displayed models using the technology at FPD International in Yokohama, Japan three years ago. In addition, BLU makers Forhouse and Delta Electronics and LED chipmaker Arima Optoelectronics have also worked with us.

Furthermore, we are now working with several LED and lighting fixture makers including Leh Chu Enterprise, Jenn Feng, Arima Opto, Primo Lite, Anteya Technology, among others.

We are also looking to partner with overseas companies, with possible partners including Sony, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics (LGE) for our 10G-version LED technology. Q: A lot of consolidation has been going on over the past few years in Taiwan's LED industry. In August 2005, South Epitaxy bought out epitaxial-chip provider Epitech. Epistar's takeover of United Epitaxy Company (UEC) late in December of 2005 was aimed at aggressively ramping production of AlGaInP (aluminum gallium indium phosphide) LEDs. What's more, Epistar in September 2006 announced it would acquire Epitech Technology and Highlink Technology. What is you opinion on the trend for the Taiwan LED industry? Are we soon to see more consolidation and an ultimate result of an industry with a few major players in Taiwan?

A: Indeed, the industry is moving toward more consolidation and fewer players. Personally, I see this trend a good one since Taiwan is not as competitive as overseas competitors in R&D capability and related resources in the downstream LED industry in general.

LED makers such as Epistar are wise in striking merger deals and I foresee three major LED conglomerates in Taiwan in the future, as the industry will keep seeing consolidation along the course. The three remaining conglomerates are likely to be Epistar, Arima Opto and one of the others.

In the meantime, Taiwan-based panel makers are also aggressively cultivating their presence in the LED-backlighting field by working with LED makers in Taiwan. (Both AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) are becoming more comprehensive in their LED supply-chain deployment, with AUO having purchased around 25% of LED packaging firm LightHouse Technology and CMO establishing a 100%-owned LED packaging subsidiary, while gaining three seats on the board of Formosa Epitaxy).

For LED packaging houses, I am more pessimistic about their future potential, as they are not as competitive in R&D capabilities and they will continue positioning themselves as OEM service providers in the future.

For lighting fixture providers, the future remains uncertain, as the LED standards have not been unified and a variety of products are out there in the market. There remain several solutions, though. Taiwanese lighting fixture makers can ally with China-based makers in setting standards so that they will not have to cater to those from international makers such as Royal Philips Electronics. The makers can also partner with packaging houses, as their production procedures are very much interconnected.

All in all, Taiwan is still behind overseas regions in patent application. The R&D ability of Taiwanese LED makers are still behind makers in Japan, Europe and the US and Taiwan will continue lagging overseas companies in irreplaceable patent technologies.

Sharp's 1,000,000:1 Mega-Contrast Premium LCD vs regular LCD
15 January 2007



Don't get us wrong, we love our high contrast HDTVs -- especially those among us lucky enough to have a 10,000:1 Sharp set and the like -- but if you've never experienced a 1,000,000:1 picture, you've never seen truly black black-levels. At CES 2007 Sharp was showing off their reference grade 37-inch Mega-Contrast Premium LCD, which had even deeper blacks than most SED sets we've seen to date (but not Sony's OLED set). Granted, this side by side comparison was with a mere 1,200:1 set that didn't exactly put up much of a fight -- we might have liked to have seen it alongside one of their 10,000:1 or 12,000:1 sets, but still, you can see for yourself in our gallery.

Sharp's 4k x 2k 64-inch ultra high res monitor
15 January 2007



For those of us that have a hard enough time telling the difference between 720 and 1080, let us tell you that once you've seen Sharp's 62-inch 4k x 2k, there's no going back. You know how when you get up close to a 1080 picture you can still start to see the pixels? Well, gazing into this 4096 x 2048 (8.3 megapixels) picture is an experience more reminiscent of sitting by a window, and not by a display. It's kind of hard to capture that level of detail with photos (hell, our camera isn't even 8.3 megapixels), but we sure tried.

LG.Philips Shows Off LED backlit LCD
5 February 2007
Aving Article




LG.Philips flex their video processing muscle with the Mega CS processor and features with 1,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio.

Samsung has displayed their new LED-backlit LCD's, but LG.Philips punches right back.

At the ICDL 2007 technology show, LG.Philips displayed their 47, 26, 15.4, 12.1 and 7-inch LED backlit LCD Panels. Rumors have been floating around the net about LG's new video processor and it seems they have been confirmed. The HD 1920 x 1080 resolution Mega CS 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio display shows off blacks in ultra dark form via a process called local dimming.

Other 47-inch specifications are:

▪ 500 cd/m2 brightness
▪ 178-degree viewing angle
▪ 8-ms response
▪ 1.07 billion colors covering 105% of the NTSC color gamut

No word on pricing or release date as of yet, but LG.Philips is saying second quarter of 2007.

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There's no Gyroball in Backlighting
22 February 2007

Although it was invented 12 years ago by Japanese baseball trainer Kazushi Tezuka, the gyroball has had the status of a baseball myth to those who had heard of it, at least in the U.S. In Japan, it was the subject of video games and cartoons, which didn't add to its credibility outside the country. But the gyroball is real, as demonstrated yesterday by its inventor at the San Francisco Giants training camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, and as reported in a front-page story by Lee Jenkins in today's New York Times.

If you're interested in gyroball aerodynamics, I'll refer you to the Jenkins article. What interests us here is that new backlighting illumination sources appear even less frequently than new baseball pitches. In fact, we are in the process of losing a significant supplier of one sub-flavor of backlight illumination. That is, we're not gaining a gyroball, we're losing one.

A recap. There are two basic sources of light for LCD backlights: fluorescent tubes (FTs) and light-emitting diodes. Keypads and watch faces are sometimes lit with powder electroluminescent (EL) materials, and development work is being done with organic LED materials and even field-emission technology, but these are not significant for LCDs at this time. One alternative approach that will be developing significant traction this year is the flat fluorescent lamp (FFL), which builds a serpentine pathway between two flat sheets of glass. Think of it as integrating a bunch of fluorescent tubes into one flat panel.

LEDs have been the standard BL solution for LCDs up to four inches and they are rapidly working their way upward. Tubular fluorescent lamps, particularly of the cold-cathode variety (CCFLs), dominate for notebook PCs, desktop monitors, and LCD-TVs - but you will see significant penetration by LEDs into notebooks this year.

There are two other flavors of fluorescent tubes, the external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL) and the hot-cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL). EEFLs are simple to make and can share inverters (the power supply used for FLs), so they offer both cost and power savings. They are used now in commercial TV modules and you'll be seeing more of them.

HCFLs can offer greater surface luminance, and lifetime issues have been solved by carefully controlling cathode temperature and voltage. Philips has been using HCFLs in their well-publicized Aptura scanning-backlight system, which significantly reduces motion blur on LCD-TVs.

Here's where we lose our backlighting gyroball. There was an unconfirmed story a couple of weeks ago that Philips Lighting was discontinuing production of HCFLs at its Roosendaal plant. Insight Media has now been able to confirm from a reliable source within Philips that this story is true. Although the picture quality of Philips 32- and 42-inch LCD-TVs using the Aptura system was well received, the tremendous price pressure from CCFLs made it difficult for Philips to expand the HCFL business profitably. (LED backlighting activities will continue through the Philips Lumileds subsidiary, our source says.)

What wasn't said is that the LCD-TV panel industry is rapidly standardizing on frame-rate doubling (120Hz frame rate) as the most cost-effective way of reducing motion blur. So HCFL for backlighting was not only more expensive, it was losing its main raison d'etre.

Going forward, there is virtually universal agreement that LEDs will be the backlighting technology of choice in all major LCD segments. How the LEDs will be utilized and how quickly they will penetrate each of the various segments are issues that Insight Media will be tracking carefully. But until LEDs become the universal backlight illumination source, there will be lots of juggling between the remaining fluorescent alternatives.

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CNT backlighting
8 March 2007




Nano-Proprietary claims that it has developed a carbon nanotube (CNT) electron emission suitable for use as a backlight for large area LCD TVs.

Based on information on the company's website, it has developed a proof of concept that is 65x65mm (3.6-inch diagonal) that utilizes the company's CNTs, which requires an electric field of less than 1 volt/micrometer and achieves 40,000 candela/square meter.

The company has indicated that its technology makes it possible for 32-inch LCD TV backlights to consume power as low as 50-60 watts.

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Philips Ends Fluorescent Backlighting in LCDs
LED backlighting to become new standard
12 March 2007

Philips announced today that it will end research and development of fluorescent stroboscopic backlighting in its flat screen HDTV production in favor of LED backlighting systems. LEDs will allow for both thinner HDTV panels and longer product life spans due to their sturdier construction. Better yet, LEDs produce a whiter, brighter light that is more easily dynamically manipulated, the basis of many impressive ultra-high contrast-ratio prototype displays we saw at CES in January.

The move seems like a relatively natural one for Philips, as the company is the world's largest lighting manufacturer. Philips Lighting includes a unit known as Lumileds which is a world leader in LED design and manufacturing. Some high-end HDTV displays that make use of LED backlighting are already available, but according to Philips representatives, it will likely be a few years before LEDs are found in mainstream HDTVs. Nevertheless, the news is a testament to how rapidly HDTV technology is improving, and may be the harbinger of the ultra-high contrast-ratio buzz that we expect will be the next big thing in HDTVs.

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Large LED BLU Demand Share to Surge to 14.1% by 2010
26 March 2007




Demand for large-size LED BLUs will probably account for 14.1% of the total demand for large BLUs, and in revenues, the market will top $4.599 billion for a share of 25.4%.

According to the latest data from the LED BLU Industry Trend and Forecast report distributed by a display market research institute Displaybank (CEO Peter Kwon), the large LED BLU market including all applications, LCD TVs, LCD monitors and notebook PCs, will make up 1.5% with 5.1 million units in 2007, and this share will surge to over 14% of the overall backlight market with 67.8 million units by 2010.

Because the present price war is severe between displays and accordingly cost reductions have emerged as the crucial issue for the solution, there are only few products incorporating LED BLUs. However, LED has the richest advantages in functionality among the existing light source solutions, and has high value added for adoption given the current technology. Therefore, Displaybank foresees that the influence from attractive prices to be reached in the future seems to be very strong.

In March 2007, large-size products employing LED BLUs, 10-inch and larger, represents a negligible 1% or less of the overall market, but are predicted to be adopted in a broad range of applications ranging from the small to medium sector to large size categories. In addition, although the migration to larger OLEDs will be faster than expected, LED may retain its top position among light sources until OLED technology is advanced considerably.

However, there remain challenges to be solved for rapid penetration of LED BLUs; prices, heat dissipation, uniformity and efficiency of LED chip, and Displaybank believes that the market expansion speed of LED BLUs will be determined depending on the time when solutions to these issues are offered.

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Samsung poised to introduce white LED-backlit displays
14 May 2007




Samsung believes that by 2010, 30% of all LCD televisions will include LED backlights instead of the conventional flourescent used in most sets now. What's different from the LED units we've seen before is that Samsung wants to use white LEDs, with single diodes custom-coated to produce the same backlight previously requiring combinations of red, green, and blue bulbs. Samsung recently invested in Intematix, which produces custom phosphor coatings for LED bulbs to create uniform color -- required in a television to faithfully reproduce colors. Until recently costs have been higher for LED backlight units, keeping them relegated to higher-end models. Samsung claims the single bulb process reduces costs by 40%, but time will tell whether white-only LEDs are truly better or cheaper than tri-color LEDs, or if they are just the next "Reveal lightbulb" marketing gimmick.

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Delta Electronics and NuLight develop backlight unit for FFL panel certified by VDE
29 May 2007




Delta Electronics and NuLight Technology have announced their jointly developed backlight unit for mercury-free FFL (flat fluorescent lamp) panels has received certification by the VDE Institute of Germany, according to Delta. The mercury-free FFL backlight unit is for use in mainstream 32-inch LCD TV monitors, the company said.

The FFL backlight unit is completely mercury (Hg) free, which sets it apart from conventional mercury-based lamps such as cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs). The lamp life of the FFL backlight unit is greater than 100,000 hours, and the panel operates over a wider range of temperatures, -40-degrees C to 85- degrees C, than conventional lamps, Delta said in a press release.

The new BLUs provide an alternative solution for system makers and panel makers. Many customers in Europe, Japan and US markets have show interest in the new product, said C.T. Tsai, the CTF of NuLight.

NuLight Technology is a joint venture (JV) between Delta Optoelectronics, a subsidiary of Delta Electronics, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics' (CMO's) subsidiary Yuan Chi Investment.

CMO and Delta Electronics announced in March 2006 they will form a JV, Delta-CMO Optoelectronics, to develop backlight units (BLUs) for LCD panels using FFL mercury-free flat panel technology. The joint venture has since been renamed to NuLight Technology.

NuLight has set up one production line at CMO's plant and is now testing production of the new backlight units for mercury-free FFL panels, said sources. CMO is expected to be the first panel maker to launch products based on the new technology, noted the sources.

AUO unveils 65-inch full high-definition 120Hz LCD TV display
6 June 2007




AU Optronics (AUO) has unveiled Taiwan's first 65-inch full high-definition (HD) 120Hz LCD TV panel, claiming it to be the world's second able-to-be-commercialized 65-inch LCD panel, and to reach CRT- and plasma-like image quality in motion picture response time.

The 65-inch full HD LCD TV display is equipped with HDTV 1,920×1,080 resolution, ASPD 120Hz driving technology for motion blur reduction, AMVA superior wide-viewing angle technology and HiColor saturation technology. With ASPD double frame rate 120Hz technology, AUO's 65-inch LCD TV panel has achieved a faster response time of 4ms gray-to-gray and 8ms motion picture response time (MPRT). It also features AUO AMVA technology for color washout improvement at large viewing angles, HiColor technology for a wide color gamut (92% of NTSC), high contrast of 2,000:1, and true 10-bit gray scale for better image processing quality in displaying billions of colors.

It is expected that large-sized LCD TVs which include full high-definition (HD), high resolution, and double frame rate 120Hz will go mainstream, said David Su, senior vice president and general manager of TV Display/Consumer Product Display Business Groups of AUO. With the addition of 65-inch full HD panels, AUO is able to offer customers TV panels featuring full HD and ASPD 120Hz driving technology in the sizes of 42-, 46- and 65-inches, Su noted.

Two 65-inch panels can be economically cut via AUO's sixth-generation (6G) fabs and mass production will commence in the third quarter.

AUO will be debuting the 65-inch FHD 120HZ LCD TV panel at Display Taiwan 2007, from June 13 to June 15, in Taipei.

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Samsung Launches 70" LED-backlit LCD TV
14 June 2007






Samsung delivers world's largest commercially available LCD TV

Samsung aims to impress with the retail launch of its new 70" LCD TV in Korea. The new Samsung LN70F91BD forgoes the traditional CCFL backlight in favor of an LED backlight for improved picture clarity.

"I am pleased to introduce the 70" Full-HD LCD TV with innovative Local Dimming Technology," said Samsung Digital Media President JongWoo Park. "Samsung will continue to strengthen its LCD TV leadership, enhancing Full-HD and large screen LCD TV line-up.

Also new to the TV is what Samsung calls "local dimming backlighting." Since the backlight consists of hundreds of LED elements, an image displayed on the screen can range from maximum brightness (LEDs at full power) to complete darkness to produce true black (LEDs turned completely off). This differs from traditional CCFL LCDs where black levels can appear more grayish.

Samsung says that the use of the LED backlight gives the LCD TV a dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000:1 while power consumption is cut by as much as 50 percent. According to AVING, the LN70F91BD features ACAP, three HDMI 1.3 port and a USB 2.0 port.

Samsung's 1080p 70" LCD TV is on sale now in Korea for 59 million won ($63,425 USD) and will be available worldwide during the second half of 2007.

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Smart Panel, Dumb Idea?
26 July 2007

The largest-selling type of panel for flat-panel TV is the 32-inch WXGA LCD, with production up and demand still not satisfied. It is also the only TV panel size whose price is increasing, as we discussed in this space last week.

But the 32-inch LCD-TV segment is highly competitive, and set-makers are justifiably nervous about raising prices. Is there a solution for this conundrum? Yes. Well, maybe.

As reported in Digitimes today by Rebecca Kuo and Rodney Chan, AUO, CMO, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), and LG.Philips LCD (LPL) have either entered into conversations with TV makers about building "smart panels" or have actually started working on them.

Smart panels integrate drivers, controllers and (perhaps) other functions on the panel. In small LCDs - such as those used in cell phones - the integration is often literal, with circuitry being fabricated on the display glass in low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS). In TV panels, more-or-less conventional chip-on-glass ICs would be mounted on the display glass during panel production instead of on a separate circuit board.

This smart-panel model could certainly cut production costs. But it also requires panel suppliers and set makers to work together closely, as the panel makers would be shipping panels that are actually semi-finished display products. To put it mildly, sharing of trade secrets does not come easily in the LCD panel and TV industries.

Nonetheless, the motivation is great. AUO has started low-volume shipments of TV-use smart panels to Qisda (formerly BenQ), and AUO is rumored to be talking to Sony about a smart-panel deal that could get smart panels shipping by the turn of the year, industry sources told Kuo and Chan. No comment from AUO, though.

According to the sources, CPT and mainland China TV maker Xoceco are planning to ship smart panels, as are CMO and its TV-making clients. The sources also say that LPL is talking to European brand-name TV vendors and assemblers regarding smart-panel collaborations.

But although smart panels can help cut production costs, and the required collaboration would help set-makers lock in a supply of 32-inch panels, which will remain tight in 2008, some panel-makers think the difficulties would outweigh the benefits. Laying on engineering teams to integrate the systems of set-making clients onto the smart panels could be a significant commitment. And, since TV specifications change rapidly, panel makers would constantly be revising their smart panels. In short, the panel makers would be taking on many of the problems of their set-making customers. As a result, the more skeptical panel makers think smart-panel sales will only account for a few percent of most panel-makers’ revenues.

But what would happen, you ask, if the set-making and panel-making divisions of Samsung and LG, for instance, were to realize they’re in the same business and tear down the walls that separate them? They would then be able to function as integrated TV-set-on-glass manufacturing companies. Wouldn’t that give them a substantial advantage over competitors such as AUO and CMO, who are not in a position to do the same thing on a similar scale?

Yes, but the various divisions, actually separate companies, within many of the Asian electronics giants are intensely jealous of their identities and prerogatives. The company that best integrates its panel-making and set-making businesses is Sharp, and it’s Sharp that would find it easiest to become a maker of integrated TVs on glass if its management thought that would be in the company’s best interests. Interestingly, Sharp was not one of the companies mentioned in the current round of reports and rumors.

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"The Future of LCD Is Not Over" -- Sharp Unveils Next-gen LCD TV
23 August 2007











"Are self-emission type displays such as OLED really going to be the next-generation displays?" Mikio Katayama, president & COO of Sharp Corp. asked the audience at the beginning of the press conference.

Katayama then went on to unveil the prototype of Sharp's next-generation LCD TV, which he claims is an "integration of the essence of the latest LCD technologies."

The prototype is a 52-inch, so-called full-HD product. Compared with the existing model, the performance characteristics relating to picture quality, thinness and environmental performance (power consumption) are significantly improved.

The prototype has a high contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and a wide color gamut of 150% of NTSC standard. The display unit measures as slim as 20 mm, and it is only 29 mm thick even at the thickest portion. It weighs as light as 25 kg. In regard to the environmental performance, the annual power consumption of the TV is 140 kWh, which is half that of the existing model.

Sharp believes the prototype to be the LCD TV that will completely transform living spaces. The company also developed a technology to transmit the video signal via millimeter wave and incorporated the technology into the prototype. The company intends to start volume production of this LCD TV when its new LCD production plant, which is planned for construction in Sakai City, Osaka, comes on-stream in March 2010.

"Performances will be further improved by the time volume production launches," Katayama said. "The next generation of LCD TVs will be led by LCD TVs themselves."

The main questions and answers are as follows:

Nikkei Electronics: What is the technical point that achieved the performances of the prototype?

Katayama: This LCD TV was not created by a single technology but was an integration of the cutting-edge technologies relating to backlight, color filter, TFT array, polarizer, etc. We would like to refrain from detailing the respective technologies at the moment.

Nikkei Electronics: Will the LCD panel be the flagship product at the new plant in Sakai City, Osaka?

Katayama: We announced the prototype today because we are now able to produce samples. We will strive to refine the technologies so that the product will be ready for commercialization in March 2010 when the plant will open. Meanwhile, we plan to sequentially incorporate some technologies used in this prototype in our other new products.

Nikkei Electronics: What is necessary for volume production?

Katayama: Mainly the establishment of technology for volume production.

Nikkei Electronics: Are you planning to make further advanced models, such as LCD TVs with wireless power sources, weighing less than 10 kg, etc., before the opening of the Sakai plant? Will it be in time?

Katayama: A very good suggestion. I am also requesting our development staff for that. As for the weight, 25 kg is not at all the limit. We will try to make it lighter and lighter. We also promote a reduction in power consumption. The specifications of the latest prototype are merely the passing point.

Nikkei Electronics: Do you think LCD will prevail over OLED in the market? Or will competition continue?

Katayama: As far as I see this prototype, it excels any other type of display in performances.

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"It's a Mistake to Compare Organic EL Displays with Current LCD Technology"; Sharp's President Katayama Discloses the Aim of the Announcement
23 August 2007

"This announcement is made with Organic EL in mind," said Sharp's President Katayama August 22, when the company presented a prototype of its next-generation LCD TV, disclosing candidly the aim of the announcement.

Organic EL TVs are attracting a lot of attention as flat-screen TVs of the next generation. This is because Sony and Toshiba announced commercialization of organic EL TVs one after another. President Katayama said he felt frustrated by this trend.

"LCD technology evolved by only 60%. It still has plenty of room to evolve. Those who claim the main player in the next -generation displays will be organic EL just compare current LCD with organic EL displays," President Katayama said.

He decided to announce the prototype because he wanted to highlight that LCD technology has the potential to continue to evolve.

He explains the reason why LCDs are superior to self-luminous displays, which include organic EL displays, as follows.

"LCD is composed of LCD materials, backlights, color filters, polarizing plates, etc., on which various technologies are applied and careful adjustments are made. Each of the technologies can make efforts for breakthroughs, which means LCD panels, into which various technologies are integrated, have unlimited potential. On the other hand, self-luminous displays have a limit. They are evaluated to 'have high image quality because they are self-luminous' only because CRTs used in conventional TVs were self-luminous."

The company plans to get ready for mass production of this next-generation LCD by March 2010, when the new plant to be constructed in Sakai, Osaka starts operation. President Katayama shows strong confidence in this next-generation LCD.

"LCDs will not lose ground to self-luminous displays for the time being. You will see clearly the difference in image quality if you compare the prototype and organic EL displays."

Sharp is of course working on the development of organic EL as well. This announcement does not seem to indicate its resignation from the development of organic EL. President Katayama explains, "It means the hurdle we have to clear before starting mass production of organic EL panels for TVs has gotten higher." This comment may sound as sarcasm to those who put organic EL TVs at the forefront.

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Hitachi develops thin LCD TV - report
26 September 2007

Japanese electronics company Hitachi Ltd has developed an LCD television that is less than 2 centimeters thick, the industry's thinnest to date, the Nikkei reported on Wednesday.

Hitachi plans to start mass-producing a 30-inch-class model of the thin LCD TV in the year to March 2010, the business daily said, without identifying its sources.

The move came after Sharp announced recently that it has developed a prototype LCD TV that is 2cm thick, compared with the 10cm LCD and plasma TVs currently available.

In the competition to develop thinner flat-panel TVs, Sony Corp is planning to release an 11-inch OEL (organic electroluminescent) display TV measuring just 3mm at its thinnest point late this year, according to Nikkei.

OEL displays are said to be superior to LCDs not only in thickness but also in terms of sharpness and smooth image flow.

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Samsung joins fat fighters with 1cm thick TV
22 October 2007




As we mentioned last week, Samsung has a few surprises in store at this week’s Flat Panel Display International show in Japan and has been drip-feeding them to the press ahead of the show’s opening on Wednesday.

The latest addition to the ‘coming-soon’ range of prototype screens is a 40in LCD television with a thickness of just 1cm. Although this is a full 7mm more than Sony’s celebrated XEL-1 OLED TV, it’s by far the thinnest set of its size. Sony’s 3mm wonder measures just 11in across the diagonal.

Moreover, the Samsung screen manages full HD TV resolutions, which Sony’s device cannot. Its LED backlight is rated at 92% of NTSC colour saturation standards, which really just means it looks almost as good as a decent cathode-ray TV.

Away from the increasingly competitive field of thin displays, Samsung has also announced an 8.1in sheet of e-paper, a 14.3in plastic screen, a 2.1in LCD that automatically adjusts its own brightness according to surroundings and a 7in touch screen with the sensors embedded in the glass.

Eyes-on: Samsung's 82-inch QuadHD & 52-inch Ultra Slim LCDs
9 January 2008




Samsung can join Hitachi while crying into their sake as its 52-inch "thinnest non-OLED HDTV ever" is around 4x as thick as Pioneer's 9mm heroin-chic Kuro. Take heart Sammy, because your 82-inch -- and btw, what is with the 82-inch obsession (2005 & 2006 CES), we need to talk about that -- Quad HD display is like looking out of a window, if we had bigger and cleaner windows. Check out the gallery to see what we mean.

"20mm, 1/2 Power Use, 100,000:1 Contrast Ratio LCD TV Will Debut in 2008," Sharp Says
11 January 2008



Sharp Corp held its annual New Year press conference in Tokyo Jan 8, 2008. Mikio Katayama, the company's president, said that the company aims to sell at least 10 million units of LCD TVs with a sales target of one trillion yen in 2008.

However, he said, "an increase in unit sales does not improve the brand value of Sharp. We want to improve it by bringing LCD TVs with high added-values to the market," showing an attitude of not caring the unit sales too much.

Katayama also implied that the sales target in fiscal year 2007, nine million units, is on course, saying, "So far, the numbers are good."

As a new technology to increase the added-values, Sharp announced a prototype of 65-inch LCD TV whose thinnest part is 20mm. The company announced a prototype of 52-inch LCD TV whose thinnest part is 20mm in Aug 2007 (See related article). So, it enlarged the screen size this time. Sharp will launch a product developed by this technology within 2008, Katayama said.

"(The new product) will be a next-generation display whose power consumption is about 50% lower than that of the existing one and contrast ratio is 100,000:1, in addition to the 20mm thickness," he said. But he did not explain the details such as its specifications and release date.

As for the large-size LCD panel business, Sharp will increase the production in the Second Kameyama Plant in July 2008, which was originally scheduled for the end of 2008, Katayama said. The monthly production of glass substrates will be 90,000 sheets, a 50% increase from the current production of 60,000.

"(By this production increase,) it will become possible to sell glass substrates to other companies in earnest," he said.

Sharp aims at more than 10-fold production capacity for thin-film solar cells

In the press conference, Sharp also explained its solar cell business. It plans to increase the production capacity of thin-film solar cells to 160MW per year in Oct 2008. At present, the capacity is 15MW per year.

The amount of Si used for thin-film solar cells is about 1% of the amount used for crystalline Si solar cells, and their cell geometry is simple. Therefore, if the company produces more thin-film solar cells, it will reduce costs, the company said.

Sharp, by taking advantage of these merits, aims to reduce the power generation cost to ¥23/kWh (US$0.21), about half of the current electricity price for households in Japan, in 2010.

CES 2008