news archive
LG.Philips
LCD Adopts Silicon Image's Combined DVI Receiver and TCON
Sunnyvale,
Calif., March 30 - Silicon Image, Inc. today announced that
LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. has incorporated the new SiI™ 1257™Intelligent
Panel Controller (IPC) into a "breakthrough"
20-inch wide-aspect-ratio panel. The SiI 1257 IPC supports
Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS®) - the
basis for the popular Digital Visual Interface (DVI)
standard connecting PC hosts and digital display devices -
directly on the LCD panel, enabling monitor manufacturers to
lower their cost of components while realizing the benefits
of pure-digital LCD monitor architectures, Silicon Image
said.
The SiI 1257
IPC combines a DVI receiver with a timing controller (TCON),
replacing two discrete parts. In addition, incorporating DVI
functionality directly on the panel itself eliminates the
need for extra conversions and image processing typically
supported in analog monitors. As a result, a number of
monitor controller functions required to support analog
hosts - such as ADCs, scalers, and customized firmware - can
also be eliminated.
Paul Lee, VP
of monitor development at LG.Philips LCD, said,
"Pure-digital LCD monitors are the standard
architecture for some customers' LCD displays, and a TMDS-based
panel is an ideal solution for cost-optimized, pure-digital
LCD monitors."
Joseph Lee,
Silicon Image product marketing manager for digital
PC/display products, noted, "Not only is TMDS
technology proliferating as an external monitor interface
via DVI, but it…is also an excellent alternative to LVDS
for the internal display interface, and the SiI 1257
addresses the industry need for a universal digital LCD
interface capable of supporting both internal and external
monitor applications…."
The SiI 1257
IPC is based on Silicon Image's latest-generation DVI
receiver core found in the company's discrete SiI 1000
series receivers. This core supports the full single-link
DVI bandwidth of 165 MHz for consistent performance on
displays up to UXGA resolution.
Information: www.siliconimage.com.
Trident
and Silicon Image Join to Accelerate HDMI Adoption
Sunnyvale,
California, March 22 - Trident Technologies Inc, a
subsidiary of Trident Microsystems, Inc., and Silicon Image
today announced that they are collaborating to accelerate
the adoption of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface™
(HDMI™) in mainstream digital TV segments. Trident will
license HDMI technology from Silicon Image for future
product integration, and the two companies will collaborate
in the development, marketing, and sales of a mainstream,
high-quality, video front-end device to be used in the
advanced TV and digital TV market. This chip will combine
the advanced video processing and interconnection
technologies from both companies.
"The
world's leading consumer electronic manufacturers have
rapidly embraced HDMI and are implementing it across
multiple system platforms," stated John LeMoncheck,
vice president of Consumer Electronics Products, Silicon
Image. "Building on this early momentum, there is a
real opportunity to provide application-specific solutions
to further accelerate the adoption of HDMI in mainstream
digital TVs. We are excited to work with Trident...to
co-develop a device integrating our proven PanelLink Cinema™
HDMI technology and Trident's proven image-processing
technology."
Dr. Jung-Herng
Chang, president of Trident Technologies: "By joining
forces with Silicon Image, the industry pioneer and leader
in HDMI, we can put the best of the breeds in video image
processing technology and high-speed interconnection
technology into a single chip to benefit all
consumers."
Information: www.siliconimage.com,
www.tridentmicro.com.
Two Ohio
Companies to Develop Color Technology for Plasma-sphere™
Displays
Toledo, Ohio,
March 23 - Two Ohio flat-panel-display companies, Imaging
Systems Technology (IST) of Toledo and Extreme Photonix (eXp)
of Cincinnati, have announced their joint development of
full-color flexible plasma displays. IST will provide its
proprietary plasma display technology, including
Plasma-spheres, which can be used to make flexible plasma
displays. eXp will provide its proprietary color conversion
technology.
"IST is
pleased to be working with eXp and anticipates this
collaboration will greatly accelerate our color
program," states IST president Carol A. Wedding. IST
Plasma-spheres are hermetically sealed and require no TFT
active-matrix, according to an IST announcement. The
announcement went on to say that the technology is a
feasible option for flexible and rollable displays. Since
Plasma-sphere technology allows for fabrication of flexible
plasma display panels, a roll-to-roll process is possible.
Further development will focus on refining low-cost
manufacturing processes, the company said.
Color
materials developed under this venture also apply to other
display technologies. Among these materials is eXp's novel
color-converted inorganic/organic light-emitting display
called Hybrid I/O™. Under the Hybrid I/O program, eXp
seeks to combine the best qualities of both organic and
inorganic displays, with anticipated improvement in life,
luminance, and power consumption, said eXp President Dr.
Andrew J. Steckl.
Both
companies will be presenting these technologies at SID '04
in Seattle, May 23-28, 2004.
Information: www.teamist.com
(IST), email: a.steckl@uc.edu
(eXp).
LCD-TV
Sales on a Roll During Holiday Season
by Sweta Dash
LCD-TVs were
all the rage during the 2003 holiday season, but sales of
the largest panels targeted at this market were lower than
suppliers' expectations because of prohibitively high
prices, analysts at iSuppli/Stanford Resources believe.
Boosted by a
strong holiday season, worldwide sales of large-sized LCD-TV
panels reached 4.3 million units in 2003. Pricing in the
fourth quarter for the high-end 30-inch panels averaged
between $1200 and $1300. LCD-TV system prices in the North
American market in the fourth quarter came in at more than
$3000, which was higher than expected. With consumers having
a choice between $3000, 30-inch LCD-TVs or $3000, 42-inch
plasma sets, most picked the product that delivered a larger
screen size for the money. They did this despite the lower
power consumption, longer lifetime, and higher pixel count
of LCD-TVs compared to plasma sets.
iSuppli/Stanford
Resources estimates that 18 percent of LCD-TV panels sold in
the fourth quarter were 30 inches and larger, 72 percent
were in the 15- to less-than-30-inch size range, and only 10
percent were from 10 to less than 15 inches in size. Despite
disappointing sales of the 30-inch products, all of the
suppliers of large-sized TFT-LCD panels now are focusing on
TV applications. Most of them plan to allocate at least 5 to
10 percent of their 2004 manufacturing capacity to the TV
market.
Accounting
for all the planned production of LCD-TV panels in 2004
gives an available supply of about 10 million or more TV
panels for the year. However, actual production in 2004 will
depend greatly on end-user demand at the available price
points. The announcement of four sixth-generation LCD fabs
from Sharp, LG.Philips LCD, CPT, and AU Optronics-and one
seventh generation fab from Samsung-will serve to reduce
costs and boost availability of large-sized TV panels.
TV set
suppliers now are offering very aggressive prices for
products based on 30-inch panels, with some street prices
already falling to $2500 or less this quarter. With
increasing production, higher yields, and reduced costs,
panel suppliers will be more willing to offer lower prices
for their 30-inch products in 2004. These reduced panel
prices, combined with improved supply management and the
streamlining of distribution channels, will lead to even
lower system prices in 2004.
In 2004, 20.8
percent of large-sized LCD-TV panels will be in the 30-inch
and larger size range, while 75 percent will be in the
15-inch to less-than-30-inch segment, with most of the
growth coming from the 22/23- and 26/27-inch sizes, iSuppli/Stanford
Resources predicts. LCD panel suppliers are planning major
capital expenditures to establish sixth-, seventh-, and
higher-generation fabs, which will help reduce cost and
increase efficiency, not only for the 30/32-inch size, but
also for the 40/42-inch size further in the future.
New suppliers
have jumped into the market, lured by higher profit margins
and the potential for a large sales opportunity in the near
future. TV makers increasingly are using Original Design
Manufacturers (ODMs) to manufacture their products,
following the highly successful model used by makers of
notebook computers and PC monitors. This approach will help
cut manufacturing costs. The decline in manufacturing costs
has contributed to iSuppli/Stanford Resources' move to
increase its outlying forecast for LCD-TV shipments to
nearly 40 million units in 2008.
Sweta Dash
is the director of LCD and projection research at iSuppli/Stanford
Resources. More details on the LCD market can be found in
her upcoming issue of LCD Tracker Q1 2004. E-mail s.dash@stanfordresources.com.
Brillian
to use Zoran Digital-TV ICs in LCoS-based Projection HDTVs
Tempe,
Arizona, March 1 - Brillian Corporation today announced it
will use Zoran Corporation's Generation9 family of
integrated DTV ICs, software, and development platforms in
its new 720p, liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS), Gen II
high-definition televisions (HDTVs).
The highly
integrated system-on-a-chip ICs allow Brillian to use a
single video-processing platform in multiple products, and
comply with both the FCC mandate to integrate ATSC
capability in terrestrial televisions and the CE-NCTA's
Plug-n-Play Unidirectional OpenCable requirements. Brillian
will utilize Generation9 features such as copy protection,
MPEG-II transport demultiplexing, video decompression,
deinterlacing, and video post processing and graphics
capabilities to support electronic program guide (EPG) and a
rich user interface without the additional cost of a 3D
graphics pipeline.
Brillian is
using the Zoran chipset in a family of rear-projection HDTVs
it is developing for OEM customers. "This strategic
partnership with Zoran is the latest in a series of
collaborative announcements we've made to showcase our
strategy: We're leveraging our industry-first LCoS Gen II
microdisplay technology in combination with complementary
and best-in-class components, such as Zoran's single-chip
DTV IC, to deliver a new generation of rear-projection HDTVs
that will offer outstanding picture quality and value,"
said Vincent F. Sollitto, president and CEO of Brillian.
Information: www.brilliancorp.com,
www.zoran.com.
