news archive
Samsung
Introduces World's First VGA-class TFT-LCD Driver IC for Mobile
Phones
Seoul, Korea,
October 21 - Samsung Electronics today announced that it has
developed a TFT-LCD driver IC chip with VGA-class resolution
capable of displaying up to 260 thousand colors for TFT-LCD
panels in mobile phones.
Samsung's new
driver IC generates color using an entirely new driving method
called sub-pixel unit driving methodology. Contrary to existing
color display methods that express color pixel by pixel, this
new method creates color at the sub-pixel level, representing
more than two data lines from the same pixel. By composing a new
pixel with the sub-pixel on the adjacent scanning line, 480x640
VGA resolution can be attained from a 240x640 half-VGA panel,
the company said. This overcomes the difficult problem of
putting enough wiring connections on a less-than-2.4-inch panel
to support VGA
Additionally, the
problem of an insufficiently bright screen caused by increased
pixel density on high-resolution panels has been solved using a
four-color (RGBW) rendering algorithm, which improves the
brightness of TFT-LCD panels. With this four-color rendering
algorithm, which extracts the white signal from R-G-B signal
input and processes four-color RGBW, the luminance of the panel
is increased more than 50 percent.
Conventional
technologies for extracting white from red, green, and blue have
been plagued with color distortion when the white color is added
by more than 15 percent. Samsung's new white-adding algorithm
prevents any color distortion, even when white is fully added,
the company said. At the same time, uniform color quality is
maintained between input and output.
"Development
of high-resolution displays is urgently needed with the advent
of camera phones, video phones, TV phones, and other new
products that require an entirely different level of image
quality," said Dr. Jin-tae Kim, vice president of the
System LSI Division at Samsung Electronics. "The four-color
sub-pixel rendering technology we recently developed will play a
key role in the transition to ultra-high-resolution panels for
mobile products. Moreover, our development of this new chip will
put us in an advantageous position in the hotly-contested market
for mobile-size displays."
Samsung
Electronics plans to begin using its VGA TFT-LCD driver IC on
high-end mobile phone models in the second quarter of 2005. The
company will then steadily expand its application to other
product lines.
Market analyst
iSuppli estimates that the market for mobile TFT-LCDs stands at
250 million units this year, and that the number will surge to
530 million units in 2007.
Information: www.samsung.com.
LG.Philips LCD
Introduces World's Largest Single-Plate AMOLED Prototype at FPD
International
Seoul, South
Korea, October 19 (PRNewswire-FirstCall) - At FPD International,
being held October 20-22, 2004 in Yokohama, Japan, LG.Philips
LCD Co., Ltd, will unveil its prototype of the world's largest,
single-plate, low temperature polysilicon (LTPS), active-matrix
organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display.
This 20.1-inch
prototype, intended for future-generation TVs, significantly
improves on the response time of other display technologies, and
provides excellent color saturation, along with reduced power
consumption, said Bruce Berkoff, the company's executive vice
president of marketing.
The company will
also demonstrate a full line-up of TFT-LCDs, ranging from a
7-inch Wide QVGA for automotive entertainment and navigation to
a 55-inch Wide Full HD for HDTVs and multimedia Displays.
Information: www.lgphilips-lcd.com.
Major Sponsors
and Exhibitors for ADEAC '04 Exceed Organizers' Expectations
October 12 -
ADEAC '04, a unique new conference and exhibition intended to
support product designers who select displays and integrate them
into their products, and to help their managers make astute
decisions about display technologies and system costs, has
attracted major sponsors and exhibitors, said Chuck A. Pearson
(Pearson & Associates), the event's Publicity Chair, from
his office in Scottsdale, Arizona today. "ADEAC has
surpassed all expectations for the number and significance of
our sponsors and exhibitors. The sponsors are leaders in their
industries, and the exhibitors are among the critical suppliers
to companies that use displays in their products," Pearson
said.
The event, to be
held October 25-27, 2004 at the Doral Tesoro Hotel and Golf Club
in Fort Worth, Texas, has attracted major sponsors, including
Texas Instruments - DLP Products (Dallas, Texas); Three-Five
Systems, Inc. (Tempe, Arizona); Winstead Sechrest & Minick
PC (Dallas, Texas); 3M Touch Systems (Methuen, Massachusetts);
LG.Philips LCD (Seoul, Korea); McKenna, Long and Aldridge
(Washington, DC); and White Electronic Designs (Phoenix,
Arizona).
The exhibitors
include 3M Touch Systems, Amulet Technologies, Arrow
Electronics, Astro Systems, Eldim, ERG, LCD Lighting, NEC
Electronics America, Texas Instruments - DLP Products;
Three-Five Systems, Touch International, and Yasui Seiki Co.,
among many others.
In addition to
the exhibition, ADEAC '04 will include display system design
tutorials, keynote addresses, technical sessions focused on the
selection of displays and their integration into products, an
evening panel session, and a networking-friendly special event.
"The ADEAC
Program Committee and Organizing Committee have done a
tremendous job in creating this unique conference. I believe
they are providing a great service for the application and
design community," said Stephen Atwood (TFS Innovative
Display Systems), the conference's Program Chair, from his
office in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Information: http://www.sid.org/conf/adeac2004/adeac2004.html.
Philips Halts
LCOS TV Activities
Amsterdam,
October 6 - In a copyrighted story, Reuters revealed today that
Dutch Philips Electronics said on Wednesday it would stop
development and production of rear-projection televisions using
LCOS chip technology because its share of the market is too
small. The decision will affect some 200 employees at Philips'
semiconductors and consumer electronics business units.
``It's still a
young technology which requires a lot of development, and we
lack the scale advantages. We're not big enough to quickly bring
these products to a more mature level,'' a spokeswoman was
quoted as saying in the Reuters story.
Philips, Europe's
biggest consumer electronics, will focus on LCD and CRT TVs, in
which it is one of the world's largest players. Philips will
halt its LCOS chip production line, Reuters said, and is
considering if it can partner with other companies to re-sell
rear-projection TVs under its own brand. Earlier this year, the
Dutch company abandoned the video front-projector market for the
same reason: that it was too small to compete effectively.
Information: www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6426056
STN-LCD
Resurgence Slows OLED Growth
El Segundo,
California, October 6 - Rising competitive pressure from LCDs is
depressing sales and pricing for organic light-emitting diode (OLED)
displays this year, says iSuppli Corp., which has prompted the
market intelligence company to trim its OLED sales forecast for
2004 and beyond.
(Source:
iSuppli Corp., October 2004)
Despite the
revision of its market outlook, iSuppli still sees a bright
future for OLED displays, with sales expected to reach more than
289 million units by 2010, more than eight times the size of the
market in 2004.
The global OLED
market will rise to 35.3 million units 2004, up 110 percent from
16.8 million units in 2003, iSuppli predicts. The company had
previously predicted OLED shipments would rise to 36.2 million
units in 2004.
OLED sales
revenue will rise to $429 million in 2004, up 74 percent from
$246 million in 2003. iSuppli previously predicted sales would
rise to $470 million in 2004.
The major reason
for the lower prices and unit sales is strong pressure from STN
LCDs. A slowdown in orders for OLED mobile-phone sub-displays
occurred during June and July as more mobile-phone makers chose
STN-LCD sub displays to reduce their overall bill-of-materials (BOM)
costs. Led by Nokia, mobile-phone makers have been striving to
reduce the cost and pricing of their products.
OLED makers
responded with price cuts that will help recoup sales in the
fourth quarter. Nonetheless, passive-matrix OLED makers have
realized that the market is unwilling to accept much of a price
premium for their products.
Active-matrix
OLED products announced for release in 2004 have been delayed
until early 2005. This means volume production will commence
later than anticipated, extending the timeline for achieving
high market revenue.
Mobile phones are
expected to remain the largest application market for OLEDs
during this decade. OLEDs are moving into mobile-phone main
displays in handsets that have only one display. These displays
initially are passive color panels, but active-matrix OLEDs are
expected to follow this market path in the future.
More information
is available is available in Organic Light-Emitting Diode
Displays - Semi-Annual Report H2 2004. E-mail Jonathan Cassell at jonc@isuppli.com.
