SIDirect is a free monthly e-mail newsletter that updates its readers on the latest news regarding the Society for Information Display (SID) and its events, including the annual International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition. To view the complete newsletter, visit http://www.sid.org/sidirect/sidirect.html.

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January 2007 
Volume 2, Number 12

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HEADLINES 

1. Charles Falco Announced as Display Week Luncheon Speaker; Will Discuss Ground-Breaking Research with Artist David Hockney into Use of Optical Aids by Renaissance Artists

2. Visit Official Conference Web Site for SID 2007 for All Your Conference-Planning Needs

3. Program Announced for Big Displays 2007 Conference in March; Early Bird Registration Discount Extended Until February 16

4. JSID Once Again Available in Printed Form

5. Relive SID 2006 with Exclusive Recordings of Symposium Sessions and Display Technology Seminars Complete with Speakers' Handouts

6. Help SID Boost Membership by Telling a Friend

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Charles Falco Announced as Display Week Luncheon Speaker; Will Discuss Ground-Breaking Research with Artist David Hockney into Use of Optical Aids by Renaissance Artists

Charles Falco, professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, will deliver the Luncheon address during Display Week 2007, which will be entitled "The Science of Optics, The History of Art."

Falco will discuss his work with renowned artist David Hockney, who recently observed that certain drawings and paintings from as early as the Renaissance seemed almost "photographic" in detail. Following an extensive visual investigation of western art of the past 1,000 years, Hockney made the revolutionary claim that artists even of the prominence of van Eyck and Bellini must have used optical aids. However, many art historians insisted there was no supporting evidence for such a remarkable assertion. In this talk, Falco will show a wealth of optical evidence supporting Hockney's claim. He will also discuss the imaging properties of the "mirror lens" (concave mirror), and some of the implications this work has for the history of science as well as the history of art (and the modern fields of machine vision and computerized image analysis). These discoveries convincingly demonstrate optical instruments were in use-by artists, not scientists-nearly 200 years earlier than commonly thought possible, and account for the remarkable transformation in the reality of portraits that occurred early in the 15th century.

This collaboration and discovery has garnered wide media attention, including an hour-long BBC special and a segment on CBS "60 Minutes." Falco has delivered more than 60 invited talks and public lectures on this topic in 10 countries. He holds the UA Chair of Condensed Matter Physics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Optical Society of America; has published more than 250 scientific manuscripts, most of which are related to various physical properties of thin film materials; co-edited two books; has seven U.S. patents; and has given more than 200 invited talks on his research at conferences and research institutions in some 20 countries. In addition, in 1998, he was the co-recipient of an award from the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) for his work as co-curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum's "The Art of the Motorcycle," for which he also wrote the exhibition catalog's introductory essay and bibliography.

The Display Week 2007 luncheon will take place on Wednesday, May 23, 2006, as part of the SID 2007 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition. For more information on this or any element of Display Week, visit www.sid2007.org.

Visit Official Conference Web Site for SID 2007 for All Your Conference Planning Needs

The official conference Web site for the SID 2007 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition is now available at www.sid2007.org. Featuring a striking new design and tons of helpful features, this site is your one-stop shop for all the information you need to plan your trip to Long Beach in May. SID 2007 will take place May 20-25, 2007, at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, USA.

One of the highlights on this year's site is a new and improved interactive floor plan for the SID 2007 exhibition, which promises to be the largest in SID's history. To access this feature, click on "Exhibition" at the top of the home page and drag down to the "Floor Plan" button.

The SID preliminary program will be posted to the site in early February. As always, you will be able to register for the conference and make all of your travel and hotel arrangements by visiting the Web site.

While you're there, please also take a moment to visit our SID 2007 sponsors: 3M, Qualcomm, Microsemi, and this year's Gold Sponsor, Liquavista.

The Web site will be updated constantly leading up to SID 2007, so be sure to bookmark the site and check back frequently.

Program Announced for Big Displays 2007 Conference in March; Early Bird Registration Discount Extended Until February 16

The program for SID's latest Hot Topics conference, The Big Displays 2007 Conference: The Commercial Future Of Large Electronic Displays And Digital Signage Networks, has been set and is now available on the conference's Web site, www.bigdisplaysevent.com. This exciting, one-of-a-kind conference will take place March 22-23, 2007 in London, U.K.

The Big Displays Conference is designed to help you understand the combination of competing technologies, complex integration issues, rapidly evolving markets, and multiple stakeholder groups that make up the complex and growing industry of large-area displays. Huge growth is forecast for the digital signage and out-of-home electronic media markets. New technology, a better understanding of consumer behavior and new business models are starting to prove that there is money to be made. 

Big Displays 2007 will combine a series of conference-style presentations, exhibition space, plenty of networking opportunities and a gala dinner, making it the perfect opportunity to get out of the office, meet others from all areas of the industry, and make deals. You'll discover where experts feel the industry is going and spot new opportunities. By taking part, you have a real opportunity to influence the debate and help shape the market. Or, if you prefer, simply get a better understanding of the opportunities to embrace and the problems to avoid.

The conference will begin with a worldwide market analysis by experts from DisplaySearch, iSuppli and Nomura Research Institute. Other featured speakers include representatives from AEG/MIS; Barco Media & Events; BBC Live Events; Carlton Screen Advertising; Daktronics; Dynamax; Electrosonic; Hantarex; Institute of Electronic Business; invOFFICE for architecture, urbanism and design; JCDecaux Airport; Panasonic; Philips Corporate Technologies; Pixellent Display Systems; Samsung; Screen Technology; and Ströer.

Additionally, Big Displays 2007 has extended its early-bird registration special: Register before February 16 to save £100 on conference fees. For more information, including how to register, visit www.bigdisplaysevent.com.

JSID Once Again Available in Print Form

The Journal of the Society for Information Display (JSID) is once again available in print form for all SID members who would prefer to receive it in that format. In January 2007, the first printed versions of JSID were mailed to SID members who subscribed to the printed service, containing the JSID volumes from the last three months of 2006.

For $10 per year, SID members will receive four quarterly installments that each will feature three months worth of JSID. This fee is less than 25% of the actual printing and mailing cost.

All SID members will continue to have access to JSID through the SID Web site, www.sid.org, for no charge. The electronic version is produced monthly and is posted on-line on or before the first day of each month.

This represents another step forward for JSID, following its recent addition to the prestigious Science Citation Index for cross-referencing.

For more information on JSID, visit www.sid.org and click on the JSID button in the center column.

Relive SID 2006 with Exclusive Recordings of Symposium Sessions and Display Technology Seminars Complete with Speakers' Handouts

As SID 2007 approaches, there is still time to revisit all of the outstanding papers from SID 2006. With 540 papers of the highest quality, SID 2006 was the largest and most noteworthy event in the Society's history. However, with so many presentations of unsurpassed excellence, it was impossible to get to every session.

Whether you were at SID 2006 in San Francisco or did not have the chance to attend, now you have the chance to have the Symposium and Display Technology Seminars at your disposal with exclusive CDs and DVD-ROMs featuring synchronized audio and PowerPoint presentations.

The DVDs allow you to play the sessions back on your computer, download them to your MP3 player, or burn audio CDs to play in your car CD player.

To download the order form for the Symposium Sessions DVD-ROM, visit www.sid.org/publications/publications.html. To purchase the CD-ROM for the Display Technology Seminars, contact SID headquarters at (408) 977-1013, visit www.sid.org, or e-mail to office@sid.org.

*NOTE: Not all sessions are available on the DVDs. See the order form for more information.

Help SID Boost Membership by Telling a Friend

Do you have friends or colleagues who should be a part of the Society for Information Display, but aren't? Now is the perfect time to get them to join. No one knows the many professional and technical benefits of SID better than our members, so the Society is inviting everyone to spread the word and recruit peers and coworkers through the Member-Get-A-Member (MGM) program. With your help, SID's membership and professional network will continue to grow for years to come.

As a token of the Society's appreciation for your participation in this year's MGM program, you'll receive an SID credit certificate good for $10. This can be used toward 2006 dues or SID products or services.

For more information on the Member-Get-A-Member program, visit www.sid.org/members/membergetmember.html.