Category Archives: FPDs and TFTs

June 21, 2012 — Worldwide TV shipments fell almost 8% year over year (Y/Y) to 51 million units in Q1 2012, the steepest rate of decline since Q2 2009. The biggest contributor to this decline was a slowdown in shipments of LCD TVs, which fell Y/Y for the first time in the history of the category, declining just over 3%, to 43 million units, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

“Key component prices, such as LCD panels, are not expected to decline much in 2012,” said Paul Gagnon, NPD DisplaySearch Director of North America TV Research, who blamed soft demand and cautious expectations about the upcoming year in many parts of the TV supply chain for the slowdown in shipments. Gagnon added that many brands are concentrating on improving their bottom line in a “price-conscious consumer market.”

LCD TV shipment share fell slightly from Q4 2011, due to a seasonal shift to emerging markets where CRT demand is higher, but is up 4 percentage points from a year ago, to 84.2%.

The average LCD TV screen size increased 5% Y/Y in Q1 2012, passing 35” for the first time, with gains in both emerging and developed markets. LCD TV is capturing market share at 40” and larger screen sizes because of a sharp decline in plasma TV demand.

Plasma TV unit shipments continued to decline, falling 18% Y/Y in Q1 2012 after an 8% decline in Q4 2011. The popularity of plasma TV among consumers is waning, and a large majority of the recent shipment volume remains centered on low-priced 2D HD models, indicating consumers are buying on price when shopping for plasma.

Despite the weak results on a unit basis, demand for larger sizes continues to grow. The market share for 40” and larger TVs increased from just under 31% a year ago to more than 37% in Q1’12 with total unit shipments for 40”+ rising 12% Y/Y. Larger sizes have become much more affordable with 40-44” LCD TV average prices below $600 and new 50” LCD TVs selling for less than $1000, joining 50”-class plasma TVs that have been selling for less than $700 for several quarters now.

The share of LCD TVs with LED backlights also rose sharply, from 51% in Q4 2011 to almost 56% in Q1 2012, and up 20 percentage points Y/Y. More affordable direct-type LED-backlit sets began shipping in Q1 2012. Also read: Lower-cost LED backlights darken CCFL’s future

Table 1. Q1 2012 worldwide TV shipments by technology (000s). Source: NPD DisplaySearch Advanced Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report

Technology

Q1’12
Units

Q1’12
Unit Share

Q/Q
Growth

Y/Y
Growth

LCD TV

43,131

84.2%

-33%

-3%

PDP TV

2,982

5.8%

-43%

-18%

OLED TV

0

0.0%

-100%

-100%

CRT TV

5,084

9.9%

-8%

-31%

RPTV

25

0.0%

-22%

-44%

Total

51,222

100%

-32%

-8%

China remains the #1 region for TV shipments at 20% of all units shipped during the quarter, down very slightly from the previous quarter. However, growth slowed significantly during the seasonally important Q1 leading to Golden Week holidays, with unit shipments falling 4% Y/Y after growing by double digits the previous three quarters. Flat panel TVs are starting to saturate China’s higher-income urban markets, but prices are still too high to kick off a wave of upgrades in rural markets. Asia Pacific (which includes India, Korea, and Australia) was the #2 region for TV shipments, followed by North America and Western Europe.

3D shipment share continues to grow, albeit more slowly in recent quarters, rising to just over 14% of total TV shipments and 16% of flat panel TV shipments. Demand for 3D in emerging regions is actually higher than in developed regions, with 16% of flat panel TV units shipped to emerging markets in Q1’12 compared to 15% among developed regions.

Samsung’s global flat panel TV revenue share remained around 26%, near record levels and was the only one of the top five flat panel TV brands on a revenue basis to show Y/Y growth during Q1 2012. Samsung also was the top brand in the key segments of LCD TV, 40”+, LED-backlit LCD, and 3D TV.

LGE was the #2 brand and showed a significant improvement in market share, rising more than a percentage point to 14.6% revenue share. Sony rounded out the top flat panel TVs on a revenue basis, but posted a large drop in Y/Y revenues, as did Panasonic.

Table 2. Q1 2012 Worldwide flat panel TV brand rankings by revenue share. Source: NPD DisplaySearch Advanced Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

Rank

Brand

Q4’11
Share

Q1’12
Share

Q/Q
Growth

Y/Y
Growth

1

Samsung

26.3%

26.0%

-33%

9%

2

LGE

13.4%

14.6%

-26%

-7%

3

Sony

9.8%

9.4%

-35%

-21%

4

Sharp

5.8%

6.5%

-25%

-18%

5

Panasonic

6.9%

5.3%

-48%

-23%

 

Other

37.7%

38.3%

-31%

-7%

 

Total

100.0%

100.0%

-32%

-7%

NPD DisplaySearch TV market intelligence, including panel and TV shipments, TV shipments by region, brand, size, resolution, frame rate and backlight type for nearly 60 brands, rolling 16-quarter forecasts, TV cost/price forecasts and design wins can be found in its Advanced Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

NPD DisplaySearch is a global market research and consulting firm specializing in the display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. Internet: www.displaysearch.com.

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Day 2 of the 2012 TechConnect World Summit, Expo & Showcase opened with fifteen parallel sessions ranging from printed and flexible electronics to device modeling to green chemistry and water to nanotechnology for cancer diagnostics. The unifying theme for this conference is promising technology in search of funding and the opportunity for market validation.

Liyong Diao of Brewer Science described the fabrication and characterization of CNT inductors on flexible plastic substrates. The Brewer operation in Springfield, MO is focused on materials & process development for printed electronics. Both SWCNT and MWCNT have a maximum current density, electron mean free path and thermal conductivity several orders of magnitude higher than copper. The Brewer material is applied as a spray suspension of CNT, and thin films had a sheet resistance <1Ω/square. Multiple spray/dry cycles are used to build up film thickness to the target 10µm. The CNT film resistance is not temperature sensitive, but RLC circuit resonance was environmentally sensitive to parasitic capacitance.

T.H. Chang of U Wisconsin, Madison showed a printing transfer method for fabricating flexible graphene transistors. The graphene was conventional CVD monolayer grown on copper film. Transfer is accomplished by proper sequencing of the surface energies of the device substrates and the transfer substrates so that the material you want moves when and where you want it to move. 140nm channel devices were fabricated with e-beam lithography.

 

Jean-Pierre Simonato of CEA Grenoble (France) presented a highly flexible transparent film heater based on metallic nanowires. The devices works on Joule heating, P=V2/R, of Ag nanowires. The device provides high heating rates and stable steady-state temperature control at operating voltages ≤12V. Sheet resistance is <20Ω/o up to 80% transmittance at 550nm. Unlike ITO, the Ag nanowire film is highly flexible, maintaining low resistance even during crinkling. The material set can be used to fabricate thermochromic displays. Heating and cooling rates are dominated by the substrate material, but good repeatability in thermal cycling was demonstrated with all substrates used. The group believes a reasonable trade-off can be achieved between transparency, conductivity and cost with the Ag nanowire system.

Junghyun Cho of SUNY Binghamton talked about the growth of nanostructured ceramic films from liquid solution. Their process strategy focuses on low temperature processing, mimicking biological processes where applicable. A variety of materials and applications were demonstrated, as shown in the table, with film morphology and as-deposited density depending on deposition parameters in solution. Activity is underway to extend the material/process technology to dye-sensitized solar cells in which the dye is incorporated into the ceramic film layer.

Toivo Kodas of Cabot Corp. gave an overview of functional nanomaterials technology at Cabot. His primary mission is to find problems that require particles as part of the solution, since the corporate banner is that they are the world’s largest ($3B) pure-play nanomaterials producer. Complex metal oxides made by spray pyrolysis are finding expanded use in security applications based on their unique spectral signatures, as they are extremely difficult to counterfeit. Custom coatings on gold nanoparticles exploit the surface enhanced Raman effect for security applications at extremely low reporter particle concentrations.

Also read Conference Report: TechConnect, Day 1

 

June 20, 2012 — Samsung Electronics’ UN46ES8000F TV is a high-end product with electronics and display integration. Displaybank performed a teardown analysis of the product.

Samsung Electronics UN46ES8000F supports shutter-glass-method 3D display, and integrated touch-type remote control with remote controls of related peripherals — IR Blaster — in addition to basic remote control.

Also read: 3D LCD TV panels achieved 10% penetration in 2011

It has slim bezel style design; the front cover of the liquid crystal display (LCD) module works as the front cover of the finished product.

Preview image from the teardown report.

The TV offers wired/wireless network connection, and built-in camera and microphone. It is equipped with next-generation user interfaces (UI/UX) such as voice and motion recognition.

Preview image from the teardown report.

Consumer electronics companies are introducing products that can install/use network functions and applications to existing TVs, and IT companies are introducing products used by connecting to existing TVs, Displaybank notes, as TV fuses with IT.

Displaybank analyzed the main structure, cost competitiveness, and suppliers of major parts of the Samsung TV. Access the report at http://www.displaybank.com/_eng/research/report_view.html?id=874&cate=

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June 20, 2012 — In mid-2011, semiconductor manufacturing and assembly equipment supplier Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) acquired Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. Now, the company is adding Varian’s former CEO Gary Dickerson as president.

Dickerson will be responsible for the day-to-day operation and performance of the company’s four business units: the Silicon Systems Group, Energy and Environmental Solutions, Display and Applied Global Services. He will report directly to Mike Splinter, chairman and chief executive officer.

Dickerson brings more than 30 years of semiconductor industry experience. "Gary is a seasoned and respected leader who brings a wealth of industry knowledge and an impressive track record of delivering winning products, high customer satisfaction and strong financial performance," said Mike Splinter.

Dickerson spent 7 years as CEO of Varian Semiconductor, during which time the company delivered record revenue and profits and ranked high in customer satisfaction.

Prior to Varian, Dickerson spent 18 years at KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC) where he held a variety of operations and product development roles before being appointed COO in 1999 and then president and COO in 2002.  Dickerson started his semiconductor career in manufacturing and engineering management at General Motors’ Delco Electronics Division and AT&T Technologies.

Dickerson has a BS degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri, Rolla and an MBA from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) provides equipment, services and software to enable the manufacture of advanced semiconductor, flat panel display and solar photovoltaic products. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.

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June 18, 2012 — Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are breaking through in displays and lighting applications in the past 18 months, after a long run as a potential technology, reports NanoMarkets. OLED materials must meet growing requirements as OLEDs hit the market, allowing OLED materials suppliers to break out of their niche, specialty status in the next few years.

Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone products with OLED displays outshipped Apple’s iPhones in Q1 2012, notes NanoMarkets. LG and Samsung have launched OLED TVs, hitting stores in 2012, with more to follow.

OLED-based lighting is also already on the market, although almost entirely in the form of low-volume, luxury lighting. The industry is working toward larger panels for general and architectural illumination — higher-volume, price-sensitive applications.

As the addressable market for OLEDs grows, so it does for OLED materials. The number of modules is increasing, and OLED module average sizes are getting steadily larger. Add to this trend a shift in the relative importance of different applications as OLED is adopted, and substrates, transparent conductors, organic semiconductors, emissive materials, and encapsulation technologies will need to be rapidly tailored for different needs.

For example, OLED materials suppliers are developing longer-lifetime blue emitters that will strongly benefit the display sector, while quality white emission schemes are needed for OLED lighting applications.

Also read:

Novaled’s new OLED materials set could double OLED lifetimes

OLED manufacturers develop new color patterning technologies

Universal Display intros novel emission layer systems for OLEDs

“OLED MATERIALS OPPORTUNITIES 2012” is the latest update from NanoMarkets on the OLED materials markets. Analysts quantify the opportunities that are emerging from the booming OLED display industry and in the nascent OLED lighting market, where the key determinants of success will be device efficiency, lifetime, and reduction in total cost of ownership. The report also analyzes the strategies of some of the major players in this space, ranging from giant chemical firms such as BASF, DuPont and Sumitomo to important specialty firms such as UDC, Novaled, and Plextronics. It considers commercial implications of technology developments and predicts what they will mean to the industry overall. The report contains detailed volume and revenue forecasts for materials used for OLEDs broken out by material type and functionality, as well as by application and by deposition method wherever possible. NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy, electronics and other markets created by developments in advanced materials. Visit http://www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets’ reports and other services.  

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Updated June 22, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — MicroVision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MVIS), ultra-miniature laser display maker, closed its public offering with net proceeds, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses, of approximately $9.7 million.

Updated June 18, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — MicroVision is offering to sell, subject to market and other conditions, shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering, with Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. as underwriter. MicroVision intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

MVIS’ 4.2 million units are priced to the public at $2.50 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $10.5 million. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase 0.5 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.65 per share. The shares of common stock and warrants are immediately separable and will be issued separately. The warrants are exercisable beginning one year from the date of issuance and expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance. MicroVision expects to receive net proceeds, after deducting the underwriting discount, of approximately $9.9 million from the offering.

The offering is expected to close on or about June 20, 2012, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The securities described above are being offered by MicroVision pursuant to its registration statement on Form S-3 previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the offering, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The offering may be made only by means of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the prospectus relating to the proposed offering, copies of which may be obtained, when available, from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Attention: Syndicate Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, New York, NY, 10004, by telephone at 212-667-8563, or via email at [email protected].

MicroVision provides the PicoP display technology platform designed to enable next-generation display capabilities for consumer devices and vehicle displays. The company’s PicoP display technology uses highly efficient laser light sources which can create vivid images with high contrast and brightness. For more information, visit www.microvision.com

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June 14, 2012 — As light-emitting diodes (LEDs) replace cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) for backlighting of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), manufactures face LCD upgrades and supporting electronics redesigns. Endicott Research Group Inc. (ERG) developed the Smart Bridge module to quickly, easily and economically upgrade to LEDs, using the system’s existing input power signals.

Smart Bridge converts the analog dimming signal used for the inverter into a PWM signal for the LED driver. This powers the LED backlight driver without additional modifications. At Display Week this month in Boston, ERG’s Bill Abbott, corporate distribution manager, spoke with Solid State Technology about the industry need for conversion products. The move from CCFL to LED backlights is driven by RoHS legislation for many of ERG’s customers, he said. The transition adds about 10-15% to the backlight cost, but the real problem is re-qualifying a system-level design if you need to change all the supporting electronics. “LED backlights will be the standard soon,” Abbott noted. Even display makers that are exempt from RoHS will have trouble sourcing CCFLs.

A drop-in replacement to support the new backlights was important, Abbott said. Users remove the inverter, plug in the footprint-compatible Smart Bridge module, and connect the input cable from the existing power supply or controller to the Smart Bridge. The Smart Bridge module converts the Power · Ground · Enable · Control signals and mates directly to the LCD via a small harness, powering the new backlight driver correctly.

ERG currently offers three versions of the Smart Bridge module. The standard version (SBD4212F) is a Smart Bridge Pass-Through with Integrated PWM Dimming and operates from a typical 12V signal. The Smart Bridge DC-DC Converter with Integrated PWM Dimming (SBDCD4213F) is designed for applications requiring a step-up conversion from 5V to 12V. The third version is the Smart Bridge DC-DC Converter Without Dimming (SBDC4227F). The Smart Bridge modules are available in the footprint of most inverters, and custom footprints are available.

ERG also makes edge-light LED strips as drop-in replacement backlights. These meet or exceed the brightness of legacy CCFLs. Downtime to upgrade a display is minimal.

For more information, contact Endicott Research Group (ERG) Inc., www.ergpower.com.

June 14, 2012 — Dontech released the VCG-Series glass filters, formed with next-generation glass fabrication and thin-film vacuum deposition technology to provide exceptional optical transparency and environmental durability in displays.

Dontech’s precision glass optical filters are incorporated in demanding military, medical, industrial and avionic applications. 

The VCG-Series filters optimize display clarity and high ambient light contrast (enabling sunlight readability). Filters can be fabricated from chemically strengthened soda lime (etched or polished), borosilicate, fused silica, and optical glasses (e.g., Schott nBk-7).

VCG-Series filter customization options include high-energy vacuum deposited coatings such as antireflective, transparent conductive (EMI shielding, transparent heaters), and infrared (IR) or near infrared (NIR) blocking. Additional features include custom screen printing, polarizers, precision machining, and conductive optical grids (woven, etched and printed).  Dontech’s glass filters can be laminated or monolithic, clear or colored.

Filter sizes range from less than 1” to greater than 42” diagonal, as stand-alone display cover glass or integrated into a higher-level assembly. VCG-Series filters can be assembled into frames or bezels, or optically bonded to LCDs or touch screens by Dontech using its proprietary IMO-bond optical bonding process.

Dontech, Inc. is an ISO-9001:2008 certified designer and manufacturer of optical filters, coatings, and enhanced display solutions for military, medical, industrial, and avionic applications. Web: www.dontech.com.

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June 11, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:PANL), enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED technology and materials, announced record-breaking performance of its white organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting technology at the 2012 Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium, Seminar, and Exhibition.

Also read: Universal Display intros novel emission layer systems for OLEDs

Advances in white OLED device performance, reported for both flexible OLED and rigid glass formats, using Universal Display’s all-phosphorescent OLED architecture, may accelerate the commercialization of a variety of novel white OLED products for specialty and general lighting application.

“White OLED lighting has great potential to transform the way we use and experience lighting. With our power-efficient UniversalPHOLED technology and materials, OLEDs can play a meaningful role in reducing the energy impact of lighting, and, with advances in our flexible OLED technologies, OLEDs have the potential to enable innovative design concepts with novel form factors,” said Steven V. Abramson, president and CEO.

Believed to be a record for a flexible lighting panel, the 15cm2 white OLED lighting panel demonstrates a power efficacy of 47 lumens per Watt (lm/W) at 1,000 candelas per square meter (cd/m2) with an outcoupling enhancement of 1.4X. The white OLED panel, built on plastic substrate using the company’s novel single-layer barrier technology and highly-efficient UniversalPHOLED technology and materials, operates at a color rendering index (CRI) of 83 and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 3470K. This advance is a significant milestone toward the commercialization of thin, lightweight, rugged and flexible white OLED lighting.

Based on enhancements in materials and panel design, the 15cm2 all-phosphorescent white OLED panel, with a CRI of 85 and CCT of 3030K, demonstrates 70 lm/W and an operating lifetime of 30,000 hours (to 70% of an initial luminance of 1,000 cd/m2) with an outcoupling enhancement of 1.75X.

Universal Display’s phosphorescent OLED technology and materials offer up to a four-to-one power advantage over other OLED technologies, resulting in record energy-efficient OLEDs, the company reports.

Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq: PANL) is a leader in developing and delivering state-of the-art, organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies, materials and services to the display and lighting industries. To learn more about Universal Display, please visit www.universaldisplay.com.

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June 11, 2012 — 3M Optical Systems Division unveiled its OneFilm optical film technology, which incorporates the functionality of three individual light management films into a single enhancement film for LCD backlights.

Display devices with LED backlights, such as notebook computers, LCD TVs, and digital signage can be made thinner with significantly reduced materials, manufacturing processes, and associated costs by using the film, 3M reports.

Conventional LED LCD backlights require three to four separate films — diffuser, prism, microlens, reflective polarizer — above the light guide. 3M’s OneFilm technology consists of a single film — all other films above the light guide are eliminated. It can also be used with direct-lit type backlights. OneFilm is compatible with existing manufacturing facilities and processes, and is simply placed in the backlight during assembly, in the same manner as current optical films. 

“OneFilm marks a significant technical advance for the display supply chain, furthering 3M’s ongoing quest to deliver the most efficient, cost effective backlight solutions for LCDs,” noted Jim Bauman, vice president and general manager, 3M Optical Systems Division. “It is now possible to make LCD backlights using only one free-floating film.”

Bauman added, “As a result of 3M’s cutting-edge technology, LCD manufacturers can benefit from the reduction of materials and costs, as well as design simplification, inspection and assembly processes to enable even thinner, light-weight displays.”

From a performance standpoint, OneFilm is comparable to conventional LCD film stacks (as measured by Nits/Watts) and exceeds conventional systems in wide-angle luminance, which is critical for notebooks, LCD TVs, and LCD digital signage, and devices where shared viewing is key.

OneFilm is based on 3M’s Collimating Multilayer Optical Film (CMOF) technology, which collimates light without refractive structures (no prisms). As a result, for the first time, LCDs with highly integrated optics are possible with a single free-floating film.

Rather than refracting, OneFilm collimates light by reflecting higher angle light back to the recycling cavity, while providing higher transmission for light closer to normal incidence. Wide angle luminance can be significantly higher than incumbent stacks which use refractive structures. OneFilm provides a smooth, monotonic change of luminance with angle, which enables superior viewing. 

OneFilm is currently in development and being evaluated for TVs, Digital Signage and Notebooks.

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. For more information, visit www.3M.com 

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