Category Archives: Touch Technologies

With Microsoft introducing Windows 8 operating system that provides the touch interface in the fourth quarter of 2012, notebook PCs with touch-screen panels were released. And this led to the opening of a new market, for projected capacitive touch panels of 10 inches or larger.

There have been issues with touch-screen notebooks in its initial market, and some may rush to call it a failure. But it’s been only less than a year since such laptops were released, and thus it is yet too early to make any decision. True. Looking at the business plans of major laptop makers for 2013, touch-screen notebooks should hold at least 10 percent of the total laptop shipments. In particular, brands from the great China region, including Lenovo, Acer and Asus, have set higher targets of achieving more than 20 percent. 

According to a research by Displaybank, acquired by IHS, total shipments of notebooks with touch screens were 4.57 million units in the first quarter of 2013, up 51.8 percent from a quarter earlier. The touch laptops made up almost 10 percent of the overall notebook market, whose shipments posted 46 million units. Considering that the market is at its initial stage, the penetration rate of touch-screen notebooks is quite high.

first quarter results of touch-screen notebook shipments
(Source: Displaybank, “Touch Panel Shipment Database – Notebook PC,” Q1-13)

With touch-screen notebooks released, manufacturing larger projected capacitive touch panels is accelerating and touch-screen panel related companies are trying hard to be the first to lead the market. Unfortunately, however, as there are no data on touch laptop market good enough to refer, it is not easy for the companies in the industry to set a business plan.

Displaybank published a quarterly “Touch Panel Shipment Database – Notebook PC” report to help them understanding the notebook-use projected capacitive touch panel industry quickly and accurately. The report provides quarterly shipments of touch-screen notebooks by unit/area/value; by inch; by brand; by form factor; by touch panel layer; by touch panel module and controller IC maker; and by cover window materials and bonding type, as well as top five models in terms of shipments.

Displaybank says the report should offer insight into the related market and industry to notebook set makers that are interested in notebook-use projected capacitive touch panels and companies related to touch panel modules, parts and raw materials.

Will the enabling and investment strategy of Intel Corp. lead to low-cost touch-screen-enabled notebooks that drive new demand for PCs and yield innovation in the global display market?

Find out at the IHS/SID 2013 Business Conference, held May 20 in Vancouver, Canada. At the event, Zane Ball, Intel vice president and general manager, Global Ecosystem Development, will deliver a keynote address discussing the company’s plan to empower the PC industry to produce low-cost notebooks incorporating touch technology.

“Intel is making major investments in the display supply chain to bring low-cost touch and high-resolution displays to the PC market,” Ball said. “We believe these investments will set the stage for PC makers to deliver notebooks with advanced features at reduced price points year over year.” 

Ball also will discuss Intel’s Ultrabook effort and its impact on the touch-screen market.

Intel’s keynote will provide a perfect starting point for the IHS/SID 2013 Business Conference, which this year is focusing on the theme of “Paths to a Healthier Display Industry.”

“From the keynote, to the presentations, to the panel sessions, the IHS/SID 2013Business Conference is completely focused on the products and strategies that can revive the health of the display business,” said Sweta Dash, senior director, display research and strategy, for IHS and also a speaker and organizer of the conference. “With the flat-panel TV replacement boom having concluded, the growth of the display business now must be driven by other product areas that companies can address through inventive form factors, features or pricing. This year’s conference will serve as a roadmap for suppliers and buyers who want to innovate their way to a healthier display business.”

Early-bird registration for the IHS/SID 2013 Business Conference, expiring May 2, is priced at $595; the standard fee is $650. Press registration is free. For more information, please visit the IHS/SID 2013 Business Conference registration page. The conference will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

In order to stave off the onslaught of popular media tablets and smartphones, notebook PCs need to evolve, adopting touch technology that has proved so popular among consumers.

Speaking at the upcoming Society for Information Displays (SID) 2013 Conference, Duke Yi, senior manager for display components and materials research at IHS, will present his vision for the future of touch notebooks. Yi will deliver his presentation at the SID Touch Gesture Motion Focus Conference on Wednesday May 22, 2013, in Vancouver, Canada.

“Touch screens are the hottest feature driving the near-term growth in the notebook market,” Yi said. “It’s true that it is impossible to use all the applications of a notebook perfectly just through a touch function. However, consumers will gain a greater familiarity with the touch system, allowing them to comfortably access many other functions on a notebook. In essence, the touch function is more of an assistant than the actual main interface in notebook PCs.”

But the incorporation of touch into notebooks does not just benefit consumers, as manufacturers also will find that adding this technology will be an effective way to keep the average selling price (ASP) of their notebooks from plunging. For this reason, touch will likely establish a solid foothold in the notebook market, IHS believes.

Tablet threat

It has only been three years since the Apple iPad came to market. Nonetheless, in that short time, media tablets have become firmly established and are on a strong growth path. Not surprisingly, tablets have become a huge threat to other products—including notebook PCs.

“Both the PC and the tablet markets want a piece of each other’s pie,” Yi said. “Tablet suppliers want some of the market share that notebooks have—and vice versa. So, while there is a clear intersection between the two applications, we see manufacturers and brands offering at least one or two crossover products that span the functions of both PCs and tablets.”

Yi’s session, entitled “Touch Gesture Motion Industry Analysis,” also will include the IHS outlook and growth opportunities for touch and interactive devices, with additional analysis from Geoff Walker, senior touch technologist for Intel Corp.

Early-bird registration for the IHS/SID 2013 Business Conference, expiring May 2, is priced at $595; the standard fee is $650. Press registration is free. For more information, please visit the IHS/SID 2013 Touch Gesture Motion Conference registration page.

The conference will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Atmel Corporation, a developer of microcontroller and touch technology solutions, this week announced the maXTouch T Series, its next-generation family supporting touchscreens up to 23 inches for applications such as handsets, tablets, Ultrabooks, notebooks and all-in-one computers.

The first device in the family, the mXT2952T, is the world’s first ultra-low power single-chip device that supports Windows 8-certified touchscreens up to 15.6 inches and optimized to support touchscreen cover glass as thin as 0.4mm.

The new T Series delivers a revolutionary adaptive-sensing architecture featuring both mutual and self capacitance to optimize performance. The maXTouch T Series automatically selects the best sensing architecture, seamlessly switching to enable higher performance and lower power consumption. Mutual capacitance enables true multi-touch tracking while self capacitance offers benefits including idle power consumption, moisture immunity, glove tracking, and hover capability which detects a finger or an object not in contact with the screen. The new maXTouch T Series enhances noise immunity with an industry-first capacitive touch dual analog and digital filtering architecture to deliver the best signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio and power consumption. The new features in the maXTouch T Series deliver improved responsiveness and a more intuitive user interface with additions such as hover that allow users to pre-select icons, letters, links and other images without physically touching the screen.

With the increasing popularity of active stylus on touchscreens, the maXTouch T Series natively supports Atmel’s maXStylus, a solution that requires no additional sensor layer to enable thinner stack-ups and lower overall bill of materials (BOM). The award-winning maXStylus offers a Window 8-compatible solution with better touch performance, lower power consumption and lower overall system cost than other capacitive active stylus solutions on the market today.

"Flawless touch performance, longer battery life and thinner screens for mobile devices are key features for today’s touchscreen designs," said Jon Kiachian, Vice President of Touch Marketing, Atmel Corporation. "As a leader in touch technologies, the maXTouch T Series is Windows 8 compatible, Intel Ultrabook-ready, and supports both active stylus and sensor hub. We are a leader in this space, and excited to deliver the mXT2952T, the world’s first single-chip controller for Windows 8-certified touchscreens up to 15.6 inches."

To better support Ultrabook and notebook touch sensors, the mXT2952T has specific circuitry to take advantage of ITO (indium tin oxide) alternative sensor materials such as Atmel’s XSense flexible touch sensor. This allows system designers to build more innovative designs with faster operation, lower power, borderless and even flexible touchscreens.

The maXTouch T Series integrates Atmel’s proprietary maXFusion sensor hub management technology that enables designers to manage both the touch interface and all the sensor intelligence in a single chip. This technology enables lower bill of materials and higher performance.

Cambrios Technologies Corporation, a developer of nanowire-based solutions for the transparent and flexible conductor markets, today announced the establishment of its branch office in Tokyo, Japan, and the appointment of Takashi Murayama as Country Manager for Japan.

"We are seeing growth opportunities in Japan and are already shipping from our ClearOhmTM product line," said John LeMoncheck, Cambrios’ president and CEO. "Our newly created Japan office will support customers using our cost efficient transparent conductors in applications such as All-In-One computers and other touch screen enabled devices."

To oversee sales and distribution of Cambrios’ products in Japan, the company has named Takashi Murayama as its Country Manager. Prior to joining Cambrios, Murayama worked as country manager for various leading companies in the microprocessor, communications and nanotechnology industries, including Transmeta, Conexant Systems, Beceem Communications and Unidym. He also spent 19 years in sales and marketing management roles with Intel Japan. Murayama holds a Bachelors of Science degree in electrical engineering from Kagoshima University in Kagoshima, Japan.

Cambrios is known for its first product, its ClearOhm coating material, which produces a transparent, conductive film by wet processing with significantly higher optical and electrical performance than currently used materials such as indium tin oxide. Applications of ClearOhm coating material include transparent electrodes for touch screens, EMI shielding, OLED displays, e-paper, OLED lighting and thin film photovoltaics.

Ditch the 3D glasses. Thanks to a simple plastic filter, mobile device users can now view unprecedented, distortion-free, brilliant 3D content with the naked eye. This latest innovation from TP and IMRE is the first ever glasses-free 3D accessory that can display content in both portrait and landscape mode, and measures less than 0.1 mm in thickness.

“The filter is essentially a piece of plastic film with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using IMRE’s proprietary nanoimprinting technology,” said Dr. Jaslyn Law, the IMRE scientist who worked with TP on the nanoimprinting R&D since 2010 to enhance the film’s smoothness, clarity and transparency compared to other films in the market.

To complement the filter, the team developed applications for two software platforms, Apple iOS and Android, which allow users to play 3D content through its filter, in both landscape and portrait formats. The applications also allow 2D pictures taken using mobile devices to be converted into 3D. The team will be releasing a software development kit that enables game developers to convert their existing games into 3D versions.

The team is also exploring using the same technology for security access tokens to decode PIN numbers sent online as an inexpensive and portable alternative to rival bulkier and more expensive battery-operated security tokens, similar to those used by Singapore banks today.

“The team’s expertise in both hardware and software development in 3D technology has enabled high quality 3D to be readily available to consumers,” said Frank Chan, the TP scientist who led the overall NRF-funded project. “We have taken age old lenticular lens technology that has been around for the last hundred years, modernized it and patented it using nanotechnology.”

Lenticular lens technology creates a transparent film that retains the brilliance of 3D visuals and effects, which does away with the need for stronger back lighting and saves on battery consumption in mobile devices.

“The successful development of this product is indeed testimony that we have been able to bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation in the area of 3D interactive digital media (IDM), aided by the NRF Translational R&D Grant and gap funding from A*STAR,” said Lay-Tan Siok Lie, Deputy Principal of TP.

The two-year project was initially funded under a National Research Foundation (NRF) Translational R&D Grant in Dec 2010 to look at optimizing the control of the nanostructures and integrating its effects with the complementary software applications. The team has since shifted its focus towards commercialization with support from Exploit Technologies  Pte  Ltd  (ETPL),  A*STAR’s  technology transfer  arm and a one-stop resource that brings together home-grown technology, funding, collaboration and networks to assist A*STAR spin-offs and start-ups.

“Our breakthrough is a game-changing piece of plastic that simply fits onto current smartphones or tablets to give users breathtaking 3D graphics on their smart devices. This removable plastic also opens up a multitude of opportunities for anyone wanting to create affordable premium 3D content and games for quick adoption to existing portable devices easily,” said Nanoveu Pte Ltd Founder and CEO, Alfred Chong.

The start-up is licensing the technology exclusively from ETPL and TP, and is currently securing the interest of local and overseas customers and investors.

“The success of this project is typical of what IMRE aims to do – innovate and turn science into an exciting business opportunity. I’m glad this has given us products that make life just a little bit more fun,” said Andy Hor, Executive Director of IMRE.

Quantum dots will cascade into the marketplace. They offer lower cost, longer life, and brighter lighting, according to WinterGreen Research’s  new study Quantum Dot and Quantum Dot Display (QLED) Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2013 to 2019.  

“The commercialization of quantum dots using kilogram quantity mass production is a game-changer,” said Susan Eustis, WinterGreen analyst. “High quality, high quantity and lowest price quantum dots increase product quality in every industry. The rate of change means speeded products cycles are evolving.”

Once manufacturers learn to integrate higher efficiency luminescent quantum dots into their products, each vendor will need to follow or dramatically lose market share, reports WinterGreen. This level of change brought by quantum dot and quantum dot displays (QLED) represents a new paradigm that will create new industries, products and jobs in science and industry. The list of possible quantum dot applications is ever expanding. New applications are waiting for the availability of more evolved quantum dots.

Quantum Dot LED (QLED) commercial focus has remained on key optical applications: Optical component lasers are emerging as a significant market. LED backlighting for LCD displays, LED general lighting, and solar power quantum dots are beginning to reach the market. Vendors continue to evaluate other applications.

Quantum dots QDs are minute particles or nano-particles in the range of 2nm to 10nm diameter. Quantum dots are tiny bits of semiconductor crystals with optical properties that are determined by their material composition. Their size is small to the nanoparticle level. They are made through a synthesis process. QD Vision synthesizes these materials in solution, and formulates them into inks and films. Quantum Dot LEDs (QLED) enable performance and cost benefits.

The quantum dot cannot be seen with the naked eye, because it is an extremely tiny semiconductor nanocrystal. The nanocrystal is a particle having a particle size of less than 10nm. QDs have great potential as light-emitting materials for next-generation displays with highly saturated colors because of high quantum efficiency, sharp spectral resolution, and easy wavelength tenability. Because QDs convert light to current, QDs have uses in other applications, including solar cells, photo detectors, and image sensors.

QLED displays are anticipated to be more efficient than LCDs and OLEDs. They are cheaper to make. Samsung estimates that they cost less than half of what it costs to make LCDs or OLED panels. QLED quantum dot display is better than OLED. It is brighter, cheaper, and saves more energy. Energy-savings is a strong feature. Its power consumption is 1/5 to 1/10 of the LCD’s Samsung offers now. Manufacturing costs of a display are less than half of OLED or LCD. It has a significantly longer life than the OLED.

QLED quantum dot display uses active matrix to control the opening and closing of the pixels of each color. Quantum dots have to use a thin film transistor. Emission from quantum dots is due to light or electrical stimulation. The quantum dots are able to produce different colors depending on the quantum shape and size used in the production of materials.

Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Nanoco Group plc (AIM: NANO) have a global licensing agreement for Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum dot technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Dow Electronic Materials will have exclusive worldwide rights for the sale, marketing and manufacture of Nanoco’s cadmium-free quantum dots for use in electronic displays.

Pixelligent Technologies, a manufacturer of nanocrystal additives for the electronics and semiconductor markets, last week announced the launch of its PixClear Zirconia nanocrystals. When incorporated into existing products, the nanoadditives can dramatically increase light output and readability of modern touch screens and displays. PixClear, Pixelligent officials say, also increases the light output of products for lighting applications such as HB-LEDs and OLEDs.

Prior to Pixelligent, nanocrystal dispersions suffered from aggregation and were cloudy, difficult to process, and unstable, which prevented their commercial adoption. But Pixelligent officials claim their PixClear dispersions are something new: they’re perfectly clear. These clear dispersions allow Pixelligent to deliver precise control over the target applications’ optical, chemical and mechanical properties.

“Pixelligent is at the forefront of developing nanotechnology innovations that will revolutionize light management in display and lighting applications,” said Craig Bandes, President and CEO of Pixelligent.  “The launch of PixClear is a great example of our ability to identify a need in the industry and then create a high-quality and scalable solution that will dramatically impact the performance of numerous end-products.”

Pixelligent’s PixClear nanocrystal dispersions have been tailored to be compatible with a wide variety of monomers and polymers. PixClear’s synthesis and surface modification technology produces high-quality dispersions that can be incorporated into many of the most widely used polymer systems. This enables highly transparent formulations with nanocrystal loadings in excess of 80 percent weight, while reaching a refractive index as high as 1.85, levels that are unmatched in the industry to date. Additionally, it provides great flexibility for index matching dissimilar materials and when using modern high-speed polymer film forming techniques.  

In their official release, Pixelligent claims the advantages of PixClear nanoadditives include a high refractive index, high transparency at visible wavelengths, low haze coating, improve scratch resistance, and an easy integration into existing manufacturing processes.

The employment of touch panels on mobile phones has paved the way for easy access to various operations. Moreover, there are increased demands for more specifications with the mobility, notably for outdoor readability. Touch panel makers are seeking ways to catch both greater specifications and lower cost at the same time, amid rapidly falling touch panel prices. Thus, the capacitive touch panel structure is undergoing the sea of changes.

Capacitive touch panels could be largely divided into the GG method (cover glass + ITO glass sensor), mostly used by Apple, and the GFF type (cover glass + two ITO film sensors). However, recent developments have introduced new structures that are more efficient in production and cost; ones with superior optical traits; and some with favorable weight/thickness.

Regardless of the type, the cover glass and touch sensor have a high cost ratio for all structures. As for 10.1-inch tablet PCs, the cover glass takes up 35% and the touch sensor around 30~32% for both GG and GFF types, which is why all the attention is being put on touch sensors.

Cost Ratio of Touch Materials by Structure

display market analysis

(Source: Displaybank, “Touch Panel-use ITO Film/ITO Glass 2013”)

With the rapid growth of the tablet PC market, the ITO film market has seen a staggering growth in demand with more manufacturers, which once insisted on glass sensors, switching over to film. The ITO film industry is even faced with supply shortages because it was late in responding to the exploding demand.

Meanwhile, some laptop models and all-in-one PCs have been employing touch panels with the launch of Windows 8. Since it is still in its initial stages, the touch panels are only employed on some of the high-end ultrabook models. But touch functions are expected to be increasingly applied on mid-end products. Considering that touch panels applied on mid-end products need to be cost efficient, GFF or GG types are most likely to be employed rather than the current G2. However, since there is an absolute shortage of large-sized glass sensor lines, and because mobile devices have to be light, GFF types have a higher chance of employment over the GG, which is why demands for ITO film is expected to grow. But along with such movements, large supplies of ITO film are forecasted for next year, suggesting a quick fall in ITO film sensor prices.

Against this backdrop, Displaybank analyzed and forecasted the ITO film/ITO glass market, technologies, and industry. The report forecasts the market by continuously observing and assessing the following issues:

ITO Sensor Market Forecast
Market forecast based on future touch panel strategies; cost simulations; possible supply capacity; and surrounding infrastructure of the major models, such as the iPad, the iPhone, the Galaxy Note, and the Galaxy.

Film Sensor
Considered enhanced outdoor readability through narrow bezel, use of sunglass film, and increased direct bonding; greater demands for fine patterning as a result of enhanced readability; the problem of resistance which is an obstacle to upsizing; and trends surrounding replacements.

Glass sensor
Considered the employment of thin-film glass; and how to maintain the side solidity to expand the sheet G2 market

The touch panel market is growing rapidly due to the increasing sale of smartphones and tablet PCs. The touch panel market size in 2012 was 1.3 billion units, a 39.4% growth over 2011. The market is projected to grow 34% in 2013, growing to more than 1.8 billion units, according to a new research report from Displaybank.

Source: Displaybank, "Touch Panel Market Forecast and Cost/Issue/Industry Analysis for 2013"

Smartphone and tablet PCs, major applications that use touch panels, are expected to continue to grow at a high rate. In addition, most IT devices that use display panels have either switched to or will start using the touch panels soon. Therefore the touch panel market will show a double digit growth annually until 2016, by unit. The market size is expected to reach more than 2.75 billion units by 2016.

With the explosion in the sale of smartphones and tablet PCs during the past few years, our lives have changed dramatically. They are now common place in our lives, and have a huge influence in the IT industry in general. With the introduction of Windows 8 OS in October 2012, upsizing of touch panels has begun. The impact of this event on the immediate growth of the touch panel market and the long-term effect is so immense that it cannot be estimated at the moment.

The financial crisis that started in 2008 left much of the IT industry hobbling worldwide. But only the touch panel market is enjoying a boom. Many new players are pouring into the industry, and those on the sidelines are waiting for the opportune moment to enter. As more players enter the competitive landscape, touch panel prices are falling rapidly. In addition, to gain competitiveness and to differentiate itself in the market has led players to develop and improve structure, technique and process, and seek out new materials.

The introduction of Windows 8 is leading the increase in touch capable Notebook and AIO PCs. It is still too early for the touch interface to completely displace keyboard and mouse, but the touch functionality does add convenience to some operations. We are sure to see an increase in specialized apps that capitalize on such functions. Therefore, touch functions will complement traditional input methods. As the technology is still in early implementation stages, it is used only in select high-end Ultrabooks. But it’s only a matter of time before touch functions make its way to mid-end products.

Forecasting the future of touch panel industry is not only difficult, but also outright confusing in the current landscape due to the rapid expansion; the increase in number of devices that use touch panels; more players in the market; and rapid development of new products and new processes. Displaybank has released "Touch Panel Market Forecast and Cost/Issue/Industry Analysis for 2013" to provide industry outlook by application, product, and capacitive touch structure. The report also includes the supply chain of set makers and touch panel manufacturers; and cost analysis of major capacitive touch panels by size and type. This report will serve as a guide to bring clarity and understanding of rapidly transforming touch panel industry.