Category Archives: Displays

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 14, 2012 — imec and Panasonic Inc. have entered into the next phase of a comprehensive and broadened collaboration agreement for joint R&D on healthcare, wireless communication, flexible electronics and advanced CMOS process technologies. The signing ceremony at the Panasonic Headquarters in Osaka (Japan) today was endorsed by the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium.

imec also signed research agreements with Tohoku University and HiSilicon recently.

Panasonic has been a core partner in imec’s research platform on advanced semiconductor process technologies since 2004. This collaboration has been fundamentally broadened in 2008, expanding the collaboration scope from advanced semiconductor process technology to also include various application areas of semiconductors. Throughout recent years, Panasonic residents have been working closely together with imec’s research teams both in Leuven, Belgium and Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Together, they have achieved breakthrough results in wireless communication, healthcare and next-generation CMOS technologies. The new agreement extends this collaboration for a period of 3 years and further expands to research on flexible electronics.

Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of imec, “I am very pleased that we will continue our strategic collaboration with Panasonic the coming years. The extension and expansion of our research collaboration is a confirmation of the value of our research offering to the industry. Through a collaborative approach of R&D, sharing resources and results, but also strongly protecting the generated IP, imec supports Panasonic already for 8 years to be at the forefront of innovation.”

Yoshiyuki Miyabe, the member of the board, managing director and CTO of Panasonic, “Panasonic continued to keep good relationship with imec for these 8 years. We hope to strengthen our “win-win” relationship for both imec and Panasonic to prosper.”

Imec performs world-leading research in nanoelectronics. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec.be.

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products in three business fields, consumer, components & devices, and solutions. For more information on Panasonic, visit the company’s website at http://panasonic.net/

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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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June 8, 2012 — Specialty glass producer SCHOTT announced the market entry of its Xensation cover glass, an alumino-silicate glass offering improved resistance to breakage and scratches for touchscreen display panels. The company also debuted a special anti-glare effect capable of significantly reducing glare on high-resolution displays.

Xensation Cover glass from SCHOTT.

Xensation cover glass launched in late 2011 and underwent an extensive qualification process at all large consumer electronics brands. First models of touch screen devices using Xensation cover glass will appear on the market in Q3 2012, said Lutz Gruebel, head of global sales and marketing activities of the SCHOTT Xensation brand family.

Tests took place at SCHOTT and customer sites using industry-standard cover glass processing parameters. Xensation cover glass consistently reached compressive stress values greater than comparable materials’ results: up to 20% higher bending strength.

Xensation cover glass can be chemically strengthened in less time than competitor glass types, the company reports.

Xensation Cover AG (Anti-Glare) glass from SCHOTT.

High-resolution displays can become distorted by adverse viewing conditions, such as bright sunlight or high ambient lighting. Xensation cover floated alumino-silicate glass is subjected to a custom-designed etching process developed by glass surface modification specialist Berliner Glas, whereby ions are taken out of the glass surface during etching to make it diffuse. Uniform removal of material is a critical requirement for ensuring the glass surface is perceived as faultless by the human eye and Xensation cover’s unique glass structure, combined with Berliner Glas’ etching technology, offers a uniform, homogenous structure not previously possible with ultra-strong glass types. Xensation Cover AG (Anti-Glare) glass is an ultra-strong glass that can be reproducibly treated and etched in a continuous, industrial-scale production process.

SCHOTT is a high-technology company and specialty glass supplier for sectors like displays. More information at www.schott.com.

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June 7, 2012 — Chinese suppliers of large-size liquid crystal display (LCD) panels are the fastest growing segment of the industry, although major South Korean brands continue to dominate, according to a new IHS iSuppli LCD Market Tracker report.

Table. Global large-size LCD panel market share (shipment volumes). SOURCE: IHS iSuppli Research, May 2012.

Rank Company HQ Q1 2012 shipments (thousands of units) Q1 2012 market share (%) Q4 2011 shipments (thousands of units) Q4 2011 market share (%) Q/Q growth (%)
1 LG Display South Korea 44535.6 28.1 44287.4 27.0 0.6
2 Samsung South Korea 36168.0 22.8 39149.1 23.9 -7.6
3 Chimei Innolux Taiwan 27360.6 17.3 29912.5 18.2 -8.5
4 AUO Taiwan 27328.0 17.2 16857.0 16.4 1.8
5 BOE China 7135.0 4.5 6018.0 3.7 18.6
6 Sharp Japan 4450.6 2.8 5325.5 3.2 -16.4
7 IVO China 4175.0 2.6 3529.0 2.2 18.3
8 Panasonic LCD Japan 2165.0 1.4 3200.0 2.0 -32.3
9 CPT Taiwan 1523.0 1.0 2145.0 1.3 -29.0
10 HannStar Taiwan 1095.0 0.7 1001.0 0.6 9.4
  Others   2635.2 2.0 2509.2 2.0 5.0
  Total   158571.0 100 163933.9 100 -3.3

Chinese panel suppliers capitalized on rising production and strong domestic demand for 32” TVs. #5 Beijing Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd. (BOE) of China achieved first-quarter shipment growth of 18.6%, the best performance among the Top 10 suppliers. #7 player Infovision Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. (IVO), also of China, increased its own shipments by a slightly smaller 18.3%, the second-best results for the Top 10.

However, it was two newer Chinese entrants that were not ranked among the Top 10 that saw the most explosive growth in the first quarter. CEC achieved a 63.5% expansion, while China Star Optoelectronics Technology more than doubled its shipments with a 103.3% increase, by far the largest growth in the market.

“The Chinese players are cashing in on the country’s fast-growing demand for 32-inch panels used in televisions,” said Sweta Dash, senior director for liquid crystal displays at IHS. “Meanwhile, the Chinese suppliers are ramping up production, allowing them to expand shipments at a fast pace. Both BOE and China Star have new 8.5-generation fabs, which will allow them to compete with other suppliers that possess similar next-generation fabrication facilities, especially in the television market. The Chinese manufacturers also are benefiting from new tariffs levied by their government, which are creating challenges for their overseas competitors.”

The table below shows the latest Top 10 rankings in the global large-sized LCD space, with market share listings based on unit shipments in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. Large-sized LCD panels are defined as those with a diagonal dimension larger than 10 inches.

China’s tariffs in April increased to 5% for imports of LCD panels sized 32” and larger, up from 3% before. The higher tariff has the potential to erode the market share of Taiwanese suppliers, because they now have such a large market share in China.

With overall opportunities tightening in the mature large-sized LCD panel market, partly because of the rising tariffs and increased competition from China, established suppliers based outside China are in the process of figuring out their strategies to outmaneuver the competition. Some are focusing on value-added or more differentiated products, such as high-resolution or 3D panels, while others are moving into new TV panel sizes like 39” or 50”. While the Chinese players focus on the 32” panel market, Taiwanese suppliers prefer to supply the most efficient panels that could be made in older Gen 7.5 fabs to avoid direct competition with their mainland rivals.

While the Chinese were foremost in terms of growth, the South Korean suppliers — LG Display Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. — continued to lead overall market share in the large-sized LCD panel business. Together the two South Korean electronic titans dwarfed all other players in the first quarter, accounting for 50.9% — slightly more than half — of global shipments for large-sized LCD shipments. The remaining 49.1% of the market was held by 15 players — six from Japan, five from China and four from Taiwan. The Taiwanese, despite having fewer players, held larger shares individually and collectively than their Chinese and Japanese rivals.

LG Display Co. continued to speed ahead of archrival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. as it widened its overall share in the large-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) panel market during the first quarter this year. This was due in part to LG profiting from the quarterly loss in shipments by other suppliers.

With shipments of 44.5 million large-sized LCD panels in the first quarter, LG accounted for a huge 28.1% of the market and was the undisputed leader in the space. LG’s performance handily beat out Samsung’s shipments during the same period of 36.2 million units, allowing Samsung to retain the runner-up position with a 22.8% market share.

For the first quarter, LG managed to actually expand shipments by 0.6% from a 27.0% share in the fourth quarter. In comparison, Samsung saw 7.6% of its shipments vanish from the fourth quarter, when it held 23.9% of the market.

The 8% decline in shipments at Samsung may have been caused by various factors, including a diminished customer base in China, the break-up of its LCD joint venture with Japan’s Sony Corp., and the decision by Samsung to focus more on high-end LCD segments in order to improve profitability. The decline in shipments during the period by the #3 player, Chimei Innolux Corp. of Taiwan, also helped LG to secure a bigger share.

Total large-sized LCD shipments worldwide amounted to 158.6 million units in the first quarter, down 3.3% from 169.3 million units in the fourth quarter but up 1% compared to the first quarter a year ago.

Part of the reason for the overwhelming dominance of the South Koreans was that both LG and Samsung supplied panels internally for their own divisions that make televisions, in addition to partnerships with other TV brands. Such vertical integration was missing in many other players, which could only supply panels to outside clients and had no captive internal markets of their own.

Among other large-sized LCD suppliers, both Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. and HannStar Display Corp. from Taiwan are moving away from the mature large-panel market to the small- and medium-sized LCD space, or even into panels for the touch screen industry, where greater opportunities are springing up given the increasing proliferation of tablets and smartphones. HannStar was the only company to fall out of the Top 10 in the first quarter, allowing previous 11th-place holder Tianma of China to take its spot.

Read more in IHS’s Recovery Expected in Large LCD Market in 2012 After a Very Slow 2011

IHS iSuppli’s market intelligence helps technology companies achieve market leadership.

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June 5, 2012 — Nanosys Inc. will supply the Optical Systems Division of 3M Company with quantum-dot-based technologies to provide wide color gamut for consumer electronic displays, allowing liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to display 50% more color.

 3M and Nanosys will work together to commercialize Nanosys’ Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF) technology. QDEF is a drop-in film that LCD manufacturers can integrate with existing production processes. It utilizes the light-emitting properties of quantum dots to create an ideal backlight for LCDs. The QDEF product took a gold award in the Display Component of the Year category of Society for Information Display (SID)’s Display Industry Awards this week.

Current LCDs are limited to displaying 35% or less of the visible color spectrum. Wide color gamut displays will enable more immersive and truer-to-life displays.

Color performance “has been largely neglected for the last decade,” said Jason Hartlove, president and CEO of Nanosys, adding that the drop-in quantum dot technology offers competitive advantage to LCD manufacturer against new display technologies such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

A quantum dot’s precise light-emission wavelength allows QDEF to create an ideal white backlight specifically for LCDs. The film packages trillions of quantum dots into a thin film inside an LCD backlight unit, without new equipment or process changes for the LCD manufacturer.

Nanosys, Inc. is an advanced material developer focused on inorganic materials for lighting, electronic displays, and energy storage. For more information, visit www.nanosysinc.com.

3M creates diverse products based on materials science. For more information, visit www.3M.com

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June 5, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL), maker of UniversalPHOLED technology and materials, introduced new red, green, and yellow UniversalPHOLED products during the 2012 Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week in Boston. The new offerings include novel emission layer material systems with enhanced performance to provide OLEDs with additional advantages for smartphones, TVs, and solid-state lighting.

“Our ongoing innovations in new materials and technology have allowed us to expand our product line-up that include new high-performance emissive layer systems for red, green, and yellow,” said Steven V. Abramson, president and CEO, Universal Display. “These next-generation systems contain our proprietary, highly efficient UniversalPHOLED emitter materials as well as novel host systems. These host systems combine our proprietary, cost-effective host materials with host materials from partner companies.”

Universal Display’s phosphorescent OLED technology and materials have demonstrated a four-to-one power advantage over other OLED technologies, resulting in record energy-efficient OLEDs. The new red UniversalPHOLED system, with CIE color coordinates of (0.66, 0.34), offers a luminous efficiency of 29 candelas per ampere (cd/A) with an operating lifetime of 600,000 hours (to 50% of initial luminance). The new green UniversalPHOLED system with CIE coordinates of (0.31, 0.63) offers 85 cd/A and an operating lifetime of 400,000 hours. The yellow system with CIE coordinates of (0.44, 0.54) offers 81 cd/A and 1,450,000 hours of operating lifetime.

Since 2003, the company has offered UniversalPHOLED emitters for commercial applications, and today offers a line of red, green, yellow, and light blue emitters for use in OLED display and lighting products. Recently, the company introduced high-performance host materials to its product line. The company’s proprietary hosts can be used alone or, as recently developed, in combination with complementary hosts from its material company partners. Designed to optimize the performance of the company’s UniversalPHOLED emitter products, these host systems have also been developed to provide cost-effectiveness in display and lighting applications.

Universal Display is the recognized leader in high-performance, energy-efficient phosphorescent OLED technology and materials, as well as related OLED technologies that deliver manufacturing and device performance advantages. With a comprehensive patent portfolio and technical expertise that cover these and other OLED technologies worldwide, Universal Display licenses its state-of-the-art OLED technologies, sells its proprietary UniversalPHOLED materials, and provides customized technology development and transfer services for its OLED display and lighting customers.

Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq: PANL) makes organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies, materials and services for the display and lighting industries. To learn more about Universal Display, please visit www.universaldisplay.com.

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June 5, 2012 – PRNewswire — The Society for Information Display (SID), a global organization dedicated to the advancement of electronic display technology, announced the winners of its 17th annual Display Industry Awards. The honorees will be recognized during a special luncheon as part of Display Week 2012, SID’s annual International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, taking place this week in Boston.

According to DIA chair, Robert L. Melcher, "Over the past five decades since SID was founded, we have witnessed new technology developments that would have been unimaginable even 10 years ago. This year’s crop of DIA winners is no exception, representing an exciting array of products that continue to advance the ‘state of the art’ in the display industry, and the consumer electronics industry at large. On behalf of SID, I want to congratulate each of these companies in winning the display industry’s top honor.  It’s great to see the impact that these products are already having in the commercial marketplace."

To qualify for consideration for a 2012 Display Industry Award, a product had to be available for purchase during the 2011 calendar year. The six winners, two in each of three main categories, were chosen by a distinguished panel of experts who evaluated the nominees for their degree of technical innovation and commercial significance, in addition to their potential for positive social impact.  The winning products and a brief description of each are listed below. A more comprehensive description of the award winners is included in the Display Week 2012 Show Issue of Information Display magazine.

Display of the Year: Granted to a display with novel and outstanding features such as new physical or chemical effects, or a new addressing method.

Gold Award: AU Optronics 55-in. 4K x 2K 2D/3D Switchable Glasses-Free TV Display

This year’s gold display winner is not only the world’s first 4K x 2K (or "quad-HD") TV display, but is also the currently the largest commercially available glasses-free 4K x 2K 3-D TV display.  Its 3840 x 2160 resolution delivers vivid, lifelike 2D images, while a simple switch by the viewer converts the image instantly into 3D format.  Thanks to the display’s lenticular lens 3D technology, no 3D glasses are necessary to view outstanding 3D images. Viewers can simply choose their preferred viewing positions and enjoy a pleasant and comfortable experience, without requiring additional eyewear or having to compensate for viewing "dead zones."  In addition, its glasses-free technology facilitates design-in of the display by AUO partners into their current systems.

Silver Award: Qualcomm mirasol Display Technology

Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc. designed mirasol displays to provide consumers with a display that delivers colorful and interactive content unfettered by lighting environments, including bright sunlight, while simultaneously significantly extending battery life. Already featured in e-readers currently in the market, mirasol display’ benefits can extend to other commercial applications. The MEMS-based technology mimics optical resonant cavities found in nature to create color via reflective interference and switching speed that makes mirasol displays video capable. Moreover, mirasol displays consume near- zero power when the display image is unchanged, making it highly energy efficient and especially well-suited for mobile devices.

Display Application of the Year: Granted for a novel and outstanding application of a display, where the display itself is not necessarily a new device.

Gold Award: Samsung Galaxy Note

A portable communication device designed with a 5.3-inch display using HD Super AMOLED technology, the Galaxy Note features a high-resolution (800 × 1280 pixel) screen that provides a dynamic, colorful, and comfortable viewing experience for content such as videos, photos, documents, and Web sites. Super AMOLED can depict more vibrant images since it has deeper blacks than LCDs and covers 95 percent of all natural colors. Also, depending on the screen’s white area, the AMOLED display adjusts its luminance for eye comfort.  With its large, dynamic screen and unique input technology, the Galaxy Note enables mobile communications in a more personal, creative way.

Silver Award: Perceptive Pixel 82-in. Projected-Capacitive True Multi-Touch and Stylus LCD

In August 2011, Perceptive Pixel introduced the first large-scale pro-cap interactive display that achieves the level of fidelity and performance necessary for real productivity. It is the world’s largest projective-capacitive multi-touch and stylus display, featuring true full-frame unlimited-finger touch and precision stylus sensing at 120 Hz across a proprietary sensor that is optically bonded to an 82-in. LCD panel. The display utilizes novel state-of-the-art projective-capacitive controller electronics with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), specifically designed for application at these large dimensions and in optically bonded sensor stack-ups. The unit’s proprietary 82-in. transparent conductor sensor is constructed on a thin 2-mm Gorilla Glass substrate, which Perceptive Pixel then optically bonds onto the LCD cell. Optical bonding greatly enhances the ruggedness of the system, serving as a protective cover glass to the cell against the focused force of a stylus tip. Perceptive Pixel’s 82-in. display can be frequently seen on CNN as well as other networks being used to cover this year’s historic presidential primaries and election.

Display Component of the Year: Granted for a novel component (sold as a separate part and incorporated into a display) that has significantly enhanced the display’s performance. A component may also include display-enhancing materials and/or parts fabricated with new processes.

Gold Award: Nanosys Quantum-Dot Enhanced Film (QDEF)

Color is the next major differentiator in the display market. A quantum dot, which is about the size of a water molecule, can emit any color of light at precise wavelengths. QDEF from Nanosys combines red- and green-emitting quantum dots in a thin, optically clear sheet that emits white light when stimulated by a blue LED light source. The result is lifelike, high-color displays that enhance the consumer experience, allowing more realistic digital viewing of photos, movies, and video games. Manufacturers that have invested billions in equipment for LCD production can simply slip QDEF into their manufacturing process, change their "white" LEDs to blue, and start producing LCD panels with OLED-like color performance and better energy efficiency, at a significant cost savings.

Silver Award: LG Chemical Film Patterned Retarder Incorporating Merck KGaA’s Proprietary Reactive Mesogen (RM) Layer

First commercialized by LG Chemical in 2010, this technology is 10 times thinner and 20 times lighter than glass-based patterned retarders, can be easily mass-produced, and makes enjoyment of 3D content more convenient. A film patterned retarder (FPR) is an optical component attached to a 3D LCD TV’s front polarizer to convert left- and right-eye images to left- and right-circular-polarized light, allowing viewers to enjoy 3D images through passive-polarized glasses. The reactive mesogen film used for LG Chemical’s FPR is made using Merck KGaA’s licrivue materials, formulated for coating onto flexible plastic substrates by using a roll-to-roll coating process. The coated licrivue RM materials align and follow the pattern of the photoalignment layer. This alignment is preserved by UV polymerization of the RM film to form the patterned retarder, delivering dimensional stability and superior performance in 3D displays.

The 49th SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, dubbed Display Week 2012, will take place this week through June 8, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Display Week is the premier international gathering of scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users in the field of electronic-information displays. For more information on Display Week 2012, visit www.displayweek.org.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Society for Information Display (SID) is the only professional organization focused on the display industry. In fact, by exclusively focusing on the advancement of electronic-display technology, SID provides a unique platform for industry collaboration, communication and training in all related technologies while showcasing the industry’s best new products. For more information, visit www.sid.org.

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