Display Technology News Roundup 9.21.2015

Image via Honeywell

How Display Technology Transforms Control Rooms "Regardless of the size of the display, ease of use is a key design factor. Operators are being asked to control far more pieces of equipment, and many of them are complex machines that run at far higher speeds than their predecessors. That means operators must be able to understand and analyze a lot of information. "The amount of data available today is an order of magnitude different than several years ago," Scott says. "We’ve moved to graphics, but a human’s visual awareness to see everything and the amount of information people can process hasn’t changed. Going forward, HMIs need to provide better information and keep the operator in the loop so they truly know what’s going on. When something goes off the rails, they need to know what steps to take." Many HMIs are being designed to help operators focus in on problems. And when problems occur, they’re providing information that helps operators know what to do to rectify the situation." via Automation World

Apple 3D Touch – the iPhone 6s reboots multitouch "Apple revealed the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, and along with them a new sort of multitouch: 3D Touch. This system has Jony Ive saying that "tapping, swiping, and pinching have forever changed the way we interact with our digital world" - now it's time for Peek and Pop. This is what you might recognize as a technology called Force Touch, but here Apple is suggesting it's different enough from previous iterations that it'll be called something different: 3D Touch. According to Ive, "you can dip in and out of where you are, without losing sense of your context." This system has a light press for one action and a deep press for another. To see and sense these touches, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus works with capacitive sensors integrated into the backlight of the phone's display." via SlashGear

The Smart UI Design Behind Apple’s Frictionless 3D Touch "You could think of 3D touch as a right-click for a touchscreen. It’s a gesture that unearths a vast amount of extra information and functionality with very little effort. To make sense of this new form of interaction, Apple has given different types of presses playful nicknames—peek and pop—that fit neatly into the vocabulary we already understand with swipe, tap and pinch. Peek and pop have essentially turned the iPhone operating system into nesting dolls of information. Press on the screen a little harder than usual and you’ll experience peek—a preview of information like emails, directions, or photos. Press harder yet and you’ll “pop” into that information deeper, navigating directly to the app itself. “It isn’t really a new gesture, just an extension of one you already know very well,” explains Tobias van Schnieder, lead designer at Spotify. ...True 3D touch doesn’t feel essential in the way that the first generation of multi-touch interactions do today. It might not for a while." via Wired

Profit Margins for Large-Area Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays to Drop ""Even with recent price declines, many large panel sizes currently sell at marginal profits," Annis said "At least for now, panel makers have decided to keep utilization high and minimize overhead costs, in order to chase as much profit as possible while they are still able to. The downside to this strategy is that panel inventories at set-makers have ballooned, widening the gap between TV panel shipments and TV set shipments." As this excess inventory is sold down, panel prices are also expected to decline rapidly. Large-area display profitability will likely follow the same trajectory. At the same time, a substantial number of new eighth-generation (Gen 8) factories are currently ramping up production. Dedicated capacity for large-area displays will grow at a rate of 6 percent in 2015 and 8 percent in 2016, the highest rates in several years." via I-Connect007

Displays for a New Generation of Electronics "Whether the display serves a large-screen TV, a smartphone, or a wearable device, power consumption plays a key role in the design process. The issue of energy efficiency poses a problem for OLEDs that rely on fluorescent emission. This technology converts only 25% of the excitonic energy used to create light, with the remaining 75% lost as heat. In the late 1990s, Princeton University and the University of Southern California found that the use of soluble phosphorescent small-molecule materials improved the energy-to-light conversion efficiency to nearly 100%. UDC has since refined and advanced phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) technology. In addition to achieving greater energy efficiency, PHOLED technology reduces the display’s operating temperature considerably. Because higher temperatures accelerate degradation of the organic materials, the heat reduction extends the life of the PHOLED and reduces the amount of air conditioning required to keep the display cool." via IHS Electronics 360

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Quantum dots move into monitors "According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spin-out QD Vision, upon whose “ColorIQ” technology the displays are based, that represented the world’s first quantum dot monitor. ...When illuminated by the blue LEDs that typically feature in LCD backlights, the quantum dots act like a phosphor, generating light across the rest of the visible spectrum. The specific wavelength of that re-emitted light depends on the precise size of the quantum dot nanocrystals, and can be carefully controlled. According to the company, it means that its Color IQ optics emit “pure, finely-tuned colors”, enabling better color saturation and color rendering compared with standard LCD screens. “Most LCD TVs available today offer size and definition at the expense of color, using a smaller color gamut that only achieves 60-70 percent of the NTSC standard,” claims the firm. “With Color IQ optics, LCD TVs and other displays can achieve 100 percent of the standard.”" via Optics.org

Military display technology lets commander 'see through' armour "Developed by defence firm BAE Systems, the BattleView 360 is a digital mapping system that uses cameras and sensors to track the positions of all surrounding features of interest in both two and three-dimensional modes. A specially designed headset can be synced to vehicle cameras to allow commanders to 'see through' their vehicles in both visual and infra-red in real-time, or alternatively the feed can be transmitted to a touch-screen display. The live-feed will be overlaid with information from other vehicle systems and the touch-screen display can be used to identify friendly and enemy forces, for route planning and to let the commander view the display of other crew members, such as the gunner." via E&T Magazine

Will the next big Samsung phone have a display screen that folds in half? "With Samsung's phone sales looking troubled these days, the company has been forced to differentiate its devices with features like dual-curved displays and the S Pen stylus. A phone with a foldable display could be exactly what Samsung needs to win back customers who have defected to cheaper Chinese devices or Apple's iPhones. A foldable display isn't without precedent. In 2008, Samsung showed off a prototype of a display that folds in half at The Society for Information Display (SID), an event that showcases innovative display technologies. You can see the prototype display in action in the video above. (Video)" via Mashable

Will in-cell touch displays for smartphones rise rapidly? "The share of in-cell and on-cell touch display solutions within the smartphone industry is rising fast, according to WitsView. With Japan panel makers as the leading adopter, the combined share of in-cell and on-cell solutions in the smartphone market is expected to hit 40.6% in 2015 and will likely reach 47.8% in 2016, as these technologies will subsequently gain support from other panel makers from South Korea, Taiwan and China. "In-cell technology began to attract the market's attention when Apple introduced it to the iPhone 5 series," said Boyce Fan, senior research manager for WitsView. "The technology gained additional momentum as Japan panel maker Japan Display (JDI) seized the opportunity to apply its hybrid in-cell solution to all of its high-end smartphone panels. Since then, JDI has aggressively promote this technology in China, raising both the reputation of in-cell displays in the high-end smartphone market and the panel maker's brand recognition."" via DigiTimes

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What Is HDR (High Dynamic Range) Display Technology? "HDR-capable displays can read that information and show an image built from a wider gamut of color and brightness. Besides the wider range, HDR video simply contains more data to describe more steps in between the extremes. This means that very bright objects and very dark objects on the same screen can be shown very bright and very dark if the display supports it, with all of the necessary steps in between described in the signal and not synthesized by the image processor. To put it more simply, HDR content on HDR-compatible HDTVs can get brighter and darker at the same time, and show more shades of gray in between. Similarly, they can produce deeper and more vivid reds, greens, and blues, and show more shades in between. Deep shadows aren't simply black voids; more details can be seen in the darkness, while the picture stays very dark. Bright shots aren't simply sunny, vivid pictures; fine details in the brightest surfaces remain clear. Vivid objects aren't simply saturated; more shades of colors can be seen." via PC Magazine

Exploring Virtual Reality Display Technology in the Military Industry "The reason why I am reporting this here is the appearance of VR & AR components directly into the military mix, and also the latest technology seen here that is also about to once again cross the divide and make itself felt in the consumer sector. Regarding home grown technology from the defence industry (that we are able to talk about publicly), the big buzz at the show was the Striker II. Developed by BAE Systems, and called by the company most advanced fighter pilot helmet, to evaluate its digital night vision capability and target awareness. This space age Head-Mounted Display (HMD) (the defence sector coining the phrase originally) utilizes cutting-edge tracking system that ensures the pilot’s exact head position and the aircraft computer system are continuously in syn. While the digital night vision is projected into the pilot’s view, along with representations of target and aircraft instrumental data." via Road to VR

How Display Technology Is Going Organic "A third challenge involves cost. OLED displays are made using a fine metal mask to create the pixel pattern. In this approach, a thin sheet of metal with holes in it is placed over the substrate, and the organic molecules travel through the holes before ending up on the substrate. That is cost-effective for small displays, which helps explain why OLEDs have done so well in mobile applications. When the same technology is scaled up for a large display or television, however, drawbacks appear. It becomes difficult to make the masks and to maintain the proper tolerance. Also, during processing, the masks have to be cleaned periodically. What’s more, the mask must be precisely positioned from one pass to another so that the different colors found in each pixel properly align to each other. Partly as a result of such factors, today a large OLED TV can be many times the cost of a similarly sized LCD TV." via Photonics Spectra

How Is Clothing Being Turned into Information Displays? "Researchers from Holst Centre (set up by TNO and imec), imec and CMST, imec’s associated lab at Ghent University, have demonstrated the world’s first stretchable and conformable thin-film transistor (TFT) driven LED display laminated into textiles. This paves the way to wearable displays in clothing providing users with feedback. ...The conformable display is very thin and mechanically stretchable. A fine-grain version of the proven meander interconnect technology was developed by the CMST lab at Ghent University and Holst Centre to link standard (rigid) LEDs into a flexible and stretchable display. The LED displays are fabricated on a polyimide substrate and encapsulated in rubber, allowing the displays to be laminated in to textiles that can be washed." via Solid State Technology

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NASA’s Avionic Cockpit Display Helps Mitigate Supersonic Booms "While low-boom supersonic aircraft will minimize the intensity and occurrence of sonic booms, atmospheric physics still dictate that shock waves will reach the ground in some form, no matter how well the vehicle is designed. The question is whether the location and strength of these waves can be predicted and, if so, can the information be relayed to the crew in time for them to do something about it?" via Aviation Week

Car makers going big on 3D touch control, says UK sensor firm "The company said it is seeing its QTC force touch sensors being integrated under in-car surfaces such as plastics, rubbers, wood, leather, metals and glass. Neil Jarvie, Peratech sales v-p, says that the capability to incorporate pressure sensing that capacitive touch sensing does not provide is important for Tier 1 automotive companies. The matrix sensors are designed to track multiple touches for position on X and Y axes and independent pressure sensing along the Z-axis. According to Jarvie, this allows designers to reduce button count in the centre stack, steering wheel and other cockpit surfaces." via ElectronicsWeekly

What is the challenge of parasitic extraction for touchscreen designs? "One of the major verification challenges for touchscreens is parasitic extraction. Because a finger or touch tool is essentially a big conductor sitting on top of the screen, a 3D field solver extraction tool is typically required to achieve the desired accuracy necessary to capture the subtle effect at the touch point. However, most field solvers do not have the capacity to evaluate an entire design in a timely manner, making them unacceptable for production design. Capacity in this instance means the ability of the extraction tool to run on big designs to completion. For example, if an extraction tool runs on a design for three days and generates accurate results, it does not suffer from a capacity issue, but it may suffer from a performance issue. If another extraction tool runs on that same design, but never finishes, it has a capacity issue, which means the algorithm inside the tool is not well-suited for large designs. Capacity is simply a metric, like accuracy and performance. With field solvers, capacity is typically an issue because of the resources required to do the extensive computational work. What is needed is an extraction tool that can deliver field solver accuracy with a satisfactory turnaround time for production designs." via EDN

Here's why Apple made the touchscreen stylus that Steve Jobs hated "When Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller announced that the company's stylus for new iPad Pro would be called Pencil, the crowd audibly laughed in unison. On the surface, it was because it played into the stereotype that Apple lays claim to everyday inspirations. But on a deeper level it traces back to former CEO Steve Jobs, who famously said in 2007 at the initial iPhone reveal, "Who wants a stylus? You have to get em', put em' away. You lose them. Yuck." Yet it turns out that eight years later, some people do want a stylus — and they've improved substantially alongside the devices with which they're used. ...Steve Jobs didn't envision the iPhone 1 being a viable tool for graphic designers and illustrators, people who've long used pro-grade products from companies like Wacom. But now, the Pencil is an option for those who want to use the iPad Pro as if it were a sheet a paper and the stylus as if it were — wait for it — a real pencil. Apple has designed the pen so that it has little to no latency. It can draw thicker lines with applied pressure and orient its toolset to whether you're tilting the pen, for shading, or dragging it along the surface to draw lines or form letters. These selling points make it clear that the Pencil is not designed to help you clean out your inbox." via The Verge

This Head-Up Display Helmet Will Make F-35 Pilots Missile-Slinging Cyborgs "After years of delays and more than $60 billion dropped on development, the jet is finally just about ready, and it’s bringing some pretty slick tech along with it—including a brand new helmet that will let the pilot see through the plane, aim missiles with his eyeballs, and keep an eye on key data no matter where he turns his head. The F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System, developed by a joint venture led by defense contractor Rockwell Collins, takes the head-up display (HUD) usually projected onto on a piece of glass at the front of the cockpit, and puts it on the helmet. That means the pilot’s always got it in his field of vision, and can see useful data like the horizon, airspeed, altitude, and weapons status wherever he’s looking. More than keeping the pilot’s cranium safe from smacking against the canopy, and mounting stuff like a sun visor and oxygen mask, the Gen III helmet is designed to improve the pilot’s situational awareness. At engagement altitudes of a few thousand feet and speeds of up to Mach 1.6, it’s crucial to know what’s going on ahead of, to the side of, above, and below and the jet." via Wired

Virtual Reality's Pursuit Of Presence and True Immersion "Depending on where an object lies in our visual periphery, our sight of it may be less sensitive to fine detail (or high-resolution), but more aware of latency and rapid changes. Research into VR must account for both this requirement of highly precise rendering in particular regions of the visual spectrum and the low-latency necessities of generating the entire view-scape. What does this all mean? Well, an immersive display capable of outputting a human eye’s expected resolution of 60 ppd requires an incredible 7.2K of horizontal and 8.1K of vertical pixels per eye — or 116.4 million pixels (megapixels) total or 16k resolution! Current displays, such as the latest home entertainment systems and VR technology, are capable of up to “only” 4K resolutions. As VR display research advances, though, 16K per-eye resolutions will likely be achievable within a few years. But what about latency? After all, low latency is absolutely essential for true immersion, and arguably is the most important performance metric for VR." via TechCrunch

New system for deposition of OLED barrier films "AIXTRON SE a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, has sold the first Optacap-200 encapsulation tool to a major Asian display manufacturer. The standalone R&D system that handles substrate sizes of 200 mm x 200 mm was ordered in the third quarter 2015 and is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter 2016. The innovative Optacap plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology enables the deposition of highly flexible and effective barrier films for thin-film encapsulation of OLED display, OLED lighting, organic photovoltaic and flexible electronic devices." via Printed Electronics World

Introducing an Automultiscopic Display "A team of researchers at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (Playa Vista, CA) have developed a system that captures videos in a unique way and then presents full sized images of people on a so-called 'automultiscopic' display. The term automultiscopic is used to define a display that allows multiple users to view 3D content simultaneously, without the need for glasses. A recent publication by the team is entitled 'Creating a life-sized automultiscopic Morgan Spurlock for CNNs "Inside Man."' A copy of this brief article is available on-line and can be found here. The production of an automultiscopic image begins with capturing video of the subject. Done while the subject is uniformly bathed with intensely bright light, the capture is accomplished using 30 Panasonic X900MK 60p consumer cameras spaced over 180°." via DisplayDaily

Projected Capacitive Touch Screen Technology and Borders "The size of a PCAP sensor is directly related to the size of the display active area and the borders needed to have a linearly sensitive, reliable sensor that can be manufactured efficiently. Many different options are available for hosting the conductive traces that make up the bulk of that border, all with their own pros, cons and costs. Ideally, the sensor and the display would have the same active and outer areas, but as display borders get narrower, the touch sensor industry is striving to keep pace. By far the most common type of projected capacitive touch screen traces is the printed metal trace, usually Ag (silver). There are three main methods for creating these traces: printing, laser ablation and sputter deposition. These are listed in increasing trace density and price. The printing option is the cheapest and fastest method, but the traces are limited by the screen or ink deposition resolution." via TouchInternational

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Display Technology News Roundup 5.31.2014

Image via Wired

How Did Oculus Rift Make Virtual Reality Real? The Inside Story "But even these couldn’t give Luckey the immersion he craved. When he put them on, he felt like he was looking at a play space, not living inside of it. “It wasn’t garbage,” Luckey says, “but it wasn’t virtual reality.” The image quality was poor, because the transmissive LCDs weren’t high-contrast. The head-tracking latency was off the charts, causing a nauseating lag every time he turned his head. But most of all, the field of vision was too narrow. He could always see the edge of the screen, which meant his brain could never be truly tricked into thinking it was inside the game. Luckey figured that he had as good a chance as anyone to solve those problems. So he tinkered, and tinkered some more, and one night in November 2010 he announced to the world—or at least to the message-board denizens of a 3-D-gaming news site called Meant to Be Seen—the existence of PR1 (for Proto­type 1), his first stab at a virtual-reality device. It was a cumbersome beast, built on the shell of a headset from his collection. It displayed only in 2-D and was so heavy that it needed a 2-pound counterweight in the back. But thanks to a massive chassis that could fit a nearly 6-inch display, it boasted a 90-degree field of vision, an angle nearly twice as large as anything else on the market." via Wired

How Can New Transistors Bring Flexible Screens Closer to Reality? "The electronics world has been dreaming for half a century of the day you can roll a TV up in a tube. Last year, Samsung even unveiled a smartphone with a curved screen, but it was solid, not flexible; the technology just hasn’t caught up yet. But scientists got one step closer last month when researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory reported the creation of the world’s thinnest flexible, see-through 2D thin film transistors. These transistors are just 10 atomic layers thick--that’s about how much your fingernails grow per second." via PCB Design 007

Tribute for liquid crystal display pioneer "Mathematician Frank Leslie, who died in 2000 aged 65, developed a theory of liquid crystals while working at the University of Strathclyde. ..."Engineers use the Ericksen-Leslie equations to optimise their flat-screen displays, making them thinner, faster and higher resolution. "Chemists use the Leslie viscosities to help make new improved liquid crystal materials, which can be used for both displays and for other applications, such as in biology. Professor Leslie's research is so influential that if you look around, you will probably spot at least one screen - maybe the computer screen you have on your desk or the mobile phone in your pocket - that has been developed with the aid of his equations."" via BBC News

Industry's first non-ITO film-based 42" display "The module was built by Amdolla Group, a leader in advanced touch module manufacturing, using Cima NanoTech's highly conductive, silver nanoparticle-based, SANTE® FS200 touch films. ...With a scan rate of 150hz for 10-point multi-touch, rivaling the response time of smartphones and tablets, this jointly developed product dramatically increases the speed of large format touch displays. Unlike optical and infrared touch solutions, this module does not have a raised bezel for a smooth cover glass. In addition, the random conductive mesh pattern formed by SANTE® nanoparticle technology eliminates moiré, a challenge for traditional metal mesh technologies, thus enabling touch screens with better display quality." via Printed Electronics World

Medical Imaging Display Market Shows Robust Growth "In the surgical display market, larger screens with higher resolutions are becoming more common and affordable and many are already being installed in surgical rooms, as collaboration among medical professionals, both on-site and virtual, becomes more popular. ...In addition, several key trends in the flat panel display market, including the shift to LED backlights, large, high-resolution 4 MP and 6 MP displays that can be split, color displays that can accurately show both color and grayscale images, and the wide availability of 4K displays, is expected to have different impacts on the various segments of the medical imaging market." via eWeek

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How does oleophobic/hydrophobic coating enhance display glass durability? "Abrisa Technologies introduces CleanVue PRO™, a severe abrasion resistant oleo/hydrophobic coating that repels dirt, dust, water, grease and oil, enhancing display glass performance and longevity. This protective coating is well-suited for high performance anti-reflective (AR) coated cover glass for displays used in high contrast, heavy use and/or harsh environments. The resulting coated surface is easy-to-clean and maintain, does not stain, allows repeated removal of fingerprints, all while maintaining its anti-reflective properties. CleanVue PRO™ is ideal for protective vehicular instrument control panels and devices, field use touch and display panels, projected capacitive (PCAP) and capacitive touch screens, portable handheld devices, teleprompters, virtual reality applications, in-flight and vehicular entertainment screens and a host of other display devices." via ThomasNet

Will the Demand For Higher Generation Glass Substrates Drive Corning’s Display Volumes? "Glass substrates are manufactured in different sizes which are indicated by the “Generation”. Higher Generations have a larger area. Display panel manufacturers prefer higher Generation glass,specifically Generation 8, since it is much more economical. In the third quarter of 2010, 41% of LCD TV panels were produced using Generation 8 LCD glass. By third quarter of 2013, the number increased to 87%. Additionally, with improvements in glass manufacturing process, higher Generation glasses are becoming thinner and lighter and can be used to produce display panels for a variety of other devices, such as smartphones and tablets. In the third quarter of 2010, the use of Generation 8 glass substrates was limited to LCD TVs and monitors. However, by the third quarter of 2013, Generation 8 glass substrates received acceptance in display panels for notebooks, tablets and smartphones, albeit accounting for a small proportion. The over demand for Generation 8 glass substrates is expected to increase 3% by the third quarter of 2014." via Trefis

Display industry prepares for SID 2014 "The 51st SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, or Display Week 2014, will take place June 1-6, 2014 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. 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 2014, visit www.displayweek.org or follow us on Twitter at @DisplayWeek. Display Week-related tweets can be created, viewed and shared using the hash tag #SID2014." via IT Business Net

Will Sony and Panasonic form OLED Display Panel Collaboration With Japan Display? "Cracking the cost formula for big OLED TVs is still a challenge for the industry as a whole, but Japanese manufacturers hope they may still have chance to compete against South Korean rivals in smaller-size panels through a three-way tie-up, one of the people said. Japan Display, owned around 35% by a government-backed fund, is the world's biggest maker of smartphone and tablet displays and has a pilot line at its plant to develop OLED screens. Having listed its shares in March, the company itself was formed two years ago through a merger of the LCD units of Sony, Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp." via The Wall Street Journal

Why Did Samsung Blow Large Screen Smartphones? "A recent Canalys report noted a trend showing demand for larger displays shifting to premium smartphones. But, despite the company's dominance in the large-screen smartphone category, Samsung may be missing the boat. In Samsung's most recent quarter, the company reported slowing demand for its premium smartphones. And despite increases in total smartphone shipments, profits for the company's mobile business actually declined. What Samsung failed to realize: When larger displays are reserved for premium devices, the high value of the feature can be used to support a company's premium pricing tier and help buyers quickly identify a company's flagship products." via The Motley Fool

Can augmented reality be made more comfortable? ""Minimizing visual discomfort involved in wearing AR displays remains an unresolved challenge," says first author Hong Hua of the University of Arizona. "This work is making a significant step forward in addressing this important issue." A lightweight, compact and high-performance Google Glass-like device-called an optical see-through head-mounted display (OST-HMD)-could potentially be "a transformative technology to redefine the way we perceive and interact with digital information," Hua says. For example, it could one day allow a doctor to see computed tomography (CT) images overlaid on a patient's abdomen during surgery or provide a new way to train soldiers by incorporating 3-D virtual objects into real-life environments." via Space Daily

'Thermal Touch' Tech Turns Any Surface Into a Touch Screen "Sure, wearable headsets are practical and fun, but are they reaching their full potential? Not according to augmented reality firm Metaio, which this week unveiled a thermal imaging system for use in AR headsets. The company's initial Thermal Touch prototype attaches infrared and standard cameras to a tablet, which then tracks the heat signature left behind when you touch a surface. Still about five or 10 years away from hitting the market, the technology will eventually focus on heads-up displays (HUDs) or interactive spectacles. (Video)" via PC Magazine

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Taking touchscreens into the third dimension "While some end users will continue to prefer designs with buttons and knobs, touchscreens have become sufficiently robust and low cost to make them a viable alternative. ...Microchip has taken it to a new dimension. Literally. Using its GestIC technology, user interfaces can be taken into the third dimension, allowing gesture recognition at distances of up to 15cm from the sensor. The chip containing the GestIC technology is the MGC3130, which features a low noise analogue front end, integrated digital signal processing unit, frequency hopping against noise and recognition of XYZ positional data – most specifically hand gestures. "There is also preprocessed gesture recognition [on the chip]," said Duvenhage. "You could do normal waves in specific direction, or you can do more complicated gestures, like a circle or the equivalent of what we call an 'air wheel' where you can adjust something by rotating your hands clockwise or counterclockwise."" via New Electronics

How can military augmented reality displays be commercialized? "ARC4 isn’t a pair of sci-fi glasses; in fact, it’s not a hardware system at all. Rather, it’s is a software system that accepts inputs from a sensor module made of cameras, satellite information, and head tracking technology, and fuses it all into a display that can be overlaid onto someone’s field of vision. Functionally, the end product makes walking around look a lot like playing a first-person shooter game like Halo. In the military, it provides real-time information to soldiers about their environments, even if their vision is obstructed. ...In a military setting, ARA has used hardware like BAE System’s Q-Warrior display—a large, expensive device that fits in on the battlefield but never takes off in a store. But the ARC4 systems don’t have to be installed on huge devices, says Allan York, ARA’s senior vice president. “Essentially, in a package the size of a sugar cube, you can have the sensing components necessary.”" via The Daily Beast

Is hologram-guided heart surgery a heartbeat away? "This proprietary digital technology from RealView Imaging in Yokneam projects hyper-realistic, dynamic 3D holographic images of body structures “floating in the air” without the need for special glasses or a conventional screen. The physician can literally touch and interact precisely with the projected three-dimensional volumes, providing an unprecedented tool for planning, performing and evaluating minimally invasive surgical procedures. Cofounder Shaul Gelman explains that the breakthrough technology can be summarized as very rapid printing of light in free space. The system is fed with data from standard medical imaging sources, such as ultrasound." via Israel21c

WORM display lets you write with light "Scientists at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) have developed displays that can be written on and erased with light. The WORM (Write Once Read Many) display is an optical storage device whose molecular geometry can be altered by shining light on it, allowing information in the form of words or pictures to be impressed on it in as little as 20 seconds. The environmentally-friendly display is also easy to dispose of, the researchers report, as users only have to scratch its surface to remove its protective coating and dip it in water to dissolve it. The displays are created using highly photosensitive compounds and can be written on using ultraviolet (UV) light. To fabricate the display, the researchers mix the compounds with liquid crystals and create two substrates. Transferring information involves placing a photo mask containing the data on top of the second substrate and exposing it to UV light with a wavelength of 365 nm." via Gizmag

A Crazy Levitating Display, Made With Particles and Projectors "Pixie Dust, as the team is calling it, builds on their previous system, which used a four-speaker array to summon objects into the air and move them around in three-dimensional space. ...Projection-mapped particulate ghosts are likely still a ways off. Still, the demos here are a fine holdover–and a reminder that our the possibilities of next-gen displays extend to far more than pixels trapped in a frame. (Video)" via Wired

Tactile touch technology "A conventional tactile touch system (e.g., smartphones) presents the same sensation over the entire surface so that all fingers coming into contact with the surface experience the same sensation. In contrast, the new NLT tactile touch technology provides regional stimulation, which is provided by electrostatic force. The electrostatic force is generated by the beat phenomenon in a region where excited X electrodes cross excited Y electrodes, which presents tactile sensation to the users. The tactile touch technology applied to the panel provides multi-finger interaction." via SPIE

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Display panel makers steaming ahead at full capacity "Industry research institute WitsView recently stated that a momentous boom is poised to carry the panel-making sector through the third quarter, straining production at near capacity. According to the institute, the display panel industry is in the early stages of a transition toward newer product specifications, resulting in strained production output as companies work toward improving manufacturing yield rates and materials consumption efficiency. In addition, the rise of new panel specification is expected to divert limited production capacity from more conventional display panel formats and constrain supply." via The China Post

Could Apple use solar-charging touchscreens on future iPhones, iPads, or iWatches? "The new patent describes a “solar cell stack-up configurations” that includes one or more touch sensor layers and one or more solar cell layers. ...“Using solar cells on portable devices, particularly handheld portable devices with small form factors, however, poses certain technical and/or design problems. For example, the small size of the portable device means there is a small surface area which can be used for placing solar cells. This surface area is typically further reduced by other components that appear on the surfaces of the devices such as input devices and display devices. Since the maximum solar energy that can be produced from a solar panel is roughly proportional to the surface area of the solar cells, this reduces the amount of solar energy that may be gained from the solar panel,” the patent read." via Digital Trends

Will ITO disappear as a display manufacturing material? "Similarly, we all know about indium tin oxide, the transparent conductor commonly known as ITO, and the crucial role it plays in LCD manufacturing and in touchscreens. Some estimates say that more than 80% of indium use is in these applications, and the stuff is used in other areas such as solar PV arrays, too. I’ve heard a few voices that say the price will just continue to rise and rise, and companies will be lucky to get enough to make their screens. They may want to pause to draw breath. Companies like Kodak and Cambrios have been working on the printing of very fine silver wires. By fine, think much thinner than one micron. Because of the conductivity of silver, this still works in carrying sufficient current to an LCD pixel or identifying location on the surface of a touchscreen. ...This doesn’t mean that ITO use will be eliminated. Indium is a by-product of zinc production, by and large, and so the price could likely drop a long way before hitting negative gross margins. That means the cost of ITO can also drop a long way. It seems likely that silver wires and ITO could share the display and touchscreen markets, maybe with silver wires dominating in areas where power consumption is critical. But the idea that indium price and demand will just continue to rise indefinitely is likely wrong." via InvestorIntel

How the US Navy Is Pushing the Touchscreen Envelope "The Navy will soon field its first 3-D Weapons Launch Console Tram Trainer at the Submarine Training Facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ...The screens — some up to 55 inches — are not just touch-sensitive but pressure-sensitive. There’s no mouse-clicking to make things happen; sailors are expected to reach out and “grab” the objects they want to manipulate. ...In fact, this simulator is pushing the state-of-the-art in haptics, or tactile feedback, and is helping to move the simulation industry itself to a new level." via DefenseNews

Automotive Displays: Visteon OASIS Cockpit Concept "Optimized. Adaptable. Secure. Intelligent. Seamless. In collaboration with Cisco, this cockpit concept securely connects all aspects of the vehicle to the user profile and cloud services. It uses a secure data pipe that actively switches methods (modem, phone tethering, WiFi®), while maintaining a seamless connection to the cloud. This makes the cockpit adaptable through personalization, off board computing and intelligent vehicle module updates - giving the user and auto manufacturers intelligence about user interactions and preferences to improve the HMI experience. For more information about this and other exciting concepts, visit visteon.com. (Video)" via YouTube

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Display Technology News Roundup 5.6.2014

Image via Cypress Semiconductor / Electronics Weekly

What are the design considerations for large-area touchscreens? "As screen sizes increase, the main challenge for capacitive touch is maintaining the same performance users have come to expect from a mobile phone but over a larger screen. This means scanning more intersections, over more surface area, in the same amount of time. ...It is challenging for large screens to maintain fast refresh rates because the touch controller needs to sweep greater surface area, gather data from all intersections, and process that data." via Electronics Weekly

Why Are Mobile Display Revenues Overtaking TV Displays? "With larger display area and comparatively higher unit prices, LCD TV panels have generated a majority of FPD revenues since 2006, but over the past three years, the market for mobile devices has expanded. The recent trend toward higher resolutions, slimmer and more lightweight specifications, wider viewing angle, lower power consumption, and the emergence of LTPS and OLED displays are causing mobile display revenues to soar." via PCB007

Why Did Apple Just Buy A Tiny Display Company And What Could It Mean? "Apple used to push display technology with its products, most notably when it brought the Retina Display to the iPhone. But that hasn’t been the case lately, which makes its recent acquisition of tiny LuxVue Technology all the more interesting. But LuxVue’s technology has fascinating implications around low power and high brightness and could eventually mean Apple will manufacture its own displays for the first time. It could also allow the company to gain technological leadership again, as it has with its own in-house chipmaking, which was also made possible by an acquisition that didn’t seem especially all that important at the time. In a scoop over at TechCrunch, Apple responded with its typical non-comment about what it intends to do with LuxVue and to say the company is little known would be a case in understatement." via Forbes

How Can Quantum Dots (QDs) Increase Display Color and Brightness with Less Power? "The optical and electrical properties of the manufactured crystals can vary markedly according to their size and shape: The bigger the dot, the larger its bandgap and the longer the wavelength it emits. The smaller the dot, the smaller its bandgap – which means a shorter wavelength due to the quantum confinement of electrons and holes in these nanomaterials. Quantum dots offer marked advantages over fixed-spectrum conventional phosphor technologies because QDs are tunable, so they can be induced to emit at a very narrow wavelength. Improvements to the technology in recent years are also making them more attractive." via Photonics

Why is smartphone component production causing LCD display shortages and hurting the display industry? "In recent months, there has been growing demand for a number of high-value components for smartphones and tablets, including fingerprint sensors, CPUs, cameras and touch controllers, along with 4K television timing controllers. According to NPD DisplaySearch large-area displays analyst Peter Su, semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan have increasingly been prioritising the manufacturing of these higher-value components over timing controllers [T-cons] for LCD displays. In a statement, Su warns the prioritising of higher margin components is leading to a shortage of T-cons." via Smart Company

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Sharp improves TN LCD panels with clever light scattering optical film "Adding a film to a TN panel isn’t a new concept, but Sharp’s film promises to do a much better job of improving angled viewing. Typically, existing films only improve viewing horizontally, not vertically. Sharp’s new optical film improves both by scattering light and being able to control which direction that light is scattered in." via Geek

How have avionic displays entered the future? "Analog gauges, often referred to as “steam gauges,” ruled the instrument panels of all aircraft for nearly 80 years. But with the advent of powerful and inexpensive semiconductors, and the clarity of liquid crystal diode displays, it became easier to combine many instruments onto space-efficient, yet easy to read, glass screens called multi-function displays (MFDs). Along with advancements of glass display screen came synthetic vision systems (SVS). Loosely defined as real-time, 3D color imagery, SVS makes paper navigation products nearly obsolete. Instead, it uses a preloaded, internal database to create a pilot’s-eye view of the terrain the aircraft is passing over at that time." via Aviation Today

What are the challenges of designing automotive heads-up displays? "HUDs work by projecting an image, usually from a liquid crystal display (LCD), onto the windshield or a piece of glass above the instrument cluster. ...Designing a good HUD presents many challenges. It needs to have a very wide contrast ratio. It must display an image bright enough to be clearly seen on a sunny day, but also dim the image so that it does not obscure the driver’s vision at night." via EDN

How did Apple and Samsung get into a smartphone war? "The first products known to have been the focus of one of Samsung’s major price-fixing conspiracies were cathode-ray tubes (C.R.T.’s), which were once the technological standard for televisions and computer monitors. According to investigators in the U.S. and Europe, the scheme was quite structured: competitors secretly got together in what they called “Glass Meetings” at hotels and resorts around the world—in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and at least eight other countries. Some of the meetings involved the most senior executives, while others were for lower-level operational managers. The executives sometimes held what they called “Green Meetings,” characterized by rounds of golf, during which the co-conspirators agreed to raise prices and cut production to receive higher profits than would have been possible had they actually competed with one another. The scheme was eventually exposed, and over the course of 2011 and 2012, Samsung was fined $32 million in the U.S., $21.5 million in South Korea, and $197 million by the European Commission." via Vanity Fair

How to Install a Heads-Up Display in a Fifth Gen Camaro "There’s just something about checking your speed, gas gauge, and tachometer without having to look down that makes driving a new Camaro quite enjoyable and, once you’ve experienced that luxury, it’s quite difficult to go back. Unfortunately, not every fifth-gen Camaro shipped from the factory with a HUD and if you’re in the market for a used 2010, or you’re an original owner who didn’t have the option available at the time of purchase, you might think you are out of luck. But fear not fans of the futuristic windshield gauge concept, Heads Up can be yours and it can even be installed in your own driveway with a couple of factory parts and a weekend worth of work, if you’re willing to put in the effort. That said, we should mention up front that this can be quite a daunting task if you’re easily intimidated by making a mess in your new Camaro and it certainly isn’t a modification for the faint of heart. You’re going to have to dig in deep and, at some point, wonder if you’ve made a major mistake." via GM High-Tech Performance

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Will virtual reality (VR) make flat panel displays obsolete? ""A traditional display, especially larger ones, they're very expensive to manufacture and ship... it's literally just a lot of plastic and a lot of glass in a big box that has to be shipped across the world," Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey continued. "Sometimes it breaks, then it has to sit on a giant store shelf until someone buys it. Once VR is commoditized, let's say 10 years from now, the tech from two years prior, you'll be able to buy a really good VR headset for $99, because there's not much material, once it's all commoditized..."" via Ars Technica

UK Developers Create Reach-Through Displays For Tabletops "Researchers from the University of Bristol have reportedly developed a new reach-through tabletop display with personal screens comprised of a curtain of mist, according to research scheduled to be presented later this month at an international conference on human-computer interaction. ...The device is known as MisTable and it is described as a tabletop system that combines a traditional interactive table with personal monitors built using fog between the user and the table’s surface." via redOrbit

New display brings the Internet to your wall "That's where Electric Objects, Jack Levine's new venture, comes in. He wants to take some of the more serene parts of the Internet out of that stress-inducing device sitting on your desk, and put them on your wall through a different kind of device. ...The product is still in the prototype phase. But the current unpriced model hacked together by Levine is bigger than an iPad and, at 23 inches, smaller than most TVs. A final, more polished version will include a screen designed to be on at all times, with sensors that detect if anyone is nearby, activating the screen. It will also have a tilt sensor to reorient itself in either landscape or portrait modes, and an ambient light sensor to keep the brightness low and subtle." via Fast Company

Why Some Doctors Like Google Glass So Much "At a recent event hosted by Google’s Cambridge branch, doctors from across the country came to show off how they’d thought of harnessing Glass for medicine. One presenter, Rafael Grossman, a surgeon based in Bangor, Maine, was the first person to use Glass during live surgery. He thinks the technique could help doctors teach new surgeons. But for the pilot at Beth Israel, video is off the table, at least for now. “We wanted to stay away from anything that could potentially be misconstrued as leaking patient information, so until we had a case study and a good foundation, we purposely stayed away from enabling the video feed,” says Horng." via MIT Technology Review

How tiny company Amorphyx is seeking to reshape the huge, mature business of manufacturing displays "Cowell and Amorphyx co-founder and chief executive John Brewer Jr. are preparing for a whirlwind, four-day trip to Taipei, Japan and South Korea, where they will meet with executives of major display manufacturing companies including Samsung and Sony. They hope to make progress toward an agreement to cooperate in testing and refining a process that would replace silicon-based transistors with amorphous metals-based resistors. Amorphyx has been doing this on a small scale in the lab, where it sprays two layers of metal compounds and an insulator onto wafers, then tests them for conductivity. Now it hopes to kick the process to a higher production volume. For the layperson, what this means is that displays built with Amorphyx's non-silicon process would consist of fewer layers than prevailing liquid-crystal manufacturing technologies, cost less and could be used on flexible surfaces." via Oregon Live

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Shape-Shifting Touchscreen Buttons Head to Market "That technology was developed by startup Tactus Technology, which uses tiny fluid-filled channels and elastic blisters to make buttons rise up from a device’s screen and then disappear without trace when they’re no longer needed (see "Demo: A Shape-Shifting Smartphone Touch Screen"). Electronics manufacturing giant Wistron has now modified equipment at one of its factories in China to produce touch-screen panels with the shape-shifting technology inside. Wistron is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers; it’s made devices for brands including BlackBerry, Apple, and Acer. The company also recently became an investor in Tactus." via MIT Technology Review

A Joystick-Inspired Interface Could Solve Smartwatch Displays' Biggest Problem "Think of the way we used to use those small nubs located in the middle of an older laptop’s keyboard to move the cursor, and you’ll understand how this concept — created by Robert Xiao, Gierad Laput and Chris Harrison — works. Except that instead of a cursor, it’s navigating a mobile device’s UI that usually relies on taps and gestures. The problem is that your fingers are usually far too large to use all the same gestures you rely on with your smartphone on a watch’s tiny touchscreen. And you usually end up blocking the display in the process, making it even more difficult. So this concept reproduces most of that functionality with a watch display that can be subtly tilted side to side, up and down, rotated, and even pressed like a button." via Gizmodo

Should touchscreens be more intuitive? "Chris Harrison from CMU's Future Interfaces Group thinks modern, "flat" software doesn't profit from our dexterity with real-world tools like cameras, markers or erasers. To prove it, he created TouchTools, which lets you manipulate tools on the screen just as you would in real life. By touching the display with a grabbing motion, for example, a realistic-looking tape measure appears, and if you grab the "tape," you can unsheathe it like the real McCoy. " via engadget

Japan’s New Floating Touchscreen "The process is very fast paced, actually...allowing for highly responsive image manipulation. Hundreds of pictures are taken per second by stereo cameras. This allows the technology to precisely track a user’s hand and finger gestures as they relate to the floating images on the screen. These gestures are then translated into commands by computer software. Professor Ishikawa explains the advantage of gesture technology: “In hospitals and such during surgery, when one’s hands are dirty, it’s still possible to use this, or to use it in a variety of situations at a construction site.”" via Trefis

Atmel Announces Next-Gen Touchscreen Controllers "Atmel is well-known in the context of MCUs and FPGAs -- but it is also a major player with regard to touchscreen technology, especially in the large format screen space. ...The mXT1066T2 and mXT1068T2 controllers support both mutual-capacitance and self-capacitance sensing. By intelligently switching back and forth between the two and using a hybrid approach, designers can achieve optimal power consumption and noise immunity, even in high humidity and moisture environments, while supporting bare finger and gloved operation. Additionally, mXT1068T2 controllers supports hover operation in which the user's finger can be up to 20mm above the touch surface." via EE Times

Touchscreen Interface Based on Little Mobile Robots "Thumbles features tiny little omnidirectional robots that live on top of a projected screen. By grabbing them and dragging them around as they try to drive around, you can experience a completely new type of physical interactivity. What makes Thumbles unique is that the robots can move by themselves. They can provide force feedback, or dynamically form different kinds of physical controls, or act as virtual representations of things like molecules or mechanical structures. (Video)" via IEEE Spectrum

Could 'Star Wars' holographic displays become a reality? "HP Labs spinout Leia believes it is. Using a clever system of diffraction gratings, its small displays produce 64 different versions of each image, allowing a viewer to move around an object or person shown on the display as if it was right in the room with them. CEO David Fattal spoke to an eager crowd of imaging researchers at Stanford University about his company’s progress since it separated from HP. While the concepts behind Leia are the same as when the team’s work at HP was first published in Nature last year, the new company now has full color prototypes with improved resolution as it prepares for a product launch. Key to Leia’s technology is the use of fairly simple diffraction gratings at each pixel to redirect the backlight in different directions. " via ExtremeTech

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Display Technology News Roundup 2.9.2014

Image via Macworld

Why doesn't Apple does make a touchscreen MacBook? "The appointment of Craig Federighi as the leader of all of Apple’s software efforts could have been seen as a sign of that merger, but Federighi himself is adamant that the Mac will always be true to itself. “The reason OS X has a different interface than iOS isn’t because one came after the other or because this one’s old and this one’s new,” Federighi said. Instead, it’s because using a mouse and keyboard just isn’t the same as tapping with your finger. “This device,” Federighi said, pointing at a MacBook Air screen, “has been honed over 30 years to be optimal” for keyboards and mice. Schiller and Federighi both made clear that Apple believes that competitors who try to attach a touchscreen to a PC or a clamshell keyboard onto a tablet are barking up the wrong tree. “It’s obvious and easy enough to slap a touchscreen on a piece of hardware, but is that a good experience?” Federighi said. “We believe, no.”" via Macworld

Will Your Next TV Be An LCD? Not If This Startup Has Its Way "Kateeva, which has 68 employees on board after acquiring OLED Plus in Korea today, has some intriguing technology that could change the game — and level the playing field at the same time. ...To date, all the OLEDs you’ve seen — whether on your Samsung phone, or one of the high-priced TVs — have been made using an expensive, wasteful, sloppy process. The OLED material is vaporized and then winds up on the screen once it re-forms into a solid. Merck, which supplies the chemicals that form the OLED material, believes this method has a dim future: “OLED production based on chemical vapor deposition can hardly be cost competitive to LCD,” it said in a recent presentation on the topic." via Forbes

Why Are Automotive LCD Instrument Panels On the Rise? "With drivers becoming increasingly inundated by technology in the dashboard, the focus for automotive designers and engineers has primarily been on the "center stack" of the interior, where primary screens and controls typically reside. But as LCDs are added to—and even take over—the instrument panel (IP) and displace analog gauges, some of the coolest innovations are happening right under drivers' noses — and appearing in lower-priced cars. ...The reason for this IP innovation is that drivers are being asked to process more information while behind the wheel, and automakers and their suppliers are tasked with presenting it in a way that doesn't divert attention away from the road." via PC Mag

Will New OTFTs Revolutionize Flexible Display Technology? "Adding to the growing list of companies or research firms that are exploring the technology, the UK-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) recently showed off its new backplane fabrication process that will allow organic thin film transistors (OTFT) arrays to be bent up to a radius of 1mm without showing any significant reduction in performance. As the technology advances, the OTFT arrays could potentially be integrated into foldable, ultra-flexible AMOLED backplanes. This in turn could open the door to all sorts of new types of flexible and foldable devices." via Android Authority

Display database for engineers Search thousands of display panels by multiple characteristics and compare results side-by-side using the display database multisearch.

Are AMOLED displays at risk of burn-in? "The problem is the “O” in the AMOLED acronym, which stands for “organic”. The organic compounds used in AMOLED displays are polymers or copolymers, such as polyfluorene (PFO) and polyphenylene vinylene (PPV), both of which degrade with use. This is partly due to the fact that the chemistry involved in creating the electroluminescence is irreversible, so the luminous pixels degrade as they’re used up, like a battery. These organic materials tend to crystallise, too – an effect that is exacerbated at higher temperatures. That’s something to bear in mind the next time your phone becomes warm while you’re playing a game or watching a video." via PC Pro

Will Chinese display panel manaufacturers pose a threat to Taiwan manufacturers? "Taiwanese flat-panel makers could see their position in China threatened by local rivals by 2016, when Chinese firms are expected to begin mass producing next-generation products, a local market researcher predicted on Wednesday. Mass production of panels started at two advanced Chinese plants in the third quarter of 2011, and four others are expected to catch up by 2016, moving China forward in the panel industry, according to Delux Chen, a flat-panel industry analyst at the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA)." via Want China Times

Taiwan's TAITRA looking for next big thing in display panel sector "Most notably, TAITRA Chairman Wang Chih-kang [in January] urged Taiwan's display panel makers to ramp up efforts toward innovating new products and developing new technologies amid heightened competition from mainland China. China last year imported about US$4.5 billion worth of display panels from Taiwan, said Wang. With production capacity growing rapidly across the strait, and increased efforts from South Korean competitors in the China market, the industry may not be able to expect procurement to continue at volumes seen in previous years, Wang said. “While Taiwan still retains a lead in display technologies, innovation remains the only path for the sector's survival,” said Wang, while also urging structural reform across industries and further deregulation of Taiwan's market." via The China Post

F-35 Test Pilots Will Begin Flying “Gen” Helmet Display "Getting the HMDS right is a serious issue because the F-35, the DOD’s costliest weapons program, was designed without a pilot’s heads-up display, a feature that is common to fourth-generation fighters. In September 2011, F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin (Stand CS02) awarded a contract to BAE Systems (Stand U67) to develop an alternate HMDS with detachable night-vision goggles (NVGs) as a fallback system in the event VSI failed to resolve issues with the chosen helmet-mounted display." via AIN Online

Can New HMI alternatives improve operations and cut costs? "The fewer moving parts of multitouch tablets make them a better choice for workers who visit dusty, wet, and corrosive environments. Industrial tablets have the durability required for these areas, and many can be operated while wearing gloves. Furthermore, they can improve worker safety through the creation of commands that cannot be performed unless both hands are on the screen. Although it is unlikely that businesses are going to swap their functioning screens for new multitouch ones, it is highly probable they will replace worn-out screens with multitouch capability as the price for these devices drops. Multitouch functionality is also expected to become more ubiquitous due to the integrated support for the technology in new Windows operating systems. Eventually, all screens will likely have multitouch capability, so it is smart to select an HMI package that supports it." via InTech

Will OLET Slowly Encroach OLED Market? "The South Korean display industry has come out on top in LCD and OLED, becoming the envy of the world. Yet, Professor Lee Sin-doo is already making preparations for the future, refusing to sit on his laurels. What he is currently keen on is an organic light-emitting transistor (OLET). In contract to OLED that has two electrodes (the cathode and anode), OLET, a new light-emission concept, comes with three electrodes, giving it a competitive edge over OLED. OLET uses network electrodes, so it can emit light in the same structure without being affected by the type of substrates. The centerpiece of OLET lies with addressing OLED’s shortcomings. The supply of light though vertical-type organic transistors can solve OLED’s problems, so OLET will soon take over from OLED." via Korea IT Times

Will Wearable Tech Change the Smartphone as You Know It? "CA Technologies CTO John Michelsen thinks that if wearable technology does replace the smartphone, next-generation display technology will need to play a key role. "It depends on the visual technology. It's the display," Michelsen says. "What am I going to do when someone emails me an Excel file and I need to do a quick review and respond? The smartphone is barely viable as it is. If we can get display tech that lets me hit a button for a display, I think the cell phone goes away."" via CIO

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How the Avegant Glyph's virtual retinal display mesmerizes "Unlike most headset displays that are built around a small digital screen, the Glyph creates an image by reflecting a low-powered color LED onto an array of two million tiny mirrors. The micromirrors shape the light into a two-dimensional image, which is then beamed straight onto the wearer's retina – hence why they're referring to it as a "virtual retinal display." Since you aren't looking directly at the light source, the image comes off as more true-to-life and, according to the designers, reduces eye fatigue." via Gizmag

How display technology based on EYEBALLS makes devices more readable "Phones typically have a light sensor which ramps the backlight up and down based on the ambient light conditions. This is a limited solution, however, as daylight can be fifty times brighter than indoor lighting. The human eye copes with this well; transmissive technologies like LCD and OLED can't. Apical's technology counters this by modifying the image, pixel by pixel, based on the ambient light, the direction of the light and the estimated viewing angle. By increasing the contrast with this "assertive" display they can keep the image on your device readable as you move from indoors to outdoors." via The Register

Japan Display announces mass production of Memory-In-Pixel reflective-type LCD module "Since the MIP structure can keep screen images in the static random access memory transistor fabricated in each sub-pixel, in the case of still images, once data is written it is kept, and ultra-low power consumption is achieved. The new scattering layer optimizes the panel’s optical design, and enables a near paper-like display. Since the display consumes very little electricity it is suitable for ultra-low power applications, like wearable devices, which are not recharged for long periods of time. " via Fareastgizmos

How a new transparent display system could provide heads-up data "Many current “heads-up” display systems use a mirror or beam-splitter to project an image directly into the user’s eyes, making it appear that the display is hovering in space somewhere in front of him. But such systems are extremely limited in their angle of view: The eyes must be in exactly the right position in order to see the image at all. ...The secret to the new system [from MIT researchers]: Nanoparticles are embedded in the transparent material. These tiny particles can be tuned to scatter only certain wavelengths, or colors, or light, while letting all the rest pass right through. That means the glass remains transparent enough to see colors and shapes clearly through it, while a single-color display is clearly visible on the glass." via MIT

How to make your gloves touchscreen capable "Our favorite method, however, is also the easiest, as it involves using a product made specifically for this job, Any Glove. A liquid material that you squeeze out onto your glove and let dry, Any Glove works on most materials, including fleece, knits, and synthetic suede. A separate solution is available for leather. And it doesn’t wash off when you wash your gloves. Any Glove has also earned approval for use on combat gloves by the U.S. Armed Services, so, you know, it’s got that going for it." via TechHive

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How an HMI Can Make a Good Machine Better "The company wanted to upgrade its product line of smart roasters with a new human machine interface (HMI) that would take operator productivity, connectivity and efficiency to the next level of operational excellence. “The touch panel interface is the key point of contact for the roaster operator,” said Ludwig, and improving the interaction and control of roasters by adding advanced functionality and remote monitoring capabilities would help customers meet key performance indicator (KPI) metrics and goals." via AutomationWorld

How this 3D holographic display makes Star Wars a reality "The technology behind the Voxiebox is much simpler than it would seem. The device contains a projector that beams an image up onto a screen, which in turn vibrates up and down at a rapid speed. The rapid vibration allows the image to appear as though it’s a 3D asset. If that’s tough to picture, think of it as similar to those light trail pictures that frequently pop up on social networks. You can circle around the Voxiebox and the image quality never wavers or fades out of view. The only way the image will disappear is if you look at the display’s base head-on; you’re supposed to look at it from an overhead angle similar to the camera orientation in games like Diablo." via ExtremeTech

What are the technical merits of the pixel density race? "If there is any single number that people point to for resolution, it is the 1 arcminute value that Apple uses to indicate a “Retina Display”. This number corresponds to around 300 PPI for a display that is at 10-12 inches from the eye. In other words, this is about 60 pixels per degree (PPD). Pixels per degree is a way accounting for both distance from the display and the resolution of the display, which means that all the information here is not limited to smartphone displays, and applies universally to any type of display. While this is a generally reasonable value to work with, the complexity of the human eye and the brain in regards to image perception makes such a number rather nebulous." via AnandTech

Can Malware Log Touchscreen Swipes To Record Your PIN? "Recording touch screen coordinates “has a certain value in itself,” Hindocha says. “If you’re monitoring all touch events and the phone hasn’t been touched for at least one hour, then you get a minimum of four touch events, you can assume that is a PIN code being entered.” “The more interesting thing is, if you get a screenshot and then overlay the touch events, you’re looking at a screenshot of what the user is seeing, combined with dots, sequentially, where the user is touching the screen.”" via Forbes

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Display Technology News Roundup 3.22.2013

Image via BGR

How the industry shift from miniturization to display quality blindsided Motorola "The spectacular success of RAZR in 2005 was a cruel red herring. It convinced Motorola that focusing on making slimmer phones instead of improving display technology and user interface software was the way forward. The RAZR models featured a 30% thinner chassis than rival phones — and a nightmarishly messy, menu-based software system. The demand spike for RAZR models was the indian summer of the miniaturization obsession that dominated the phone industry in 1992-2002. It misled many leading phone vendors to ignore their profound software user experience problems just before Apple entered the phone market and devastated the old guard." via BGR

New 3-D Display Could Let Phones and Tablets Produce Holograms "The HP display uses nanopatterned grooves, which HP researcher David Fattal, who led the work, calls “directional pixels,” to send light off in different directions. This requires no new moving parts, and the patterns are built into an existing display component, the backlight. A conventional LCD uses a sheet of plastic or glass that’s covered in bumps that scatter white light and direct it through the display’s color filters, polarizers, and shutters to the viewer. The new 3-D display builds on optics research demonstrating how the path, color, and other properties of light can be manipulated by passing it through materials patterned at the nanoscale." via MIT Technology Review

Growth slowing for TFT LCD glass substrate capacity ""With TFT LCD business maturing and growth slowing, leading manufacturers have begun to mitigate their business risk by converting production from TFT LCD glass to aluminosilicate glass," according to Tadashi Uno, director of materials and components market research at DisplaySearch. "With Corning Gorilla glass now dominant in the aluminosilicate glass market, it is critical for other TFT glass makers to find ways to jump on the cover glass trend to gain additional market share."" via DigiTimes

Fraunhofer HHI Conducts 3D Surgical Study "Test using the glasses-free display were not top ranked. Surgeons said it was comparable to working with the 2D screen. Dr. Ulrich Leiner, head of the Interactive Media – Human Factors department at HHI, noted that this display is a two-view glasses-free type with eye tracking used to present the stereo images to the surgeon based on their head/eye position. “While the glasses-free technology still requires some fine-tuning, we believe improvements will increase the popularity of 3D systems in operating rooms,” said Leiner. “The study demonstrated that 3D has become an option for surgeons as well. This will revive the discussion among skeptics. And now there is a need for tests in other medical disciplines,” concluded Leiner." via Display Central

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Warm 3D images using thermal displays "Stereoscopic or 3D displays—such as stereoscopic LED displays with polarized glasses or multi-layer 3D displays—allow a viewer to perceive the depth of an image to provide a richer viewing experience. Much research has been dedicated to determining how to offer blind people, or individuals without stereoscopic vision, the opportunity to experience this 3D effect. A possible solution is to use the sense of heat: employ three-dimensionally localized heat spots that provide a thermal sensation when an individual walks through the 3D image. Our research aimed to realize thermal and visual aerial signage, a technique that forms a 3D pattern composed of heat and light in the air, without any physical hardware at the position of the sign. These warm 3D images can be used, for example, to display advertisements alongside a footpath or side walk. In addition to seeing these signs, users can feel them when their faces touch the thermal images." via SPIE

LED LCD backlights explained "The so-called "blooming" that plagued early local-dimming LED LCDs has been greatly reduced. With the better TVs, there are few artifacts like these images. Instead, the processing errs on the side of safety, not allowing adjacent LEDs to get too different in brightness, so as not to have issues like you see here. The flip side of that is less "punch" in the image, as bright objects on an otherwise dark background don't appear as bright. " via CNET

LCDs and the lost art of photography "The immediacy of the LCD has changed the craft of photography. It’s made it so much easier to learn quickly, to grow and to take much greater chances and push the envelope much further. ...A little bit of the “magic” of photography -— has left us. There’s nothing quite like seeing a print come to life in the developer tray in the darkroom. Also, a certain type of discipline is instilled in you when you are faced with a 36-exposure roll and the cost associated with it, not to mention the cost of getting it processed and printed. These days I more often that not read 999 on the still camera’s LCD when a large CF Card is in place. Where’s the challenge in that? ...As the world continues to move faster and faster, as processors, resolutions, dynamic ranges, and terabytes keep increasing at an exponential rate, sometimes I think we could all do with a roll of 36 exposures." via Gizmodo

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Nintendo Found Guilty of Patent Infringement with Stereo-3D Tech on 3DS "The auto-stereoscopic 3D display used by Nintendo with its 3DS portable video game console relies on pretty simple and well-known method. The S3D display uses a parallax barrier system to display 3D images. This parallax barrier, which has a series of vertical slits, is incorporated into an ordinary LCD to control the path of light reaching the right and left eyes, thus creating a sense of depth. Another name of this technology is called lenticular lenses tech. Since initial parallax barrier-based S3D LCDs had issues with the right reproduction of colors, many companies, including Nintendo, LG, Sharp and others implemented various additional technologies to eliminate the drawback." via Xbit Laboratories

Tech start-up of the week: LCD recycler ALR Innovations "ALR Innovations has pioneered a LCD screen recycling technology that consists of a fully automated machine that processes waste LCDs to remove the potentially hazardous materials they contain. Materials such as the mercury-containing fluorescent tubes and the liquid crystal panel. The machine processes 80 LCDs per hour, which offers the recyclers a fast and efficient process that is compliant with mandatory EU legislation, O’Donoghue said." via siliconrepublic

What If Google Glass Flops? "Thus, it doesn't matter whether Google sells 10 pairs of Glass or 10 million. What matters is that Google's involvement is already popularizing this kind of technology. This can be seen in the plethora of patent filings that have recently been filed by the likes of Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Samsung (SSNLF.PK), Sony (SNE) and others. In short, if Google doesn't get it right, someone else will. In fact, smartphone glasses may not even be the first hit. For example, Microsoft also has its sights set on gaming goggles. This demonstrates that computerized eyewear is ready to cross the chasm." via Seeking Alpha

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Taiwan to hold touch panel display exhibition in August "The International Touch Panel and Optical Film Exhibition 2013 (Touch Taiwan 2013), one of the most important exhibitions for the display and touch panel industry in Asia, is scheduled to be held Aug. 28-30 in Taipei, the event organizers said Tuesday. Touch Taiwan 2013, to be held concurrently with the International Display Manufacturing Conference 2013 (IDMC 2013), will mainly showcase touch screens, panels, optical film, related equipment and materials." via Focus Taiwan

Do quantom dot displays pose challenges for OLED? "Quantum dots (QD) or semiconductor nanocrystals are a form of light emitting technology and consist of nano-scale crystals that can provide an alternative for applications such as display technology. This display technology differs from CRTs and LCDs, but it is similar to OLED displays, in that light is supplied on demand, which enables new, more efficient displays and allows for mobile devices with longer battery lives, according to recent reports from New Scientist. QD displays also consume lower power and have richer color than conventional OLED, claim some analysts. The analysts also state that the white light produced by quantum dots has high brightness and excellent color reproduction, raising its potential to replace the backlight unit (BLU) using the LED to form the "QLED." But has the technology proved itself in actuality?" via DigiTimes

Display as a Service receives Cebit Innovation Award "The software "Display as a Service" manages to display a movie on an unlimited number of screens so that it seems to be played on a big screen. "For this the monitors do not have to be connected by cables, nor do they need to have equal display diagonal, resolution and other technical parameters as is the case with common video walls," explains Alexander Löffler. He developed the method together with computer scientists from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). The reverse case of programming screens would be possible as well. "Picture-input from various sources, like several laptops in a conference room, can be presented simultaneously on a virtual screen wall given by the software," says Löffler. ...Moreover, the researchers from Saarbrücken are already working together with screen manufacturers. Modern devices meet the technical requirements for Löffler's solution. "In the future it could be possible that neighboring football fans would build their own public viewing big screen for the football World Cup with their private monitors," says Löffler, whose doctoral thesis is also supported by the Intel Visual Computing Institute in Saarbrücken." via Phys.org

How to use imaging colorimeters to improve OLED Display Production Testing "Imaging colorimetry-based testing systems have demonstrated success in improving quality and reducing production costs for LCD displays and LED display screens. Radiant Zemax has extended these proven techniques to OLED display production testing. This new white paper from Radiant Zemax describes OLED manufacturing challenges and solutions that can improve quality and yields for OLED displays from smartphones to TVs." via Vision Systems Design

Top 5 Notable Digital Display Trends at DSE 2013 "It seems that touchscreens are becoming the norm, to be expected everywhere in all walks of life. Which leads us back to smaller signage. We talked to Iles Guran, founder and CEO of Armodilo, one of many providers of iPad- and other tablet-based kiosks that displayed their products at the show. Guran pointed out that consumers are already comfortable with iPads and other tablets. And at a lot of retail locations, customers prefer using a device that offers a little more privacy than a large videowall. ...However, he was also quick to point out that his company's solutions are not intended to replace giant videowalls, nor is there a "one size fits all" approach for every retailer. In other words, smaller signage seems to have carved out a niche in the industry based on its own merits, but it's a niche that's already shown signs of increasing growth." via Digital Signage Connection

What is PHOLED? "The true benefit from PHOLEDs comes from the fact that they can be up to four times as efficient as fluorescent variants, which would mean substantially longer battery life for smartphones which used PHOLED based displays. Convention fluorescent LEDs only emit about 25% of the excitonic energy as light, with the remaining 75% wasted as heat. But the clever engineers behind the PHOLED display developed a phosphorescent material which could convert up to 100% of the electron’s energy into light. As a result of this very efficient energy conversion process, PHOLED based displays will also output substantially less heat than other screens. ...Not only do lower temperature displays help improve the lifespan of the LEDs, but it will also lower the entire temperature of your device, prolonging the lifespan of all the components inside." via Android Authority

New Technology May Allow for High Resolution Endoscopes as Thin as Human Hair "A new kind of endoscope technology with a factor of four image improvement over any previous design has recently been demonstrated by researchers from Stanford University. It may lead to flexible endoscopes producing about 80,000 pixels at a resolution of three-tenths of a micron, as compared to 10,000 pixels at three micron resolution for current state of the art. To achieve this the researchers developed a technique that uses a multi-mode fiber (MMF) to image the field under controlled illumination delivered through a spatial light modulator (SLM). An SLM is basically a liquid crystal display which can be used to modulate different features like the intensity, phase, or polarization of the light that is passing through each of its pixels." via MedGadget

The Touch-Screen Generation "“The war is over. The natives won.” So says Marc Prensky, the education and technology writer, who has the most extreme parenting philosophy of anyone I encountered in my reporting. Prensky’s 7-year-old son has access to books, TV, Legos, Wii—and Prensky treats them all the same. He does not limit access to any of them. Sometimes his son plays with a new app for hours, but then, Prensky told me, he gets tired of it. He lets his son watch TV even when he personally thinks it’s a “stupid waste.” SpongeBob SquarePants, for example, seems like an annoying, pointless show, but Prensky says he used the relationship between SpongeBob and Patrick, his starfish sidekick, to teach his son a lesson about friendship. “We live in a screen age, and to say to a kid, ‘I’d love for you to look at a book but I hate it when you look at the screen’ is just bizarre. It reflects our own prejudices and comfort zone. It’s nothing but fear of change, of being left out.”" via The Atlantic

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 12.19.2012

Image via Aviation Week / Rockwell Collins

Flying Blind No Longer "Even though the Captain can’t see outside his windscreen, his aircraft’s synthetic vision system (SVS) is giving him a “daylight view” of the airport and surrounding terrain. Synthetic vision systems were created by NASA and the U.S. Air Force back in the late 1970s to improve cockpit situational awareness, especially when operating in reduced visibility at low altitudes. ...The next short step forward will be a combined SVS/EVS system that will present richly detailed images not only on the instrument panel but also on the Heads Up Display, where they can be overlaid on the real-world view through the windscreen. " via Forbes

Dual-sided phone with LCD on one side, e-ink on the other "The LCD side is for watching movies and playing games, but the EPD one is for more than reading ebooks and news articles. ...E-ink displays don't need much power, so that side of the Yota Phone can stay on continously without killing battery life." via Tech Radar

Samsung Display sues LG over LCD patents, again "LG had modified the PLS switching technology by Samsung without permission, and named it "AH-IPS" technology for use in its small- and medium-sized LCD screens, Samsung wrote in its filing. It added the company had patented the PLS technology in November 1997 but LG "copied" it." via ZDNet

Applied Materials to Set Up Display Panel R&D Center in Taiwan "Industry executives estimated the R&D facility to provide a huge boost to Taiwan’s display-panel industry at a time when the island is obviously losing ground to South Korea in global display-panel market. Samsung has begun volume production of AMLED panels while Taiwan’s panel makers are still in early stage of the development of the next-generation display technology. " via CENS

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China company taps bioplastics for use in flat panel displays "At a small factory near Shanghai, Chinese-Canadian plastics entrepreneur Wayne Song believes he’s closing in on commercializing technology to use biocomposites to make such a display, by mixing nano-scale natural fibers with polycarbonate and other optical-grade plastics. ...If the work can be commercialized successfully, Song said it will create a plastic screen that is bendable and hard to break, potentially opening up many new applications. He said some electronics industry experts expect the plastic panels to replace glass over time." via Plastics News

Electronics Recycling Asia: A Rare Procedure "Professor Li also pointed to attempts thus far to recover indium from LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. At the current price of indium, “you’re going to lose money if you recycle it,” Li said,” so this is not economically sound.”" via Recycling Today

Samsung in 2013: expect an even bigger Note, but no 'unbreakable' Galaxy S IV "Speaking of screens, various news outlets have reported this week that next year's inevitable Galaxy S IV will have an "unbreakable" display, a fruit of Samsung's longtime effort to commercialize flexible AMOLEDs. The rumor appears to originate from Nicolas Gaudois, a UBS analyst quoted by Reuters. Don't expect such a screen on a Galaxy S model in 2013, though. "Flexible screens are still a while off," our source tells us." via The Verge

Plastic logic makes flexible displays a reality "UK-based Plastic Logic is the first company worldwide to have fully industrialised a process for manufacturing plastic displays. The resulting colour and monochrome displays are available in both small and large sizes. The integration of this new display technology in applications and end-devices is not only leading to innovative product concepts, but moreover is beginning to drive a display revolution in consumer electronics." via The Telegraph

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Australia paves way for cockpit tablets "The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has released an advisory on electronic flight bags, paving the way for greater use of tablet devices by Australian pilots. ..."A device being used as an electronic flight bag needs to be able to display information in a comparable way to the paper aeronautical charts and documents it is replacing," CASA said in a statement today. "Devices should be large enough to allow images to be shown without excessive scrolling. Smart phones, for example, are not appropriate as the screen is too small."" via itnews

Digital Signage Supplier Planar Sheds Itself Of Another Business "Planar, the first U.S.-based electroluminescent (EL) display manufacturer, is getting out of the business. ...The move is part of Planar’s strategy to shed itself of non-core businesses to sharpen its focus on digital signage, company officials have said." via Consumer Electronics Daily

In the face of new technology, how long will the boom last for China’s producers of flat-panel LCD screens? ""Japanese companies are making money" on Chinese screen-maker sales "because core components for making a panel are mainly produced in Japan," said Liu Dan, a vice president at BOE. "If a company invests US$ 4 billion to build an eight-generation (50 inches and over) panel production line, half of the investment will be used to buy equipment from (Japanese manufacturer) Canon," he said." via Caixin Online

Lenovo exec: We didn't realize how big touch would be "The industry did underestimate touchscreen demand, he admitted. But people are still buying PCs -- at least from Lenovo. In addition, sales of premium-priced computers are growing faster than other PC segments, he said. ..."As you go through any major architectural transition, you try to forecast accurately how much the attach rate will be on touch [or other features]," he said. "Across every major [shift] over the past 10 years, we're never right. The learning is, how do you respond to that? How does the industry change and evolve?"" via CNET

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Is Heads Up Display just what the doctor ordered? "For starters, the HUD is not cybernetically attached to the eye. Instead, the HUD is a headset, currently in the prototype phase, that the ER physicians would wear during their shifts. Made by the semiconductor company Kopin, the HUD, called Golden-i, delivers information via a single tiny projection screen that rests just below the eye. That’s an important detail: the HUD’s screen is not a true display. Rather, it’s a mini-projector that beams the image onto the user’s retina." via Dot Med News

Efficient OLED gets rid of heavy metals "The lack of heavy atoms in the molecule means it might be cheaper to produce than phosphorescent OLEDs containing iridium or platinum, says Z. Valy Vardeny, at the University of Utah. ...But building a molecule doesn’t necessarily mean it will find its way into device production, writes Brian D’Andrade of Exponent, Inc., in an accompanying commentary. To be useful in production, these molecules need to be optimized to emit colors of light needed in displays, they need to be able to be manufactured into devices, and the lifetime of those devices needs to be comparable—or better than—the state-of the art, he writes." via Ars Technica

Aspen Avionics Multifunction Displays "A new Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin advises owners and operators of Aspen Avionics EFD1000 and EFD500 Multifunction Displays (MFD) of an unintentional reset occurring in certain display modes when there are a large number of Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). At this time, this airworthiness concern has not been determined to be an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 39." via Helicoptor Association International

Raytheon increases pilot situational awareness with Aviation Warrior wearable computer, monocle display "The Raytheon Center Display Unit, which allows militaries to replace the analog instruments in their F-16s and helicopters with a new, flat-screen digital display. The richer data stream can then be sent directly to the pilot’s helmet. The Aviation Warrior wearable computer comes with a wrist-mounted screen, allowing pilots to see radar images, surveillance video, and maps even when on the ground." via Avionics Intelligence

Taking a Second Look at LCD "OLED is beautiful. Stunning image. But I was an early skeptic, and said then, as I say now: the LCD panel has never been stronger in the market. It will continue to dominate the TV market. Any move to OLED or other platforms is years away– well beyond any need for a reevaluation of the market. And digital signage– there is no serious rival for traditional, low-cost display. But since then, there has been more OLED fever. You've all read it. But finally, even the mass media is realizing the hype was over-done." via AVNetwork

Digital Advertising Carriers: LCD Television or LCD Monitor? "The young digital signage market has not settled on universal standards, and potential users of small-scale digital advertising networks have difficult and uninformed decisions to make. This article attempts to convince you why the choice should be made exclusively in favour of commercial LCD monitors, especially in situation when the required application is indoor or semi-indoor (for examples, on public transport stops) advertising network." via Screens Magazine

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 12.12.2012

Image via CNET / Sean John / Macy's / Recom Group

Would you wear a video display on your sleeve? "The display comes from Recom Group and was discovered at geek heaven, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show. ...The concept is a bit geeky but intriguing. Right now, I can't imagine walking around with a glowing screen on my sleeve, but then again five years ago, I'd never imagine a cell phone as my most faithful palm companion." via St. Louis Post-Dispatch

New Touchscreen Capable of Working in Bright Light "The key innovation behind hybrid tracking is that instead of blocking the infrared light emitted by external sources, it embraces it. This is implemented by tracking shadows of the external infrared light and combining that information with reflections that the built-in infrared sensors 'see' through the LCD." via Digital Signage Connection

Continuously Falling Notebook PC Panel Prices "Tablet PCs continue to capture consumers’ favor, as those who care more about content consumption than creation value portability and convenience, and thus tablet PCs are taking share from traditional clamshell notebook PCs. At the same time, economic concerns have hampered enterprise IT spending, which hits notebook PCs in particular." via DisplaySearch Blog

Samsung to reveal some exciting new tech at CES 2013? "They may unveil the new display used in this phone - perhaps the rumored 5" Full-HD AMOLED panel. Some say that Samsung will unveil a flexible panel, but I think it's quite unlikely." via OLED-Info

How electronic parts distribution and the LCD industry are changing "The electronic parts industry boomed in the 1990s and early 2000s, but major industry changes are forcing companies to adapt. In those days, middlemen such as parts brokers thrived on wide profit margins for parts and direct access to manufacturers in Asia. It was a simple formula: find buyers and sellers of parts and turn part numbers into profits. But profit margins on electronic parts have eroded with improved manufacturing and lower costs." via Display Alliance

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Special Interest Group for Stereoscopic 3D in Education (SIG3D) "The new SIG3D group’s aim is to improve learning and teaching through communication and collaboration between its members, providing professional development and resources for the effective implementation of educational stereoscopic 3D technologies as well as showcasing high-quality applications, pertinent research and instructional best practices." via 3D Vision Blog

Holographic Television at the MIT Media Lab "Research since the early 1960s has attempted to build true holographic television, but until very recently the prospect has seemed distant. The authors' group has for several years concentrated on developing holographic displays suitable for consumer applications, adding constraints of mass manufacturability, low cost, and compatibility with mass-market computational resources such as might be found in PCs or game consoles. A resurgence of consumer interest in 3-D displays, combined with several relevant technological developments, makes this an opportune time to explore re-imagining holographic displays as part of a home in the near future rather than in fictional spacecraft in the far-off future." via The Society for Information Display

Apple Patent A Reminder That It’s Working On Google Glass-Style Wearable Tech, Too "Apple’s vision is still more focused on wearable media delivery, versus the AR-type features that Google is making the central feature of its Project Glass device, which is also where Microsoft seems to be headed according to its own recent patent filing. But all of these massive tech companies are clearly trying to plant their flags for the next stage of mobile tech, which begins to look increasingly like it’ll take the form of something we wear, not something we carry." via TechCrunch

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Samsung To Introduce Unbreakable Display For Next Gen Galaxy S IV "According to Reuters, Samsung is a frontrunner in developing unbreakable screens. That's because Samsung has a big interest in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays, and a feature of OLED panels is that plastic material can replace glass substrate." via Hot Hardware

Video: Fraunhofer's COMEDD OLED program "The Fraunhofer's COMEDD published a new video explaining all about COMEDD and its activities and the OLED production process." via OLED-Info

China FPD Conference "SEMI today announced that the 2013 China FPD Conference and ASID will be held concurrently in Shanghai for the first time. ...According to NPD DisplaySearch spending on manufacturing equipment for flat panel displays is forecast to rise 121 percent from $3.8 billion in 2012 to $8.3 billion in 2013. ...DisplaySearch forecasts that the majority of FPD equipment spending in 2013 will be used for new low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) fabs and fab processes for use in both TFT LCD and AMOLED (active matrix OLED) displays. FPD China will bring together the leading buyers, specifiers, engineers, suppliers and other key players to discuss and plan the next stage of China's display industry growth." via Solid State Technology

In pixel wars, LCD has staying power, refuses to die ""OLED still has a long way to go to become a mainstream display, as it has to become bigger and improve picture quality," said Chung Won-seok, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities. "The use of OLEDs will continue to be confined to small displays at least for the next 2-3 years. Its usage as a mainstream TV panel is only likely in 2014, but even then there's a possibility of intense competition with LCD TVs as that technology keeps improving."" via Hindustan Times

OLED TV Prices May Be Lowered By New Polymer Development "For years, indium has always been viewed as the most ideal material for anodes, due to its conductive and transparent properties. But times have changed, and with the material become increasingly more expensive and difficult to obtain, researchers have been forced to try and come up with an alternative. ...Scientists working together at Iowa State University’s Microelectronics Research Center and the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory believe they have finally hit on to something: a 15-year old polymer poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly (styrene sulfonate), known more simply as PEDOT:PSS." via HDTVtest

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Touch screens go optical "The capacitive touch screen, which works by changing the local capacitance of metallic layers in the screen, reacts to very light touches and is durable but expensive to manufacture. Resistive touch screens, where conducting layers are separated by a flexible material that is compressed locally on touch, are cheaper but delicate to fabricate, especially for larger sizes. ...We devised a touch screen where light is confined in a waveguide that reacts to touch." via SPIE

Why would someone repair an LCD rather than buy a new panel? "On the other hand repairing the LCD panels is very useful for the manufacturers, because they usually get a shorter warranty period for the LCD panel than they provide to the end customer. Thus, they carry the expenses resulting from this discrepancy. The price of the repair of an LCD panel in Elsin is about 20-50% of the price of a new panel. Therefore, the total saving at mass production level is significant." via Display Alliance

USPTO may invalidate another of Apple's key multitouch patents "US Patent #7,479,949, claiming a "[t]ouch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics," essentially covers iOS's ability to respond when a user is trying to scroll vertically in a document, or trying to move around within the document in multiple directions. It also covers iOS's ability to discern the difference between swiping among images in a gallery, or panning or zooming within the image. The patent is sometimes referred to as the "Steve Jobs patent," as Jobs' name is listed first among the many Apple engineers cited as inventors of the patented claims." via Ars Technica

One step closer to telepathy with BCI technology "...brain-computer interface technology (BCI) has brought us one step closer to making direct brain-to-brain communication a reality. ...What Professor James has done is record the activation pattern in the visual cortex of one individual, use a computer to convert this activation pattern into flashing LED lights of different frequencies and transmit these light patterns to the brain of another person. The result is that the second individual “sees” what the first was imagining." via Neuro Gadget

Digital Display Technology: An Introduction to Digital Signage "What kind of display will best meet the deployment needs: plasma or LCD? What are the pros and cons of each? How will digital technology change in the next five, 10 or 20 years? What about terminology — what is the language of digital technology?" via Self Service World

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 12.06.2012

Image via The Verge

LCD embedded in contact lens "The LCD-based technology enables to use the entire display surface. And, by adjusting the patterning process of the conductive layer, researchers said it enables applications with a broad range of pixel number and sizes, such as a one pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses, or a highly pixilated contact lens display. " via EE Times

New lighting challenges role of CFLs and LEDs "Scientists led by Professor David Carroll, the director of the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC, USA), have developed a new form of lighting based on field-induced polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) technology. The lighting gives off soft, white light rather than the yellowish glint from compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs or the bluish tinge from LEDs. It is claimed to be at least twice as efficient as compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and on par with LEDs." via Vision Systems Design

LatinDisplay 2012 – A Recommendation for a Display Policy for Brazil "Display technologies like segmented displays, e-paper displays and smaller-sized TFT LCDs make the most sense. Brazil should also focus on markets where they already have a strong industry with needs for these types of displays. Examples include portable consumer electronics, medical, aerospace, automotive and retail. Focus on markets where the volumes are small to medium as it will take time to develop the expertise to support high volume panel manufacturing. " via Display Central

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Projected Infrared Touch – A New Cutting-Edge Touch Technology "GeneralTouch Technology Co., Ltd., a world leading touch products and solutions provider with over 12 years of continuous innovation in the touch field, announced the birth of a newly patented multi-touch technology - Projected Infrared Touch (PIT). ...The PIT touchscreen is a piece of pure glass, with the anti-glare or anti-vandal features as added options. Its construction is highly sealable and is effective against dust and liquid invasion. It continues to work even with scratches on its screen surface. Moreover, the grounding design of PIT touchscreens is much simpler in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding when it is compared with PCAP touchscreens." via GeneralTouch

Qualcomm expands IGZO display tech agreement with Sharp "Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced an expansion of its display technology agreement between its subsidiary Pixtronix, Inc. and Sharp Corporation to develop and commercialize high-quality color, low-power MEMS displays incorporating IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology. The goal is to build the displays using existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure. As a result of the equity investment (of up to $120 million), Qualcomm will become a minority shareholder in Sharp." via Solid State Technology

Nanocrystal Breakthrough May Enable Bendable Electronics ""We have a performance benchmark in amorphous silicon, which is the material that runs the display in your laptop, among other devices. Here, we show that these cadmium selenide nanocrystal devices can move electrons 22 times faster than in amorphous silicon," said professor Cherie Kagan from the University of Pennsylvania." via Xbit Laboratories

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Digital signage technology: Nine tips for success in your video wall deployments "9. Perform colour calibration as part of system maintenance. This will ensure a consistently good-looking video wall for years to come. Also make sure you budget maintenance and cleaning of your video wall to ensure functionality and a great look for the long term. If you don’t vacuum vents, for example, the ensuing heat accumulation can destroy the monitors. Maintenance contracts should be discussed upfront." via Screen Media Mag

E Ink persistency record - this E Ink panel was last refreshed on November 2000! "This panel was developed by Philips, with the front panel made by E Ink and the back plane (AM) made in Philip' LCD plant in Kobe, Japan. The reader says that this is actually the world's first active-matrix E Ink panel, and is probably the oldest one that still shows an image." via E Ink Info

Surprisingly, touchscreen laptops don't suck "If you want to launch a program on your desktop, which makes more sense? Reach down to a special glass surface and drag a finger across it just long enough to land a floating pointer arrow on top of the icon, and then tap? Or simply reach up to a visible icon and tap it? Why try to aim that pointer at a little X icon, or remember keyboard shortcuts like Alt-F4, when I can just swipe down from the top of the screen to close a Windows 8 program?" via The Verge

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The world's first heads-up display for alpine goggles "The ingenious optics behind the MOD Live ensures that you do not need to refocus when viewing your Heads-up Display. Due to the innovative prism technology, all your stats and data will appear as though you’re looking at a fourteen inch screen from a distance of five feet." via Recon Instruments

Boeing’s flight simulator display gets ultra high-res upgrade "Three years after first displaying its Constant Resolution Visual System (CRVS) at the 2009 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando, Boeing has chosen the 2012 conference to unveil an upgrade. ...With the use of JVC’s e-Shift technology, which essentially uses a special algorithm to generate subpixels to fill the black spaces between pixels, the projector resolution and density is nearly doubled both horizontally and vertically, providing an image of nearly 8K resolution from a 4K projector." via Gizmag

Are IGZO backplanes the answer for the display industry? "The over-arching trends in the industry are also changing the backplane requirements on several fronts. Product differentiation is resulting in multiplicity of lighting/display technologies, with each demanding a different power output and refresh rate from the backplane. For example, OLED is being increasingly adopted as a means of differentiating products. This in turn is changing the power out and spatial uniformity requirements that the backplane technology must satisfy." via Printed Electronics World

Solvay shows polyester film for brighter LED displays "To get more light from fewer LEDs a higher current is fed through the emitters, resulting in junction temperatures in excess of 150oC which in turn triggers thermally-induced aging. To solve the problem Solvay developed its new Lavanta grade, which can operate at high junction temperatures while retaining high reflectivity." via Plastics & Rubber Weekly

What is the biggest engineering challenge facing touch technology? "I feel the biggest challenge for large format multi-touch technology is the cost vs. scale vs. technology problem. Large format devices cost higher as the volumes from consumers are lower. Also, the cost and technology used in manufacturing various large size displays is high along with the materials and techniques used. There is some serious scope for innovation in this space." via Display Alliance

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 11.29.2012

Image via Hagley Museum and Library / ieee spectrum

How RCA Lost the LCD "Today, liquid crystals are one of the most widespread technologies of the information age and the foundation of a multibillion-­dollar industry. Nevertheless, RCA’s abrupt exit from the field has largely obscured the pioneering contributions of its chemists, physicists, and electrical engineers. The events and decisions that drove the company to abandon its efforts are worth revisiting for what they reveal about the unpredictable nature of innovation—and about the tendency of large corporations to fail to capitalize on it." via ieee spectrum

Sony unveils a new monochrome 20.5" OLED monitor for the medical industry "Sony unveiled a new 20.5" monochrome OLED monitor for the medical industry. This monitor offers 2048x2560 resolution, high luminance, wide viewing angle, high contrast and deep, rich black reproduction (the black level is less than 0.001cd/M2 and 500 cd/M2 luminance)." via OLED-Info

Growing pains for new touch-sensor technology in latest iPhone, iPad "DisplaySearch said that there were production issues with the DITO film and lamination. In addition, aligning the sensors on film is more difficult than with glass, the report says. The iPad mini is the first tablet to use the DITO film touch sensor." via ZDNet

Display database for engineers Search thousands of display panels by multiple characteristics and compare them side-by-side using the display database multisearch.

Head-mounted displays for reality augmentation: a survey "One question worth keeping in mind when evaluating the new crop of head-mounted devices is whether they will end up broadening the augmentational capacity of the human eye or narrowing it." via Rough Type

Knuckles and nails get invite to the touchscreen party "A modified Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone, fitted with a small vibration sensor and running Harrison's FingerSense software, listens for the acoustic and vibrational differences between the three different types of touch. A fingertip could select an object while a knuckle tap could work like the right-click on a computer mouse and open up a submenu, for example." via NewScientist

A New Chip to Bring 3-D Gesture Control to Smartphones "The controller works by transmitting an electrical signal and then calculating the three-coordinate position of a hand based on the disturbances to the field the hand creates. Whereas many camera systems have “blind spots” for close-up hand gestures and can fail in low light, the Microchip controller works well under these conditions and doesn’t require an external sensor (its sensing electrodes can sit behind a device’s housing). " via MIT Technology Review

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Sharp wins customers for new display technology "It is important for Sharp - and its deepening partnership with Apple - to keep innovating in LCD, since so many mobile display advances are centering on the alternative AMOLED technology, which is dominated by Samsung. Sharp's future success depends heavily on reducing the market power of Samsung and LG in screens, while fending off the rise of low cost Chinese suppliers." via Rethink Wireless

Chinese panel makers lobbying for higher import tariffs "Panel import tariffs are currently 5 percent, but tariffs on panels 32 inches or larger may increase to between 8-12 percent." via Morning Whistle

Flexible AMOLED display development still possible in Taiwan "ITRI said that between its upstream and downstream resources, Taiwan could have a sufficient supply chain for developing flexible AMOLED displays and could compete with Korea-based panel makers. However, that largely depends on whether upstream suppliers can boost production facilities and material amounts to create the technology, added ITRI." via DigiTimes

Taiwan touch panel suppliers pursue single-glass solutions "iDTI’s in-cell panels incorporating photo sensors in the TFT array substrate between the color filter and the polarizer can be applied to LCDs up to 100in and with 1920x1000-pixel resolution. The company is among the few that can manufacture such products using the hydrogenated amorphous silicon process. The last is compatible with current display production techniques, enabling fabrication on a mass scale." via Global Sources

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Next-Generation Anti-Reflective Coatings "The next generation of antireflection (AR) coatings has arrived and could help bump solar cell efficiency considerably by employing a promising new class of optical nanomaterials that allow for near-arbitrary control of the refractive index, conceivably the most important materials constant in optics and optoelectronics." via Solar Novus

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 11.12.2012

Image via MasterCard

MasterCard Introduces ‘Display Card’ Technology with LCD screen "The MasterCard Display Card, manufactured by NagraID Security, looks and functions almost exactly like a regular credit, debit or ATM card, but features an embedded LCD display and touch-sensitive buttons which allow a cardholder to generate a One-Time Password (OTP) as an authentication security measure." via MasterCard

Will Apple Keep Upgrading Display Resolution? "Exceeding 300 ppi in a tablet PC display may require new technologies, particularly oxide TFT (such as IGZO) because of the high electron mobility required to drive small pixels at low power consumption. Sharp was the first to mass produce oxide TFT panels, but Samsung, LG Display, AUO and Chimei are all working on oxide TFT as well, for the sake of readiness for Apple’s requirement." via DisplaySearch Blog

Surface Thermography Liquid Crystals "The TLC-100 Kit from Advanced Thermal Solutions (Norwood, MA) features spray-on thermochromic liquid crystals which change color at different temperatures to reveal heat issues on chips and other electronic components. By applying these liquid crystals, engineers can visually find hotspots and temperature fields." via Product Design & Development

Samsung drops another demo for flexible AMOLED screen "The new LEDs are made from plastic instead of glass, making them transparent and nearly indestructible. The plastic-based tech allows the screens to be super thin, light and flexible enough to bend, roll and fold without breakage." via TechRadar

End-of-life (EOL) notices "LTM08C355S (EOL date 2008), LTM220M2-L01 (EOL date 2009), NL6448AC33-18 (EOL date 2009), M240HW01-V0 (EOL date 2010), LTM240CT06 (EOL date 2010)" via Display Alliance

Do you need display panels? Email jason@displayalliance.com to source with Mass Integrated, Inc.

Expanding the possibilities of multitouch functionality "The current breed of mutual capacitive touch screens usually relies on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) as the conductive sensing medium. ITO is already widely used throughout the display industry and provides the benefit of being near-transparent. Though ITO has been a successful choice in touch screens, it has certain limitations when applied outside the consumer arena." via Embedded Computer Design

Why the digital signage industry will grow in 2013 "Price reductions are being realized in every area of digital signage. For example, as hardware is getting more specialized for media playback on consumer-type products that are mass produced for a worldwide market, the digital signage industry either directly or indirectly benefits from the use of this mobile and media-centric technologies that have a considerable scale of economy in production. This scale of economy is being reflected in today’s prices of media players and displays used for digital signage." via Display Alliance

The Touching History of Touchscreen Tech "Multi-touch technology began in 1982, when the University of Toronto developed a tablet that could read multiple points of contact. Bell Labs developed a touchscreen that could change images with more than one hand in 1984. Around the same time, Myron Krueger developed an optical system that tracks hand movements. This was the beginning for the gestures we’ve adapted to so easily today." via Mashable Tech

Panasonic profits plunge, Zatec production stops "Japanese electronics giant Panasonic will halt production of LCD panels in the Czech town of Zatec in December ...She said the operation would be halted for "strategic reasons" and that production from a plant in Malaysia would wind down as well because Panasonic wants to focus on small-format panels from now on." via Biz Community

LCD panel with 5 second refresh designed to stop eye strain "At the FPD International 2012 show in Japan SEL introduced a 6-inch version of this LCD panel. The panel stops eye strain by greatly reducing the refresh rate of the screen. Typically this can be 60 times per second for a normal LCD. With a still image, SEL only needs to refresh this new panel once every 5 seconds. " via Geek.com

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Inkjet printing tech used to make displays even thinner "Ever since we moved from CRT to LCD as our main display tech, manufacturers have been reducing their thickness to the point where a 50-inch+ displays that’s under 10mm thick isn’t uncommon. That reduction in thickness is set to continue with Japanese company Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. announcing that it has used inkjet printing technology to develop a thinner light guide plate." via Geek.com

LCD Market: Technology Directions and Market Analysis "This technology-marketing report examines and projects the technologies involved in the fabrication of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). This report discusses the technology trends, products, applications, and suppliers of materials and equipment. A market forecast for AMLCD equipment and materials is presented." via Electronics.ca

Fraunhofer is Demonstrating Augmented Reality Glasses "The display is built on top of a CMOS chip that also incorporates a transmitter and receiver. They call this setup a bidirectional microdisplay, that not only displays information but also records images of the eye at the same time. This unique setup allows them to record the movement of the eye while they display information to the user." via Display Central

Mary Lou Jepsen of Pixel Qi Talks LCD Screen Tech (Video) "Mary Lou Jepsen, co-founder of OLPC and Pixel Qi, was at the conference and she spoke on the current state of the LCD industry. She revealed that almost no screen manufacturer was making money in this industry (there’s an excess of production capacity). Of course, neither Apple and Samsung actually make the screens they use, so they aren’t factored into that statement." via The Digital Reader

Paper Computing technology the first step to paper-based Google Docs "The paper is coated with a photochromic material, which changes color when it absorbs light, and a DMD-driven UV projector with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels is used to print the image onto the paper." via DigInfo TV

The Cost of a Touch "As a mobile application developer, I interact with my mobile devices a lot—touching, swiping, pinching, and zooming. One trick I've adopted is adding secret shortcuts to skip past portions of my app so I do not have to keep touching my device while I am developing. This led me to consider the amount of touching we all do with our devices, the physical toll it takes, and our overall user experience with mobile devices and their applications." via UX Magazine

Butterflies and eReaders "The Mirasol display uses an array of microscopic interferometric modulators beneath its glass surface. The depth and angle of these tiny reflectors defines the wavelength interference pattern that is reflected back to viewer. QualComm has one-upped the butterfly and can drive the parameters of the modulators at microsecond intervals to change the different color pixels for live video display." via The Visualist

What did you think about today's news? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

The Display Industry News Roundup For 10.16.2012

Image via PC World

Fingerprints everywhere! Are we ready for 4 million dirty Windows 8 touchscreens? "Researchers pursue two strategies for making better oleophobic screens (oleophobic literally means “lacking affinity for oils”). Some scientists try to advance the chemical treatment approach now used by Apple and others, while others work on applying new physical textures on screen surfaces, textures that are unfriendly to oil and liquid." via PC World

3D displays: three centuries in the making (interview) "3D technology already existed in the 19th century. However it really took off in 2009. The reason for this was on the one hand the technological possibilities of digital processing / media, availability of content (Avatar), and display technology. It started in digital cinema where the difficulty to create a high-quality 3D image was presented. It then got to the TV market with high refresh rates making it possible to introduce active glasses, especially on Plasma." via Display Alliance

Display technology from AU Optronics stolen and given to Chinese firm, alleges investigation "The two former executives, surnamed Li and Wang, worked in developing panels and OLED technology for AU Optronics, but were lured away with new positions from TCL's China Star Optoelectronics Technology business unit, which also builds displays, according to MJIB. In exchange for supplying the technology, both Li and Wang were also compensated with annual salaries of over US$1 million. ...While China Star Optoelectronics has yet to reach the influence of international rivals AU Optronics, Samsung SDI and LG Display, the company is gradually building up the technology to compete on a wider-scale." via IT World

The 8.5G LCD panel project of China Star Optoelectronics Technology reaches full capacity earlier than scheduled "China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd., a business union of TCL Corporation -- a world leader in consumer electronics industry, announced that its 8.5G LCD panel production line has reached full capacity three months ahead of the original schedule. ...The success of China Star Optoelectronics Technology is a realization of TCL's strategic goal to completely build its entire LCD display industry chain. Reaching full capacity is also a demonstration of Shenzhen's production speed and quality to the world." via Melodika

Fraunhofer and POG co-developed micrometer-coated OLED structures on glass "The advantage the new design is that the active luminous area is integrated directly into the glass substrate which results in a better field of view, and the whole system is much more simple - and hopefully will result in cheaper designs." via OLED-Info

AUO to take on tablet panel leaders "LG Display and AUO are the two major display suppliers for the iPad mini, the research company said. The mainstream in-plane switching technology was from LG Display, while the advanced hyper-viewing angle technology was from AUO, it added." via The China Post

Possible 2013 Tax Hike May Hit Digital Signage "The new Section 179 of the IRS tax code enables businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased during the tax year. Previously, depreciations were spread out over multiple years. ...In other words, it makes it easier for them cost-justify digital signage deployments. However, the law is set to expire at the end of 2012." via Digital Draw

Do you need display panels? Email jason@displayalliance.com to source with Mass Integrated, Inc.

Micro Optics Display, The Screen In Your Glasses "The MOD (for Micro Optics Display) is straight from the future. It's a mini-screen that clips into your ski goggles and gives you real-time stats about your performance (speed, jump height...) in your field of view, as though it were 14 inches big and 5 feet away." via Digital Versus

Next-gen touchpads respond to pressure "Synaptics gave the forcepad to more than two dozen academic research groups, which were challenged to come up with novel uses for the device. It's like a touchpad, but in addition to the usual swiping gestures it can sense how much pressure is being applied, adding another dimension for control. ...Another project took a novel approach to puppetry, with a marionette controlled not by a puppeteer but by a forcepad." via PC World

The tech defining next-gen computing "Of the different autostereoscopic technologies we've seen, parallax barrier has the most traction, and can be found in the likes of the Nintendo 3DS and LG Optimus 3D. It uses an array of slits in front of the display that mean that each eye views a different set of pixels - a systems that works reasonably well with handheld devices, but is a little less convincing on larger displays like TVs." via Tech Radar

China pushes local adoption to support LCD industry expansion "One such factor that increased domestic panel consumption is the adjustment in the open-cell import tariff that China imposes on 32in and larger LCDs. From 3 percent, it was raised to 5 percent beginning April this year, hitting most panel suppliers as they ship their products in this configuration. This has benefited homegrown companies such as CSOT and BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd. Both provide panels in this size, with BOE also offering 37in units." via Global Sources

Want to submit news to Display Alliance or be interviewed? Email jason@displayalliance.com.

$3 million for Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State "The award will be used for development of new liquid crystal technologies at the Kent State University Liquid Crystal Institute in collaboration with regional businesses. The Liquid Crystal Institute was founded in 1965 and is a comprehensive research and educational center. Kent State will collaborate with four local companies: Kent Displays Inc., AlphaMicron Inc. and Crystal Diagnostics Inc., all of Kent, and Akron Polymer System Inc. of Akron. " via Recordpub.com

Panasonic to Display Smart Solutions and Eco Innovations at GITEX 2012 "GITEX Technology Week 2012 takes place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 14-18 October. ...A key focus for Panasonic this GITEX is its projectors. Panasonic projectors are true multifaceted, multimedia tools, featuring breakthrough innovations such as daylight view technology, and easy-to-use LCD and DLP technology models. Plug-and-play projectors ideal for classrooms, conference rooms or bigger venues like auditoriums will also be on display." via Panasonic

Carl Zeiss Cinemizer 3D OLED Head Mounted Display Starts Shipping "Carl Zeiss explains: “Rich colors OLED displays create crisp images with very vibrant colors, true black and thus very good contrast. Wearing comfort Emphasis was given to a low weight and optimal wearing comfort during development of the cinemizer OLED..."" via Geeky Gadgets

Magic Finger turns any surface into a touchscreen "Created in collaboration with the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, the Magic Finger relies on a high resolution RGB micro camera and an optical sensor to allow contextual actions to be carried out based on the particular surface being touched. " via Eureka Magazine

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 10.12.2012

Image via Sean Follmer / MIT Media Lab

What Comes After the Touch Screen? "One was a malleable interface that can be shaped somewhat the way clay can, developed by a team at MIT's Media Lab. Sean Follmer, a PhD student in the lab of Professor Hiroshi Ishii, demonstrated several versions, including a translucent bendable touch screen laid flat on a table." via MIT Technology Review

Nanotubes Presage Holographic Displays "Holographic displays came one step closer as researchers at Cambridge University’s Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics (CMMPE) used carbon nanotubes to produce the smallest ever scattering elements (pixels) to create a static holographic projection of the word CAMBRIDGE." via Display Central

Hands-on with the first IGZO panel smartphone, Sharp's SH-02E "In short, the world’s first phone with an IGZO-based display is a bit of a letdown. But on the plus side, the high-density IGZO displays that Sharp has been teasing us with are now that much closer to market — something that we can all look forward to." via The Verge

Disney Uses 3D Printed Optics for Displays "At the recent ACM conference on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST ’12), Disney Research (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ) and Carnegie Mellon University presented a paper on the production of optics for user interfaces and displays using 3D printing technology." via Display Central

Do you need display panels? Email jason@displayalliance.com to source with Mass Integrated, Inc.

Japan Electronics Emulates Detroit Autos Before Bankruptcy: Tech "Prices for 40-inch LCD panels fell from about $2,700 in the beginning of 2004 to $1,300 in 2005 and kept dropping until they reached $250 at the start of this year. Samsung steadily gained market share, moving to 29 percent in 2012 from 10 percent in 2004. ...“Japanese companies innovated primarily on hardware and the device and they were fantastic at that,” Kenevan said. “The problem is, the key engine of innovation in the world has shifted from hardware to software, to systems, to solutions.”" via Bloomberg Businessweek

Interactive system detects touch and gestures on any surface ""Imagine having giant iPads everywhere, on any wall in your house or office, every kitchen counter, without using expensive technology," said Niklas Elmqvist, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University. "You can use any surface, even a dumb physical surface like wood. You don't need to install expensive LED displays and touch-sensitive screens."" via R&D Mag

Panel Makers Re-Adjust 4Kx2K Panel Plans "As LCD TV panel makers reshuffle their 4K panel plans, it is becoming clear that 4K is a necessity at certain sizes." via DisplaySearch Blog

Flat Panel Display Price Erosion and Performance Improvements Drive Increased Demand, Expediting Industry Recovery "However, with the exception of LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon, a form of microdisplay) all other display technologies, including plasma and passive matrix forms of LCD and OLED, are declining in 2012. In a sharp reversal, AMEPD (active matrix electrophoretic display), which is used in monochrome e-readers, swung from strong growth in 2011 to even stronger decline in 2012, due to competition from TFT LCD-based tablet PCs." via DisplaySearch

Touchscreens: How they work "Capacitive screens sense the tiny amount of electrical charge on your skin that is produced when your finger interacts with the screen's electrical field." via The Washington Post

AU Optronics reaches patent cross-licensing agreement with E-Ink, Hydis "The ten-year deal largely centers around LCD technologies, including Fringe Field Switching (FFS). AUO and E-Ink claimed in a statement that the agreement will “sharpen their competitive edge” in the industry." via TNW

Less business for Korean-based tablet panel makers? "Analysts predict that global tablet users will reach 124 million by 2014, and Apple currently holds nearly 70 percent of the tablet market share. Taiwan is a hotspot for PC OEMs, but the PC market is shrinking, hence, Apple’s move may give Taiwan the much needed boost in its tech sector." via VR-Zone

Want to submit news to Display Alliance or be interviewed? Email jason@displayalliance.com.

Google 10-inch tablet would push display tech envelope "In fact, Samsung is the only company that successfully manufactures both high-volume advanced AMOLED and LCD screens. But the high-density PPI action is currently centered on LCDs -- not AMOLED. Sharp, for example, announced the start of production of a 5-inch 443 PPI display last week. But if Sharp is able to make those kinds of LCDs, you can bet Samsung probably can too -- and will." via CNET

Capacitive Touch Case Makes Your iPhone Very Sensitive "[Canopy] introduced the Sensus iPhone case with a capacitive touch back at the 2012 GDC (Game Developers Conference) on Wednesday. ...Touch-capacitive sensors are located on the back and right edges of the case. From the looks of the video on Canopy’s pre-order page, the company is clearly courting gamers and game developers. The case moves fingers off the front of the iPhone and out of the way of the action." via Wired

High-directionality backlight for head-up displays "A head-up display (HUD) shows signals, data, or messages in front of the windshield of a vehicle and allows the driver to keep their line of sight while looking at the display unit. HUD has been successfully adopted commercially1,2 and has the most potential for use as the human visual interface for vehicles.3 In addition to concerns related to reliability, particularly with HUDs with a large display size, there are two major issues with current HUD design. One is high power consumption. The other is the volume of the display unit." via SPIE

The Information Display News Roundup For 9.26.2012

Image via Office of Naval Research / Defense News

Marines Get Virtual Explosions in the Real World "The system includes a head-mounted display (HMD) with attached sensors tethered to a backpack computer. The software projects scaled virtual images of objects, such as tanks or helicopters, against the backdrop of the real terrain as seen through the HMD. It can work on any terrain, though the terrain must first be mapped." via Defense News

CE 2012 "Much of what has been going on with composite devices have been facilitated by what is going on with display technology, packing ever-more pixels into the same size screen. That is coming to an end, not because the technology has reached its limits but because the human eye cannot see ever more concentrated pixel densities." via Flat Panel Display Blog

Metal Oxide TFTs - Closer To Realization "When I attended the International Meeting on Information Display 2012 (IMID) a few weeks ago in Daegu, South Korea, a lot of progress was reported on metal oxide TFTs. The favorite material for the active layer is indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), which provides mobilities 10-20 times higher than that of s-Si." via Applied Materials Blog

Chimei G150XGE-L04 vs. AU Optronics G150XG01V3 "...the AUO G150XG01V3 with RGBW technology consumes 13% less power than the CMI G150XGE-L04 due to its white sub pixels, making the AUO G150XG01V3 the better choice for applications where operating cost is an issue." via Apollo Display Technologies Blog

Do you need display panels? Ask Jason. I'm the managing editor of Display Alliance but I also source panels for Mass Integrated, Inc. Just let me know what you need: jason@displayalliance.com

Digital Signage Glossary "In an effort to give readers an overall understanding of the sector, the 62 word vocabulary explains the meaning of elements related to all aspects of a digital signage solution- hardware, software, content and installation." via Dynamax Technologies

Free-form Optics May Enable “Glasses-Like” AR HMD "Previous work on AR HUDs based on free-form optical systems have primarily utilized physically large, low resolution microdisplays and resulted in optical systems with a fairly high f#. To address these issues, Hua’s group has developed various tools including new mathematical descriptions of free-form surfaces and surface shape controls. The results were demonstrated in a prototype that utilized a 0.61-inch OLED microdisplay and that had a f/1.875 optical system." via Display Central

Want to be interviewed for Display Alliance or submit your own content? Get in touch with me: jason@displayalliance.com

Mirrors That Double as Computers "Tokyo-based technology company Seraku Corp. is seeing interest from real-estate developers and hotels for its Web-connected bathroom mirror that acts as a one-stop display to read news, check traffic, leave notes for other family members, and keep track of water usage in the home." via The Wall Street Journal