DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY NEWS ROUNDUP 03.27.18

Image via International Business Times

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MicroLED patents nearly double in a year in South Korea "... According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), 120 patents in the technology were filed in 2017 compared to 67 in 2016..." via ZDNet

Micro LED & Mini LED Technology Will Account for 11.4% of Worldwide LED Wafer Volume by 2022 "... As Micro LED technology still faces technical bottlenecks, the transitional Mini LED products are favored by manufacturers..." via CTimes

Samsung Electronics Wants To Extend OLED Display Lifespan "... The South Korean tech giant and Seoul-based school Ewha Womans University recently conducted a study that examined the “degradation” of OLED displays’ blue lights..." via International Business Times

Sharp reportedly prioritizing OLED & IGZO panel production to land iPad orders "... Sharp has been tipped as a potential OLED panel supplier to Apple for future iPhones, with some reports suggesting it could be added to the supplier roster for the component as early as the second quarter of 2018..." via Apple Insider

Foxconn to acquire Belkin for $866 million, expanding access to sales channels "... The deal is also a continuation of Foxconn’s movement away from being primarily a contract manufacturer for companies like Apple and towards one that has brands of its own..." via BizTimes Media

Display Technology News Roundup 11.26.2013

Image via ExtremeTech

IGZO display tech finally makes it to mass market "Low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) is another alternative to a-Si that has higher electron mobility and thus excellent image quality, but LTPS is difficult and expensive to manufacture. One of the best examples of LTPS is the new Kindle Fire HDX, which is probably the only device on the market that has a better display than the iPad Air. According to Raymond Soneira at DisplayMate, the iPad Air’s use of IGZO reduces the display’s power consumption by 57% over last year’s iPad 4 — a huge reduction for a single generation." via ExtremeTech

How to build a "stealth" computer display "Brusspup specializes in optical illusion. He noticed that if you completely remove polarizer P1, an LCD display shows essentially uniform illumination with a varying pattern of polarization over the screen. However, as the human eye is not very sensitive to the polarization of light with which it sees the world, an LCD display from which the final polarizing film has been removed appears to be bright and featureless." via Gizmag

Are PC Displays Still Needed? "From the success of crowdfunding for cheap displays, there is clearly a need on the market for low-cost digital screens. The fact that prices for this equipment continue to drop will provide a stimulus to new and innovative uses for displays by businesses, especially by small and midsize companies where budgets are tight. Displays may eventually become a cost-saving commerce solution for advertising and marketing departments." via Midsize Insider

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

How MIT Invented A Screen That Lets You Reach Through And Touch Things "They call it inFORM. Unveiled this week, the device employs 900 plastic pegs on a square grid that can be raised or lowered to form shapes. A depth camera tracks the shape and movement of the input (your hand, your dog... whatever) and displays it with the pegs." via International Science Times

Why Smartphone Makers Are Racing to Build Flexible Screens "Just as liquid-crystal displays supplanted cathode ray tubes years ago in televisions, Korean display makers are now concentrating their efforts in organic light-emitting diode screens, which offer more vivid colors and can be made even thinner than liquid-crystal displays, since they don't require a backlight. Display makers in Japan and Taiwan have also been experimenting with different types of flexible screens though they haven't been able to reach mass production." via The Wall Street Journal

What is the future of displays? Qualcomm's Toq Smartwatch Displays "The Toq uses MEMS to produce the IMOD effect. Interferometric Modulation creates colors in a different way than LCDS or OLEDS. Essentially, the MEMS that comprise the display have two elements: coated glass on top and reflective membranes on bottom. An air pocket between the two layers is what creates colors depending on what type of electrical charge is applied to the pixel." via ReadWrite

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New liquid crystal structure reported by Kent State researchers "A research group at Kent State University has described and documented the structure of a new type of liquid crystal that had been predicted theoretically, but never seen. The new "twist-bend nematic" liquid crystal, one with a spiral twist, was observed by a Kent State research group led by Oleg D. Lavrentovich, Ph.D., D.Sc., trustees research professor of chemical physics and former director of the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State. The new type of liquid crystal, akin to a new species in biology, might enable new technologies, ranging from faster-switching display devices to biological sensors, Lavrentovich said." via Record-Courier

Is Ink-Jet Printing the Key to Next-Generation OLED Displays? "Kateeva’s setup—available as of today to display makers—features a movable platform that precisely positions glass panels or plastic sheets large enough for six 55-inch displays beneath custom print heads. Each head contains hundreds of nozzles tuned to deposit picoliter-scale droplets in exact locations to build up the pixels of a display. The company says the tool can be incorporated fairly easily into existing display production lines. Kateeva cofounder and president Conor Madigan says the system, based on the same technology in consumer ink-jet printers, eliminates the need for a step in the conventional manufacturing scheme that increases the risk of defects in the displays." via MIT Technology Review

New chip can detect gestures in front of tiny wearable displays "A fledgling company, Chirp Microsystems is developing a gesture-based operating system to work with a new chip that uses sound, rather than vision, to track the user’s movements. ...Inspired by medical technology, the system uses ultrasound, rather than light, to detect hand gestures within a range of about a meter. The system can sense gestures that don’t occur directly in front of its display, and it uses far less battery power than existing gesture camera-based interfaces: It runs up to 30 hours continuously on a tiny battery." via Singularity Hub

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Touchscreen display coating market to see major shift in technology "Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) now has a 95 percent market share for touch-screen transparent conductive coatings. At the same time, shipments of non-ITO films are forecast by IHS to increase 320 percent this year. By the end of 2017, shipments of alternative technologies--such as silver nanowire, copper mesh, silver mesh, silver halide and silver nano particle--will account for 34 percent of the market, reducing ITO's share to 66 percent." via FierceMobileIT

Could Biological Semiconductors Transform Tech Industry? "The semiconductors are known as quantum dots and are made from naturally occurring organic compounds called peptides, short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. ...In a demonstration, Mr. Rosenman shone a blue light (the backlight in an LCD TV is blue) onto tubes containing different solutions of quantum dots. The tubes lit up in red, green and blue—the constituents of any display. “There is a cost saving of about 10 times compared to other displays,” said Mr. Myersdorf. “The manufacturing process is the same as for making OLEDs.” An OLED is an organic light-emitting diode, commonly found in some smartphones and TVs." via The Wall Street Journal

New Twists On Autofocus, Multitouch, And Energy Harvesting "Qeexo has not built a new MEMS device; rather, it’s using information from the accelerometers already built into smartphones and tablets in a new way. ...Qeexo’s software analyzes the vibration generated when you touch the screen and determines whether you’re using your fingertip, knuckle, fingernail, or a stylus. Apps can then use that information to allow different types of touches to perform different function—a knuckle swipe, for example, could highlight text instead of scroll down the page; a fingernail could bring up a menu. It seems simple, but it’s not so easy to implement: Schwarz said she’s met with manufacturers who aren’t interested at first, then come back and tell her that they tried and failed to replicate the technology and are now ready to talk." via IEEE Spectrum

How To Add a Touch Interface to your Hardware with Touch Board "Want to create an interactive design with touch interface? Well, the Touch Board may be just what you are looking for. Arduino compatible, the Touch Board comes with 12 capacitive touch channels and will respond to anything conductive that is connected to one of the channels. You can turn on a light, ring a doorbell, or even play midi music, all from your very own Touch Board." via Engineering.com

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Display Technology News Roundup 6.15.2013

Image via Discovery News

Transparent Solar-Cell Screen Charges Phone "Startup Ubiquitous Energy, a spin off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing a technology that makes the solar cells themselves transparent by using materials that only absorb infrared and ultraviolet light and let visible light pass through. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) are taking a similar approach, while researchers at the University of Cambridge are weaving solar cells into organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, where they can capture light leaked from the edges of the OLED elements as well as from outside the phone." via Discovery News

Society For Information Display Applauds Winners at Display Week 2013 "Display of the Year: Granted to a display with novel and outstanding features such as new physical or chemical effects, or a new addressing method. Gold Award: Sharp and Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) for Sharp's IGZO LCD (as used in the AQUOS Phone Zeta SH-02E). Silver Award: Shenzhen China Star's 110-inch 4K x 2K 3D TFT-LCD TV" via PRNewswire

Worldwide Microdisplays Market "Microdisplays are small displays that require magnifying optics to use them. These displays are made of a CMOS chip that includes a two dimensional array of transistors. In combination with the liquid crystal material, a cover glass yields a reflective LCD. Microdisplays are generally used in head mounted displays, projectors, view finders, or in other lens view display systems. Continuous and rapid development in display technology has made the way for different types of displays in the commercial market in the past few years." via SBWire

Amazon Acquires Display Maker Liquavista "Liquavista uses a technology called electrowetting to develop color displays for e-readers and portable media players. The first commercially available electrowetting display panels are expected to arrive this year, according to the Digital Reader. ...Electrowetting produces displays with advantages in a couple of key areas—viewability in various lighting conditions and low-power video playback. Amazon, a leading maker of both ereaders and tablets, may be interested in Liquavista's technology for both device categories." via PCMag

New Quantum Dots Make Colors in LCD Even Brighter "In work that appears to tip the scales further for quantum dot-enabled LCDs, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have developed a method for doping quantum dots that will give LCDs a color vibrancy not seen before. In research published in the ACS journal Nano Letters ("Cluster-Seeded Synthesis of Doped CdSe:Cu4 Quantum Dots"), the UIC team reveal a method for introducing precisely four copper ions into each and every quantum dot. This doping with copper ions opens up the potential for fine-tuning the optical properties of the quantum dots and producing extraordinarily bright colors." via IEEE Spectrum

Japan Display expands manufacturing "Japan Display President Shuichi Otsuka announced yesterday that the company is boosting capacity of high-definition LCD manufacturing at its plant in Chiba as it has set its target sales this year at 800 billion yen (7.8 billion US dollars), almost double the 450 billion yen it earned last fiscal year. “Our business is now on track,” said Otsuka, who previously was CEO at Elpida Memory Inc. “Our technology is unique, so it won’t be easy for other companies to do the same.” By competitors, Otsuka means companies like Sharp Corp. also from Japan, South Korea’s LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan’s Innolux Corp., also big names in the display-making industry and sharing the market with Japan Display. Japan Display’s share of the global market for small- and mid-sized LCDs was 16.6 percent in 2012, Sharp Corp. held 14.8 percent, followed by LG Display Co.’s 13.5 percent and Innolux’s 10.2 percent." via Japan Daily Press

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Displays market loves LED lighting "In conclusion, the benefits of using LED lighting in an automotive environment has several positive implications. First, they never need to be replaced, since their solid state longetivity is in excess of 100K hours – equivalent to 11.5 service years, thereby surpassing the life of the vehicle. This allows automobile manufactures to permanently embed them into “in cabin” backlighting without requiring accessibility for replacement. Styling can also be dramatically altered as LED lighting systems do not require the depth or area as do CCFL bulbs." via Electronics Weekly

Glasses-free 3D display for theaters "It is not surprising that almost every movie is now produced in 3D. An additional incidental benefit is a reduction in illegal in-theater recording of movies. However, there are several reasons why some people are against 3D movies, in particular the discomfort of wearing special glasses. Yet, even though glasses-free 3D display technology has been commercialized for personal devices, such as the Nintendo 3DS, significant limitations must still be overcome for theater-scale projection. For glasses-free display, special optical parts must be installed in front of the screen, which interrupts original images from a projector and is incompatible with conventional theaters. ...To meet this demand, we have developed a glasses-free, front-projection 3D theater display system.2" via SPIE

Application scenarios for interactive OLED data-eyeglasses "The interdisciplinary project FAIR is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is dedicated specifically to the support of physical functions by using “hand-free applications in augmented reality“ (FAIR). Within this joint-project demonstrators for innovative human-machine-interactions will be developed. A display – similar to eyeglasses – represents the visionary interface. The control and interaction with the display will be achieved via eye movements. Thus the displayed elements can be seen but provide at the same time the possibility for interaction. This enables the user to start different computer-controlled actions via eye movements. The first steps within FAIR will focus on three special application scenarios: assistance and interaction systems for persons with disabilities, innovative human-machine-interfaces in the field of entertainment as well as information- and augmented-reality-interfaces in industrial maintenance scenarios." via nanowerk

Researchers turn regular LCDs into touchscreen "Doctoral students Ke-yu Chen and Sidhant Gupta work in the Ubiquitous Computing Lab on campus. They came up with the idea for their project, uTouch, while working on a similar project called LightWave that tested how the energy given off by any electronic devices in someone’s house and even by the human body can be manipulated to control an electronic device. The energy, called electromagnetic interference (EMI), is what caused a light bulb to dim and brighten as they moved their hands closer and farther away from the bulb. “We thought that the monitor could have a similar effect,” Chen said. It did. Chen said an LCD monitor radiates EMI, also called noise, to the power line when it is turned on. The EMI increases as the human hand approaches the screen, and uTouch captures the EMI variations and uses them as signals to detect a touch gesture." via The UW Daily

Is touch really the future of the PC? "Right now the best touch pads have an accuracy of 1mm the best touch screens have an accuracy of 7mm. Right off the bat we can see that a touch screen is 7-times less accurate than a touch pad. But there is more to it. When you use a touch pad your eyes are on the object you want to manipulate on the screen while your finger is on the pad. When you use a touch screen your finger is on the screen often blocking the item you want to manipulate. Now consider that the average finger is about 10mm across. You are now blocking the area you want to work on with your finger, which is larger than the sensor in tour touch screen." via Decrypted Tech

Scientists Discovered a New Less Expensive Technique of Creating 3D Images "Scientists at University of Glasgow's School of Physics and Astronomy discovered a new less expensive technique of creating 3D images. They created a system which makes use of the detectors that have single pixel for sensing the light instead of various pixels used in imaging sensors found in digital cameras. The detectors have the capability of judging the frequencies beyond visible light, which in turn would help in various new applications for 3D imaging in geography and medicine. The scientists explained that the single pixel detectors will cost just a few pounds in comparison to present systems which amount to thousands of pounds. " via Jagran Josh

Say Goodbye to the Sharp that We Knew "If we look at the difference between consolidated LCD sales and gross LCD sales before eliminating internal transfers, we see that only 50% to 60% of sales were external transactions in 2008–2012. The portion of external sales increased in FY2013 but the LCD assets in Sakai were removed from consolidation as part of Sharp’s effort to lighten its balance sheet in September of 2012. That means sales from Sakai’s Gen-10 lines no longer contribute to operating results. The problem with that is Sharp’s own capacity becomes only 3% of the industry and that share is declining. Sharp is already smaller than China Star (CSOT) on a consolidated business basis. Thus, Sharp has few alternatives to becoming more of a merchant supplier to other brands, like Samsung." via Display Central

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Europe honours LCD screen pioneer Martin Schadt "In 1970 the Swiss physicist achieved a breakthrough that would pave the way for LCD read-outs at first on calculators, watches and alarm clocks, and then flat-panel TVs, laptops and smartphones. But one year later his employer, Roche, thought the feat was a mismatch with its other pharmaceutical-focused efforts and canned the project. Thankfully, the decision proved short-lived and Dr Schadt helped the firm become a major supplier to the screen-making industry, as well as making further contributions to the technology's evolution. His admirers know him as the "father of the pixel", and this week the European Patent Office gave him its lifetime achievement award, noting that sales of devices featuring LCD panels totalled $120bn (£80bn) in 2012." via BBC News

Use of quantum dots with LCD screens in consumer devices edging closer to reality "Quantum dots are very small bits of semiconducting nano-crystals—they're useful because they can be confined in three spatial dimensions allowing for very tight control of emitted light at precise wavelengths. Shining a light through them produces exceptionally pure colors—applying trillions of them to a thin film allows for the display of color richness never before seen with LCD devices. Researchers have been raving about the benefits of the technology for several years while manufactures have been promising that devices with the technology would soon become available to consumers. It appears that such promises are finally about to come to fruition." via Phys.org

Apple going back to Samsung as LCD panel supplier "The industry believes that one of the reasons Apple has decided to come back to Samsung Display is because of its ability to get its hands on thin glass. Thin glass is a major component used in LCD displays that can be found in mobile devices—Apple uses them in its iPhones and iPads." via iDownloadBlog

Europe's largest liquid crystal display factory opened in Ventspils, Latvia "In its new plant in Ventspils Ltd. "EUROLCDS” will produce different types of passive liquid crystal display technology based products. The goal of the company is the global market (Europe and the USA), but primarily the European cluster of LCD products. Liquid crystal display materials will be supplied mainly from China and Japan. One of the largest business segments of the factory will be production of glass that automatically darkens when exposed to bright light for welding masks. Road signs and information display products that use EASL Polydisplay technology will also be produced. At present, the company employs 20 employees, but with the business growing, the number of employees is expected to increase up to 50; in the future there might be 50 more employees employed in distribution and administrative proceedings." via Ventspils.lv

Transparent graphene-based display could enable contact lens computers "The researchers were able to build miniature inorganic LEDs by connecting the graphene sheets together with silver nanowires into a hybrid structure. The flexible silver nanowires enabled the hybrid strucuture to maintain its high conductivity even when bent. The most important factor for using the hybrid graphene in a contact lens-based computer is its high transparency. Other transparent materials like indium tine oxide (ITO) become much less conductive when bent. When the hybrid LEDs were embedded into a regular soft contact and tested in a rabbit no ill effects were observed." via ExtremeTech

Government aid helped make Sharp's IGZO crystals a reality "To develop IGZO, Hosono received research funding from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), an independent administrative agency affiliated with the science ministry. The agency provided 1.8 billion yen ($18 million) of funding for a five-year period beginning in 1999. Of that, around 100 million yen was used for basic research on IGZO. IGZO is dozens of times more conductive than silicon. It can make smaller TFTs and give high-definition quality to liquid crystals." via The Asahi Shimbun

The Future of 3D TV and Why ESPN Dropped Its Pioneering 3D Channel ""3D does cause people to switch off in its present form,” admitted Andy Quested, BBC’s head of 3D and HD. “About 20 percent of people find sports matches in 3D simply too long. Twenty-five percent of people are apathetic toward 3D viewing no matter the content. Another 10 percent can’t see 3D because of visual impairments, but arguably up to half the audience for 3D content is put off by having to wear glasses." Dolby is among the stakeholders arguing that glasses simply won’t work in the home." via The Hollywood Reporter

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Innolux sales drop after ceasing touch display operations "In a statement issued on Friday, Innolux reported consolidated sales of NT$37.47 billion (US$1.25 billion) last month, down 8.4 percent from a month earlier and also down 5.2 percent from a year earlier. At an investor conference on May 9, Innolux said the termination of its touch display enhancement technology operations would cut its sales by about NT$5 billion during April and last month, but its gross margin would improve accordingly." via Taipei Times

Hon Hai Annoints Display Research Center In Japan "Hon Hai Precision Industry announced that it has established a research and development center in Japan to focus on display screens and touch panels. As a part of its diversification strategy, Hon Hai is reportedly expanding its businesses outside the OEM sector. The company has continued to invest in the display screen sector; in 2012, Hon Hai acquired a 38% stake in Sharp's Sakai TV panel factory." via China Tech News

New tactile display sends information through skin instead of eyes "Your sense of touch could be the next frontier in relaying valuable contextual information if new research currently being conducted at MIT proves successful. Researchers believe it may be possible to design wearable arrays of GPS-enabled vibration motors that provide simple navigational cues or detailed data through a kind of tactile Morse code. This could lead to non-visual haptic display technology — why not check your email without even opening your eyes?" via ExtremeTech

New Technology Creates Unbreakable Smartphone Display "The plastic substrate created by Professor Yoon and his research team have greatly enhanced needed properties of heat resistance, transparency, flexibility, inner chemical capability, and tensile strength. Although the material retains flexibility as a native advantage of plastic film, its tensile strength is three times greater than that of normal glass, which is a degree similar to tempered glass. In addition, Professor Yoon’s substrate is as colorless and transparent as glass and resists heat up to 450℃, while its thermal expansivity is only 10% to 20% of existing plastics." via PCB 007

How supersensitive screens get touch-y "Have you seen a diagram of a mobile phone display? It's a lot more than the cover glass you're worried about shattering when you drop your phone. There are layers that stack up to form the whole package, from the coated cover glass on top through filters, substrate glass, and screen material, like the LCD or OLED sheaves that actually turn pixels on and off to create the picture you see on the screen." via CNET

A Pleasure To Touch: Advanced Human Machine Interface Touchscreens For Vending "Engineers need to consider three key factors when looking to embed touch control into vending machines. 1. The specified touchscreen solution must be durable, as these pieces of equipment are designed for 24/7 public use. Furthermore, some venders may be deployed in a variety of environments, including outdoors, where they will be subjected to wind, moisture and extreme temperatures. As the machines may be located in lightly supervised areas, the chosen touchscreen should be resistant to deliberate harm from vandalism, in addition to accidental scratches from users' watches and jewelry." via Vending Times

Wearable Computing Pioneer Says Google Glass Offers “Killer Existence” " [Another] thing is that we’re going to see these interfaces that augment the user’s eyes, ears, and mind in such a way that it actually helps with their daily life instead of distracts them. Suppose you’re playing a video game or watching TV. Having something that actually shows you the TV guide or a second screen while you’re doing other things is really powerful." via MIT Technology Review

Developing 3D gesture-based car dashboards "One common aspect of the systems now emerging is that the touch screen head unit represents the nexus of an ever-growing diversity of input signals such as television and DVD, live video and graphics from advanced driver assistance systems, status information from various vehicle sensors, Bluetooth communications, GPS and mapping, and Internet content such as traffic updates, news feeds and social media notifications. User interface design is critical if drivers are to gain the maximum benefit from interacting with the system without suffering distractions or information overload. Considerations for designers extend beyond the layout and menu structure to encompass multiple ways of interacting with the system; touch, gesture and voice control will all be necessary, in addition to control using buttons on the console and steering wheel." via ElectronicsWeekly

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Display Technology News Roundup 1.31.2013

Image via ExtremeTech

Add OLED screens to your fingernails with NailDisplay "It's only a prototype right now, but a group of engineers at the National Taiwan University in Taipei think that using fingernail-mounted OLED screens could solve a number of UI problems plaguing today's gadgets. For instance, if a person is typing on a touchscreen smartphone, the NailDisplay could show what virtual key your thumb is on (and obscuring), essentially making your typing experience a "transparent" one." via DVICE

Jaguar Land Rover engineer discusses HMI display technology "The key differentiator that is holding back displays in the automobile is that of the environment. The harshness and variety of environmental extremes means that standard consumer display's can't be used, therefore specific development projects need to take place. I expect that the increased resolution trend will eventually migrate across to cars, but this must not be done at the expense of performance and in particular brightness - which in a fixed position system is critical to ensure performance in all ambient lighting conditions, this is something that consumer devices are not particularly good at." via Display Alliance

Penetration rate of touch screen technology used in LCD monitors expected to increase in 2013 "The global penetration rate of touch screen technology used in LCD monitors is expected to increase to 8-10% in 2013 largely due to the release of Windows 8, according to sources at ViewSonic. The penetration rate is expected to reach the percentage by the end of the year after climbing from 3-5% in the first quarter 2013 largely due to LCD vendors' plans to continue releasing products that are Windows 8 compatible, said the sources." via DigiTimes

Flex-o-Fab: a new 3-year EU project that aims to help commercialize flexible OLEDs within six years "The Flex-o-Fab project will draw on technologies and expertise already used to produce glass-based OLEDs and flexible displays. It will look to migrate existing sheet-to-sheet processes to roll-to-roll (R2R) production to further reduce costs and enable high-volume production." via OLED-Info

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

Sharp IGZO to Transform Displays "The cascading effect of these two advantages over A-Si are stunning, and Sharp is taking full advantage, as evidenced in the CES booth. The big advantage in mobile displays comes in power savings, as the larger aperture ratio allows for far fewer LED backlights to achieve the same brightness levels. But beyond the obvious power savings from fewer backlights, the high electron mobility from Sharp IGZO also allows the display panel to modulate the on/off state (at about 100 Hz) and still maintain the image on the screen, according to Chris Frank of the Sharp Camas Labs in Washington State." via Display Central

Today's thinner LCDs can show uneven lighting, even in bright scenes "LCD screens have often shown some backlight non-uniformity (called mura), because an LCD panel can let the backlight leak through more in certain spots than in others. Normally, this appears as an uneven cloudiness that usually can be seen only when the screen image is dark or completely black. But as TVs get ever thinner, we've seen a new problem that can cause even more noticeable type of non-uniformity, which, at its worst, can be distracting even in bright scenes." via ConsumerReports.org

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Reduce Display Noise In Capacitive Touchscreens "There are several options to reduce display noise effects on the touchscreen controller: shielding (eliminating noise magnitude), avoid noise frequency, digital filters, touchscreen sensor design, and synchronization." via Mobile Dev & Design

Car Makers Seize New Display Technology "Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz is torn on whether to implement the head-up display technology in its models. Its revamped E-Class sedan, which debuted at the Detroit auto show this week, is chock-full of new safety technologies such as a pedestrian-detection system, but doesn't include a heads-up display function. "There is still an internal debate [within Daimler] about it at the moment," said Joachim Schmidt, Daimler's global sales chief." via The Wall Street Journal

High res displays revolutionize user interfaces "In the past, UI designers had to think about what would look good on a display. Now these designers just need to figure out what looks good. This small shift in design mentality has unlocked the creativity of many on what a modern interface should look like, and we have only seen the start of it." via The Retriever Weekly

Kent Displays Listed As Manufacturer “Of Note” 2013 "A pioneer in the liquid crystal display industry, Kent Displays has transformed itself from a research-based organization into a business-to-consumer company. Its plastic LCDs, manufactured under the trade name Reflex, are used in a variety of applications in growing markets such as writing tablets, electronics skins and credit card displays. Among Kent Display’s products is a line of e-writers — the Boogie Board tablets — which were introduced in 2010 by Improv Electronics, Kent Displays’ consumer product subsidiary. In its first year in production, Boogie Board tablet sales exceeded forecast by 10 times because of their successful entry to the Chinese marketplace. By 2011, Boogie Boards were being sold in India. Today, the company is exploring other global markets for expansion. Learn more at www.kentdisplays.com." via Smart Business

E Ink accused of asset-stripping Hydis "The chief bone of contention for Hydis workers is the suspicion that E Ink is asset-stripping the company by selling its core technology — more specifically, the license for Hydis' LCD technology which is considered to be just a few notches below top display makers such LG Display — to rival companies. The act itself may be legitimate, but in that case, Bae insists that the government must initiate legislation to prevent such transfers of technology in the future. ...This would not be the first time that Hydis suffered at the hands of a foreign owner. Prior to E Ink's acquisition in 2008, the display maker — formerly a unit under Hyundai Electronics, the precursor to Hynix Semiconductor that was acquired by SK Group — had been exploited by China-based BOE Display." via The China Post

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“Moth’s Eye” Approach Will Reduce Screen Reflections and Glares "Moth Eye technology will be far more advanced than Apple’s Retina display, which develops screens based on the highest threshold of human sight that can distinguish between the pixels on a screen. While Steve Jobs touted Retina display technology as the maximum threshold of human sight, a recent rumor has it that Samsung Electronics will use diamond-shaped pixels in its soon-to-be Galaxy S4 instead of the usual Pentile-Matrix pixel display (while also producing a pixel density of 440ppi, or pixels per inch)." via The Droid Guy

Samsung hits OLED screen milestone "While it took Samsung four and a half years to reach the initial 100 million production mark for OLED panels, the next 100 million units were produced in just eleven months, and the last 100 million units were produced in only seven months. Samsung held a ceremony to commemorate the 300 million production milestone at Samsung Display City located in Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do, in South Korea, which was attended by its president and more than 300 other employees." via itbusiness.ca

Design Touchscreen-Based Handheld Systems For Low Power Consumption "Designers can stretch the operating battery life of handheld devices through judicious management of the operational states. Touchscreens, which are now nearly ubiquitous, make a good example. The operating conditions for a portable device, with the variety of applications it can support, generally can vary from intensely busy to nearly idle in a moment’s time. By utilizing knowledge of how a device is being used, the power consumed by the touchscreen can be more efficiently managed." via Electronic Design

Toray’s touchscreen film self-repairs scratches, cuts down on fingerprints "What Toray has done is manage to apply the anti-fingerprint solution to their self repairing film. So now you can have a fingerprint free touchscreen that also recovers from any minor scratches. Toray also updated the anti-fingerprint technology to make it easier to remove any dirt that does build up, however, in doing so the film doesn’t work quite as well as last year’s wrinkled nanometer surface method." via geek.com

Has Apple finally abandoned its sad claim to the 'Multi-Touch' trademark? "Apple's used "Multi-Touch" since literally the first minute Steve Jobs uttered the word, with a conspicuous pause between syllables and a handy slide behind him displaying the hyphenated form. The goal, as with any trademark, was to convince the public that "Multi-Touch" on Apple devices is a proprietary technology somehow distinct from all the other multitouch displays in the world. If you squint right and imagine you're a hotshot young attorney with a bad BMW habit, it sort of makes sense, in the same way that "E Ink" makes sense as a trademark. But it was always unfortunate: here's Apple, the leader in minimal design, allowing its lawyers to brutalize the perfectly functional word "multitouch" with two capital letters, a hyphen, and a superscript. Gross." via The Verge

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The Display Technology News Roundup For 1.3.2013

Image via The Environmental Blog

OLED TV Arrives "The companies are tackling the OLED in different ways. Samsung is using three OLEDs—one red, one green, one blue—for each pixel; LG is using white OLEDs throughout, creating subpixels with colored and white filters. O’Donovan says he thinks, at least in the short term, that LG’s white OLED approach “will be better for yields and will create a more uniform color for the whole panel.”" via ieee spectrum

Panasonic Halts Plasma R&D "Panasonic is reportedly due to halt R&D activities for its plasma TVs to concentrate on developing OLED technology. ...In fact, plasmas could be phased out for good in 2014 to make way for upcoming OLED technology, which boasts all the benefits of plasma and LCD (infinite contrast, wide viewing angles, good response times, etc.) without the drawbacks." via Digital Versus

Small, medium-size AMOLED displays doubling by 2015 "Mass adoption of AMOLED technology, though, faces hurdles due to the higher cost and technical difficulty of manufacturing -- successful entry takes five years on average, according to the firm. "Prior to the start of mass production of AMOLED displays for mobile phones, only passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) displays were available, mostly used in applications such as mobile phone sub-displays, automobile displays, and some industrial and niche applications," Chung stated." via Solid State Technology

The Difference Between Makers and Manufacturers "In Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance, Gary P. Pisano and Willy C. Shih, professors at Harvard Business School, list critical technologies in which the United States has lost or is at risk of losing its manufacturing prowess. Among them are rechargeable batteries, liquid crystal displays, and semiconductors (70 percent of the world’s foundry capacity is in Taiwan). It is no longer feasible to make e-ink readers in this country, though the technology was invented here. Shih rejects the notion that innovative products can reliably emerge when designs are shipped off for others to produce." via MIT Technology Review

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

Apple May Use IGZO Display Technology on 2013 iPhone and iPad Releases "A rumor suggests that Apple, Inc. and Sharp Corp. are negotiating plans for the former company to use the latter’s IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology in its next-generation iPhones and iPad tablet computers. While this agreement could be a potential game-changer for Apple, low yield rates on Sharp’s end has forced Apple to consider other display manufacturers in Asia to ensure healthy supplies of display panels." via Eastern Morning Herald

A Closer Look – MIT Lab’s 8D display "The 8D display is just of several inventions to overcome the prohibitive bandwidth requirements of holographic displays, all without the need for eyeglasses, using optimized optical hardware and co-designed "compressive" image-encoding algorithms. To date, MIT have explored the use of such "compressive displays" that are primarily composed of multiple layers of high-speed liquid crystal displays (LCDs)." via 3D Focus

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Electrowetting combines the best of LCD and E Ink "The problem is that the polarization limits both the viewing angle and the light coming from the backlight. Together, those optical layers—the polarizers, the color filters, and so on—waste more than 90 percent of the backlight’s output. Electrowetting limits this loss by dispensing with the polarizers." via ieee spectrum

Liquid Crystal Finding Could Lead to New Computer Screens "University of Massachusetts Amherst mathematician Robert Kusner teamed up with researchers at the University of Colorado to conduct three-dimensional liquid crystal experiments. According to a press release, “The work is expected to lead to creation of new materials that can be actively controlled.” ...“These findings lay the groundwork for new applications in experimental studies of low-dimensional topology, with important potential ramifications for many branches of science and technology,” Smalyukh stated, noting that the finding could lead to upgraded liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in televisions and laptops that let them interact with light in new ways." via The Epoch Times

Uni-Pixel: Possibly The Best Investment For 2013 "In order to fully understand Unipixel's opportunity, one must first understand the market - touch screens. ...Current 'conductive layers' are made from ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) which is horribly flawed. Firstly, Indium is expensive, increasing from $300/kg to $800/kg in the past 3 years. ...Due to the brittleness of ITO, this cost gets exponentially more expensive for larger screens (such as tablets or laptops, or larger smart phones). This is where Unipixel steps in with the UniBoss product." via Seeking Alpha

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LG Flexible e-Paper Fails to Change the e-Reader World "Why didn’t this screen technology ever catch on in the e-reader world? Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Bookeen, and Bebook all use e-Paper made by e-Ink Holdings. This company has had a stranglehold on the entire e-reader segment. With the industry gravitating towards illuminated screens and e-Ink Triton 2, there aren’t any takers for LG." via Good Ereader

New E-Notepad by Sharp brings paper notebooks closer to their doom "The strongest point of the WG-N10 is the accuracy of its response when used with a stylus. It has a self correction system that adjusts the output lines accordingly as the stylus "writes", and can accurately display written notes even in the centimeter range. The reflective display even adds more intuitiveness to the unit, since it can be used just about anywhere that you can use an ordinary notebook, only you don't use up paper and ink!" via VR-Zone

Patent Issued for on Demand Calibration of Imaging Displays ""The steps further include receiving luminance and color values from a plurality of photosensors associated with the display screen, where the photosensors detect distinct luminance and color levels at the different regions of the display screen. The steps also include determining, from the detected luminance and color levels, a plurality of luminance and color correction factors by comparing the detected luminance and color values to reference luminance and color data. The steps additionally include applying the determined luminance and color correction factors to the different regions of the display screen so as to adjust luminance and color of the display screen at the different regions, where each of the different regions is spanned by a corresponding measurement field."" via Equities.com

Firewall: A Depth Sensitive Interactive Wall "Firewall is an interactive installation, a seemingly normal wall that is actually a stretched spandex surface which acts as a membrane interface sensitive to depth. People can push, touch, move and create fire-like visuals dynamically depending on the speed, pressure, depth and movement of the interaction with the spandex surface." via Digital Buzz Blog

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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 11.12.2012

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

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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

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 11.6.2012

Image via The Digital Reader

Project Vivit Shows Off Video Playing on Color E-ink Screen "Okay, seeing the video in color is kinda interesting, but in the long term it doesn’t have much use. The low-power benefit of E-ink screens is lost when you have to refresh the screen 30 times a second. And the quality and resolution of the video is much lower than you would find on most any LCD screen." via The Digital Reader

iPad Mini Display Under The Microscope "Repair Labs says that the pixels of the 4th-gen iPad are 16 percent larger relative to the iPad mini than the iPad 2, making the difference between the two screens less noticeable, and in fact, “to the naked eye, it’s negligible,” the gadget repair site says." via Tech Crunch

Yole Développement sees a $1.7 billion OLED lighting market in 2020 "Yole says that traditional lighting makers will not choose to invest in OLED mass production - as the costs are high and the production difficulties are numerous. OLED lighting development will therefore depend on bottom of the supply chain companies that will need to offer more vertical integration." via OLED-Info

University of Tokyo turns real paper and ink into a display "The division's new research has budding artists draw on photochromic paper with Frixion's heat-sensitive ink, turning the results into something a computer can manipulate. A laser 'erases' the ink to fix mistakes or add effects, and an ultraviolet projector overhead can copy any handiwork, fill in the gaps or print a new creation." via Engadget

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New E-Reader Display Aims at Video and Color "Of course, the liquid crystal displays on tablets already show color, but they do so by shining colored lights out of the screen. E-readers, on the other hand, create colors by reflecting incoming light. They use much less power, are easier to read in sunlight and are thinner than LCDs." via Live Science

LCDs, Aperture Ratios, and Hummingbirds "The area ratio of the opaque transistor and the transparent electrode is a key metric called the aperture ratio. So let’s make the transistors smaller. Obvious, right? Easier said than done." via Applied Materials

LTPS AMOLED is Coming on Gen 8 "In the production tool, the laser beam is optically broadened to a line that can be as large as 1300mm, and is swept along the substrate in the long direction (see figure). The 55-inch displays are produced 6-up in a 3×2 matrix. The line beam makes one pass from the top and one from the bottom, so the sweep edge does not cross any display and stitching in not needed." via Display Central

Applied Materials unveils new PVD, PECVD tools for display manufacturing "The Applied AKT-PiVot PVD for metal oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) enables a transition from aluminum to copper interconnect bus lines leading to faster pixel response and lower power consumption in LCD TV panels. It overcomes the problem of "mura effect" that reduce display quality, which the company says has hindered metal-oxide technology's inroads into mainstream LCDs. The "breakthrough" stability of the IGZO films deposited by the tool offers the promise of metal oxide backplanes for OLEDs which would significantly lower their cost as well, the company adds." via Solid State Technology

Why bigger is better for FPD recovery and growth "“The average diagonal sizes of key FPD applications have increased over the past three years, and every inch of growth in flat panel display applications results in growth in area demand and thus capacity utilization,” points out David Hsieh, VP of Greater China Market Research for NPD DisplaySearch. Consumers won't want to go back to smaller displays and lower resolutions, so average (diagonal) sizes will accelerate in 2013, spurring long-term growth for the entire flat-panel display industry." via Solid State Technology

Do you have news to submit to Display Alliance or want to be interviewed about your expertise in the display industry? Email jason@displayalliance.com.

Research to expedite LCD monitor recycling "Recycling LCDs currently entails a high labour cost because mercury in the back of LCDs requires proper disposal. Without recycling, LCDs are incinerated using expensive emission control equipment or are discarded in landfills where their potentially hazardous materials may contaminate the soil and water. The units also contain gold and indium tin oxide, which are valuable and scarce resources but are difficult to extract. The project is funded by a US$ 15 000 grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s P3 project." via Recycling International

Patent Issued for LCD Panel Having Improved Response ""The present disclosure relates to reducing response time, decreasing driving voltage and/or increasing transmittance of an LCD. In accordance with the present disclosure, the LCD may include a liquid crystal layer having liquid crystal molecules. A chiral dopant may be dispersed within the liquid crystal layer and configured to bias the liquid crystal molecules toward a twisted state that facilitates light passage through the LCD. Such a configuration may reduce response time and/or decrease driving voltage. ..." via Equities.com

iTomb design offers mourners touchscreen tributes from the grave "The iPad – inlaid into a stone slab – is powered using solar energy and comes with a protective cover to ward off the elements and theft." via Macworld

Sharp is on the verge of collapse, IGZO technology remains only hope for survival "It was not, however, the smartphone venture that caused so much trouble; it was the company’s overzealous turn to produce LCD panels for large TV screens. As part of the company’s restructuring plan, it will turn its focus on the booming smartphone and tablet market and product small- to medium-sized LCD panels keeping IGZO (named after indium gallium zinc oxide semiconductor) technology aboard. IGZO is believed to be a power-saver but what if other companies, like LG and Japan Display, could develop a display technology better than what Sharp offers?" via The Droid Guy

Electrofluidic imaging e-paper has no pixel borders "In current electrowetting displays (devices that use electricity to move pigmented fluids around), colors maintain their image-forming distinctiveness via pixel borders that ensure that the pixel's color does not bleed over into the next pixel or color. This matters because pixel borders are dead areas that dull any display of information, whether a display of text or image. Leading electronics companies have been seeking ways to reduce or eliminate pixel borders to increase display brightness." via Laser Focus World

New Ideas in Digital Signage "The visceral adoption of tap, swipe, and zoom interactivity has set the stage for how people will interact with digital signs. Beyond simple touch interaction, scan, RFID, and NFC will deliver personalized information to displays and even grant or deny entry access to users interacting with electronic room signs." via AV Network

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The Display Industry News Roundup For 10.24.2012

Image via Military & Aerospace Electronics

Head up or head down: Debate avionics displays with Avionics Intelligence and Avionics Europe "The staff of Avionics Europe 2013 announces a new and exciting addition to the conference program. The 2013 event, to be held Feb. 20 and 21, 2013 in Munich, will feature an interactive panel discussion on a hotly debated topic: head up vs. head down displays." via Military & Aerospace Electronics

Anorexic display devices "Thinness is a distinct advantage when it means reduction of layers and consolidation, especially in the display. The new in-cell touch screens in the iPhone take out a layer. Every layer in a display adds two surfaces and each surface can usually be counted on to contribute 4% in surface reflections that reduce sunlight viewability and image contrast in general. Much of the visual improvement from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5 can be attributed to this feature." via Display Alliance

Hot off the Kindle Paperwhite, E Ink looks to the future "No matter how good the technology gets, e-paper will never replace LCDs in high-end, media-rich tablets, but E Ink doesn't worry too much about that: through mergers and acquisitions, the company has come to own Hydis, a Korean firm with a rich patent portfolio in LCD technology that's notably been licensed by Apple display suppliers AU Optronics and Sharp." via The Verge

Panasonic Exiting TV? "Although Plasma had been written off as a declining technology some years ago, the re-emergence of 3D sparked something of a revival. Due to the fact that 3D trades temporal resolution (response time) in order to get 3D, with its much faster response time, Plasma was a better fit for modification to 3D. Panasonic jumped on this and launched a line of studio production equipment to enable wider adoption of 3D. " via Flat Panel Display Blog

iPhone 5 Display: Now 16:9 with full sRGB Coverage "Touch sensing has to be time multiplexed with display driving otherwise the touch signal might be entirely lost in noise. At the same time, touch sensing is often around double the frequency (120–175 Hz) of display drawing (60 Hz), so this has to be done carefully during quiet periods, and thus that required communication and integration. The iPhone 5 uses a combination of TI and Broadcom controllers to do display controller and touch sensing, where previous generations of iPhone simply just used a single chip TI solution." via AnandTech

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

AUO to benefit the most from FFS technology agreement with Hydis Technologies "The observers also said AUO's overall product mix will be improved and that AUO will even have an advantage over E Ink when it comes to securing orders in the long run. Securing orders for small- to medium-size panel products will be particularly important for panel makers as the products are growing in demand and thus creating more competiiton in the market, added the observers." via DigiTimes

Sharp bets recovery on IGZO LCD panel biz "Sharp already makes IGZO displays for Apple's iPad tablet at its Kameyama plant since April, the report added. Sharp said IGZO displays, which consumes only 10 percent to 20 percent of the power required by conventional panels and are also thinner, are better suited for ultrabooks, Reuters noted." via ZDNet

The top 5 questions to ask when choosing a video controller "5. Are there any additional thermal or other environmental requirements? Though made of similar components serving similar purposes, video controllers are not created equally. They can be made to withstand high temperatures and humidity, severe vibrations and shock, and even strong magnetic fields such as those found in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) rooms." via Display Alliance

4K is now called Ultra HD "4K TVs are coming but you will call them Ultra HD TVs – says the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). ...CEA also requires TVs to have at least 3,840 horizontal pixels and 2,160 vertical pixels to use the Ultra HD label. No words on what 8K will be called by the CEA but 8K is still many years away so we are not too concerned about this." via Flat Panels HD

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Sony to launch industry’s first medical-grade monitor utilising OLED technology "OLED is the next generation flat-panel screen technology with superior image quality which outperforms liquid-crystal display (LCD). As a pioneer in OLED technologies, Sony's PVM-2551MD OLED medical monitor features a Full HD OLED panel using Sony's unique "Super Top Emission" technology which enhances the colour purity of emitted light and reduces ambient light reflection. " via nzDoctor

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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

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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 Display Industry News Roundup For 10.9.2012

Image via Slash Gear

Futaba showcases flexible OLED watch "The Display has a size of 3.5 inch and a 256×64 Pixel resolution with a pixel pitch of 0.34×0.34 mm. The brightness is about 100 lumen/m²" via OLED-Display See video here in the Tube section of Display Alliance.

Evaluating molecules within a sealed organic light emitting diode device "The developed method uses an advanced laser spectroscopic technique that has been improved to measure the molecular vibrational spectrum at the interface of a specific organic layer inside an OLED device. By employing a signal enhancement phenomenon that occurs at the interface with a concentrated electric field, the method can be used to evaluate the molecular condition of the organic layer during light emission without destroying the device." via Phys.org

Key milestone reached in OLED development: cynora presents new flexible prototype "“Using solution processing to produce components instead of conventional vapor deposition is a prerequisite for bringing production costs down to a level where flexible OLEDs are viable for mass-market applications,” explains Dr. Tobias Grab, the other cynora CEO. In addition, the cynora emitters used are based on readily available copper precursors which in itself further support the material’s suitability for mass production." via Cynora

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

ISE 2013 To Host MegaPixel Summit "“By hosting the MegaPixel Summit at ISE 2013, we hope to create a forum in which the challenges arising from creating large-scale, multiple-component displays are addressed by a mix of different stakeholders: manufacturers, distributors, integrators, rental companies and end customers.”" via Display Central

Smart pill bottle measures meds using touchscreen technology "AdhereTech's battery-powered smart pill bottle measures the amount of liquid or solid medication in a bottle using capacitance, the same technology used in touch screens. The sensors are between plastic in the bottle's walls so they never touch the meds, but can accurately measure down to one pill of solid medication or one millileter of liquid medication." via The Verge

Chip-on-Glass LCD Driver Technology "NXP has developed a Chip-on-Glass LCD driver approach whereby the integrated circuit mounts directly on the display glass, with the overall impact being a reduction in system cost. COG is a very reliable and well-established technology, which is often used in the automobile industry." via EE Times

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CGS not IGZO Adorn New Sharp 5-inch HD Panel "Truth be told, although an older technology CGS is still a good choice. The older CG-Silicon uses crystalline silicon with electron mobility up to 600 times faster than ordinary amorphous silicon and up to six times faster than low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS-the current technology in the iPhone retina class iPhone4) according to Sharp." via Display Central

Projected-capacitive touch panels: Coming to a hospital near you "The optical clarity of projected capacitive touch panels made with all-glass construction makes them ideal for incorporating touch interactivity into demanding medical applications that require high-end LCDs with superior contrast, resolution, luminance and sharpness. Touch panels made from PET film instead of glass typically have lower transmissivity, greater haze and often exhibit interference patterns, or Newton’s rings, all of which make them less suitable for medical devices." via ECN Mag

The Information Display News Roundup For 10.4.2012

Image via Tech Hive

Is Sharp showing high-res iPad mini screens? "The Japanese manufacturer, which has been mass producing the screens since August for an unnamed customer, is showing working tablet displays in 7-inch, 10-inch, and 13-inch form factors at its booth, though they are sealed off behind glass. IGZO technology, named after the indium gallium zinc oxide semiconductor on which it is based, can be used to make screens with smaller pixels that draw far less power than current models with more accurate touch sensitivity. Sharp is pushing the technology for smartphones and tablets." via Tech Hive

What Is the Society for Information Display For? "What sort of information should be presented and how can we prevent human overload? These and many more questions seem relevant to the Society for Information Display. SID should not just be about displays, but about display-based solutions." via Display Central

Sharp tackles reflected light with 'moth eye' LCD "Sharp applied an anti-reflecting coating to its LCD panels based on technology similar to the nanostructure of a moth’s eyes. Scientists have long understood that moth eyes have a special property that eliminates reflection. The surface of a moth's eyes is covered with bumps and valleys that absorb oncoming light, enhancing night vision." via EE Times

Average Size of LCD TV Panels Increases by 2 Inches in 12 Months "Overcapacity in the TFT LCD industry remains an ongoing concern for panel makers. Capacity expansions have been slowing down, with few new investments in Korea, Taiwan and Japan. ...In addition to shrinking capacity, an important factor in bringing supply and demand into balance is area growth. One key trend to watch here is average screen size, especially for TV panels." via DisplaySearch 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

Reading on LCD vs e-Ink displays: effects on fatigue and visual strain "Since research has shown that, compared to reading on electronic displays, reading on paper is faster and requires fewer fixations per line, one would expect differential effects when comparing reading behaviour on e-Ink and LCD. In the present study we therefore compared experimentally how these two display types are suited for reading over an extended period of time." via NCBI

Hitachi Electronic Devices becomes KOE-Americas "“Hitachi has a long history of firsts in LCD technology” says Keith Brown, vice-president of operations and sales for KOE Americas. “From the first commercially available in-plane switching technology, to the first ultra-wide-temperature range displays, Hitachi has been an industry innovator for over three decades. KOE-Americas hopes to build on that legacy by partnering with product developers to utilize LCDs in new and innovative ways.”" via Electronic Products and Technology

CEATEC 2012: Docomo demos hands-free video-conferencing prototype with digitized avatar "Docomo came with something rather interesting in the shape of a pair of glasses that comes with 7 different 720p cameras. Not only these cameras will digitize your face, but will also capture in real time your surrounding environment and movements to your calling partner." via Akihabara News

HDTV buying guide: How to select the right set "Though the majority of LED sets you’ll find are edge-lit, meaning that the array of LED backlights behind the LCD panel are positioned around the edges of the set, more-expensive LED sets use full-array or backlit LED light sources. Backlit or full-array sets are more expensive to make (and buy), and they’re generally quite a bit thicker than edge-lit LED sets. Some of these higher-priced backlit LED sets feature a technology called local dimming." via TechHive

The future of brain-computer interfaces revealed ""A BCI is a system that enables interaction with a computer based on changing electrical signals that occur in the brain," Carmichael tells us. "The signals can be taken invasively or non-invasively either from inside the brain or from the scalp. Non-invasive BCI takes signals that are present at micro-volt levels on the scalp and then amplifies them using an EEG. These signals are then digitised so that they can be used by the computer."" via Tech Radar

Minority Report Touch Gestures A Terrible Idea, Says Top Industrial Designer "In the movie, Tom Cruise is doing a lot of object selection, sorting, and editing. Those things work best with small hand movements. We require more motor control for that kind of work. But there is an emerging field of computing that does take advantage of more ‘phatic’ interactions." via Sixteen:Nine

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New Technologies and Methods Push Imaging Capabilities "Imaging used to be simply defined as the representation of an object's external form. That definition no longer holds true as researchers now look for more than just an image. They look for more information within an image, such as fluorescent tags, mechanobiological parameters, internal structures, fabrication while imaging and the characterization of materials as yet undefined. " via Laboratory Equipment

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

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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