The Display Industry News Source 11.14.11

New Ultra High Definition TV to Have the Same Resolution as IMAX Screen (Video Above) - via Stumbleupon

Display Godzilla? Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi to Merge Display Businesses - "The deal has been in the making for months, but today Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi made the mega merger official. The three companies signed definitive agreements with the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) to integrate their small- and medium-sized display businesses. Under the deal, semi-public INCJ will hold 70% of Japan Display, Inc., a new company that will run the operations. Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi will control 10% each when Japan Display starts its business in spring 2012. Japan Display will issue US$2.6 billion in new shares to INCJ through a third-party allocation." via TechCrunch

Too Big to Fail? Government Support Results in Giant Flat-Panel Industry - "The government's policy to support flat-panel makers in Taiwan has resulted in a giant industry that is too big to fail, according to the country's banking sector. The government's ambition to position Taiwan as the world's biggest suppliers of TFT-LCD panels has resulted in the banking sector holding outstanding loans of NT$280 billion (US$9.26 billion) to flat panel makers AU Optronics Corp. and Chimei Innolux Corp. as of the end of last year, according to banking sector financial statements." via Focus Taiwan

Interactive GoBoards Becoming More Common Marriott Hotels - "Denver’s Four Winds Interactive has quietly built up a nice business with Courtyard by Marriott for the big GoBoard interactive displays you’ll find in the hotel chain’s lobbies. There are now GoBoards in almost 400 U.S. locations, and the latest version of the software driving the screens, announched today, adds some interesting new wrinkles. The 4.0 version uses Microsoft Tags, colorful 2D bar codes that are very similar to QR codes, but different in a few ways (such as QRs being open source). The tags are attached to all local information options on the GoBoard, allowing hotel guests to send directions for things like area restaurants and local malls directly to their smart phones." via Sixteen:Nine

Tesla's Futuristic Touch Screen Dashboard - "Tesla's screen resembles a large iPad or Android Tablet--it's hard to overstate how overwhelmingly ginormous it looks--and sits in between the driver and front passenger. It has a music player, a navigation system, hand-free calling, a rear-view camera, climate controls, and other features which you might expect. It also lets you check up on the status of your car's battery, and--as you can see in the photo above--it sports a full-blown Web browser. And Tesla says that it will allow third-party apps, too." via cNet