Big Screen Trends from SID

We have just returned from the SID symposium and exhibition and published some of the large display highlights from the event in the June issue of Projection Monthly with Flat Panel Coverage. While it will take some time to fully digest the many advances we see at SID each year, our monthly publishing deadline means we need to try to capture some of the more important results from SID, and throughout the large screen display industry, in the month of May.

We start out this month's issue with one of our Case Study features - this time on high brightness LED maker, Luminus Devices. The company has reached a manufacturing milestone pumping out 20K RGB LED sets per month, mostly to support the roll out of Samsung's microdisplay-based RPTVs. CEO Udi Meirav answers a number of questions we posed about how a start-up company like Luminus was able to secure a major design win from Samsung and successfully transition from a development to a manufacturing company. This is no small feat. Meirav's candor in his responses and observations are very enlightening. This is a must-read article.

Some of the more exciting big screen news from SID comes from the PDP camp. Advances in new cell structures and drive schemes are pushing efficiency up and lowering costs along the way. PDPs have to go there if they want to fend off LCDs in their big-screen turf - and what we saw encourages us that PDPs will not fade away without a fight. Look for LG, for example, to come to market with a 32" PDP-TV this fall.

But there was no doubt that OLEDs and alternative displays were quite prominent and captured the imagination of most SID attendees this year. Most of this news will be reported shortly in Mobile Display Report , as most activity is focused on smaller-sized panels, but for technologies that can move toward larger screen sizes, we cover it in PM. Suffice it to say that some of the OLED symposium sessions had to be expanded to allow for the overflow crowds. All eyes are on Samsung SDI to see if their gamble to push commercialization of AMOLEDs is going to work.

There was also a surprising amount of 3D display development activity at SID this year - more than we have noted in past years. There seems to be a perceptible groundswell of interest in 3D as digital cinemas adopt it, and MDTV makers like Samsung and Mitsubishi are pushing out models this year that are "stereoscopically enabled." The display technology is advancing rapidly it seems, so better content is bound to follow. The question is when.

For LED/Laser projection, Displaytech reported on a new bi-stable ferroelectric LCOS panel design and drive scheme that will allow it to double the brightness of previous systems. This is big news as these panels are fast enough for single-panel operation, but were not too optically efficient. A two times increase in brightness should get people's attention, but it will be some time before commercial products are available, so don't hold your breath.

Meanwhile, we saw updates from Explay and Microvision, with the latter showing off a wide scan version of it companion nano/pico projector.

We liked what we saw from Luminus (52" LED edge-lit LCD TV) and Novalux (32" LCD TV with a laser backlight). Both offer alternatives to the favored direct LED backlight approach for LED-based BLUs for LCD TVs.

Corning's silicon on glass approach is also different than what we were speculating. It is aimed at small panels and has some pluses, but some serious minuses, too. Customers are evaluating the process now, so stay tuned for more.

There was lots of other cool stuff to see and write about. The complete table of contents for the June issue of Projection Monthly with Flat Panel Coverage Coverage is shown below. It can be purchased for US$150.00 and delivered as a pdf file. This fee can be credited toward your subscription, should you decide the news, analysis and commentary in the newsletter offers good value.

To order the June issue of Projection Monthly or to order a yearly subscription, contact Annmarie Gabisch, annmarie@insightmedia.info.

Until next time...

Chris Chinnock
President
Insight Media

About Insight Media

Insight Media (www.insightmedia.info) is a leading publishing and consulting firm focused on the display industry. With its core team of world-class display experts, Insight Media tracks the technology, components, products, markets, applications, manufacturing and business aspects of consumer and professional display markets. The company publishes daily and monthly news and analysis as well as in-depth annual technology/market reports. It also hosts industry conferences, provides strategic and tactical consulting services and offers industry education via webinars and on-site seminars.

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