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Insight’s Daily Outlook Every weekday morning, Insight Media’s Steve Sechrist and Ken Werner have a conference call with Jamie Townsend and Alex Hamilton of IM’s financial analysis partner, Townhall Proprietary Research. We screen the news of the display and consumer electronics industries, and we figure out what matters and how to use it. We do this to help in our editorial process and to support Townhall’s analysis on the financial impact of the news. Now, we’re sharing those insights with a wider community. Our goal is to simply – and very briefly – tell you what we think is interesting or important from today’s headlines. This is your opportunity to see how we look at events each day and how we judge their impact. It is your chance to get an early jump-start on an important event – with a little guidance from the experts at Insight Media. Welcome to Insight Media’s Daily Outlook. Ken Werner |
Canon -- a Company that Doesn't Make Displays -- Builds Another Innovative Prototypeby Ken Werner |
 Ken Werner Senior Analyst and Editor of Insight Media's Display Watch December 21, 2005 - The Nikkei Business Daily reported today that Canon Inc. has developed a 10.4-inch prototype LCD with a pixel density 50% higher than that of conventional LCDs of similar size, which allowed the company to pack 1,536 horizontal pixels onto the screen instead of 1,024. As a result, photos and videos can be seen with improved fine detail. Canon increased the pixel density by reducing the number of color sub-pixels from three (red, green, and blue) to two (green and magenta). What the Nikkei article didn't mention is how it is possible to generate a full range of colors with only two color primaries. The answer is: It isn't. But it is possible to produce that third primary in time instead of space; that is, to combine the two basic ways of creating color in pixellated displays: the spatial addition of colors found in conventional LCDs and plasma displays with the field-sequential addition of colors found in, for instance, DLP-based projectors. Such an approach with green and magenta sub-pixels has been well described by Lou Silverstein ("Color and Displays in the Space-Time Continuum," Information Display, October 2005"), among others. Here, the backlight alternately flashes with a yellow and cyan color. When the yellow light shines through a blue-tinted sub-pixel, it produces red; when it shines through a green-tinted sub-pixel, it produces green. When the cyan light shines through these sub-pixels, it produces blue and green -- and we have our red, blue, and green primaries. Company sources said that Canon will try to commercialize the product for use in electronic dictionaries and other equipment, but it's not clear why a company with no display-manufacturing capabilities of its own thinks this is a good business opportunity. Of course, this consideration has not stopped Canon in the past. In 1995, Canon tried to commercialize display panels for notebook computers using ferroelectric LCD technology -- an embarrassing failure. The company seems to be doing better with its surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) technology, which it plans to manufacture through a joint venture with Toshiba beginning late in 2006. So what does this all mean? It means that clever new display technologies continue to evolve and innovation is not dead by any means. This will continue to propel the industry, but what is lacking is better business acumen in the evaluation of these innovations and commercialization decisions. |
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About Insight Media Insight Media (www.insightmedia.info) provides a full array of market research, news, analysis and consulting services for the display industry, with special attention to projection products. Tracking the complete supply chain from components to finished products and the distribution channels, Insight Media follows technologies, markets, business and trends in displays and display-related application markets. Broad coverage is offered through our newsletters and conferences with in-depth analysis available via our reports and consulting services. Insight Media has a world-class team of industry analysts and associates to provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of the display industry. To be removed from the Insight Media News list, please click here. Insight Media ©2005 All Rights Reserved. 3 Morgan Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851, 203-831-8464 |
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