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Samsung 32-inch Field-Sequential LCD Draws Crowds and Skepticism
Ken Werner

At FPD International 2005 – held October 19-21 at the Pacifico Yokohama exhibition center in Yokohama, Japan – Samsung Electronics’ 32-inch “Color-Filter-Less” LCD drew such large crowds that it was often difficult to view the display (photo). The LED-backlit, field-sequential-color (FSC) display had been well promoted before the show, which explains the crowds. But even though this was the largest FSC LCD ever shown, the color gamut was 110 percent of NTSC, and the power consumption was only 82 watts (for 500 nits), not everybody was impressed because there was a readily noticeable flicker in the display.

A staffer said that the flicker was only in the red channel, and blamed it on an instability in the power supply. But Tom Credelle (ClairVoyante Laboratories), who was a member of the crowd, saw the “flicker” as a basic color break-up problem. Masaya Okita (Hunet Display Technology), also in the crowd, said that the 32-inch used OCB mode, and that a critical compensation film has been a problem in ramping up OCB until now.

Although Samsung Electronics VP Seongsik Shin had cited cost savings in the initial announcement of the display, Jeremy Burroughes (Cambridge Display Technology) wasn’t so sure. Citing the current cost of the high-speed electronics and the LED backlight unit, Burroughes said, “The Samsung FSC is probably cost neutral.”

But with LED chips rapidly getting cheaper, brighter, and more efficient, and with the possibility that Fuji Photo Film may now be ramping up production of the problematic OCB–WV film, the relative-cost situation may soon look better. With that done, Samsung will still have to deal with the “flicker.”

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