October, 1998

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Is A $2K HDTV Possible?

In January, at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a very special, 50?in., rear?projection HDTV will be on display in a suite, off of the main showfloor. Not only will it be based on new liquid?crystal?on?silicon (LCOS) technology, but developers are projecting a $2K price point for full 1920 x 1080 resolution (16:9 aspect ratio). If real, that could have a huge impact on the emerging HDTV market.

Daewoo Debuts Reflective MEMS Projector

AsiaDisplay '98 saw the formal unveiling of Daewoo Electronics Company's (Seoul, Korea) new projection system. It's based upon a reflective micro?electrical?mechanical?system (MEMS) light?valve technology that developers say is two to three times brighter than projectors currently on the market.

The Tangled Web of LCOS Manufacturing

Because the fabrication of liquid?crystal?on?silicon displays is by definition, a hybrid process, there can be several players in the chain of manufacture. For example, National Semiconductor acknowledges that they fabricate backplanes, but liquid?crystal cell assembly is done by someone else.

National Semiconductor Buys LCOS Equipment

In a sign of the growing momentum in the microdisplay business, semiconductor manufacturer National Semiconductor has already installed some specialized manufacturing equipment to support their fabrication liquid?crystal?on?silicon (LCOS) microdisplays.

Silicon Light Focuses on Scanned HDTV

Silicon Light Machines (SLM, Sunnyvale, CA) CEO Dave Corbin seems a little frustrated when talking about their scanned Grating Light Valve Array (SGA). "Potential customers believe the part works, but they need to see a complete system to evaluate the system costs," says Corbin. With lots of technologies competing in the company's focus area, HDTV, many potential integrators are taking a "show me" attitude.

Victor Builds LCOS Projector

The Victor Company of Japan (Kanagawa, Japan) used AsiaDisplay '98 to update some details on their reflective LCOS device which they have dubbed the Direct?Drive Image Light Amplifier (D?ILA). They also revealed that a prototype projector had been built as well.

MicroDisplay Corporation Readying Higher Performance Device

Philip Alvelda, CTO and founder of MicroDisplay Corporation (San Pablo, CA), has approached the development of microdisplays from a systems perspective. His goal is to build a series of modular ASIC building blocks that can be linked together into complete miniature information display systems.

CMD Introduces Optical Reference Kit

As a means of helping potential customers speed the integration of Colorado MicroDisplay's (CMD, Boulder, CO) products, the company has introduced a new optics development kit. It is geared toward products that will use close to the eye, high resolution viewers, such as head sets, third generation (3G) smart phones, GPS map readers, and pagers .

Micron Display Concentrates on Direct View FED

Micron Display (Boise, ID) has developed and is shipping to U.S. military customers, a 0.55 in. field emission display (FED) device that fabricates the emitters on silicon wafers. This device features 548 x 222 resolution, 15 fL of green light, and a 100:1 contrast ratio. It is currently being evaluated for use in weapon sights.

FED Corp. Starts New OLED Line

FED Corporation (Hopewell Junction, NY) has been developing a microdisplay process that places an emissive OLED material on top of an active matrix fabricated in silicon. In September, the company began operations on their new OLED?on?silicon (OLEDoS) line. First up will be 0.78?in. SXGA monochrome green devices.

itsubishi Moves Toward Low-Temp Poly Productio

Microdisplay producer S?Vision (Santa Clara, CA) has developed a new front?projection design based upon their reflective LCOS microdisplay. So far, they have demonstrated what optical/illumination systems manager Matthew Bone terms a "breadboard design." But an improved version, to be called a reference design, is slated for completion in November.

APPLICATIONS

Wireless - Wrap-up of new introductions

Projection - - Wrap-up of new introductions

MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Market news from Nokia, Frost & Sullivan, Strategis Group, Multimedia Research Group, Stanford Resources, CyberEdge Information Services, EIAJ, Baskerville Communications Corporation, and IDC/Future Image.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Financial Aura Systems and Cree Research.

SPECIAL REPORT - ASIA DISPLAY '98

LG Electronics Working on XGA/HDTV Microdisplay
China Working on Reflective Projection Device
Head?Mounted Display Systems Under Evaluation
HK University Shows 4?bit Color Microdisplay
Process Improvement for MEMS Mirror Fabrication
Samsung Starts Showing Poly?Si Displays
University of Gent Developing Reflective Microdisplay
Planar Declares Success in Blue Phosphor Development
Laser Projection Sees Progress
CDT & Seiko Epson Unveil OLED on Poly?Si