January 2001

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Philips To Brand LCOS Monitor in 2001
Philips Creative Display Solutions has now decided to commercialize a rear-projection monitor.  The 25-inch monitor will
feature a trio of UXGA (1600 x 1200) resolution liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) panels that will begin sampling by the summer
of 2001.  The final monitor product should reach market by the end of 2001.  There is no word yet on expected pricing for
the 25-inch monitor. 

Three-Five Upgrades LCOS Panels
Three-Five Systems (Tempe, AZ) has redesigned its SXGA (1280 x 1024) Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) display to improve
contrast, reflectivity and uniformity.  The new enhanced panel, dubbed the MD1280U, maintains the same 0.78-inch size as its
predecessor, but the silicon backplane has been upgraded with a number of features.  Three-Five is currently finishing up
final evaluation of the panel and should begin sampling customers soon.  The company’s already introduced support ASIC 
set works with the enhanced SXGA panel too.

Aurora Funds LCOS Panel Roadmap for 2001
Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) developer, Aurora Systems (San Jose, CA) has completed a new round of financing.  The 
exact amount was not disclosed, but is believed to be between $10M and $30M.  Funds from customers, vendors and investment
groups will be used to finance development of several new LCOS panels that will debut in 2001.
    
Sanyo Boosts Projector Contrast to 700:1
Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) improved the optical architecture of its poly-silicon-based projection system
to achieve an astonishing 700:1 contrast ratio.  The company is keeping the details of this accomplishment under tight wraps,
however, as a patent is apparently in the works.

Samsung Shows Trio of Rear-Projection Monitors
Samsung Electronics, Display Division (Suwon City, South Korea) used a private suite at COMDEX to demo several new 
rear-projection monitors.  On display were 22-inch, 25-inch and 43-inch models.  All are likely based on 3-panel 
Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) projection architectures.

Microdisplay Inspection Companies Target Japan 
August Technology Corporation (Bloomington, MN), a supplier of automated visual-defect inspection equipment for the
microelectronics industry, now adds inspection of microdisplays to its repertoire.  The company reports receiving an 
order for two NSX Series inspection systems to perform visual inspection of poly-silicon LCD panels. 
Other companies in this round-up article include Integral Vision, Marubeni Techno Systems and Image Processing Systems.

CMD & Polaroid Strike Deal
Last month we noted that Polaroid Corporation (Cambridge, MA) was one of the investors that participated in the latest
$35 investment round in Colorado MicroDisplay (CMD) (Boulder, CO).  Now the two have more details of their relationship. 
By 2002, Polaroid is likely to field digital camera, printing and combination products using CMD microdisplays.

Microdisplays Honored by SID
On June 6th, 2001, the Society for Information Display (SID) and Information Display magazine will host the 2000 Display
of the Year Awards.   The winners were selected by an international committee of distinguished display technologists and 
technology journalists in a four-month process of nominations and voting.  Microdisplays fared very well this year honoring 
eMagin, inViso, Sharp, SEL, DigiLens, ISE Electronics and Toppan Printing Co.

OLED Production Heats Up
OOrganic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology continues to advance at a rapid pace.  Some of the highlights are from 
Ritec, Tokohu Pioneer, Universal Display Corp., Motorola,PPG Industries, Uniax, HKUST and Dow Corning Corporation.


APPLICATIONS
Wearables - We cover news from ViA,  Transmeta’s, Northwest Airlines, Nabisco, General Dynamics, Cystal Magic, Xybernaut,
Mathtech, Philips Research, Levi Strauss and Matias Corp.’s.    

Headsets - We report on n-Vision, Aechelon Technology, Daeyang E&C, Microdisplay Corp., Shimadzu,  Colorado MicroDisplay,
Xybernaut, Olympus, OpTech, i-O Display Systems, DisplayWear, EUROCONTROL, BMW, InfoEye, Rockwell Collins,  Kaiser Aerospace
and Electronics Corp, Compaq, Olympus, Sanyo,  Fisher, Yamaha, InFocus Systems, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC Technologies. SIM2
Multimedia and Marantz.

3-D Display Systems -Companies featured here are CRL Opto, Christie Digital Systems, Fakespace Systems, C-3D’s,
VisionComm and Ilixco's Razor Digital Media. 
 
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
CTelecom vs. Broadcasters:  Which Will Score Most Viewers?
Asia Pacific to Take the Lead
Gallup Survey of Digital TV Consumers
Digital Convergent Consumer Group Growing in Europe
Photo Kiosks Everywhere
Digital Camera Growth Continues
MEMS or MST?
Stanford Resources Now Part of iSuppli

BOTTOM LINE
Corning Finishes Year at High-End of Expectations
Silicon Image Lowers Expectations
Three-Five Systems Revises Fourth Quarter Estimates
Kopin Named to S&P SmallCap 600

MOVERS & SHAKERS
Chandos Mahon joins C-3D  Chief Operating Officer. Microvision hires Jacqueline Brandwynne, 
Tod R. Rehm was named President and COO of Xybernaut  while Dewayne Adams was named
Chief Strategy Officer. Barco announces Bill Schripsema AV Consultant Relations Manager, 
Bryan Sorensen as Market Business Manager, Control Room Display Division, and Bill Schindler 
as Market Sales Manager for Control Room Display. Nigel Horsley has resigned as Director of Isee3D
Clarity Visual Systems added of Mel Porter as southeast region Sales Manager.