LG.Philips LCD (LPL), the world’s No. 2 LCD panel supplier, will change its name to LG Display.
Speculation has been rife that the new name will be LG LCD but the option has been discarded as the company is involved in producing next-generation OLED panels using the advanced active-matrix method.
Hitachi Ltd indicated a roadmap of its ultrathin TV products at a flat-panel TV business presentaion Feb 8, 2008. According to the roadmap, the company will release 35mm-thick PDP TV product in 2009 and 10mm-thick or slimmer models in 2010 to 2012.
Regarding OLED panels, which are most likely to be applied for ultrathin TVs, Hitachi indicated its view saying, "We might be able to commercialize an OLED TV in 2010 to 2012."
Corning has announced some a couple of new interesting technologies related to OLEDs and glass -
Dialog Semiconductor has announced its new SmartXtend(TM) technology that will allow the main displays of many mobile devices - particularly those offering W-QVGA and QVGA resolution - to utilize passive matrix OLED displays rather than LCD or active matrix OLEDs. Passive matrix OLEDs are available at a much lower cost compared to active matrix OLEDs while providing the same advantages in terms of video quality and performance.
The new SmartXtend(TM) technology, which utilizes a number of innovative design techniques including a unique multi-line addressing scheme, accurate dynamic current matching and state-of-the-art power management, will form the basis of a new family of display drivers to be developed by Dialog Semiconductor for passive matrix OLEDs. SmartXtend(TM) is designed to significantly extend the lifetime of passive matrix OLED displays; it reduces the peak current by up to 30 percent and power consumption by up to 30 percent compared to the conventional passive matrix driving scheme.
Printed electronics products are now in full-scale production. E-paper displays and RFID antennas are being routinely printed and such products are expected to generate $5.6 and $12.6 billion in revenues respectively by 2015. E-paper, in particular, has emerged as something of a killer application for printed electronics, demonstrating that printing technology can produce complex electronics products that can generate real revenue. NanoMarkets analysts also expect that as improved manufacturing equipment and materials become available further product opportunities will emerge.
Printing also seems certain to have a major role in the manufacturing of next-generation photovoltaics with novel CIGS and nanoparticle inks being used to create low-cost, high efficiency solar panels on flexible substrates. Projected sales for printed solar panels will reach $2.5 billion by 2015. Printed electronics will also make a contribution to energy savings through printed OLED lighting, an emerging cost effective approach to solid state illumination. This type of lighting is expected to reach $1.7 billion in sales by 2015.
Frost & Sullivan reported that the OLED panel industry earned US$475 million in 2006 and estimated this will reach US$1.4 billion in 2013.
In an interview with C|Net, Canon's "digital camera guru" made some interesting remarks about OLEDs -
"It was demonstrably brighter, had better color accuracy, and lower power consumption." We're looking to implement OLED in all our consumer products: digital still cameras, camcorders, and inkjet printers.
