Taiwan's AU Optronics at the FPD International show has been demonstrating a rare 14-inch OLED display panel capable of displaying 1080p (1920x1080). AUO claims a high 100,000:1 contrast ratio despite the size and an all-white brightness of 200cd/m2 for the panel, which is also smooth at 120Hz.
AT&T has filed a lawsuit in a federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday against Samsung, LG Display, AU Optronics and other LCD makers for allegedly colluding on fixing the price of display panels in the US. According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, AT&T claimed Samsung and six others have formed an illegal international cartel meant to "restrict competition in the United States in the market for LCD panels." In its complaint, AT&T claims this conspiracy has included communications and meetings during which defendants agreed to eliminate competition and fix the prices of LCD panels that were coming to the US.
AU Optronics, best known for making displays for others, today unveiled a pair of relative breakthroughs for e-paper. The Taiwan-area company claims to have the largest-ever display of the kind at 20 inches across; the screen is large enough that it can be used not just for reading but for signs, where omitting a backlight can save power in an already well-lit area. It uses under 2W of power when updating.
AU Optronics (AUO) said on Friday that it hopes to slash the price of e-book readers in half within two years. The Taiwan area company explained to FT that it hopes to use its experience in making LCDs, as well as the sheer scale of its production, to make the e-paper displays affordable enough that they can lead to much less expensive hardware. A $150 reader could be available in 2010, while a $100 reader will ideally ship in 2011.
Sharp and Sony on Thursday announced they have entered into a joint venture agreement related to the production and sales of large LCD panels and modules. Sharp's under-construction LCD production plant in Sakai City, Japan was transferred to Sharp Display Products Corporation (SDP) on July 1st, with opening scheduled for October. On December 29th, Sony will invest 10 billion yen ($105 million) into SDP for shares, which will be the first step towards reaching the final 66% Sharp, 34% percent Sony split. This initial investment will make SDP a joint venture company of Sony as well as Sharp.
Taiwan's AU Optronics showed off an electronic book reader that combines a low-power electronic paper and a touch panel, a first for this type of product at the Display Taiwan 2009 show. The 6-inch prototype houses 800x600 pixels and has a 167dpi pixel density. It is capable of reproducing 16 gray levels, has an 8:1 contrast ratio and a reflectance of 27 percent. The touch functionality allows users to call up new pages without any dedicated buttons.
AU Optronics today revealed a handful of new displays that it hopes will bolster portable devices. Although the company has already developed multi-touch displays, the Taiwan-area firm says it has developed a new 15-inch LCD with the technology built into the cells of the panel itself. The screen uses image sensing to recognize input and so is both responsive to not just fingers but light pens. AUO says this and new 12-inch and 4.3-inch panels with similar features could be used to add multi-touch input to notebooks and larger handhelds.
Alleged display industry insiders today claim Nokia will make a large shift to active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays in the near future. The cellphone designer is said to be choosing suppliers it knows have plans to create and manufacture the advanced organic screens, which are brighter and more color-rich than LCDs as well as thinner and more power-efficient.
Samsung will be the latest company to start making new, 16:9 aspect ratio LCDs for notebooks, reports from alleged display industry insiders claim. The company has previously kept to producing the 15.4-inch, 16:10 screens found in most notebooks today but is now said to be starting production on wider 15.6-inch screens that are often cited as better for movie viewing and side-by-side documents. Production would reportedly start in November, which would likely push the release of notebooks based on the LCDs to early 2009.
LG will be rolling out its 8G television line at least half a year ahead of other Taiwanese rivals, including S-LCD, AU Optronics, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics. According to DIGITIMES, the Korean electronics manufacturer already completed its fabrication shells, and has scheduled production to begin by March 2009, and full-scale production of 32 inch OLED TVs to commence in 2011. LG's competitors will start production in late 2008.
Taiwan display specialist AU Optronics may have developed an inexpensive touchscreen technology that could drive down the price of the iPhone as well as other smartphones and similar devices, says a claim by the Economic Daily News. The paper points to AUO's partner firm Cando having developed a single-layer, integrated touchscreen display that costs about 40 percent less than what has been seen in the Apple phone. The panel has reportedly drawn interest from several current and prospective smartphone makers, such as HP, Motorola, Nokia, and even Dell. Apple may also look to replace its German-designed touchscreen with the lower-cost design, the report hints. AUO has not denied the invention but says that only the paper has made the claim.
Panel designers should have notebook-sized touchscreens that are virtually indistinguishable from their view-only counterparts in the second half of next year, say tips from Taiwan firms. Local business AU Optronics is reportedly developing a 12.1-inch LCD that would use in-cell touch input, escaping the need for a separate layer just to sense contact from the user. The technique allows displays that are as thick as today's LCDs and contrasts sharply with existing tablet PCs, which often gain bulk with the need for a touch-capable display.
