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Tag: displays

  • New Display Technologies Stalking LCD


    Cost remains a key factor in ensuring LCD is the display of choice for most handsets.

    But a report from ABI Research suggests a number of new and not-so-new display technologies are vying for a chunk of LCD’s vast market share.

    It points out that since LCD is a mature technology, it has a cost advantage that ensures its future as the primary display technology for some time to come.

    But while LCD displays have improved greatly over the years, their performance still falls short in a number of key areas such as power consumption and readability in bright light conditions.

    Kevin Burden, ABI’s research director, said this is where new technologies are looking to capitalize.

    He said that Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) could be the ones most suited to take on LCD.

    “Of the challengers OLEDs are among leading contenders because of the maturity of their development and their use in other devices, such as televisions, which will strengthen their supply chain,” he said.

    Samsung recently announced plans to introduce a mobile handset on the consumer market with an active matrix (AM) OLED display.

    The SCH-W690 is a clamshell design HSDPA handset that will be introduced initially in the Korean market.

    Its significance is the incorporation of a 2.6 inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 240×320 pixels and 262k colors.

    In contrast to OLEDs, the ABI report suggests that Qualcomm’s micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based “mirasol” display is finding its first role in secondary screens found on clamshell handsets.

    In 2009 Qualcomm will open a dedicated mirasol display factory in Taiwan which is a major step towards ramping up its supply chain.

    E-Ink, the “electronic paper” display in Amazon’s Kindle, is also targeting the handset market.

    Though it is physically robust and boasts very low power consumption, E-Ink’s current lack of color handling and low refresh rate may limit its immediate appeal, but also has opportunity as a phone’s secondary display.

    However all these displays face one big hurdle: they cost more than LCD displays.

    The enormous volumes in the mobile phone market means that even a differential of a few cents can make the difference between adoption and rejection.

    Over time, though, prices will fall and as Burden notes: “It’s a long road ahead for these new display companies, but even a niche in the handset market could prove very profitable indeed.”

  • Report says HDTV will not become the new "normal" television until around 2015


    The uptake of HD technology in Europe is accelerating rapidly but there remains a “significant” content gap caused by the lack of HD programming on free-to-air platforms across the region.
    That’s the conclusion of the latest report from media analysts Screen Digest which says that by the end of 2007, 18 per cent of the 165 million European TV households were equipped with HD displays.
    But less than one per cent of these (approximately one million) were fully “HD enabled” – that is equipped with an HD set-top box and an HD subscription enabling them to watch HD broadcasts.
    The report forecasts that by 2012 the situation will have improved little – only 20 per cent of the 85 per cent of European households with HD displays will actually be watching in HD.
    It says that ultimately HD will become the default choice of TV viewers but in the most part they will have to wait at least until 2015 to enjoy the content for free.
    This will be driven by the availability of HD across all free platforms, channels upgrading to HD making other formats unwatchable and next-generation TV’s coming with MPEG4 capability.
    Vincent Létang , senior analyst with Screen Digest and author of the report, said that in the next five years, HDTV will remain little more than a pay TV product in Europe – primarily on satellite.
    He said analogue switch-off, which will happen between 2010 and 2012 will free-up bandwidth capacity on the digital terrestrial platform and will kick-start the next phase of growth in high definition TV.
    “HDTV will become the mainstream and ultimately the standard form of free television around the middle of the next decade,” he said.
    “In ten years time, nobody will ever refer to “high definition” because HD will be everywhere.”
    The report, entitled “HDTV 2008: Global Uptake, Strategies and Business Models”, identifies three critical success factors that will support the successful expansion of HDTV: penetration of HD displays; supply of HD content and the availability of HD broadcast platforms.
    It identifies the lack of access to free-to-air HD channels as a key reason behind the low take-up of HD.
    “In Europe there are currently approximately 100 HD channels, with the vast majority on satellite and only a handful available on cable,” the report states.
    “As of today, only Sweden has launched HD on free-to-air digital terrestrial TV and only France and the UK are likely to follow suit in the short term.”