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Tag: lcd

  • LG Rolls Out 3D LCDs with Full HD Resolution

    LG announced the world’s first commercial launch of 3D LCD panel boasting full HD resolution.

    Although full HD 3D images have been developed for contents such as video games, movies and animations, 3D display products with full HD resolution were unavailable in the market.

    According to LG, the commercial launch of its full HD 3D LCD panel is expected to “help to boost development of high resolution 3D contents while allowing users to view true-to-life 3D images.”

    The new product is a 23-inch 3D monitor LCD panel for use with shutter glasses that delivers full HD resolution. LG syas it offers picture quality that is almost twice as crisp as HD 3D displays currently available in the market.

    The panel adopts the company’s proprietary technologies such as “high performance 3D exclusive controller” capable of processing more than twice as much image data as other HD 3D LCDs and “copper bus line” to improve on the resolution and picture quality, as LG claims.

    In addition, the panel is able to reproduce both 2D and 3D images, meaning that users can switch back and forth from 2D and 3D modes.

    The 3D display market is expected to grow at rapid pace as the industry players are shifting their focus from two-dimensional to three-dimensional technologies.

    The Korea Communications Commission recently announced plans to start a trial service for the world’s first full HD 3D terrestrial broadcasting from the second half of 2010. A launch of trial services for 3D satellite broadcasts had been also announced earlier in Japan and the UK.

  • iSuppli: California Regulations Could Cut LCD-TV Energy Use Worldwide in Half

    New television power consumption limits imposed by California’s Energy Commission (CEC) could cut aggregate annual power consumption of LCD-TVs worldwide in half by the year 2013, if these standards are adopted universally, according to iSuppli.

    If all of the 200 million LCD TVs set to be shipped in 2013 complied with the CEC standard, they would use a total of 64.4 billion kilowatt hours for the year, compared to 126.8 billion if they didn’t, iSuppli estimates.

    Analysts say this represents a 50 percent decline in power consumption. With indications that other states may follow California’s lead, and with the United States the world’s largest LCD-TVs market, it’s conceivable that CEC-style regulations could spread throughout the country and the world.

    The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association is warning that the CEC mandates will have a deleterious impact on consumer choice and technological innovation. The trade organization stated the regulations will result in higher prices for consumers, job losses for Californians, and lost tax revenue for the state.

    iSuppli believes the regulations could reduce California tax revenue as consumers purchase larger-sized LCD-TVs through out-of-state channels. Furthermore, the regulations could cause a cessation in sales of certain products in the state, such larger-sized plasma televisions.

    However, with both the industry and consumers already embracing greener televisions that consume less power, the negative impacts of the CEC regulations are likely to be limited.

    “While the CEA has legitimate concerns, the CEC regulations simply follow suit with the EPA’s Energy Star 3.0 and 4.0 guidelines,” said Randy Lawson, senior analyst, display electronics, for iSuppli.

    “Television makers already have been working to cut the power consumption of their products so they can earn the coveted Energy Star label.”

    Furthermore, iSuppli’s research indicates that consumers increasingly are aware of power consumption issues, and are likely to gravitate toward sets that use less electricity.

    “Because of this, television brands will still be offering a plethora of product choices that will be attractive to consumers,” said Lawson.

    An iSuppli survey revealed that 46.1 percent of U.S. consumers in the third quarter said green factors influenced their television purchasing decisions. The same survey showed that 43.4 percent of those consumers considered power savings to be the most important green feature.

    According to iSuppli, the ever-more-restrictive television power consumption standards in California and elsewhere definitely will impact the path of technology development for flat-panel TVs, affecting panel materials, LCD backlight designs and system audio/video electronics.

    Lawson said, “Many design changes will occur in the television electronics and OEM-enabled features, including technologies like ambient light sensing to help enable intelligent backlight drive options.”

  • Samsung Retakes Leadership in U.S. LCD-TV Market

    Samsung in the third quarter retook the No.-1 ranking in the U.S. LCD-TV market from chief competitor Vizio, according to iSuppli.

    The iSuppli research shows the South Korean electronics giant shipped 1.3 million LCD-TVs in the United States during the period from July through September, equaling a 16.8 percent share of the market.

    This gave Samsung a 1.1 percentage point lead over U.S.-based Vizio, which held a 15.7 percent share in the third quarter with shipments of 1.2 million LCD-TVs.

    The last time Samsung held the top spot in the U.S. LCD-TV market was in the fourth quarter of 2008. “Vizio in the first and second quarters of 2009 took the lead in the United States as consumers warmed to its low-cost, full-featured sets sold through high-volume retailers like Wal-Mart,” the report says.

    “However, Samsung in the second quarter began to regain momentum and increase its market share as the company focused on advanced LED-backlit LCD-TVs and reduced prices for its high-end sets.”

    According to Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems, for iSuppli, Samsung is leading the LCD-TV industry’s adoption of LED backlighting technology.

    “The company has been marketing these sets intensely, attracting the interest of U.S. consumers. Consumers like LED-backlit LCD-TVs because of their ultra-thin form factors. With Samsung cutting the prices of these sets aggressively, they now are becoming increasingly affordable for a larger number of U.S. consumers,” she said.

    The report also shows that the United States now leads the world in sales of LCD-TVs with LED backlights: LED-backlit sets accounted for 3.7 percent of total U.S. LCD-TV shipments in the third quarter, up from 2.1 percent in the second.

    Samsung in October was selling 55-inch LED-backlit LCD TVs for $2,650, just $325 more than for equivalent-sized and featured sets using conventional Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) backlighting technology.

    “This low price point and minimal gap with CCFL sets represents a critical price threshold for LED-backlit sets, making them more acceptable to U.S. consumers,” Patel said.

    She adds that most of the Top-5 LCD-TV brands in the U.S. saw their shipments and market shares decline in the third quarter compared to the second, as smaller companies increased their sales.

    iSuppli predicts the fourth quarter, which brings the Christmas selling season, will bring stronger shipment growth because of aggressive discounts for full-featured LCD-TVs.

    “Furthermore, retailers are expected to offer attractive deals on product bundles. Such bundles will include LCD-TVs sold with Blu-ray players, surround-sound systems, DVRs, game consoles, and installation services. Premium brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony are expected to lead the way with these packaged deals,” Patel said.

  • HDI 100-inch Laser-Based 3D HDTV Reached the Manufacturing Stage

    HDI‘s September announcement of their potential new standard for switchable 2D/3D television technology came on the same day several major manufactures announced plans to release new plasma televisions with 3D capabilities via shutter glasses.

    HDI was the first to announce it has entered into a manufacturing agreement to mass produce 100-inch Laser-Driven 2D/3D Switchable Dynamic Video Projection Televisions.

    HDI’s 2D/3D switchable system delivers 2D image with a 50% greater resolution than today’s digital cinemas, and derives its “greater-than-high” definition stereoscopic 1920 x 1080p "3D" image quality from two RGB laser-illuminated Liquid Crystal on Silcon (LCOS) micro display imagers.

    At full 1080p HD, the HDI screen refreshes at 360 fields per-second on each eye, the fastest refresh rate on any mass produced television or projector, as the company claims.

    HDI says they have completely eliminated the adverse effects, such as migraines, dizziness, nausea, and motion sickness, long associated with inferior and expensive shutter glasses and substandard 3D technology.

    HDI says their displays draw 80% less power than existing 2D plasma displays of the same size, offer a 95% reduction in manufacturing pollution, and a 100% reduction in harmful chemicals and radioactive components currently used in existing televisions.

    At 10-inches thick, HDI’s 100-inch diagonal display weighs 75% less than equivalent Plasma and LCD displays, and is anticipated to have a street price potentially 60% less than current 2D flatscreen Plasma and LCD displays.

    According to HDI co-founder Ingemar Jansson, "The first production-run of 100-inch HDI Ltd. 2D/3D switchable displays should quickly put product into a multitude of B2B and public demonstration venues."

    He’s mum as to when leading American retailers will be able to put units into homes, but stresses that the simplistic and inexpensive design and manufacturing techniques required to produce HDI Ltd. televisions, "will have product in the marketplace faster than one would expect," and adds, "either with the HDI logo or that of another leading manufacturer."

    Offering a thought on the fact that California appears poised to be the first state to ban power-guzzling big-screen TVs, Jansson states, "In light of the energy efficient products emerging from companies such as Apple, the lobbying efforts of the Consumer Electronics Association strikes me as almost criminal in promoting antiquated technologies that the ‘Grid,’ and the planet, simply cannot sustain."

  • Research Forecasts Flat Panel Display Industry Slowdown in Q4, Recovery in 2010

    According to the latest DisplaySearch Quarterly Worldwide FPD Forecast Report, global flat panel display revenues for 2009 will be $87.6B, down 15% Y/Y from 2008.

    The major reason for the decline is erosion in large-area TFT LCD panel prices compared to 2008, despite the fact that the TFT LCD market started to recover in Q2’09.

    Despite the gloomy forecasted results for 2009, the market is expected to recover in 2010 with a 5% compound annual growth rate and revenues of $93.3B, the research shows.

    According to David Hsieh, vice president of DisplaySearch, 2009 represents a “drastic change” for the whole FPD industry.

    “The industry faced many critical challenges in the end of 2008 due to the global economic recession and the resulting drop in demand. However, as the market demand began to recover in early 2009 and the global economic situation is expected to continue to improve, we believe that the worst time for the industry has passed and the FPD market will experience growth after 2009,” he said.

    a-Si TFT LCD continues to be the largest segment in all FPD technologies. However, AMOLED shows the strongest compound annual growth rate, 179% from 2008 to 2012, as suppliers solve technical and financial problems.

    DisplaySearch says there are currently eight drivers for FPD growth in the next ten years: new applications and markets, new entrants and processes, new concepts and specifications, as well as new business and practices.

    Many of these are inspired by the downturn in the FPD industry in late 2008 and early 2009, which stimulated the FPD industry to find different strategies, markets and solutions.

    Other research from iSuppli says small and medium LCD suppliers are preparing for a Q4 slowdown.

    “Small/medium display panel vendors are prepping for what they believe will be a deceleration in demand in the fourth quarter – traditionally a slower period because of the end of the holiday buying rush,” says iSuppli.

    Furthermore, Tier-1 OEMs in the third quarter pulled in orders for the holiday season and the Chinese Golden Week. This allowed panel suppliers to achieve 93 percent of their third-quarter 2008 shipment levels in the first two months of the third quarter of 2009 alone.

    iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal claims suppliers are planning to reduce capacity utilization in anticipation, but the decline in capacity will allow the industry to better manage price declines.

  • Large-Sized LCD Panel Business Becomes Profitable Again

    After a year of losing money or generating zero return, the global large-sized (10” or larger) LCD panel business returned to profitability in the third quarter, according to iSuppli’s latest research.

    In an example of market trends, the 32-inch HDTV LCD, which is the most popular dimension for large-sized panels, generated a 13 percent profit for the LCD industry in the third quarter. In contrast, the 32-inch panel incurred losses of 12 percent in the second quarter of 2009, 31 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

    The last time the LCD industry cut a profit on 32-inch HDTV panels was in the second quarter of 2008, when they generated a 19 percent return.

    Analysts say the main reason LCD panels have not been profitable for so long is the market’s extreme state of oversupply, which resulted in LCD panel pricing that was below manufacturing costs. However, reductions in production and utilization rates, combined with better-than-expected panel demand from China’s television market, helped spur the return to profitability in the third quarter.

    A shortage of glass used to make LCD panels also contributed to the tightness of the panel market during the third quarter, further boosting prices and profits.

    Worldwide shipments of large-sized LCD panels amounted to 148.3 million units in the third quarter, up 14.3 percent from the second quarter of 2009, and up 28.9 percent from the third quarter of 2008. iSuppli expects to revise this estimate as more companies report third-quarter results.

    LG Display was the world’s largest seller of large-sized LCD panels in the second quarter of 2009, accounting for 25.3 percent of shipments. This put LG just slightly ahead of chief rival, Samsung, which had a 24.6 percent share. Preliminary indications show LG and Samsung were engaged in a tight battle for the market’s No.-1 position during the period.

    iSuppli predicts that rising fab utilization rates and decreased panel demand following the Christmas purchasing season will drive the large-sized LCD panel market to oversupply in the fourth quarter of 2009, conforming with normal seasonal patterns. However, the reductions in prices and shipments are expected to be only moderate compared to those of a year earlier, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

    Many panel suppliers, having just returned to profitability, are maintaining tight control of their inventories and have little motivation to cut pricing drastically at this time, according to the research.

  • HD LCD TV with Integrated iPhone/iPod Docking Station Coming in November

    While looking for some nice gadgets at this year’s IFA, Biz-New.com came across Vestel’s LCD TV with integrated iPhone/iPod docking station. Barış Altinkay, Product Manager for Vestel, gave us a demonstration on the product as well as a short introduction to the company.

    Vestel Group is comprised of 24 companies operating in manufacturing, technology development, marketing, and distribution fields in the consumer electronics,digital technologies, IT and household appliances, with € 3.7 billion turnover.

    According to the company, they account for 21% of the total TV, 10% of the TLC TV, 25% of the digital set-top boxes, and 10% of the household appliances markets in Europe.

  • LCD-TV Market Growing Fast in Russia

    Defying hard economic times, the Russian LCD-TV market is set for strong growth this year, with shipments rising by 13.6 percent in 2009, according to iSuppli.

    Shipments of LCD-TVs in Russia will rise to about 5 million units in 2009, up from 4.4 million in 2008. By 2013, shipments will nearly double from the 2009 level, increasing to 9.6 million units.

    Revenue will increase to $5.7 billion by 2013, up from $3.1 billion in 2008.

    The research shows LCD-TVs are the only segment of the Russian TV market that is expanding, with shipments of Plasma Display Panel-Televisions (PDP-TVs) and Cathode Ray Tube-Televisions (CRT-TVs) decreasing in 2009 and beyond.

    “One of the main reasons for the switch to LCD-TVs in Russia is that they have become a status symbol. Consumers in Russia are very image conscious and prefer to own televisions that they can show off to neighbors and family members,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst for television systems for iSuppli.

    While the 32-inch size dominates shipments as an ideal upgrade or first television, the larger-sized TVs are becoming trendier.

    Among brands in Russia, South Korean OEMs are in a winning position because of their strong brand recognition. Furthermore, the South Korean OEMs also have domestic production capabilities and vertical integration—factors that allow them to have better control over their costs and prices.

    According to Patel, as far domestic Russian brands go, they are suffering from a lack of financial strength as well as the absence of branding. However, with a strong marketing strategy and the capability to be price competitive, Russian brands could challenge global OEMs in the domestic market.

  • IFA 2009: iSuppli Analyst About HDTV Market

    VIDEO INTREVIEW. This time at IFA 2009 our reporters interviewed Riddhi Patel, the iSuppli analyst. Riddhi is responsible for the television and plasma display panel (PDP) analysis.

    She shared with us her latest discoveries on HDTV market as well as her opinion of the nearest future of LCD technology that has dominated our living rooms.

    She was visiting this year’s Berlin expo looking for some big innovations. Watch the video to check out if she has found anything that took her breath away.

    iSuppli is a market research and consulting firm specialized in the electronics value chain. They provide market intelligence services for the EMS, OEM and supplier communities in addition to servicing consumer electronics and media concerns. /

    iSuppli provides research in multiple areas, including: Automotive, Broadband, Digital Home, Consumer Electronics, Mobile Handset, Displays, Semiconductors, Storage, Wireless Systems and more.

  • Plasma and LCD TV Sales Increase in Q2 2009

    Quixel Research’s newly launched USA Large Area Display Report revealed that in Q2 2009 the Plasma TV category was the only large screen TV category to show significant growth quarter-to-quarter.

    Plasma TV (40”+) sales were up 31% in volume and 35% in value when compared to Q1 2009 sales, almost topping the $1B mark.

    “Unit sales of 42” 720p Plasma TVs were up 40% quarter-to-quarter as consumers were looking for value in uncertain economic times,” stated Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel Research’s principal.

    “It also helped that all the models offered were from top brands so consumers felt comfortable making a competitively priced purchase backed up by a well know brand.”

    The surge in 42” 720p Plasma models lifted the segment’s unit share of the LAD category four percent quarter-to-quarter. Plasma TV value topped $910M in the second quarter.

    Revenue results for the overall Large Area Display market were flat or $3.1B in Q2 2009 and when compared to Q2 2008 revenues, were down nine percent. Overall volume for the LAD market was still strong with the market up five percent quarter-to-quarter and up 10 percent year-to-year.

    The research shows that the harsh economic climate didn’t also slow LCDTV sales in the second quarter with sales up significantly quarter-to-quarter. However it did push consumers to purchase entry models as well as smaller screen sized models.

    The overall LCDTV market grew nine percent quarter-to-quarter and 22 percent year-to-year.

    “Unit sales for 22”, 32” and 40/42” models supported the LCDTV category increase in the second quarter,” commented Pratt.

    When assessing large screen size sales results in Q2 2009, the report showed that LCDTV sales 40”+ were flat in units and declined nine percent in value when compared to Q1 2009.

    Connected LCDTVs, or TVs with built-in internet capabilities enabling content such as YouTube, Netflix, Tivo, Facebook etc., saw sales increase significantly in both units and value compared to the prior quarter. Unit sales of connected LCDTVs were up 39 percent quarter-to-quarter and 20 percent year-to-year.