FUNDAMENTAL DRIVING FORCES
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Compute Power
Image Processing Software
Communications Bandwidth
Location Independent Communications
New Product Trends
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Limited “Convergence” of Television and Internet
Internet Appliances
Location Independent - Wearable - Devices
Electronic and Interactive Public Displays
Display Driven Transactions
Display Driven Work Environments
THE ELECTRONIC HOME
• Homes and Electronics have different life cycles.
• Computers, Entertainment, and Communications will
continue to dominate home displays.
• Computer-controlled Appliances and other integrated
functions requiring changes in home wiring or
construction will have slow and limited acceptance.
• Complicated electronic security systems such as eye
recognition will have only a small market.
• Reliability and easy repair are important criteria.
INTERNET APPLIANCES
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Time Sensitive Information
Electronic Commerce
Data Searches
e-mail Communications
Later - Real-time video images
• Proliferation of Application Specific Products
• Ease of Use - Instant Access (opposite of PC)
• Low Cost and Virus Proof
Transportation -- Cars, Trains, & Airplanes
• Entertainment “Clusters”.
• Navigation and Communications.
• Minimal Usage for Basic (Dashboard) Information.
• Need for Sunlight Readability, Ruggedness, and
Long Life.
Location Independent Communications
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“Wearable” Electronics
Increasing Complexity of PDAs
Convergence of Communications and Computers
Communications and Entertainment
Advertising and Public Displays
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Large Video Walls
Kiosks
Airports
Sports Stadiums
Shopping Malls
Logo Sites - Transit Vehicles
Show Room Display Windows
Many Low Resolution Signage Applications
Tiled and Conformable
TOYS AND GAMES
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Intelligent robots.
Interactive and Realistic Games.
Learning Aids.
Virtual Persons.
Needed -- Displays that are Versatile and Affordable
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Resolution
Brightness - Sunlight Readable
Low power - Efficient
Large Panels - segmented, conformable, low cost
Status of Display Technologies
• For Image Quality, All Major Display Technologies are
now “Good Enough.”
• For most Television and entertainment applications,
an NTSC (or similar) signal, with image processing,
meets consumer needs for displays up to 40-inches.
• LCD -- Now the dominant technology for all display sizes.
• Plasma -- Various Sizes from less than 35 to 100+ inches
• CRT -- Virtually obsolete in the US but still important in other
parts of the world.
• Projection -- Based on LC and DMD technologies.
Currently ALL Display Technologies are “Good
Enough” for Viewing in Most Applications
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Resolution
Color Gamut
Contrast
Brightness
• Brightness in Outdoor Environments
• Efficiency (The big opportunity for OLEDs)
WHEN IS A DISPLAY “GOOD ENOUGH”
• TV -- 500 to 700 Lines Progressive Scan -Depending on Screen Size. 1080p is more than
needed for most consumer TV applications.
• Computer Monitors -- 1024 x 1280 (SXGA)
• Hand Held Devices -- From less than 480 x 640
(VGA) to 600 x 800 (SVGA) for Internet appliances
LCDs
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The Dominant Flat Panel Display for at least the next
decade.
• A difficult technology - made to work exceedingly well.
– Temperature sensitive
– Inherently poor contrast
– Poor angle of view
– Manufacturing costs high for Active Matrix.
– Back light + filters reduce efficiency to less than 10%.
• The next decade will see lower cost, even larger sizes, and the
use in all products from portable electronics, to computers, to
televisions in every size commercially available.
THE NEXT 10 YEARS FOR LCDs
• The Dominant Display Technology
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Computer Monitors (15” - 24”+)
Television (20” - 80”+)
Laptop Computers
“Wearable” Electronics
New LED back light technologies are the next big
opportunity
PLASMA PANELS
• The first plasma panels -- direct view gas discharge
and monochrome orange color.
• Currently the best emissive display technology for
larger sizes and video images.
• Challenges
– efficiency
– brightness
– cost and manufacturing scale-up
Projection Displays
• Front Projection for Conference Rooms.
• Rear Projection for Entertainment, Video
Conferencing, and desk top monitors.
• Major Competition from Plasma displays and LCD
panels.
• Many technology approaches viable -- LCD, MEMS,
and combinations of light amplifiers and color
converters.
• New possibilities for color accuracy and display
quality.
LEDs
• From watches to indicator lights to stoplights to large
billboards.
– Best sunlight readable emissive display
technology.
– Blue only recently available.
– Efficient - rapidly evolving uses in lighting
applications, for projection displays, and for LCD
backlights.
– More work needed on low-cost arrays and “active”
addressing.
CRTs
• Over 100 Years of development
• Still an excellent display technology - superior color
rendition, especially for imaging applications.
• Too big and too heavy -- nearly obsolete in the US
but still widely used in other parts of the world.
– 2008 the year that LCDs took over as the major
display technology worldwide.
OLEDs
• Potential Advantages
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High brightness
High contrast - more than 100:1
High resolution - 12 micron pixels
High efficiency - more than 10 lumens/W
Wide viewing angle
Fast response time - typically in the microsecond range
Gray scale easy to achieve
• Environmental ruggedness, differential aging, and
manufacturing issues are remaining challenges.
FEDs
• Too Many Promises -- Too Soon!
• Potential Advantages
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Bright - sunlight readable
Less than 1/10th the thickness and weight of CRTs
Wide viewing angle
Wide temperature range
Large dimming range >50,000:1
More efficient than backlit LCDs
• Fundamental material research is still continuing.
• Manufacturing issues have not yet been resolved except possibly by a Sony affiliated company.
Need for New Display Materials
• Progress in Displays and Lighting Depends on New
Materials
• The Only “Breakthroughs” Occur at the Materials
Level
• Wider Applications of Displays and Lighting
Technologies Depend on New Materials
Developments -- e.g. OLEDs
CONCLUDING REMARKS
• Variety is good -- but technology infrastructure is
driven by large volume applications.
• Acceptance Threshold - when is it good enough?
• Breakthroughs only occur at the materials level.
• Micro-displays and projection technologies offer best
new opportunities for specialized applications.
• The future is not so mysterious once we understand
the rate of progress and the path required from basic
materials discoveries all the way to volume
manufacturing of products.