Monthly Archives: May 2013

A Commendation from SID

May 31, 2013

I’m back from SID 2013 Displayweek conference with an award, given to me by SID president Brian Berkeley for my volunteer work at the SID Bay Area’s first one-day conference in January—”Display and Touch Technologies of the Future.” I really appreciate it!

Figure: SID Certificate of Commendation

SID award

Source: photo by Jennifer Colegrove

It was lots of work to put together a conference like that. Geoff Walker, the former Bay Area chapter chair, came to me and other volunteers last August, and asked us to organize the first one-day conference. After over four months of hard work, the conference was successfully held on January 16th, 2013. It was overwhelmingly successful with 160 attendees. We had to apologize to another twenty-five people on the waiting list, because the venue was not spacious enough for the extra crowd.

To all the volunteer team, this award is also for you:  Geoff, Rashmi, John, Joe, Steve, Cheng-wei, Catherine, Lauren. Thank you and cheers!

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

E Ink Flexible and Color Displays Leap Ahead at SID 2013 Displayweek

May 23, 2013

I’m in beautiful Vancouver, BC this week to attend and give a speech at the SID 2013 Displayweek conference.

At E Ink’s exhibition booth, their director of product management Giovanni showed me several flexible electrophoretic display products and color displays. As I blogged in January, flexible and color displays were the main focus of E Ink at the Flextech Alliance’s Flexible Display 2013 conference, but at this SID is one big leap ahead. The flexible display jumped from a 4.3” active matrix announced in January, to 13.3” flexible active matrix in this May demonstration. The color display added the three color pigment, which they called “Spectra.”

Figure: E Ink booth at SID 2013 Displayweek conference

E ink spectra

Source: Jennifer Colegrove

How does E Ink’s “Spectra” work, and how fast does it switch? When will E Ink’s flexible active matrix display be on the market? What’s the technology used in the 13.3” flexible active matrix display? What’s the flexible active matrix display roadmap through 2015? A detailed analysis will be in the upcoming “Touch and Emerging Display Monthly Report”, May 2013 issue.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

ITO Replacement Companies

May 18, 2013

Over 180 companies and research institutes are working on ITO replacement in 2013. ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is currently the mainstream transparent conductor. However, due to its high cost, long process and fragility, non-ITO type transparent conductors are gaining momentum. Transparent conductor applications include touch sensors, displays, lighting, thin-film solar (PV), smart windows, and EMI shielding.

Graphene is the most researched non-ITO material with 41 companies and research institutes working on it. Carbon nanotube and metal mesh are the number two and three.  Twenty-nine companies supply non-ITO transparent conductive film. Twenty-one companies supply the nano ink or powder.

Figure: Non-ITO transparent conductors vs. companies

ITO alternative figure

Source: Touch Display Research, ITO-replacement report, May 2013

Several companies are already mass producing these advanced transparent conductive materials. Atmel has been mass producing XSense for several months. Fujifilm is currently expanding its EXCLEAR capacity. UniPixel is starting the mass production of UniBoss. Cambrios is leading the silver nanowire transparent conductor.

What is the market size and forecast for ITO replacement transparent conductors?  What’s the manufacturing process of different metal meshes? What’s the price of transparent conductive film? Which transparent conductor is suitable for which application? Which direction should you invest in non-ITO transparent conductors? A detailed analysis can be found in our “ITO replacement–Non-ITO Transparent Conductor Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast Report.”

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

N-trig: Pen and Touch Technology

May 7, 2013

I’m a believer in simultaneous finger and pen touch. See my blog from January: “Microsoft’s Jeff Han keynote at the SID Bay Area Display and Touch Technology of the Future conference.”

Today I had the chance to meet N-trig, one of the leading suppliers of active pen technology, DuoSense. Gary Baum, the AVP of product marketing at N-trig showed me dozens of pens and demonstrated the palm rejection and hover features of their technology.

Figure: N-trig’s pen and touch on Fujitsu’s hybrid notebook tablet PC

Ntrig demo on Fujitsu

Source: N-trig, photo by Jennifer Colegrove

Several companies have announced plans to supply active pens. I asked Gary what he thinks about the competitors. Gary smiled and said, “It took Wacom over twenty years to get the pen right. And it took us over ten years to have the best pen. I don’t think other competitors can catch up so fast, it’ll take them at least three, four, or five generations of pens to get it right.  On the other hand, it’s a good thing to see more competitors, since it means the market is demanding a pen.”

What new products will N-trig release in the next few months? How much funding has N-trig received? Who are the other competitors in the active pen industry and what are their roadmaps? What are the critical characteristics of the best user experience with pens? What’s the market forecast for active pen technology?  A detailed analysis can be found in the Touch and Emerging Display Monthly Report.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team