Tag Archives: large-screen television

Taiwan touch manufacturers grasp new opportunities

August 8, 2013

(Editor’s note: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove will be traveling to Taipei, Taiwan later this month to speak at the International Display Manufacturing Conference (IDMC) and to visit TouchTaiwan 2013.)

“I am honored to be delivering a special forum at the conference, and eager to meet Taiwan’s touch screen manufacturers and emerging display manufacturers,” said Dr. Colegrove.

Jennifer will be speaking on August 28th, 13:20-13:45 at a special forum of the IDMC conference which is in conjunction with TouchTaiwan exhibition. Contact her by email: jc@touchdisplayresearch.com

 IDMC touchtaiwan

Blog:

Taiwan is one of the most active regions in touch screen manufacturing. In 2006-2007, Apple’s iPhone brought revolutionary changes to the touch screen industry. Touch panel companies at the forefront such as TPK, Wintek, Youngfast, J-Touch rode the wave and grew rapidly.

Recently, display and touch screen integration have become necessary to reduce cost, weight, and thickness. This has led display manufacturers such as AUO, Innolux (used to be named ChiMei Innolux), and CPT to grasp an opportunity and supply the new devices.

In 2013 a wave of new opportunities and challenges are approaching. Touch Display Research analyzed the growth opportunities in:

  1. Large smart phone (>5”)
  2. Touch technology for notebook and all-in-one PCs
  3. ITO-replacement materials
  4. Multi-touch and simultaneous pen writing
  5. Touchless control

I am honored to be delivering a special forum at the conference and eager to meet Taiwan’s touch screen and display manufacturers.

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

LG and Samsung drop lawsuits; Samsung may adopt LG’s OLED technology

 

Feb 21, 2013

On Feb 20th, Korea Times reported that LG Display has dropped its injunction against Samsung Display Corporation.

Samsung and LG have had a fierce competition for decades. Recently the Korean government has become involved and ordered the two companies to talk to each other. Several weeks ago, Samsung dropped its lawsuit against LG Display over OLED technology. Yesterday, LG Display dropped its lawsuit against Samsung over IPS LCD technology.

The announcement comes after Samsung surprisingly decided to adopt LG’s white OLED plus color filter technology. According to Samsung officials the company will start the manufacture of AMOLED with white OLED plus color filter technology in late 2013.

I believe this cooperation is mainly caused by progress by other regions in AMOLED. See our “Large AMOLED TV Summary and Comparison” of LG, Samsung, Sony, AUO, and Panasonic.

Figure. Large AMOLED TV Summary and Comparison

oled tv tablet with cr

Source: Touch Display Research, Touch and Emerging Display Monthly Report, Jan. 2013

In January 2013, LG Electronics officially launched the 55” OLED TV with 1080p resolution in the South Korean market, priced at about $10,000. LG later announced that it would bring the OLED TV to the U.S. market in March 2013, priced at $12,000.

On the other hand, Samsung has no follow-up of when to bring its 55” OLED TV to the market yet.

LG’s 55” OLED TV uses white OLED plus RGBW color filter method for the color patterning, and using oxide TFT for the backplane. Samsung’s 55” OLED TV demo uses RGB chemical vapor deposition and LTPS TFT for the backplane. Current commercialization situation confirmed that LG’s method is more achievable, or can achieve higher yield and lower cost in 2013.

Sony, AUO, and Panasonic brought OLED TVs to a higher level: Ultra HD (4K) resolution. Samsung and LG’s OLED TV stayed at FHD (1080p), but they made them curved this year.

With the other region’s AMOLED competition, it’s a good decision for LG and Samsung to cooperate. Will Samsung adopt white OLED method to only TV or to other size AMOLED?  What is the pros and cons of white OLED method? Will Samsung abandon (bottle up) its other color patterning technologies? More analysis can be found in our Touch and Emerging Display monthly report.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team