High Resolution - Veritas et Visus

High Resolution
Veritas et Visus
February 2009
Focus Lighting, p5
NASA, p23
LG Electronics, p54
Vol 3 No 8/9
Maxfield, p77
Letter from the publisher: Aurora Borealis…by Mark Fihn
2
High resolution news from around the world
4
CES Best Buzz Awards, January 8-12, 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada
37
Plastic Electronics Conference and Showcase, October 28-29, 2008, Berlin, Germany
42
SID Mobile Displays Conference 2008, September 23-24, San Diego, California
48
Displaybank San Jose Conference, September 9, 2008, Santa Clara, California
54
Displaybank Korea Display Conference, July 2-4, 2008, Seoul, South Korea
57
Insight Media Projection Summit 2008, June 16-17, Las Vegas, Nevada
61
Society for Information Display 2008 Symposium, May 20-23, Los Angeles, California
67
How can this be? by Alan Stubbs
72
Primary colors by Clive (Max) Maxfield
77
Quality vs. value: when is enough enough? by Michael Reichmann
82
Content everywhere… in what form, what format? by Andy Marken
89
DTV transition: DTV tuner integration by Rodolfo La Maestra
95
Meridian’s beautiful 10-megapixel projector by Chris Chinnock
103
Samsung’s new “QWXGA” pixel format by Mark Fihn
105
Last Word: One size fits all? Too little ≠ too few… by Fluppeteer
108
Display Industry Calendar
110
High Resolution
is focused on bringing news and commentary about the developments associated with high
performance displays and the human factors that create demand better display products. High Resolution is
published electronically 10 times annually by Veritas et Visus, 3305 Chelsea Place, Temple, Texas, USA, 76502.
Phone: +1 254 791 0603. http:/www.veritasetvisus.com
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Contributors:
Mark Fihn
mark@veritasetvisus.com
Phillip Hill
phill@veritasetvisus.com
Chris Chinnock, Fluppeteer, Rodolfo La Maestra, Andy Marken, Max
Maxfield, Michael Reichmann, Alan Stubbs
Subscription rate: US$47.99 annually. Single issues: US$7.99 each. Hard copy subscriptions are available upon
request, at a rate based on location and mailing method. Copyright 2009 by Veritas et Visus. All rights reserved.
Veritas et Visus disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks or names of others.
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
Aurora Borealis…
by Mark Fihn
I received a note from my father, dated February 25, in which he indicated, “Yesterday the temperature got up to
37oF – first time since early December above freezing”… I grew up in northern Minnesota, and it’s not so long ago
that I considered Minnesota’s winters to be a badge of honor, that those from the south simply weren’t worthy to
wear, (and I considered Minneapolis to be part of the south)… But 2-1/2 months of constant below freezing – ugh
– who would choose to live in that? A few years ago, I flew from Austin, Texas (near my current home), to
Minneapolis one day in February. The temperature in Austin was 89oF. A couple of hours later, the temperature in
Minneapolis was -12oF, and I quickly realized that the “badge of honor” I once wore, was now relegated to better
men… I could no longer claim the purity of soul, (or craziness of mind, I’m not sure which), that marks the people
who actually enjoy the ultra-cold…
One of the distinct memories from my youth was a time when my father woke me up at 2:00 a.m. to show me a
beautiful display of the Northern Lights. While I can frequently remember seeing glimpses, on this night, they were
spectacular shimmering across a significant portion of the northern sky in a range of stunningly bright colors.
Although I’m quite happy to now be a Texan, there are moments of sheer beauty like this that emerge from the
cold… reminding us that the most spectacular displays are still not within man’s capabilities…
2
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
An insightful account of the aurora by Francis Reddy can be viewed at: http://www.trustedlog.com/2007/06/25/,
from which I’ve excerpted below:
“An aurora is a sporadic, generally faint, atmospheric phenomenon usually seen in the night sky from
locations at high latitudes. More commonly known as the “northern lights,” it may first appear as a faint,
milky glow low in the north, too dim for the human eye to detect any color but bright enough to silhouette
clouds near the horizon. It may develop into steady greenish arcs or form scintillating, swirling curtains of
yellow-green light. During the most dramatic displays visible from regions at middle latitudes, such as
central Europe and the United States, a crimson glow fills much of the sky. It was this form that inspired
European scientists of the 1600s to call the phenomenon aurora borealis, literally “northern dawn”, but it
also occurs at high southern latitudes, where it is formally called aurora australis, “southern dawn.” The
same processes are at work in both hemispheres – not just on Earth, but on other planets as well — and
today, scientists simply refer to this phenomenon as an aurora. The ghostly forms of an aurora include
quiescent patches, veils, and arcs, and rapidly moving rays and curtains.”
Aurorae occur in two great luminous ovals centered on Earth’s north and south magnetic poles. Collisions
between atmospheric gases and showers of electrons and protons guided by Earth’s magnetic field set the
ovals aglow, typically between heights of 62 and 155 miles (100 to 250 kilometers). Each gas gives out a
characteristic color when bombarded. Excited oxygen atoms give off yellow-green light, the color most
commonly observed. Ionized molecular nitrogen emits blue and violet light, colors to which the human eye
is less sensitive. At lower altitudes, excited molecules of nitrogen and oxygen glow with a vivid red. These
three primary colors together produce the myriad hues of a typical aurora.
What causes the showers of charged particles that create the northern lights? Ultimately, the source lies in
the solar wind, a fast-moving stream of particles constantly flowing from the Sun that carries the Sun’s
magnetic field out into space. The solar wind, typically moving at 250 miles (400 kilometers) per second,
flows past Earth’s magnetic field and molds it into an elongated bubble or cavity, compressing its sunward
side and stretching its night side far beyond the Moon’s orbit. Under certain conditions, the solar wind’s
magnetic field can merge with Earth’s, creating electrical currents that drive protons and electrons into the
polar atmosphere. Powerful events occurring on the Sun can
drive enormous changes in the solar wind, increasing both its
speed and density and enhancing its effect on Earth.
Understanding just how Earth’s magnetic field responds to such
events is now a focus of much solar and space research. We are
increasingly dependent on technologies that are extremely
sensitive to changes in the space environment, changes often
collectively referred to as “space weather”. The story of
Galaxy 4, a heavily used communications satellite, serves as a
good example. At 22h UT on May 19, 1998, while in
geostationary orbit above the central United States, Galaxy 4
lost its primary and backup attitude control systems. At the
time, Galaxy 4 handled about 80% of all US pager traffic.
Controllers could no longer maintain a stable link between the
satellite and Earth, resulting in a loss of pager service to an
estimated 45 million customers. Researchers believe the
incident occurred because a sequence of solar events about two
weeks prior to the failure created an extremely energetic cloud
of electrons that wreaked havoc with the satellite.
3
The Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE-1) satellite
captured the massive aurora that occurred
on March 14, 1989 over Earth's southern
polar regions. NASA
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
High resolution news from around the world
compiled by Mark Fihn and Phillip Hill
E/T/C London creates monster projection solution on Shell Building
The Shell Building in London, England, was transformed into the world’s tallest video projection screen on New
Year’s Eve, 2009. Revelers were treated to a projected holiday message from Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and
other celebrities. The installation was sponsored by LG Electronics, which also sponsored the fireworks display for
the evening’s festivities. E/T/C London created a projection concept and suggested that they harness the flexibility
and power of video for the first time on this event, on which E/T/C has worked for producers Jack Morton
Worldwide for the last five years. E/T/C designed the technical installation, which utilized 24 Christie S+20K
projectors, all rigged vertically, and run in 12 overlaid pairs. These covered a 12 zone grid – three wide and four
high – measuring 55 meters wide by 110 tall on the river facing fascia of the building. Total pixel count was
2888x5184. The projectors were positioned 150 meters away from the Shell Tower in a 12 meter tall purpose built
structure, together with a complex E/T/C OnlyView control system that was set up in an adjacent cabin.
http://www.projecting.co.uk
One of the largest projected solutions, created by E/T/C London, the Shell Building was used as a backdrop during
New Year’s Eve festivities to host holiday messages from the mayor of London and others. Adjacent to the London
Eye Ferris Wheel, the projection was visible from substantial distances.
Prior to the New Year’s Eve festivities, the projected images showcased a broad range of colors and designs,
representing about 15-megapixels from 24 projectors. The surface of the image measured 55 meters wide by 110
meters tall.
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Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
The "New" New Year's Eve Ball developed by Focus Lighting
A new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball was introduced this past January 1 – a 12 foot geodesic sphere, double
the size of previous Balls, and weighing 11,875 pounds. Covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by
32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new Ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million colors and
billions of patterns producing a spectacular kaleidoscope effect. The new Ball is now a year-round attraction above
Times Square in full public view January through December. Focus Lighting created a spectacular and unique
lighting design that utilizes over 3,500 lighting cues to orchestrate the moving patterns of light radiating from the
Ball. Theatrical techniques were used to show the beauty of each facet of each individual crystal, making the
sparkle visible whether viewed from 5 feet away (as members of the press have seen it) or from 500 feet when
viewed from the streets of Times Square. http://focuslighting.com
A huge range of solutions for the new New Year’s Eve Ball, now shown in Times Square year-round.
5
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
Images from around the world of spectacular light shows during the 2009 New Year’s Eve celebrations
A broad range of specialty lighting and fireworks solutions were used around the world to bring on 2009. A few of
the most spectacular images follow:
From the top, left to right, are lighting and fireworks extravaganzas celebrating the start of 2009 from Kuala
Lumpur, Athens, Sydney, Berlin, Niagara Falls, Singapore, and Taipei.
6
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
Apple’s CoreUI aims to tie in hi-res interfaces
Apple is moving towards a fully-scalable, vector-based,
resolution independent implementation that lets OS X
take full advantage of high-resolution displays. There
have been various World Wide Developer Conference
(WWDC) workshops devoted to this topic, and it was
widely expected that Leopard would complete this
particular jigsaw, according to various blogs. In essence,
CoreUI is a low-level framework that ultimately will be
responsible for drawing all the user interface widgets in
OS X. Among other things, CoreUI will define the look
and feel of the Aqua interface. By default, CoreUI is
used for drawing a number of user interface elements in
Leopard. Unlike other undocumented frameworks,
CoreUI isn’t implemented in Objective-C. It’s actually a
C++ class library that makes use of a couple of “art”
files contained within the resources directory of
CoreUI.framework. http://www.apple.com
Microsoft demos augmented reality technology
Microsoft researchers demonstrated software that can, in real time, superimpose computer-generated information on
top of a digitized view of the real world. Adding additional visual data to a video display is a technique known as
augmented reality. Microsoft says that the approach could add another
dimension to future smart phones. The device could recognize a
restaurant and deliver ratings and the menu, for instance. A smart phone
featuring an augmented-reality display could also overlay a bus route
and an estimate of when the next bus is due on top of a particular street.
The software, which runs on a small portable computer, analyzes scenes
from a camera, matches to those stored in a database, and overlays
supplementary information on the display. The researchers note that a
smart phone with augmented reality could help allow engineers to see
the pipes or electrical cables below a street. In recent years, cell phones
and portable computers with cameras and other sensors have become
powerful enough to handle the computational workload needed to run an
augmented-reality system. Researchers at Nokia and Columbia
This laptop is running augmentedUniversity, for instance, are also developing augmented-reality systems,
reality software developed by
and a Japanese startup called Tonchidot hopes to turn the concept into a
Microsoft. It can recognize a person’s
location using the built-in camera.
product. http://www.microsoft.com
Pixtronix enhances image quality of TFT LCDs
Pixtronix, Inc. introduced the PerfectLight display, the industry’s first flat panel display to deliver both ultra-low
power consumption and exceptional image quality. With PerfectLight, Pixtronix realizes a 75% power reduction
over traditional LCD displays, while reaching new heights in color gamut, color depth and view angle. Pixtronix
demonstrated the PerfectLight display at FPD International in Yokohama, Japan. The display has full speed video
with 24-bit color depth, 105% NTSC color gamut, high contrast ratio, and wide view angles. At the heart of the
display, Pixtronix digital micro shutter (DMS) technology applies breakthrough innovation utilizing existing
display infrastructure. Through the integration of MEMS and TFTs, DMS brings critical differentiation while
leveraging TFT-LCD manufacturing equipment, processes and materials. http://www.pixtronix.com
7
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
IMEC builds 11-megapixel micro-mirror array for high-end industrial applications
IMEC has presented a monolithically integrated 11-megapixel micro-mirror array for high-end industrial
applications, a world’s first both in terms of pixel density and reliability. Each mirror in the array is 8x8μm and can
be individually tilted by the high-speed integrated CMOS circuitry underneath the array. This device fits in IMEC’s
CMORE initiative, which offers cost-effective solutions for continued system scaling, not by shrinking CMOS but
by focusing on monolithic co-integration of heterogeneous technology. IMEC’s 10cm² 11-megapixel mirror array
has a pixel density that is almost double that of comparable state-of-the-art micro-mirrors. And IMEC has
demonstrated that its mirrors show no creep and meet a 10¹² cycles mechanical lifetime. Integrated micro-mirror
arrays such as this one, are used in, for example, video projection or lithography mask writers.
IMEC fabricated the 8µm mirrors on top of foundry high-voltage 0.18µm CMOS 200mm wafers with six
interconnect levels. The array was built using IMEC’s proprietary SiGe-based MEMS platform, meeting the
mirror’s mechanical reliability requirements, device flatness, and compatibility with high-speed CMOS. Poly-SiGe
was chosen as structural material for the mirrors, instead of Al. Poly-SiGe solves many of the reliability issues of
Al-based mirrors, and it is compatible with CMOS processing, allowing a smooth integration with the CMOS chip.
IMEC’s CMORE initiative offers cost-effective solutions for monolithic co-integration of heterogeneous
technologies. The services offered range from development-on-demand, over prototyping, to low-volume
production. These services profit from the expertise in many research areas available at IMEC. The CMORE
solutions are implemented in IMEC’s 200mm fab with advanced packaging capabilities, such as 3D integration.
The two process platforms involved are a 0.13µm CMOS process and a versatile SiGe above-IC MEMS process.
On customer demand, the CMORE solution can be migrated to IMEC’s 300mm fab. http://www.imec.be
GUNNAR Optiks demonstrates digital performance eyewear
GUNNAR Optiks has developed specialized lens technology that provides a solution for digital eye fatigue, the
repetitive strain caused by the extended viewing of digital screens. The technology includes i-AMP lens
technology, which is comprised of diAMIX lens material, a superlight long-chain polymer with superior optics and
greater flexibility; i-Fi lens coatings, which capture good light from digital screens while filtering out glare and
reflective light; iONik lens tint, which takes harsh artificial light and precisely tunes it to eye physiology; and
fRACTYL lens geometry, which mimics nature to aid the natural focusing power of the corneal lens.
http://www.Gunnars.com
Nvidia launches low form factor hi-res graphics card
Nvidia announced a new video card in its Quadro line called the
Quadro NVS 420. The NVS 420 is a quad-display graphics solution
and will support four 30-inch displays with a resolution of 2560x1600
each. The card uses a small form factor design with a low-profile
bracket. The company says that the NVS 420 is the only low profile
professional graphics solution in the industry that will allow high
resolutions on multiple monitors. Other features include new nView
display software that allows users to spread screen content across
single or multiple displays with a desktop management application
that promises easy use. The software displays gridlines to allow users
to divide the desktop into multiple regions. Also supported are virtual desktops that allow users to launch
applications on up to 32 different desktops. The Windows Taskbar is also spanned across multiple monitors
allowing the application buttons to be spread over the displays as well. The video card features a large frame buffer
and provides the performance needed for digital signage solutions. The display channel on the card is a single
VHDCI connector and 16 CUDA parallel processing cores are used. Total memory size for the card is 512MB with
each GPU getting 256MB of memory. The memory interface totals 128-bit with each GPU getting 64-bit of that
number. Nvidia promises memory bandwidth of 11.2GB/s per GPU. http://www.nvidia.com
8
Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
CyberLink and S3 Graphics join forces to deliver high-definition playback on PowerDVD 8
CyberLink announced that CyberLink PowerDVD 8 is now optimized for S3 Graphics’ ChromotionHD 2.0 video
engine – delivering robust playback of high-definition content on consumer and professional platforms. PowerDVD
8 support for the Chrome 400/500 Series graphics processors is now available on CyberLink’s online store. The
combination of CyberLink’s leading high-definition movie playback software and S3 Graphics’ ChromotionHD 2.0
video engine gives users picture-perfect quality and digital surround sound for the ultimate HD video playback
experience. PowerDVD 8 leverages S3 Graphics ChromotionHD technology to deliver high quality HD decoding
for the latest video codecs, including H.264, VC-1, and MPEG2 for Blu-ray movies. With full bitstream decoding,
inverse transform, motion compensation, and in-loop deblocking, the Chrome 400/500 Series GPUs allows
PowerDVD 8 to offload HD intensive tasks from the CPU to the GPU, making the decoding process more efficient
while minimizing total system power consumption for a better user experience. http://www.cyberlink.com
Mercedes to debut Splitview Command display this summer
Mercedes has announced plans to implement what they call a Splitview Command display in new S-Class models –
a means for the passenger and driver to see different images on the same surface. The system uses side-by-side
pixel placement coupled with a “filtering mask”. This filtering mask is essentially the technology found in
lenticular printing. While the driver views the GPS, the passenger can watch a DVD, whatever.
QD Vision’s platform increases brightness, efficiency and lifetime thresholds
QD Vision, developer of nanotechnology-based solutions for displays and lighting, announced it has achieved
significant improvements in brightness, efficiency and lifetime thresholds for its Quantum Light product platform,
advancing its quest to make quantum-dot-based light-emitting devices (QLEDs) deliver best-in-class performance
among display technologies. The company announced that red QLEDs fabricated in its device laboratory have
achieved external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) greater than 7% and demonstrated the highest reported brightness –
more than 25,000 nits – for a quantum-dot LED. The company said its red devices (with a CIE x, y coordinate of
0.68, 0.32) achieved luminance efficiency of 3-4cd/A at high brightness values ranging from 1,000-10,000 nits,
with device lifetimes ranging from hundreds to thousands of hours at 100 nits. The company announced its yellow
QLEDs demonstrated a peak brightness of more than 41,000 nits, a peak luminance efficiency of 13cd/A (at 1500
nits) and a peak luminous power efficiency of 14lm/W (at 300 nits) at a CIE x,y color point of (0.58, 0.42); all three
peak luminance and efficiency values are the highest ever reported for any type of QLED. The company also
announced significant progress in delivering cadmium-free QLEDs, achieving EQEs greater than 3%.
http://www.qdvision.com
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Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
Evident Technologies announces key patent for semiconductor nanocrystal synthesis
Evident Technologies announced the issuance of US Patent No. 7,482,059 covering the ability to synthesize a
semiconductor nanocrystal structure with a metal layer that dramatically enhances the brightness and stability of the
semiconductor nanocrystal complex. http://www.evidenttech.com
Nanosoccer to be played at 2009 RoboCup in Austria
The World Cup may be two years away, but soccer aficionados can
get an early start at satisfying their yen for global competition when
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the
RoboCup Federation host the second-ever international nanosoccer
contest next summer. Nanosoccer – the Lilliputian competition where
computer-driven “nanobots” the size of dust mites challenge one
another on fields no bigger than a grain of rice – will be part of the
RoboCup games in Graz, Austria, from June 29-July 5, 2009. NIST is
now accepting applications for organizations wishing to field robots
in the events. Viewed under a microscope, the soccer nanobots are
operated by remote control and move in response to changing
magnetic fields or electrical signals transmitted across the microchip
arena. The bots are a few tens of micrometers to a few hundred
The 2009 RoboCup Nanosoccer competition
micrometers long, but their masses range from only a few nanograms will be played on the gold-colored microchip
seen through the window of the “world's
to a few hundred nanograms. They are manufactured from materials
smallest soccer stadium.” The chip is
such as aluminum, nickel, gold, silicon and chromium. Rules for the
divided
into 16 playing fields each the size of
“Nanogram 2009” competition and the application form are available
a grain of rice.
at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/calmed/nanosoccer.html. The
“NIST and Nanosoccer” website also features detailed information on nanosoccer, summaries of past competitions
and a short video showing how the contests “road test” agility, maneuverability, response to computer control and
the ability to move objects – all skills that future industrial nanobots will need for tasks such as microsurgery within
the human body or the manufacture of tiny components for microscopic electronic devices.
New SIM2 Solar Series with Dolby LED backlight technology scheduled for Q2’09
SIM2 Multimedia and Dolby Laboratories unveiled the latest in high-dynamic-range (HDR)-enabled LCD flatscreen display technology featuring Dolby Vision. SIM2 plans to make the new SIM2 Solar Series available in the
second quarter of calendar 2009. SIM2’s Solar Series includes a 47-inch LCD display utilizing Dolby Vision
technology. Dolby Vision features a proprietary algorithm that manages LEDs behind the liquid crystal panel. Each
LED is controlled individually in concert with the image on display. By selectively turning off the backlight behind
black areas in scenes, Dolby Vision allows those areas to become truly black. Dolby Vision also has the ability to
selectively brighten the backlight behind bright areas. The Solar Series display is able to handle 16-bit processing
for HDR signals, producing 65,536 shades per color, beating the number of colors (1,024) shown by the most
advanced current displays. The BLU has 2,206 high-power LEDs plus HDR technology producing peak brightness
of >4000 cd/m2 with resolution of 1920x1080 Full HD. http://www.dolby.com
ABI Research says online video viewers will number nearly one billion by 2013
While today’s consumer is most likely to watch online video on the PC screen, over time more and more consumers
will watch over-the-top video delivered to the living room, according a new study from ABI Research. This
continued trend towards TV-viewed online video will help drive overall adoption, as the number of online video
viewers grows from 563 million at the end of 2008 to 941 million by 2013. “All stakeholders in the online video
ecosystem are eyeing the living room,” says research director Michael Wolf. “With the continued adoption of
network-connected video game consoles, the porting of popular online video services such as Hulu and Netflix onto
third party consumer electronics devices, and network operators’ growing interest in over-the-top video, we see this
market for TV-displayed online video continuing to grow.” http://www.abiresearch.com
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Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
Global flat panel TV revenues fall for first time ever in Q4’08
As global economic conditions deteriorated during Q4’08, consumer demand for discretionary purchases suffered,
including flat panel TVs. According to the latest findings from the DisplaySearch “Quarterly Global TV Shipment
and Forecast Report”, global TV shipments fell more than 5% Y/Y in Q4’08 to 57.7M units from more than 60M
units a year earlier. This is the first Y/Y decline in total TV shipments for more than two years. Due to ASP
declines, total TV revenues fell even more, declining by 7% to just over $30 billion despite flat panel technologies
picking up more than 10% unit share. Combined flat panel TV revenues, which includes LCD, plasma and OLED
technologies, posted the first annual decline in a given quarter, falling 3% Y/Y despite 17% growth in unit volume
with falling prices affecting revenues. Annual LCD TV shipment results for 2008 as a whole were 105M units, up
33% Y/Y and in line with DisplaySearch’s forecast in Q3’08, which was made prior to the global economic crisis.
These positive results also pushed LCD TV past CRT TV worldwide for the first time on an annual basis and mark
significant progress in the transition from tube to flat panel technologies. Despite the difficult economy and
concerns about consumer spending, demand for larger screen sizes grew during Q4’08. The share of TVs shipped at
40-inch+ screen sizes reached an all-time high of 23%, up from 19% in Q3’08 and 18% in Q4’07. This was largely
the result of significant discounts by manufacturers and retailers, both hoping to avoid excessive inventory after the
holidays. The volume weighted average price for 32-inch+ TV’s fell 19% Y/Y during Q4’08, while <32-inch was
unchanged from a year ago. A review of global TV shipments by technology can be seen in Table 1 below:
Technology
Q4'08
Units
Q4'08
Unit Share
Q/Q
Growth
Y/Y
Growth
LCD TV
PDP TV
OLED TV
CRT TV
RPTV
Total
33,528
4,439
1
19,601
115
57,683
58.1%
7.7%
0.0%
34.0%
0.2%
100%
25%
17%
-22%
-16%
28%
7%
18%
12%
-56%
-30%
-69%
-5%
Table 1: Q4’08 worldwide TV shipments by technology (000s)
On a brand basis, Samsung remained the global brand share leader in revenues for the twelfth straight quarter,
holding their revenue share nearly unchanged at 22%, more than 7 share points higher than #2 Sony. However,
Sony enjoyed the strongest share growth and Q/Q revenue growth among the top five. Samsung was also the
overall unit shipment leader and was in the top three rankings in each technology category (except OLED) and led
LCD TV shipments. Sony enjoyed strong Q/Q revenue growth, but their Y/Y revenues declined by 7% due to ASP
erosion. LGE rounded out the top three TV brands worldwide at 11.5% revenue share and maintained a very slight
advantage over Samsung in the high growth emerging market segment. A complete review of the top five brands
can be seen in Table 2. http://www.displaysearch.com
Rank
Brand
Q3'08
Share
Q4'08
Share
Q/Q
Growth
Y/Y
Growth
1
2
3
4
5
Samsung
Sony
LGE
Panasonic
Sharp
Other
Total
22.3%
12.9%
10.7%
8.6%
8.2%
37.2%
100.0%
22.0%
14.5%
11.5%
8.7%
7.6%
35.7%
100.0%
4%
19%
13%
7%
-2%
1%
6%
10%
-7%
13%
-3%
-2%
-21%
-7%
Table 2: Q4’08 worldwide TV brand rankings by revenue share
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Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
DisplaySearch lowers 2009-2010 digital signage/large format commercial display forecast
With 2008 sales of flat panel TVs behind expectations, alternate markets for larger-format flat-panel displays like
commercial-use advertising and communication are starting to pique display manufacturer’s interests again. This
growing market segment is poised for growth despite the economically challenging climate facing the world in
2009 and 2010. Unit volume for LCD and plasma displays used for public display applications (also commonly
referred to as digital signage and large format commercial displays) rose 13% Y/Y worldwide, according to the
DisplaySearch Q4’08 Quarterly FPD Public Display Shipment and Forecast Report. Growth of 44% is forecast for
2009, which is revised down from previous forecasts. Lower-priced commercial-grade products, as well as highergrade consumer products, will help to lower the costs of digital signage deployments, driving high unit growth
rates.
As the worldwide economy shifts from consumer to a business spending, many advertisers have had their ad dollars
cut severely, and are looking to target their message to their new core audience, the B2B buyer. With more business
being done locally and more professionals seeking alternate means of transportation to save money, mass transit is
becoming more attractive, especially in major metropolitan areas. Dynamic digital displays on rail platforms and
other transportation hubs allow
advertisers to focus on business
professionals without having to rely
on mass media to reach captive
audiences. Conversely, consumers
are staying close to home and opting
to go to the movies rather than on
vacation,
also
known
as
“staycations”. This trend is leading
many movie theaters to overhaul
their signage with electronic menu
boards, dual-function electronic
displays that can tie into POS
systems to help concessionaires
26-inch+ large-format FPD (LCD and plasma) shipments for
promote what is readily available in
commercial public display applications
stock, while allowing advertisements
for unrelated products.
In terms of technology growth, both
LCD and plasma are set to see Y/Y
growth
in
deployments
in
commercial
spaces.
However,
production investments in LCD
technology
and
its
cost
competitiveness against plasma
especially in key 32-42” sizes will
allow LCD to continue to outpace
plasma-based solutions. For larger
sizes, however, the battle continues,
as plasma has a cost advantage, but
new thin bezel LCD displays allow
for almost seamless video walls.
http://www.displaysearch.com/
Large-format commercial public display forecasts by
technology type
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DisplaySearch says ultra-slim TVs the key to differentiation and continued FPD TV revenues
Recent findings from DisplaySearch indicate that ultra-slim TV designs will be one of the most important factors in
the continued growth of LCD and plasma TVs. Ultra-slim TVs are TVs with a set depth that is less than 40mm.
DisplaySearch believes that the worldwide demand for the ultra-slim LCD TV segment will reach 14 million units
in 2012, an impressive 219%
compound annual growth rate for
2008-2012. These results and other
key Ultra Slim TV results are
included in a new topical report
called “Ultra Slim Flat Panel TV
Market Outlook: The Next Big
Trend in TV”. DisplaySearch
forecasts that worldwide penetration
of Ultra Slim TVs will reach 10% in
2012, while developed regions such
as North America, Japan and
Western Europe will have the
highest ultra-slim TV market
penetration at 18% for the same
period. “Despite the excellent
outlook, wireless links, and designs
Ultra-slim LCD TV shipment forecast by region
for panels, chassis and remote
controls, technologies still need to improve for ultra-slim TVs. Significant investment for these technologies will
also be critical to our achieve the forecasted growth,” noted Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of European TV
Market Research. “Consumers will not accept ultra-slim sets if their viewing experience or ease-of-use is
compromised.” http://www.displaysearch.com
CEA upbeat about plasma and LCD supply position
The Consumer Electronics Association says that the number of plasma and 35-inch and larger LCD displays
produced and imported for the United States market has only slightly exceeded the number of displays sold to
retailers during the first six weeks of 2009. Inventory of the large flat panel displays peaked in time for Super Bowl
sales deliveries in mid-January and are now holding steady at the 300,000 unit level. Retailers and manufacturers
are not threatened with heavy inventory levels that will require costly price reductions when new-line models are
introduced during the spring and summer months. The bad news is that there may be shortages of large display
inventory during the spring months
leading up to Father’s Day promotions
and the June 12th analog to digital
conversion. Sales to dealers of plasma
panels during the first six weeks of 2009
are double what was sold during the
same period in 2008. Sales to dealers of
the jumbo LCD panels are 50% ahead
during the same period. This results in
weak inventory levels; PDP has only
two days of inventory at factory level
while LCD has approximately eight
days of inventory to support sales at the
current rate. http://www.ce.org
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Displaybank says that 16:9 LCD panel shipments for PCs shows tremendous increase
16:9 aspect ratio products are on the rise to account for 17.4% of LCD monitor panels, and 15.6% of note PC
panels, according to Displaybank. In 2009, 35% of LCD monitor panels and 32% of note PC panels are expected to
be 16:9. In past, major aspect ratios included 4:3 and 5:4, but 16:10W note PC panel shipments started gaining on
the existing 4:3 panel shipments from early 2006, and 16:10W monitor panel shipments took the lead from 2H,
2007. As the overall LCD market went through severe market problems with lowered demands in 2008, makers
began focusing on maximizing on production efficiency and actively began production of 16:9W products which
lower production cost by maximizing production quantity. Moreover, demand for 16:9W products gradually
increased as various 16:9 FHD contents were supplied. From the customer perspective, the merit of viewing 16:9
contents without loss of viewing space led the overall market growth. http://www.displaybank.com
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
17.4%
20.0%
10.0%
0.2%
0.6%
1.2%
1.7%
Nov'07
Dec
Jan'08
Feb
3.3%
3.6%
5.4%
7.6%
10.2% 11.1%
13.1% 14.6%
Conventional (4:3)
Conventional (5:4)
Wide (16:10)
Wide (16:9)
0.0%
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Shipment share per different aspect ratio (monitor panels)
100.0%
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
13.4%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.9%
1.4%
1.8%
1.9%
4.2%
6.3%
0.0%
Jan'08
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
17.9% 15.6%
Conventional (4:3)
Wide (16:10)
0.0%
Nov'07 Dec
Sep
Oct
Nov
Wide (16:9)
Wide (15:9)
-20.0%
Shipment share per different aspect ratio (note PC panels)
Based on the shipment results of November, 2008, AUO produced the most 16:9 monitor LCD panels and
accounted for 39% market share. CMO followed with 20% share and LG Display and Samsung Electronics
followed with 16% and 14% share respectively. For 16:9W note PC panels, Samsung Electronics had about 36%
shipment share at first position, followed by LG Display with 22% share.
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Insight Media says reduced lumen projectors are industry growth opportunity
Insight Media has released a new report that finds that “reduced lumen projectors”, i.e. those with lumen outputs of
35 to 700+ lumens over the 2008-2013 time frame, represents one of the best opportunities for unit and revenue
growth in the projection industry. The newly released 2009 “LED and Laser-based Ultraportable Projector Report”
covers projectors of less than four pounds in weight and focuses on how LED and laser sources will be used to
augment and supplant lamp-based projection systems. Current ultraportable projectors are lamp-based and represent
about 45% of the total projector unit sales. But revenues for this segment will remain essentially flat over the
forecast period, even with increasing unit sales.
However, the reduced lumen projector category is forecast to reach over 1.3M units and nearly $800M in revenue
by 2013 – with almost all of this being new projector sales. The low end of this class of projectors is sometimes
called pocket projectors, with even
lower lumen projectors (not included in
this report), commonly called pico or
companion projectors. These very low
lumen output projectors are covered in
the Insight Media 2008 Pico-Projector
Market Segment Analysis. Currently,
there are a several products on the
market that qualify as reduced lumen
projectors including the Dell M109s
(50 lumens), the Acer K10 (100
lumens) and the LG Electronics HS102
and Samsung P400 (both 150 lumens).
All use LED sources with laser-based
projectors expected later on. The key
question the industry is asking is can
these projectors find a significant place
in the market? Based on the extensive
Low/medium lumen projectors with LED illumination forecast
analysis performed in this report, the
answer is yes, but a qualified yes. To
meet the needs of the market, projector
makers will need to carefully evaluate
product
development
strategies,
projector value propositions and go-tomarket options in order to create
compelling products that end users will
value.
The 2009 LED and Laser-based
Ultraportable Projector Report provides
322 pages of technology, market,
strategy and forecast analysis looking at
how LED and laser-based ultraportable
projectors can penetrate handheld,
portable and desktop applications.
http://www.insightmedia.com
Price range for Medium/high ultraportable projectors
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February 2009
Oregan Networks publishes “Media Browser Technology Adoption Trends”
A US consumer study into High Definition TV purchase drivers carried out by Oregan Networks, an Internet TV
software company, and Micronas, a supplier of TV application-specific IC system solutions, has revealed that the
ability to access the Internet from the comfort of the living room in parallel or in addition to watching regular TV
programming, is making its way into the purchasing criteria of today’s tech-savvy consumers who plan to purchase
a TV within the next two years. The research measured the importance of Internet and home media browsing,
placing emphasis on key features and the difference between the incumbent PC based Internet usage and the
emerging TV-based usage scenarios. In addition, the study addressed the social and behavioral aspects of
interacting with network-connected TVs. 71% of all respondents would prefer a default media browser to be
installed, although they would like the option to be able to change it. Additionally, if their next TV did not come
with a pre-installed media browser, 29% of respondents said that they “definitely would” download one, while a
further 45% would be likely to download one. 69% of respondents would pay something to download a digital
media browser to their next television, if this was supported. 87% of respondents would select a TV with a media
browser because it would offer them more entertainment choices.
One of the key findings of the research is related to the differentiation between what is seen as desirable use cases
and appropriate websites for TV based Internet. User managed video and multimedia sites, including YouTube and
Hulu, delivered in a full screen mode, as well as pay per view Hollywood blockbuster services, such as Netflix and
CinemaNow, are perceived as adding most value to the regular TV feature set, as well as enabling families to spend
more social time together. 85% agreed that a TV media browser would offer a “better audiovisual experience for
watching web video” compared to a PC, while the same proportion agreed that it would provide a “more
customized and personalized entertainment experience”. For all user segments, the ability to access Video on
Demand services without the need for a PC or any other equipment was considered to be the most valuable feature
of a TV media browser. http://www.oregan.net
Lumens launches desktop HD visual presenter for interactive whiteboards
Lumens Integration announced the availability of the Lumens PS660, priced at $1,995, breaking through the $2,000
price barrier for HD desktop visual presenters. Representing a new generation of digital visual presenters, the
Lumens PS660 is the first 1280x1024 (SXGA) desktop visual presenter in its class to offer one-touch integrated
audio and video recording, HDMI interface and SDHC support. The PS660 also includes premium features such as
HD 1080p resolution, true SXGA resolution output, 15x optical zoom and a five-year unlimited warranty. The
PS660 works seamlessly when attached to a computer, with an interactive whiteboard, or by itself hooking up
directly to a projector, HDTV, or a monitor. This flexibility allows users to easily extend the utility of the PS660 by
being able to use it in multiple venues. http://www.mylumens.com
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February 2009
Microvision demonstrates pre-production handheld accessory pico projector
Microvision demonstrated a pre-production ultra-miniature plug-and-play accessory pico projector, code named
SHOW WX, and the new PicoHUD vehicle display. Additionally, Microvision introduced the PicoP Evaluation Kit
(PEK) to enable a wide variety of consumer, industrial, automotive, medical and military applications. Alexander
Tokman, president and CEO of Microvision, explained:
“SHOW WX is a major milestone on the transition path to product launch of our first PicoP enabled
consumer product later in 2009. We believe that the accessory pico projector is just the beginning for the
PicoP display engine which could be deployed in a diverse range of applications. For this reason, we are
providing PEKs to help prospective customers cultivate new ideas and products.”
SHOW WX uses Microvision’s PicoP display engine technology to deliver stunningly colorful, bright, vivid and
detailed images. The patented display engine technology requires no projection lenses or focus adjustment. As a
result, SHOW WX images are always in focus, regardless of projection distance, producing wide-screen images as
small as 6 inches to as large as 100 inches across. The production version of SHOW WX is planned to be a simple
plug-n-play pico projector for people on-the-go who want to spontaneously view mobile TV, movies, photos,
presentations and more. Users can take the pocket-sized projector anywhere, plug it into their portable media
players, mobile phones, notebooks and other mobile media devices with TV-Out or VGA functionality and share a
big screen experience. http://www.microvision.com/showwx
Microvision announces $750,000 contract for high-definition eyewear display development
Microvision announced that it has been awarded a $750,000 contract to perform initial engineering tasks that
support development of a High-Definition (HD), full-color, see-through eyewear display. The name of the customer
was not released. The development effort includes demonstration of a unique design approach of a HD system
based upon Microvision’s PicoP display engine technology. The work under the contract is consistent with
Microvision’s continued development of a lightweight see-through optical system and could lead to a variety of
eyewear display applications. Microvision’s eyewear display platform is being designed to combine its miniature
PicoP display engine technology with clear eyewear optics that channel light and direct it to the viewer’s eye
creating a bright, full color, see-through image while maintaining a transparent view of the surroundings. In
addition to the see-through capability, this platform is expected to be differentiated from competitive offerings by
its attractive ergonomics and ease-of-use. http://www.microvision.com
Light Blue Optics demonstrates brighter miniature projection systems
Light Blue Optics (LBO) announced its latest miniature projection systems. The systems demonstrate a range of
features and enable new use-case scenarios for hand-held accessory pico projectors. The company plans to make its
first product release to OEM customers in the second half of 2009. LBO’s holographic laser projection technology
creates bright, high-quality video and still images with applications in markets including automotive and consumer
electronics. At CES, LBO unveiled miniature projection systems with real-time operation and optics half the
volume and twice the brightness of those previously demonstrated by the company. Additional features include a
dynamic throw angle that enables the user to switch between conventional front projection and hands free tabledown projection. The company also demonstrated a novel concept for table-down mode that allows the user to
control the projector simply by touching the projected image. http://www.lightblueoptics.com
3M unveils its latest mobile projection technology
3M showcased the MM200, a new design in the company’s expanding miniature projection portfolio. Offering
“brilliant color and VGA resolution with an exceptionally thin profile”, the 3M MM200 represents an “evolutionary
leap in mobile projection technology”. Just a year ago, 3M debuted its first generation mobile projection engine at
CES. Since then, the company has successfully integrated that engine into consumer platforms including the 3M
MPro110. When integrated into a cell phone, handheld accessory or digital camera, the MM200 engine can project
up to a 50-inch image while drawing only 1 watt of power. The MM200 uses an LCoS electronic imager and is
illuminated with multi-colored LEDs. http://3m.com/mpro
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Ambarella hybrid camera platform incorporates Aptina 10-megapixel sensor
Ambarella has incorporated the 10-megapixel sensor from Aptina Imaging. The Ambarella A5 combines a highperformance image pipeline with an H.264 compression engine. The Aptina 10MP sensor is a CMOS device
capable of acquiring as many as 2 million pixels at a sustained input rate of 60 frames per second. By integrating
the Aptina 10 MP sensor into the Ambarella platform, photographers and videographers can purchase a hybrid
camera that fits into a shirt pocket yet still shoots high-quality digital still images and full high-definition video
separately or in combination. Aptina’s CMOS technology enables high-performance cameras as seen in the
MT9J001 10MP image sensor. The sensor incorporates a unique 1.67-micron pixel format and the HiSPi serial data
interface to achieve full HD performance, beyond the capabilities of CCD technology. http://www.ambarella.com
Aptina ships one billionth CMOS image sensor
Aptina, a subsidiary created by Micron Technology last year, announced that it recently shipped its one billionth
image sensor. Shipment of the one billionth CMOS image sensor is indicative of Aptina’s ability to meet unit
demand within a variety of markets, while maintaining a product portfolio of over 70 CMOS image sensors. Of the
one billion sensors shipped, approximately 55% were megapixel or greater. The push for quality continues as
Aptina provides camera manufacturers’ with new multi-megapixel sensors and SOCs like the new 5MP MT9P013
and MT9P111 designed for the mobile market and the 10MP MT9J001 CMOS image sensor solution designed for
high-end point-and-shoot cameras. http://www.aptina.com
Samsung and Uni-Pixel enter into TMOS joint development agreement
Uni-Pixel, the developer of color display technology called Time Multiplexed Optical Shutter (TMOS) and the
Opcuity family of performance engineered films, announced the signing of a joint development agreement with
Samsung Electronics of Korea. Under terms of the agreement, Unipixel and Samsung will collaborate on advancing
the development efforts around Unipixel TMOS display technology. Unipixel TMOS display technology is targeted
at leveraging a subset of the current LCD manufacturing process, offering the potential of lowering the bill of
materials manufacturing costs by as much as 60% in some cases, while improving performance characteristics
including lowering power consumption and increasing brightness over existing LCD and OLED flat panel display
technologies. http://www.unipixel.com
Screen Dreams to stream images to Aquos
Screen Dreams’ art and photography collections will soon be
streaming to Sharp Aquos Net-connected HDTVs. Screen
Dreams has had its DVD set of “Living” series on the market
for a while now and announced it will start streaming to such
TVs in April, beginning with its “Living Earth” collection of
forests, lakes, mountains, and other nature scenes in full 1080p.
When not in use as a TV, the screen serves as a digital picture
frame, hosting fine art and photography of the highest quality.
http://www.screendreamsdvd.com
SageTV releases HD theater for Full HD playback of home video, music and photos
SageTV released SageTV HD Theater, a $199.95 Full HD capable networked media player that lets you enjoy
virtually any home video, music or photo from your home network in Full HD on your HDTV. Internet video from
YouTube and many other popular online video services can be browsed, searched and played on the SageTV HD
Theater. The SageTV HD Theater can also work as a whole home HDTV DVR solution by running SageTV Media
Center software on any PC, Mac or Linux computer with a HDTV Tuner on the home network. With SageTV
Media Center the SageTV HD Theater works as a high performance HD Media Extender providing a rich, animated
whole home DVR and Media Center experience. All video, music and photos as well as TV tuners and Internet
video from the SageTV Media Center system are available when SageTV HD Theater is used as a HD Media
Extender. http://www.sagetv.com
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Nikon officially announces 24.5-megapixel D3X SLR
Though long-rumored, Nikon has officially announced the 24.5 megapixel, fullframe D3X DLR. The Nikon D3X takes the current, rugged D3 body and puts a
24.5 megapixel, FX-format CMOS sensor inside. The doubling of pixels means
that maximum ISO sensitivity is reduced to 6400, and the maximum frames per
second for full-resolution drops from nine to five. However, using a DX-format
lens will produce 10.5 megapixel images at 7fps. The camera also offers a 5:4 crop
mode, which allows photographers to frame images perfectly for the common
8x10 and 16x20 portrait sizes. The D3X still retains the 51-point autofocus system,
3D Focus Tracking, LiveView shooting, and Scene Recognition System for
enhanced exposure. http://www.nikon.com
US presidential portrait goes digital
The official presidential portrait was shot on a digital camera for the first time. The picture was taken by the White
House's new official photographer, Pete Souza, and issued by The Office of the President Elect through its website.
It was taken using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, according to the metadata embedded in the image file. The EOS 5D
used for Obama’s portrait has a 12.8-megapixel resolution and costs about $2,000.
Panasonic expands line of high definition camcorders
Panasonic expanded its 2009 High Definition (HD) camcorder line with six new full-HD models, ranging from
introductory to semi-professional. Three new models, the HDC-HS300, HDC-TM300 and HDC-HS250, are more
advanced and feature a newly developed 3MOS chip system, while the three other introductory models, the HDCHS20, HDC-TM20 and HDC-SD20, offer features ideal for first-time users wanting simple but powerful video
capabilities. All six High Definition models feature Panasonic’s first camcorder touch-screen that allows icons
displayed on the LCD to be easily operated by touching them with a fingertip. Panasonic’s new 3MOS system,
available in the HDC-HS300, HDC-TM300 and HDC-HS250, assures high image quality for both motion and still
images by using three full-HD MOS sensors to provide the world’s highest total pixel count of 9,150,000 pixels
(3,050,000 pixels x 3). These three semi-professional camcorders are equipped with a newly developed, largeaperture Leica Dicomar lens (filter diameter: 43mm) and a 1/4.1-inch image sensor. They also record still images
with a 10.6-megapixel resolution and feature an 8.3-megapixel resolution for still images when simultaneously
recording with video. The HDC-HS300, HDC-TM300 and HDC-HS250 have a luminance of 1.6 lux, allowing
them to shoot video in very low-light conditions. http://www.panasonic.com
Sony showcases 1080p camcorder
Sony showcased the new Sony MHS-PM1 “Webbie” HD MP4 camcorder. The device sports full 1080p capture
support in native MPEG-4 video. The unit also boasts a 5-megapixel still camera, a light 4-ounce body, a slim
profile, 5x optical zoom, 20x digital zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 270 degrees of pivot. There are two
different configurations: one that has more of a typical camcorder form and another one designed to facilitate pointand-shoot use for less-advanced users. http://www.sonystyle.com
Parks Associates says cell phone pixel progress will lead to imaging applications boom
The gradual increase in megapixel capacity for cell phone cameras is expected to spur the growth of imaging
applications for mobile phones, according to a report issued by Parks Associates. Revenue from imaging apps on
mobile phones should exceed $500 million in 2013, the market research firm said. Predicting that the photo-sharing
services businesses will expand to personalized content management and social networking applications, Parks
Associates said consumers will be willing to pay for the new applications as they improve. Noting the growth in
cell phones with cameras, Park Associates predicted that nearly 70% of handsets sold in the United States will
include a camera with a capacity of at least two megapixels. Eight megapixel camera phones are also coming onto
the US market. Consumers will be willing to pay extra for photo-editing features as well as for social networking
services. http://www.parksassociates.com
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Samsung unveils new media processor for digital photo frames
Samsung announced a new media processor designed specifically for the digital frame market called the S5L2010.
Samsung says that its media processor allows digital frames to decode up to 57MP JPEG images in only one
second. The media processor also provides support for touch screen and to decode video as well as audio in a
variety of formats. The processors are sampling now and will be in production in Q1’09. http://www.samsung.com
Framestore animates movie with 6,000 core supercomputer
London’s infamous Soho has become a thriving media rendering and animation center, with creative media
professionals using the latest IT gear. Framestore is one of these new companies bolstering Soho’s image. It did the
post-production work on “The Golden Compass”, winning Oscar and BAFTA awards. The armored polar bear it
animated for that movie had 200 million individual hairs that moved as the bear moved. Rendering it needed a lot
of kit, the company said. The company has just finished a two-year project rendering the Universal Studios cartoon
feature “The Tale of Despereaux”, and that needed probably the largest CGI rendering supercomputer in Europe to
do the job. The work was complicated because the Framestore creatives had been briefed to create a look for the
full-length cartoon based on the Dutch Masters with relatively soft lighting and detailed shadows. There was a fixed
deadline, meaning animation proceeded in parallel with the development of the processing needed to render the
Vermeer-esque final look. This parallel approach increased render farm and storage demands, because many
intermediate stages of production data had to be retained to avoid unnecessary animation rework whilst the fine
tuning of the lighting effects and color was worked on. There were several teams working in parallel with the
rendering, the lighting work being concentrated more towards the end of the project. http://www.framestor-cfc.com
Glimmerglass supports new world records in data transfer rates
Glimmerglass announced its role in the setting of data transfer world records. An international team led by the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) High Energy Physics (HEP) group and the Center for Advanced
Computing Research (CACR), with partners from around the world, set new records for sustained data transfer
among storage systems over wide area networks. A Glimmerglass Intelligent Optical Switch managed 10Gps
lightpaths including 12 WAN paths, demonstrated self healing through optical fail-over utilizing different WAN
paths and supplied 10GE signals used for the new data transfer world records. The high-energy physics team's
demonstration of “High Speed LHC Data Gathering, Distribution and Analysis Using Next Generation Networks”
achieved a bidirectional peak throughput of 114 gigabits per second (Gbps) and a sustained data flow of more than
110Gbps among clusters of servers on the show floor and around the world. According to Professor Harvey
Newman of Caltech, head of the high energy physics team and chair of the U.S. Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
Users Organization’s Executive Committee: “The Glimmerglass switch proved crucial in an environment where the
team needed to efficiently switch between different network topologies, enabling quick reconfiguration and a
reduction in router port count necessary for the demonstration. Thanks to the Glimmerglass switch, the switch-over
between the two WAN setups could be done in near real-time.” http://www.glimmerglass.com
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New Scale Technologies launches miniature encoder with the smallest size and highest resolution
The TRACKER position sensor is a magnetic sensor array with
integrated on-chip digital encoding. With small size, 2µm
resolution and low sensitivity to external magnetic fields, this
miniature magnetic encoder is a robust and cost-effective solution
for precision positioning. On-chip encoding provides direct digital
output using standard I2C protocol, eliminating the need for
external pulse counters. Efficient control system communications
allows up to two TRACKER position sensors on a single I2C bus.
The highest-resolution magnetic encoder available, the
TRACKER position sensor is insensitive to light, shock,
vibration, and high-particulate environments. A cost-effective
alternative to miniature optical encoders, it can be used as a linear
The TRACKER position sensor offers high
encoder or off-axis rotary encoder. It is ideal for optical and
resolution
non-contact sensing. A Hall effect
imaging systems, consumer electronics, precision biomedical
sensor
array
is integrated with an on-chip
devices,
instrumentation,
automation,
and
automotive
encoder,
providing
direct digital output via I2C
applications. Its small size makes it perfect for creating tiny,
interface. Automatic gain control and offset
integrated closed-loop motion systems using micro motors such as
correction provide high resolution.
New Scale’s SQUIGGLE motor. http://www.newscaletech.com
University of Tokyo develops paint that blocks top-end spectrum
Japanese researchers have created a cheap paint that will block RF transmissions up to 182GHz - ready for the day
someone starts transmitting confidential data at such a high frequency. The research was conducted at University of
Tokyo and appears in a paper published by the American Chemical Society. The paper argues that existing
technologies are unable to cope with the next generation of high-speed wireless connections, prompting the
researchers to create their high-frequency alternative. Existing RF-blocking paint only absorbs frequencies up to
around 48GHz, New Scientist reports, but the upper end of the spectrum is starting to look attractive for shortrange-high-capacity connections, and some kit is already operating around at 60GHz where the lack of regulation
makes exploitation of international markets easier. The new paint uses of aluminum and iron. A sample production
run priced production around £10 a kilogram.
St. Andrews University and Masaryk University researchers attempt to make a perfect cat’s eye
Recent research into the development of invisibility devices has
spurred two physicists to investigate the process by which the behavior
of light overcomes the seemingly intractable problem of optical
singularities. According to these physicists, this could soon lead to the
manufacturing of a perfect cat’s eye, reports photonics.com. Cat’s eyes
appear to glow in the dark because of their ability to reflect light from
all directions. But when light is shone through a glass of water with a
straw in it, it appears as though the straw is bent because of the
refractive index. When materials force light down to zero or shoot it up to infinity on the refractive index, this
process is called optical singularities, which have long been thought impossible to produce. It is this very process
that physicists need to understand to create a material that can reflect light from all directions and create the perfect
cat’s eye. Ulf Leonhardt of St Andrew’s University and Tomás Tyc of Masaryk University in the Czech Republic
use ideas from one of the latest trends in optics called transformation optics to transmute the infinity mark on the
refractive index into something more practical. The scientists have developed materials to create optical illusions –
some can be used for invisibility devices, others to make things perfectly visible. Applications will probably first
appear in wireless technology and radar, for electromagnetic microwaves instead of light, because the required
materials for electromagnetic microwaves are easier to manufacture. http://www.ipo.org
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University of Washington develops GUI for the disabled
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a system, which for the first time, offers an instantly
customizable approach to user interfaces. Each participant in the program is placed through a brief skills test and
then a mathematically-based version of the user interface optimized for his or her vision and motor abilities is
generated. The current off-the-shelf designs are especially discouraging for the disabled, the elderly and others who
have trouble controlling a mouse, because most computer programs have standardized button sizes, fonts, and
layouts, which are designed for normal users. The newly designed system, named Supple, starts with a one-time
evaluation of a person’s mouse pointing, dragging, and clicking skills. The process starts a ring of dots appearing
on the user’s screen and as each dot lights up, the user must promptly click on it. The test is then performed with
varying-sized dots. The next section questions the user to click and drag, select from a list, and click repeatedly on
one spot. Participants can control the cursor using any type of device. An able-bodied person usually takes 20
minutes to complete the test, but someone with motor disabilities might take as long as 90 minutes. The next part of
the system is an optimization program, which calculates the duration needed for the specific person with special
needs to complete the range of computer tasks. Within a few seconds, the system is able to generate the interface
that takes full advantage of the person’s precision and speed when using a specific program. http://uwnews.org
NDS Surgical Imaging introduces breakthrough technologies to deliver PACS images into surgical suites
NDS Surgical Imaging (NDSsi) announced new advanced visualization tools that allow clinicians and surgeons in
an operating room (OR) to view diagnostic images from radiology. This innovation, “Radiology Imaging for the
Surgical Environment” or RISE, uses the company’s visualization and informatics technologies to provide a
complete solution that enables real-time, interactive consultation for medical professionals in the OR. Digital
orthopedic templating on X-Ray images are traditionally completed outside the OR. Using RISETM, these images
can be transferred easily to a Boom or Cart mounted Surgical Display in the OR. Additionally, these highresolution grayscale images can be accessed instantaneously and reviewed side-by-side a live HD feed from an
orthopedic video camera, raising clinical confidence for orthopedic procedures and beyond. http://www.ndssi.com
VAS Communications introduces high-definition television to teach from the operating room
VAS Communications has recently custom built a high-definition satellite uplink production vehicle, the first
vehicle with high-definition capabilities in Arizona. VAS’s mobile high-definition MD vehicle (HDMD) utilizes a
full 1080i signal to broadcast new procedures and techniques to medical conferences around the world. In today’s
surgical suite, medical imaging is critical for the surgeon as they perform operations. Now, these high-resolution
medical images can be seen in their native resolution to conference attendees, allowing them to appreciate and
better understand the procedures. Along with the high-resolution imagery, VAS also utilizes robotic cameras in the
operating rooms during the procedures, allowing them to show exactly what the surgeon is doing. Although
designed to maximize surgical broadcast, the vehicle and crew of the HDMD van have kept busy since it was built,
recently being utilized by local stations in Arizona and CNN. http://www.vascommunications.com
IBM creates 3D MRI with 100 million times finer resolution
IBM research scientists, in collaboration with the Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University, have
demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with volume resolution 100 million times finer than conventional
MRI. This result, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), signals a significant
step forward in tools for molecular biology and nanotechnology by offering the ability to study complex 3D
structures at the nanoscale. By extending MRI to such fine resolution, the scientists have created a microscope that,
with further development, may ultimately be powerful enough to unravel the structure and interactions of proteins,
paving the way for new advances in personalized healthcare and targeted medicine. This achievement stands to
impact the study of materials from proteins to integrated circuits for which a detailed understanding of atomic
structure is essential. This advancement was enabled by a technique called magnetic resonance force microscopy
(MRFM), which relies on detecting ultra-small magnetic forces. In addition to its high resolution, the imaging
technique has the further advantages that it is chemically specific, can “see” below surfaces and, unlike electron
microscopy, is non-destructive to sensitive biological materials. http://www.ibm.com
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Quasar astronomers use entire galaxy as telescope lens
According to a report in Science in December, a team of astrophysicists say they
have managed to probe a quasar ten billion light years away using an entire galaxy
as the main lens of their telescope. They tackled the problem using the Very Large
Telescope (VLT) belonging to the European Southern Observatory. The quasar in
question happens to have another galaxy lying between it and our solar system.
This foreground galaxy’s colossal mass acts as a gravitational lens, bending and
magnifying the light emitted by the quasar lying beyond it. The galaxy also causes
multiple images of the quasar to arrive at Earth, arranged in a rough X known to
astronomers as “the Einstein cross”. The combination of this natural magnification
with the use of a big telescope provides the sharpest details. So sharp is the picture
provided by the VLT and galaxy combination, that it offers resolution equivalent to
one millionth of an arc second. Such resolution would allow one to see a coin
floating in space 13 times as far away as the Moon. http://www.eso.org/projects/vlt/
February 2009
The Einstein Cross
NASA releases “Return to the Moon” as spherical projection movie
NASA has announced the debut of a promotional film entitled “Return to the Moon”, made for the new “spherical
film-making” projection system. Images are projected onto a large sphere hanging suspended in the auditorium.
According to the space agency: “The results give the startling impression of the moon hanging magically in the
center of darkened theaters. During the five-minute film, viewers will witness NASA’s legacy of lunar exploration
and come to understand the rationale for the Agency's ambitious plans to return to the moon, beginning with a
robotic mission called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO. Both LRO and the Lunar Crater Observation and
Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS mission are featured.” The LRO in particular will be looking to map the Moon very
precisely from 30 miles up from the lunar surface in a polar orbit that will cover the entire Moon. NASA believes
that spherical movies are definitely the way to promote space travel. Previous NASA spherical blockbusters have
included “Footprints”, a conceptual framework about the human drive to explore. “Return to the Moon” opens
across America February 28. Blogs suggest that people can build their own sphere-movie setup with five Core 2
Duo PCs or better, four HD projectors, plenty of room and a six-foot beach ball. http://www.nasa.gov
Xenonics launches high definition night vision system
Xenonics Holdings announced the launch of the latest addition to its SuperVision family of high-definition night
vision products, the SuperVision VO with record capability. The SuperVision VO system is available with standard
8x zoom, or in the SuperVision Long Range Surveillance configuration featuring up to 100x zoom. SuperVision
VO runs on external or internal battery power, and includes a built-in battery charger. The system initially will be
available in the SVT-VO tactical kit. http://www.xenonics.com
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Blackmagic Design announces new HD card with dual link SDI
Blackmagic Design announced the new DeckLink HD Extreme, a more powerful version of the original DeckLink
HD Extreme card. The new DeckLink HD Extreme has all the features of the original model, which it replaces, plus
now adds Dual Link 3Gb/s SDI for 4:4:4 quality and a new hardware down converter for simultaneous HD and SD
playback at the same time. DeckLink HD Extreme is the world’s first
capture card to feature SDI, HDMI and analog component, NTSC, PAL and
S-Video capture and playback, combined with Dual Link 3 Gb/s SDI
technology, and hardware down conversion for £715/$995/€775. With SDI,
HDMI and analog video capture and playback, combined with both
balanced analog and AES/EBU digital audio, DeckLink HD Extreme lets
customers connect to all decks, cameras and monitors. DeckLink HD
Extreme instantly switches between SD and HD video, so is the ideal
solution for all post production and broadcast users when working on
design, editing, paint and effects tasks. With built in 3 Gb/s SDI, DeckLink
HD Extreme can also instantly switch to full resolution 2K feature film
editing. DeckLink HD Extreme also includes built in hardware down
converter so users can monitor both SD and HD at the same time during
playback and capture. http://www.blackmagic-design.com
Aptina expands mobile handset portfolio with 8MP image sensor
Aptina announced the launch of the MT9E013 8MP image sensor. Aptina’s newest multi-megapixel sensor was
created with the demanding, image-centric mobile market in mind. The exceptional performance of the new 1.4micron pixel sensor targets the mobile market with its high-end 1/3.2-inch optical format and excellent image
quality. The sensor allows mobile phone manufacturers to easily update existing 1/3.2-inch optical format designs,
including those manufacturers using Aptina’s 5MP MT9P012, providing increased resolution from 5MP to 8MP in
the same size camera module. The new sensor provides high definition video of 720p at 30 fps and 60fps, or 1080p
at 30fps with advanced binning techniques supporting the sensor’s high quality image performance. Additionally,
the sensor’s 2-lane MIPI, CCP2 and parallel interfaces provide handset manufacturers with added high-speed
flexible options. The new 8MP MT9E013 complements Aptina’s mobile image sensor portfolio, which includes
best-in-class 2MP, 3MP, 5MP and 8MP solutions. Aptina’s new 8MP sensor provides a high image quality while
also providing key features manufacturers desire such as HD video output, 2x2 pixel binning with re-sampling for
improved video image quality, multiple interfaces including parallel, MIPI (2-lane) and CCP2, and an on-chip
Voice Coil Motor (VCM) driver to reduce the number of external components and assist manufacturers in reducing
module size. Additionally, the sensor’s low power circuit design reduces preview power consumption to low levels
to help extend the cell phone battery lifetime. http://www.aptina.com
Intertech/PIRA announces program for Image Sensors Europe conference
Intertech/PIRA has announced the program for the 2nd edition of their sell out Image Sensors Europe conference in
London, set for 24-26 March 2009. It features two plenary sessions with talks from Eastman Kodak, DALSA,
Aptina, Samsung, and BBC Research and Innovation and technical breakout sessions. Chaired by well-known
industry figures, Lindsay Grant of ST Microelectronics and Dr Edoardo Charbon, professor at Delft University of
Technology, the comprehensive program provides market insight into key applications: camera phones, digital still
cameras, broadcasting, machine vision, medical sensors, automotive, and personal computing. Afternoon breakout
sessions will feature more technical presentations from image sensor and component manufacturers such as
Advasense, Dblur, Sypro Optics, CMOSIS, and Robert Bosch, and the latest academic work from Delft University,
Oxford University and the University of Sheffield. Two pre-conference workshops led by Albert Theuwissen and
DXO Labs complete the line up for this three-day industrial forum. http://www.image-sensors.com
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Future Lighting Solutions offers first true color mixing LED optic
Future Lighting Solutions announced the availability of Polymer Optic’s 230 Color Mixer Reflector for LUXEON
Rebel Power LEDs, the first off-the-shelf optic for solid-state lighting applications requiring uniform mixing of
multiple LED light sources. The new optic offers key color mixing, engineering and flexibility benefits for
applications including tunable white spots and downlighters, color-changing luminaires for entertainment and
architectural lighting, and medical lamps or forensic torches. The POL 230 can uniformly mix light from up to four
closely mounted LUXEON Rebel LEDs into a single +/-5 degree (FWHM) beam. The product’s modular design
allows maximum packing density and assembly flexibility, enabling easy construction of optic arrays to produce
high performance luminaires. The optic eliminates the need for designers of color-changing or tunable white
lighting applications to use separate optics for each LED color or a multichip LED with a single optic. The first
option produces poor mixing and adds costs for extra parts and assembly. The second option restricts the designer
to multichip LEDs with limited light output and RGB-only color choices. In contrast, the POL 230 takes full
advantage of the high flux and lumen maintenance features of LUXEON Rebel LEDs while also enabling the use of
any LED color combination. Designers might prefer RGBW (white) for entertainment luminaires that must produce
an infinite number of pastel variations, RGBA (amber) for architectural lighting requiring soft tones, RGGB for
applications requiring intense color generation, and other white lighting. http://www.futurelightingsolutions.com
Bridgelux announces US patent for surface mountable LED chip
Bridgelux announced the award of a US patent for its surface mountable chip (SMC) LED design. This SMC
architecture fundamentally changes how LEDs will be deployed by eliminating the need for traditional LED
packaging. The innovative chip design offers a high flux density LED with an ultra small footprint and thin profile,
with the ability to closely pack multiple chips together for increased performance in space limited applications such
as camera flash, LCD display backlighting and general or specialty lighting applications. The design of this chip
also delivers a surface mountable “thin-film” architecture, providing a flat surface for direct deposition of a
phosphor layer on the LED die. http://www.bridgelux.com
Luminus’ PhlatLight LEDs showcased in Delta Electronics’ next-generation HD home theater projector
Luminus Devices announced that its PhlatLight LED chipset, the PT-120, is the solid-state light source inside the
Delta Electronics HT-8000 – the industry’s first full HD LED-based digital light processing projector for the
consumer market. The new projectors will be available in Q1 2009. The new projector combines Luminus’
PhlatLight LEDs, Delta’s optical engine technology, and Texas Instruments’ DLP capability. In addition to having
the highest levels of brightness, unmatched color and reliability, the combination of technologies in the HT-8000
provides one of Delta’s customers, Vivitek, with a full HD home theater projector. http://www.luminus.com
Luminus introduces the CST-90 White PhlatLight LED
Luminus Devices announced the CST-90 white PhlatLight LED, the newest addition to the PhlatLight LED family
of products developed for fixture manufacturers in the general lighting industry. The CST-90 white PhlatLight LED
enables lighting fixture OEMs to replace bulbs and LED arrays with a single large, LED, resulting in simplified
designs, lower costs and faster time-to-market. The PhlatLight CST-90 comes in a connectorized chip-on-board
package with standard mounting features that make it easy to integrate and is simple to service and upgrade even
after the fixture has been installed. The light-emitting surface of the CST-90 is a single, monolithic die that is nine
square millimeters in size and integrates seamlessly with industry standard optics. The CST-90 produces 1,000
lumens with 10 watts input (at 6,500K) and 2,750 lumens at its maximum rated drive current. PhlatLight LEDs are
mercury-free and highly reliable and have a lifetime of 60,000 hours with lumen maintenance of greater than 70%.
The CST-90 is ideally suited for general lighting applications, including architectural, retail and residential lighting
as well as wide area street and parking lot lighting. The CST-90 will be available for sampling at the beginning of
March with production volume shipments starting in the second quarter of this year. http://www.luminus.com
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Luminus introduces SST-90 White PhlatLight LED surface mount
Luminus Devices announced availability of the SST-90 white PhlatLight LED, a large chip white LED in a new
surface mount (SMT) package. The SST-90 combines the benefits of high power and efficiency, enabling lighting
fixture OEMs to replace bulbs and LED arrays with a single PhlatLight LED. For LED customers, this results in
simplified designs, lower costs and faster time-to-market. The SST-90 will be available for sampling in early March
with production volume shipments starting in the second quarter of this year. http://www.luminus.com
ON Semiconductor launches 6-watt LED driver with integrated DC-DC boost converter
ON Semiconductor introduced the CAT4106 - a new 6-watt LED driver with an integrated, high-power DC-DC
boost converter and on-chip diagnostics to maximize efficiency in larger, general purpose LCD panel backlighting
applications. As the company’s first multi-channel boost device, the CAT4106 is capable of driving as many as 40
white LEDs – or four strings of 10 LEDs with up to 36 volts per string – for a total of 6W of LED output power.
Additionally, the device enables designers to maximize backlighting efficiency and reduce space via its built-in
diagnostics functions, which automatically adjust the output voltage to drive the highest forward voltage string with
the minimum head-room voltage. The on-chip diagnostic circuit allows designers to set the minimum and
maximum voltage limits for the acceptable range of operation for LED strings through external programming
resistors. Any channel that does not regulate within the set range of Open Circuit or Short Circuit LED will be
detected and flagged on the FAULT logic output (active-low, open-drain). The CAT4106 features low dropout
LED channels of 500 millivolts at 175 milliamps and a high-frequency pulse width modulation interface, which
supports multiple frequencies up to 2kHz, providing precise, high-resolution dimming control while the device
remains fully biased. http://www.onsemi.com
AmericanAirlines Arena selects A2aMEDIA to install largest transparent digital LED spectacular
A2aMEDIA and the HEAT Group
announced plans to install the first-of-itskind large-scale digital LED spectacular
on the AmericanAirlines Arena, home of
the 2006 NBA Champion Miami HEAT.
A2aMEDIA’s Mediamesh technology is
an energy-efficient digital motion graphic
display medium that will integrate
seamlessly into the Arena’s existing
digital sponsorship and promotional
platforms. The Mediamesh facade will
cover 12 of the concrete/glass bays that
comprise a significant portion of the
Arena’s supergrid (front wall of
windows) – approximately 3,400 square
feet –making it the largest digital LED
media display in the Southeast.
Installation is scheduled to begin in
spring 2009 and is expected to be completed within two months. A2aMEDIA has applied the patent-pending
Mediamesh technology to digital LED displays, creating a transparent surface for showcasing digital images on
large-scale buildings. Any content that can be displayed on a computer screen can be shown on an A2aMEDIA
screen: images, graphics, text/words, movies, etc. When the screen is off, the screen blends with the building
architecture. When it’s on, images float across the screen surface in high-pixel resolution. Mediamesh “curtains”
are made of linear tubes filled with LED nodes that provide the “pixels” for a large-format display mesh. At only
three quarters of an inch thick, the mesh panel is durable, and has the ability to withstand extreme heat and cold.
http://www.a2amedia.com
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UIUC presents scalable image distribution in ultra-high resolution displays
The Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment (SAGE) is a specialized middleware that enables real-time streaming
of extremely high-resolution graphics and high-definition video from remotely distributed rendering and storage
clusters to scalable display walls over ultra high-speed networks. This paper from the University of Illinois extends
SAGE to support distant collaboration between multiple
endpoints by distributing visualization to all participants. In the
SAGE framework, each visualization application streams its
rendered pixels to the virtual high-resolution frame buffer of
SAGE, allowing users to freely move, resize and overlap the
application windows on the display. Every window movement
or resize operation requires dynamic and non-trivial
reconfigurations of the involved graphics streams. These
reconfigurations become even more complex when SAGE is
required to support multiple collaboration endpoints with
different tiled display configurations and application window
layouts. “Visualcasting” is a new SAGE network service to
address this problem using a high-speed bridging system that
receives pixel streams from rendering clusters to duplicate and
send them to each end-point. This enables distant collaboration among international researchers in scalable display
environments. Using Visualcasting service, collaborators can share their visualization and interact each other
through high-definition video conferencing in the SAGE Framework. http://www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/sage
ViBook boosts productivity with multiple display technology
Village Tronic, one of the pioneers of multi-display solutions, has announced ViBook which now makes it very
easy and inexpensive to run several screens from one computer using just standard USB. Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie
Research, explained, “Having several screens can dramatically increase productivity for almost any computer user.
Now that the costs of displays and the multi-screen technology have dropped significantly, we are forecasting a
market growth for multi-screen solutions of between 25% and 50% in 2009 as people realize just how much better
and productive their working environment becomes.” Up to six displays can be driven by one Windows based
computer and up to four for a Mac OS one. This gives a huge amount of screen area that can significantly increase
productivity as many different programs can be open and visible at the same time. Each display is driven by an ultra
compact ViBook that plugs into the DVI socket of the display and the other end of the cable goes to the USB port
of the desktop or notebook. Designed and manufactured in Italy, ViBook is extremely small at only 4.3x7x2.4cm
(1.7x2.8x0.9 inches). It is supplied as a complete USB graphics system that includes a DVI to VGA cable for high
quality analog output to displays, a VESA mounting cradle and Village Tronic’s multi-screen software – VT
MultiDisplay software for Windows and VT Voilà for Mac. Other cable options are available as optional extras.
The ViBook Graphics USB-DVI Cable is compatible with
any computer system with an USB 2.0 port running Mac
OS X 10.4 and 10.5; and Windows 2000, Windows XP (32bit), Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit). It can support displays
up to 22 inches in size, with a resolution of 1680x1050
(wide screen) and 1600x1200 (standard) in 16 and 32-bit
color. As it draws its power from the USB within the
specified power rating, no additional power adapters are
required and it can even work via a USB hub. It can be used
with or independently of the video card already installed in
the computer and can even drive projectors and HDTV
displays. http://www.villagetronic.com
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Cyviz introduces world’s largest blended display wall
Cyviz recently sold and is currently installing what is believed to be the world’s largest blended, high-resolution
premium display wall. This wall will offer over 47 million pixels with 52 pixels per inch. It is a combination of 30
WUXGA projectors in a 6x5 configuration. The wall will improve the decision-making process, decrease the time
to market and increase sales via customer marketing and testing, the company says. http://www.cyviz.com
UMID launches world’s “smallest, lightest” laptop
UMID of Korea unveiled what it claimed is the world’s smallest and lightest
notebook to date. The mbook measures 158x94.1x18.6mm and weighs only
315g, yet its 4.8in display has a 1024x600 resolution (which translates to
247ppi) and is stylus operated. A speaker sits on one side of the screen and a
1.3Mp webcam on the other. Two versions of the machine are available, one
with a 1.1GHz Intel Atom processor and another with a 1.3GHz option. Both
come with 1GB of memory, with Flash-based storage ranging between 8GB
and 32GB. UMID says the machine is compatible with a selection of
communication technologies, including HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 and WiBro – a
WiMax-like wireless broadband Internet technology developed in South
Korea. http://umid.co.kr/
gScreen Computer Corp brings out dual-screen laptop
The gScreen G400 is a 15.4-inch LED backlit display screen with
Windows Vista or Win XP Pro, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz T9600 or
P8400 2.26GHz with 4-8GB of RAM and 160GB to 500GB 7200-rpm
HD. An Nvidia Quadro FX 2700M graphics comes with 512MB
dedicated memory, Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT with 512MB memory.
Ports are USB 2.0 (x6), VGA, Display Port, RJ-45, Audio, Firewire
1394. The G400 is the first dual screen laptop with two 15.4-inch
identical screens and a full-size keyboard, built into one unit.
http://www.gscreencorp.com
Lenovo mobile workstation now offers dual-screen display
Lenovo rolled out a new version of its ThinkPad mobile workstation called the ThinkPad W700ds. This version of
Lenovo’s ThinkPad workstation offers two displays, with a secondary, 10.6-inch screen housed inside the main
17.0-inch display. Lenovo is also adding the option of using an Intel Core 2 Quad processor with the ThinkPad
W700ds instead of the high-end Intel Core 2 Extreme chip. The Lenovo W700ds is being marketed toward
professional photographers and those working in CAD fields. In addition to the secondary screen, Lenovo is
offering users the option of ordering the ThinkPad
W700ds with a less expensive Intel Core 2 Quad
processor running at 2.26GHz and built on the newer
45-nanometer manufacturing process. When the
original ThinkPad W700 came out earlier in 2008,
Lenovo only offered the mobile workstation with an
Intel Core 2 Extreme X9300 chip. What is unique about
this particular workstation is the 10.6-inch, 768x1280)
secondary display. Engineers added about 10
millimeters of thickness on to the original W700 design
to incorporate the horizontal display, which is about the
size of the screens commonly used with mini-notebooks
and some netbooks. http://www.lenovo.com
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Samsung brings out SyncMaster 22-inch monitor with 7-inch companion
The Samsung SyncMaster 2263DX 22-inch monitor comes with a 7-inch
LCD auxiliary. For a couple of years now, most discrete graphics cards
have been able to support multiple monitors, but a pair of full-size
screens can be expensive and cumbersome for most desks. One response
is to use a laptop with an external monitor attached. Samsung has come
up with a different and novel solution to the problem, namely
introducing a smaller secondary monitor that can be used to display all
the information that’s useful to have on hand, such as e-mail, widgets,
instant messenger conversations, reference documents or a media player.
The 7-inch UbiSync 7 monitor is driven by a DisplayLink chip, which
means it connects and is powered over USB, so even if the PC only has a
single display connector one can still make use of this monitor. The screen can even be used completely
independently. http://www.samsung.com
NEC Display Solutions launches 26 and 30-inch desktop displays and new SpectraView kit
NEC Display Solutions of America announced the 26-inch MultiSync
LCD2690W2-BK-SV and 30.0-inch LCD3090W-BK-SV wide-screen
displays with SpectraViewII color calibration sensor and software, as well
as the new SpectraViewII Kit (SVII-PRO-KIT), which enhances select
models of NEC displays. The SpectraViewII Color Calibration Solution
combines the two award-winning displays with a color measurement sensor
and sophisticated software. The result is a highly accurate, reliable,
repeatable and feature-rich display calibration and profiling solution. The
SpectraViewII system, available for Mac OS and Windows, uses a customcalibrated, co-branded colorimeter based on the iOne Display 2 from XRite, to take color measurements of the display screen during calibration.
The software analyzes these measurements and sends color adjustment
commands directly to the display monitor, allowing the full color resolution and fidelity of the system to be
maintained. The new sensor is custom manufactured and matched for wide color gamut displays, in order to
provide the most precise measurements possible with a colorimeter device. The sensor is also compatible with
standard gamut LCD displays. The displays are designed for users in the graphic design, digital animation,
photography, print production, image analysis and CAD/CAM industries, as well as soft-copy clinical viewing in
the medical field. http://www.necdisplay.com
NEC Electronics sharpens image quality with “super-resolution ASSP”
NEC Electronics introduced a new application-specific standard product (ASSP) to address the dramatic divergence
between yesterday’s image resolution and the high resolution of today’s audio-visual (AV) display systems. Based
on the company’s unique single-frame “super-resolution” technology, the small, low-power ASSP reduces the
blurring that occurs when low-resolution images are expanded and displayed in high-resolution. The ASSP
sharpens out-of-focus images, smoothes rough edges and refines contours by analyzing and processing information
contained in one frame of data in real time. The technology is also available as an intellectual property (IP) core
that can be embedded into ASICs or other ASSP products, such as NEC Electronics’ Enhanced Multimedia
Architecture (EMMA) ASSP for digital AV devices. By 2010, the company expects to receive orders totaling more
than $110 million for super-resolution products. The technology enhances image data from 320x240 pixel
resolution to 800x480 pixels for clear image display on mobile phones and car navigation systems. The technology
also achieves crisp images in 1920x1080 pixel high-definition (HD) television broadcasts by boosting image data in
the 640x480 pixel VGA format ordinarily used for TV broadcasts and DVD storage to 6x the resolution.
http://www.am.necel.com/superresvideo
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Samsung and Uni-Pixel enter into TMOS joint development agreement
Uni-Pixel, the developer of color display technology called Time Multiplexed Optical Shutter (TMOS) and the
Opcuity family of performance engineered films, announced the signing of a joint development agreement with
Samsung Electronics of Korea. Under terms of the agreement, Unipixel and Samsung will collaborate on advancing
the development efforts around Unipixel’s TMOS display technology. Unipixel’s TMOS display technology is
targeted at leveraging a subset of the current LCD manufacturing process, offering the potential of lowering the bill
of materials manufacturing costs by as much as 60% in some cases, while improving performance characteristics
including lowering power consumption and increasing brightness over existing LCD and OLED flat panel display
technologies. http://www.unipixel.com
Mimo Monitors brings out USB-powered 7.0-inch accessory monitor
Mimo Monitors’ USB-powered 710 and 740 7.0-inch USB displays are now available
in the US. They run off any available USB 2.0 port. The displays feature an 800x480
pixel format and can pivot between portrait and landscape orientations, weigh just 1.3
pounds, and work with Windows XP/Vista as well as Mac OS X. The Mimo UM-710
has 350 cd/m² of brightness and a 400:1 contrast ratio, while the UM740 has the same
specs but adds touch-screen functionality, a microphone input and audio in/pass
through, along with a second USB 2.0 connection for pulling extra juice from
underpowered USB systems. The UM-710 is priced at $129.99, while the UM-740 is
priced at $199.99. http://www.mimomonitors.com
LaCie showcases 30-inch premium-price display
LaCie showcased its recently released 730 LCD monitor – a 30-inch display with a price of $4240. It has an LEDbacklit screen, a maximum resolution of 2560x1600, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and viewing angles of 178 degrees
both horizontally and vertically. The monitor has a color gamut of 123% of Adobe RGB and 125% of NTSC specs.
Such a broad gamut ensures a lossless workflow, meaning that the 730 can keep up with the enlarged gamuts of
high-end cameras and printing processes. In addition, the 730 uses a 14-bit look-up table, which allows gradients to
be displayed with greater accuracy and smoothness than they are on lesser monitors. Also, the 730 employs what
LaCie calls ColorKeeper technology, which, according to the company, “constantly analyzes the brightness and
chromaticity of the backlight and adjusts it in real time” to ensure stable colors. Finally, the 730 is bundled with
LaCie’s UGRA-certified Proof Edition of its calibration software, to be best used in conjunction with the company's
blue eye pro calibration hardware. http://www.lacie.com/uk
LG shows super-slim LCD with 2,000,000:1
contrast ratio
LG’s 55-inch LH9500 is just 24.8mm thick yet still
boasts 1080p and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Its
240Hz TrueMotion Drive Technology is also 40Hz
faster than the frame rate available on Sony’s Z4500
TV. It also features a pair of "invisible” speakers that
are claimed to provide stunning sound without adding
unnecessary bulk to the body.
Da-Lite Screen and Joe Kane Productions launch new projection screens
Da-Lite Screen Company and Joe Kane Productions announced the world premiere of the new JKP Affinity Screen
series. Through a new strategic partnership between the two companies, the JKP Affinity Screen series are the first
new projection screens designed, developed and manufactured to meet the needs of High Definition (HD) 1080p
projectors. Da-Lite JKP Affinity HD Progressive projection screens feature low gain for a wide viewing angle and
an image uniformity not seen prior to this combination of products. JKP Affinity Screens from Da-Lite are designed
for high definition professional broadcast and home cinema applications. http://www.Da-lite.com
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VIZIO expands flagship XVT series of HDTVs
VIZIO unveiled several new models to the XVT Series expanding the performance line with five new models. The
most dramatic technology introduction is the use of LED panels featuring 240Hz with scanning backlight and
VIZIO’s “Smooth Motion II” technology in their largest model, the 55-inch VF551XVT. LED backlight technology
provides better picture quality with 1,000,000:1 Mega Dynamic Contrast with local dimming. They are also
expanding their collection of 42-inch and 47-inch XVTs to include 240Hz with scanning backlight using Smooth
Motion II technology and Mega Dynamic Contrast ratio of 50,000:1. The 42-inch SV421XVT and 47-inch
SV471XVT are capable of outstanding realism and are close to eliminating motion blur. http://www.VIZIO.com
VIZIO sues Funai over restrained trade
VIXIO announced that it has filed an antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Funai, alleging that its rival
has “unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and
retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal”. The suit, filed in US District Court for the Central
District of California, charges that Funai unlawfully acquired a certain patent, and enforced in ways that violate
federal and state antitrust law. The suit follows a ruling by the US International Trade Commission that invalidated
a patent that Funai had attempted to enforce against Vizio. “We won’t allow a foreign competitor to divert us from
our mission to bring affordable high quality HDTVs to millions of Americans,” Vizio co-founder Laynie Newsome
said as part of the announcement of the suit. http://www.vizio.com
Samsung’s 1080p LCD HDTVs couple energy-efficiency with advanced picture quality
Samsung Electronics America unveiled its next-generation LCD HDTV lineup with CCFL backlighting. The LCD
HDTV line-up is led by the Series 7, which is the company’s first CCFL-backlit LCD TV with a 240Hz refresh
rate. The Series 7 features a fast 240Hz refresh rate, a speed twice that of current 120Hz sets, and quadruple that of
standard HDTVs. The refresh rate and a faster panel work together with Samsung’s proprietary Auto Motion Plus
240Hz frame interpolation technology, to eliminate motion blur and judder with fast-action material, for stunning
motion detail. Both the Series 7 and Series 6 650 (32-inch and larger) LCD HDTVs impress with Samsung’s
improved Ultra Clear panel, a polarizer that reflects room light to produce deeper, darker black tones and bolder
colors. By enhancing the performance of the new polarizer, the reflection rate is decreased significantly from
previous versions, making blacks even darker, regardless of the ambient lighting conditions in the room. Both series
also feature Samsung’s adaptive contrast picture setting, called “Natural” mode, which combines the brightness
advantage of LCD displays and the cinema-like viewing experience of plasma displays. The result is a new level of
video richness perfect for viewing films. Additionally, both the Series 7 and 6 feature low power consumption, thus
saving energy and money for the consumer. They meet the more stringent Energy Star v3.0 efficiency guidelines.
The HDTVs all feature Samsung’s new Touch of Color (ToC) design. The unique ToC frame is produced by using
dual-injection molding technology to coat a translucent surface over the chassis. http://www.samsung.com
Cypress and Legend Silicon debut world’s first USB TV dongle reference design
Cypress Semiconductor and Legend Silicon introduced a reference design for a DTMB (Digital Terrestrial
Multimedia Broadcast – a DTV standard) USB dongle. The Legend MoBLTV reference design includes the
resources to quickly develop a high-performance DTMB dongle that brings television signals to PCs and laptops.
The DTMB standard covers both fixed and mobile terminals and is targeted to eventually serve more than half of
the television viewers in the People’s Republic of China. The RF tuner of the Legend MoBLTV DTMB dongle
selects the appropriate frequency to pass along television signals to the LGS-8GL5/LGS-8G75 demodulator, which
converts the signals to an MPEG2-TS transport stream. The EZ-USB FX2LP device controls the demodulator and
tuner via an I2C bus, and carries an MPEG2-TS stream to the PC or laptop for viewing. The Legend MoBLTV
reference design includes hardware schematics, Gerber files, firmware, Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA)
driver, demo software, and Microsoft certification. http://www.legendsilicon.com http://www.cypress.com
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Silicon Mountain unveils 42-inch HDTV with integrated PC and Blu-ray player
Silicon Mountain announced its design for a 32 and 42-inch High Definition
LCD TV with an integrated, full-function PC and Blu-ray/DVD player. Named
Allio, this system will define an entirely new category of converged products,
where entertainment and instant, on-demand information and productivity blend
together seamlessly, in high-definition. The Allio HD TV / PC is the first
product of its kind in North America, and Silicon Mountain is the first company
worldwide to develop a converged HD TV/PC solution that includes Blu-ray.
The flagship Allio model marries a full-HD 42-inch LCD display with a combo
Blu-ray/DVD player, integrated digital recorder for PVR and a powerful PC,
based on the Intel Core2Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM from Silicon
Mountain, a 1TB hard drive and the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home
Premium. In addition to the analog and digital audio-video inputs common to high-def televisions, Allio includes
wireless and wired networking capabilities and several USB ports to extend the experience to other computers and
peripherals in the home. http://www.visionman.com
Samsung shows off 55-inch LCD TV at 240Hz
Samsung’s LUXIA LN55B8000 is a 55-inch LCD TV at 1920x1080 pixels that sports an LED backlight. The LED
backlight is located on the edges and therefore cannot be used in conjunction with local dimming – a technology
that can significantly boost contrast. The edge-lit LED backlight however makes the LN55B8000 extremely thin,
just about an inch thick. The new LCD TV features a 240Hz frequency to make sure that motion blur and juddering
are things of the past. An “Ultra Clear” anti-reflective LCD reduces reflections and improves contrast. The system
comes with a built-in Ethernet connection. http://www.samsung.com
VIZIO to introduce 240Hz solution
VIZIO announced its VF551XVT LCD TV, a 55-inch system at 1920x1080 pixels that features an LED backlight,
backlight scanning and a 240Hz frequency. The LED backlight helps boost the display to a 1,000,000:1 dynamic
contrast ratio using the company’s Mega Dynamic Contrast technology. The scanning backlight also helps to
eliminate motion blur and when couple with 240Hz frequency, blur is a non-issue. The system comes with 5 HDMI
ports. The VF551XVT will be available this summer for $1999. http://www.vizio.com
Samsung and Vizio both introduced 55-inch LCD TVs featuring LED backlighting at a 240Hz frequency
Toshiba 56-inch Quad Full HD LCD TV Prototype with Cell Processor
Toshiba showcased a prototype 56-inch LCD TV that sports a 3840x2160 (or Quad Full HD) pixel format. The
prototype features a Cell processor to enable simultaneous playback of numerous shows. In addition, the company’s
Resolution+ technology up-converts 1080p HD video to 3840x2160. http://www.toshiba.com
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Toshiba teams with IBM to release Cell TV
Toshiba’s new “Cell” TV will pair a Cell processor, co-developed with IBM and competitor Sony, with a top-end
Regza monitor, The result is a TV capable of recording and playing back six simultaneous HD streams, as well as
handling complex internet and picture contrast processing. The Cell processor was originally used mostly by Sony,
who put it in its PS3 gaming console. While Sony and IBM mutually shouldered the initially high costs of
production of the 90nm process Cell processor, two die shrinks, first to 65nm and then to 45nm, have helped lower
the costs. Now IBM is looking to expand outside Sony.
Over the course of the last year, it has been cultivating a
relationship with Toshiba. The first fruits of that
relationship came in June when Toshiba announced that
two of its laptops, the Toshiba Qosmio G50 and F40,
would feature a 4 SPE variant of the Cell processor as a
coprocessor to the main Intel CPU. The Cell processor
helped with high definition video processing on the
laptops and other activities. Now a second joint product
is on the way. Toshiba plans to release the new Cell TV
during 2009. With the new Cell TV, Toshiba is not
placing the processor within the TV itself. Rather it’s
putting it in a small set top box, which Toshiba pairs
with one of its top-end Regza LCD monitors. The new
cell processor will provide support to picture setting
adjustments such as better dynamic dimming based on
Toshiba’s new Cell TV will pair a Cell processor, colighting conditions. The biggest feature it brings,
developed with IBM and competitor Sony, with a top-end
Regza monitor. The result is a TV capable of recording
though, is the ability to simultaneously record and
and playing back six simultaneous HD streams, as well as
playback up to six high definition video streams
handling
complex Internet and picture contrast processing.
simultaneously. http://www.toshiba.com
Honeywell enters HDTV market with 82-inch LCD TV
Soyo has recently announced it will sell its 82-inch Altura LE
LCD HDTV under its Honeywell brand when it enters the US
market in late April. The rather large TV will be part of a lineup that begins with 19-inch TVs in various lines, and sports
1080p resolution. It has a 120,000:1 contrast ratio along with a
brightness rating of 600cd/m2. Along with the 300lb 82-incher,
Honeywell's flagship LE line will include a 47-, 57-, 65- and
70-inch HDTV. All will sport 120Hz panels and 178-degree
viewing angles. Each will have three HDMI inputs, two
component video inputs, and one each of VGA, composite and
S-video connections. Picture-in-picture functionality will be
integrated, and there are two 10W speakers built into the glossy
black bezel. Pricing and availability for the flagship LE models
has not yet been announced. http://www.honeywellce.com
LG shows super-slim LCD with 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio
LG’s LH9500 is just 24.8mm thick yet still boasts 1080p and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Its 240Hz TrueMotion
Drive Technology is also 40Hz faster than the frame rate available on Sony’s Z4500 TV. It also features a pair of
"invisible” speakers that are claimed to provide stunning sound without adding unnecessary bulk to the body.
http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com
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Sharp 52-inch AQUOS integrates Blu-ray
Sharp’s AQUOS LC-52BD80U is a 52-inch 1080p LCD TV that sports a built-in Blu-ray player. The system uses
the company’s new ASV (Advanced Super View) Superlucent 10-bit TFT LCD that has an ultra-smooth finish to
minimize gloss and reflections
while improving brightness and
contrast. The 120Hz Fine Motion
Enhanced helps minimize motion
coming out of the built-in Blu-ray
player. The 10-bit ASV LCD
panel also provides more than a
billion colors and is Deep Color
compatible. The new set also has
de-judder technology that makes
images appear more film-like.
http://www.sharpusa.com
Mitsubishi introduces QFHD monitor
An increasing number of data visualization applications require extremely high resolution displays to enable fine
details to be displayed clearly. High-definition monitors are often used in such applications, but these are not
always a convenient solution where a number of observers need to be able to view high-resolution images
simultaneously. The Quad Full High Definition (QFHD) display from Mitsubishi Electric was developed for just
such a scenario, allowing large format images to be displayed in native high-resolution. The QFHD screen delivers
four times higher resolution than a comparable sized HD display. The ultra high-resolution screen crams a
staggering 8.3 million pixels into its 56-inch display. The microscopic pixel pitch – barely 0.1mm horizontally –
means that individual pixels are not visible to the naked eye, even at extremely close viewing distances. This makes
the QFHD perfect for applications requiring exceptionally sharp image rendering, such as mapping, surveillance,
CAD, image analysis, medical photography and many others. The large display size allows several observers to
work collaboratively around a single screen without having to struggle to see the fine details. In control room
applications, the QFHD can be used to give a supervisor a detailed, high-resolution overview of an entire displaywall system without crucial fine details being lost in the scaling process.
On the left is Toshiba’s new 56-inch QFHD prototype. Mitsubishi also recently showcased a 56-inch QFD system.
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Philips Cinema 21:9 TV to ship in June
Philips introduced the Cinema 21:9, a unique LCD TV with its ultra-wide aspect ratio of 21:9, designed especially
for viewing Hollywood widescreen titles in the full director’s cut. The 56-inch model Complimentary three-sided
Ambilight Spectra combines with the on-screen action to completely immerse you in the movie and deliver the
ultimate home cinematic viewing experience. According to Philips:
“Traditional LCD televisions compromise on this experience by distorting the picture to fill the screen –
losing the full scope of the original shot – or by displaying the picture in letterbox format with black bars at
the top and bottom. Cinema 21:9 solves these issues to give the viewer an uncompromised and absorbing
cinematic viewing experience, never before available in the home. This Cinematic Viewing Experience is
extremely difficult to replicate at home. Even the largest conventional TV screen cannot provide the total
immersion that we enjoy at a cinema because when it comes to watching a film, the viewing experience isn’t
determined by screen size. Films fill a cinema screen. The images reach right out to the very limits of the
screen and of our peripheral vision, enveloping us so completely in the action that we actively ‘feel’ along
with the characters in front of us. This cannot be achieved on a conventional 16:9 widescreen TV at home
without moving to a ‘letterbox’ view or losing the full scope of the original shot. With an aspect ratio of
21:9, the Cinema 21:9 is the world’s first cinema-proportioned LCD TV. In combination with Philips’
Ambilight technology - accurately matching on-screen content to extend the picture beyond the confines of
the screen - Cinema 21:9 delivers the most completely immersive home viewing experience possible”.
Note that 16:9 titles will avoid the letterbox effect – but will instead see a window-box effect; and 4:3 images will
see a very substantial reduction of screen real estate. Product release is not expected before June 2009 and is
initially limited to just Europe. http://www.digitalnewsroom.philips.com/products/21x9/
The Philips 21:9 solution enables full-screen Hollywood formats. The Ambilight technology, (shown on the right)
helps to match on-screen content to extend the picture beyond the confines of the screen.
Yahoo! brings out advances to Internet-connected television
Yahoo!’s Connected TV group unveiled the next generation of technology and services for Internet-connected
televisions. The company has forged partnerships with top CE manufacturers to launch a widget-based user
experience for TV that brings the best of the Web to a broad range of living room devices. Powered by the Yahoo!
Widget Engine, these devices will enable the discovery and enjoyment of the Cinematic Internet via a new class of
interactive applications called TV Widgets. TV Widgets enable popular Internet services and online media to reach
viewers with applications specifically tailored to the needs of the television watcher. In August, Yahoo! and Intel
announced the Widget Channel, their joint initiative to foster innovation in the connected TV space. Building on
that initiative, Yahoo! is announcing partnerships with top consumer electronics manufacturers including Samsung,
Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO. Products produced by these partnerships will enable the industry to bring an
innovative Internet and TV experience to millions of consumers globally, starting as early as the spring of 2009.
Reinforcing Yahoo!’s open strategy, the company, in partnership with Intel, released the Widget Development Kit
(WDK). This will enable developers to create TV Widgets and effectively reach millions of consumers.
http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/developer.
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CES 2009 Best Buzz Awards
January 8-12, 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada
Analysts from Insight Media analysts compiled a list of the products and technologies that generated the most talk on
the show floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. The buzz may be about a technology breakthrough, a bold,
innovative design or a quirky design, or it may reflect a new social direction, like today’s commitment to “green”.
Analysts Ken Werner, Steve Sechrist, Pete Putman, Chris Chinnock, Matt Brennesholtz, Aldo Cugnini, and Mike
Kalmanash compared notes on show highlights and presented the Best Buzz Awardees for CES 2009:
Best Pico Projector: Samsung Projector Phone – While it was not on display at the Samsung booth, a projector
phone currently available in South Korea was shown in the TI booth at the Digital Experience. This unit uses the
same basic projector technology as the MBP200, but includes cell phone functions, as well. It is a touch screen
handset with 3G, GPS and Samsung’s TouchWiz GUI. Accessing the projector is simple since there is a
“'projector”' icon in the main menu, and then you select a source – audio, video or photo files, PDF, PowerPoint,
Word, Excel or text files. Image quality is good and, of course, comparable to other pico projectors using the DLP
Pico chipset.
Best Pico Projector Runner Up: WowWee Cinemin – The Cinemin series of projectors from WowWee
generated considerable buzz in the pico category – in particular because this is a toy company and they have a very
aggressive price point for their DLP-based pico projector – $299. While there have been a number of pico
projectors on the market, most have been introduced by unknown companies that have done little other than build a
projection engine into something. WowWee has been around for a while and has a lot of (successful) experience
designing, manufacturing and marketing high-priced, technology-oriented toys. If that company can’t make a go of
pico projectors in the consumer market, we don’t expect anyone can.
Best Home Theater Projector: Vivitek's H6080FD – Vivitek’s H6080FD LED-powered DLP Home Theater
projector was among the most interesting products at the show, and it was nearly impossible to locate, given
Vivitek’s tiny, remote booth in the lower South Hall. We wouldn’t have expected Vivitek to be the first company to
bring out an 800-lumen, 1920x1080p DLP projector. But it did, and it looked pretty darned good – there’s no color
wheel, and the red, green, and blue LEDs should last at least 20K hours. Be prepared to fork over a few dollars for
it, however – the list price (so far) is $19,999. Availability is in June.
Left to right are Samsung’s projector phone, WowWee’s Cinemin pico projector, and Vivitek’s home theater projector
Best Projection Screen: Da-Lite JKP Affinity – It’s hard to get worked up about a new projection screen, but the
Da-Lite JKP Affinity Projection Screen, which Da-Lite developed in conjunction with Joe Kane Productions, works
so well that we had a hard time believing it came from Warsaw, IN (and not those other guys in southern
California). The matte texture of the screen material (.85 gain) is so fine that it clearly showed noise problems in 4K
and 2K film scans projected onto its surface from a Samsung 1080p home theater projector. Impressive!
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Best 3D Systems: Panasonic and Dolby – Panasonic announced the US debut of its '”world’s firstQ” 3D Full HD
(3D FHD) Plasma Home Theater System. It consists of a 103-inch plasma HDTV and a Panasonic Blu-ray disc
(BD) player that delivers full 1080p images to each eye. At the show, we wore active-shutter glasses and saw
probably the best 3D footage we have ever seen. It was a film of the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, and it was truly stunning, nearly jaw-dropping content. As Panasonic points out, other systems suffer
from reduced vertical resolution, caused by the 3D display method that divides the scanning lines between the left
and right eyes, and picture quality degradation caused by squeezing two (left and right) screens’ worth of full HD
images into one screen of data capacity for image storage and transmission. Its specially developed authoring
technology records 3D FHD images onto a single, “standard Blu-ray Disc”. One hitch: 3D content encoded with
this process cannot be played back on existing Blu-ray players. Dolby privately showed its approach to encoding
3D content for existing file formats in the home – which enables the immediate delivery of high-quality
stereoscopic 3D content to 3D-ready HDTVs or 3DTVs that feature embedded 3D decoding/transcoding electronics
over the standard Blu-ray disc medium, using standard Blu-ray players. The solution does not require changes to
the Blu-ray, HDMI, or MPEG specifications, and does not require an external decoder box.
Left to right are the Da-Lite/JKP projection screen, and Panasonic and Dolby’s 3D systems
Best 3D Monitor: Samsung’s 22.0-inch, 120-Hz 3D monitor – Samsung’s 22.0-inch, 120-Hz 3D monitor,
compatible with Nvidia’s new GeForce 3D Vision solution, generated a lot of buzz at the show. It’s not a simple
matter to produce a 120-Hz active-shutter glass LCD monitor. It requires a special “holding time”. First, all 1,050
rows of the LCD must be written to the panel with left-eye data. Then, the shutter on the glasses for the left-eye
view is opened and the LED backlight is flashed on during this image “holding period”. The shutter on the glasses
then closes and the backlight is turned off. The cycle is then repeated for the right-eye view. In order to do this at a
fast enough rate to avoid flicker (120 Hz per eye), the “on time” of the LED backlight is quite short, so optimizing
performance is tricky. Samsung has hit the mark with its new monitor.
Best Innovation: Toshiba 4K LCD Cell Processor TV with Spatial Motion Control – Toshiba showed Cellpowered next-generation TVs using spatial motion control (no remote). This is a new type of GUI targeting hand
operation and powered by the eight-core Cell processor. “The interface cannot be done with legacy inputs – even
though the software was developed on a laptop computer,” according to Akira Nakanishi, a developer of the gesture
concept at Toshiba. The IR-based sensor is focused on X, Y, and Z dimensions, allowing hand motions in all three
directions. In addition, the sensor can differentiate between right and left-hand motions as well as gestures using
both hands. Cell also empowers recording up to six HD streams simultaneously. The technology was demonstrated
on a Toshiba 65-inch Cell-based LCD-TV with 4K resolution (4096x2160), full frame upscaling and local dimming
LED backlighting.
Runner-up: Widget Channel Framework – The Widget Channel framework, co-developed by Intel and Yahoo,
got a lot of attention at the show – if for no other reason than it’s showing up on TV sets from Samsung, Panasonic
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and Sony. The Widget Channel puts the PC “dashboard” experience on the TV, allowing consumers direct access to
Internet content via their TV remote control. All you need is the built-in Ethernet port or a Wi-Fi USB dongle, and
you can get content from Flickr, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Weather and Yahoo! Finance, USA TODAY, YouTube,
eBay and Showtime Networks. The list undoubtedly will grow, as TV manufacturers jump on the bandwagon. The
HW/SW overhead is relatively small, and the feature could spur a small jump in sales. The true differentiator will
be services that play up effortless interactivity and content access, and play down any similarity to the negative
aspects of the PC experience – software bugs, slow response, and complicated revision upgrades.
Left to right are Samsung’s 22.0-inch 3D monitor, Toshiba’s 4K LCD cell processor on a 4096-x2160 LCD with local
dimming, and the Widget Channel framework
Best OLED (large): LG 15.0-inch OLED (product not prototype) -- At CES, LG Displays showed a 15.0-inch
OLED monitor due to ship next quarter. This was an impressive display, perhaps showing LG’s intent to launch
mid-range OLED panels into the hybrid monitor/small TV display space before launching headlong into an LCD
TV replacement market. And why not? This size is not a bona fide TV size anyway, no matter what Sony and its
11.0-inch OLED TV claim. The pixel format is 1366x768 driven at 120Hz (Sony is at 60Hz) with a 0.8-mm thin
package. This is significant in that, if commercialized, it will be the first native HD OLED TV (supporting 720p
signals). The 11.0-inch Sony XEL-1 is an OLED TV, but it is only 960x540 pixel resolution.
Best OLED (small display): Sony's Flexible OLED Display (prototype) – Sony’s flexible OLED display
(prototype) incorporates durable Flex OLED display and high performance bioplastics, and its '”bendable material'”
is meant to simulate the flexible (paperback) book reading experience.
Best LCD Monitor Panel: Samsung's New 24.0-inch WUXGA – Samsung’s new 24.0-inch WUXGA
(1920x1200 pixels) in 16:10 format boasts 16.7M colors, 300 lumens and 1K:1 contrast. It's 18.5-mm thin and has a
5-ms response time. All that, and it’s green: the panel is mercury free and has a low-power consumption (down
from 65W to 24W).
Left to right are LG’s 15.0-inch OLD TV, Sony’s flexible OLED, and Samsung’s 24.0-inch 1920x1200 LCD monitor
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Best LCD Technology (3-way Tie): JVC 32-inch Super-Thin – JVC’s 32-inch super-thin LCD demo generated
considerable buzz, not only for its skinny-ness, but for its mounting mechanism. It has a built-in magnet on its back
that allows the TV to be stuck to any ferrous surface. Yes, there is an umbilical cord to the driving electronics. It
stayed amazingly cool, considering the lack of grille work on the rear panel for heat ducting. JVC’s LCD HDTV
measures 0.28 inches thick, and weighs all of 11 pounds.
Best LCD Technology (3-way Tie): LG's 480Hz LCD – In a world where speed suddenly seems to be paramount
in displays (forget brightness and contrast), LG’s demonstration of a 480Hz LCD monitor with a combination of
black frame insertion and scanning backlight was impressive. Motion blur is a big problem for LCD TVs and even
120-Hz systems don’t clean it up completely. But 480Hz (four times faster) does, as demonstrated by fast panning
shots of sheet music – blurred at 60Hz, still blurred at 120Hz, but very readable at 480Hz.
Best LCD Technology (3-way Tie): Samsung 82-inch: The “mine's bigger than yours” HDTV jockeying at CES
between Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic and LG may be a thing of the past. While Samsung’s 82-inch Ultra HD LCD
monitor isn’t the largest in the world (Sharp’s 103-inch is), it may now be the biggest HD+ product out there, with a
resolution of 3840x2160 pixels. Any way you look at it, that’s a lot of picture.
Left to right are JVC’s super thin 32-inch LCD TV; LG’s 480Hz LCD technology, and Samsung’s 82-inch HDTV
Best Plasma TV: Panasonic Z1 – Panasonic Z1 series sets offer high-contrast NeoPDP panels that are wireless,
less than 1 inch thick, and cut in half last year's power consumption (for comparable sizes). And the Z1 series gives
Panasonic a premium product with margin. Prices in Japan will be $6K to $8K depending on size (46, 50, 54-inch).
They’re shooting for summer availability, and at least one size will be sold in the US.
Best LCD-TV Value: Vizio VF551XVT – Vizio has launched the VF551XVT, a 240Hz TV (actually it's 120Hz
plus backlight scanning), featuring a 55-inch panel from LGD and a direct W-LED backlight with local-area
dimming. It also features USB (with MPEG-2, H.264, WMV9, JPG, MP3, FAT32 for use as hard drive), SRS
TruVolume and TruSurround, and built-in sound bar – all for an amazing $1,999.99. Other comparable models cost
two to three times as much. Wow!
Best Interconnect Device: PPC HDMI Cable – The PPC HDMI cable with patented locking connectors wins in
this category. The standard HDMI connector has a pull strength of only three pounds, and the weight of the cable
plus vibration over time can loosen the connector spontaneously, resulting in a poor connection or no connection at
all. (This is so common that the volume of “help”' calls from PPC customers induced them to come up with a
solution.) The clever, solid design has a 12-pound pull strength and is compatible with standard HDMI sockets –
unlike competing designs, which require matching custom sockets. There is a broad market here, including cable
manufacturers (if PPC wants to license), CEDIA-type installers, commercial networks, Geek Squad type installers
and end users.
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Left to right are Panasonic’s ultra-thin PDP, Visio’s 240Hz LCD TV, and PPC’s locking HDMI solution
Best Mobile Technology: Open Mobile Video Coalition – The Open Mobile Video Coalition gets kudos for
pledging the over-the-air deployment of Mobile TV services later this year. At CES, the alliance of US broadcasters
announced that they will be launching mobile digital television (DTV) services in 2009 across 63 stations in 22
markets, covering 35% of US television households. Of the 63 stations, there will be 14 NBC affiliates, nine ABC
affiliates, nine CBS affiliates, five FOX affiliates, nine ION Television affiliates, four CW affiliates and four
MyNetworkTV affiliates. Also, nine PBS stations are in discussions with the OMVC to join the 2009 launch. In the
months to come, the OMVC will conduct extensive interoperability testing and trials in various markets nationwide.
The mobile service will be advertiser-supported, which will probably be a more profitable proposition than pay
services.
Best New Notebook Display: Lenovo W700DS – Lenovo was showing its new W700DS, a large and powerful
laptop workstation PC with a 17.0-inch 1920x1200 main screen and a 10.0-inch 768x1280 side display that slides
out from behind the main display. Fonts are stable as you drag them across the mullion from the main display to the
side display.
Best New Display Innovation or Category: D-link Notebook Add-on Display – D-Link was showing a 7.0-inch
USB-powered monitor called the Side Stage. D-Link will introduce it in March or April, and the price is undecided,
but will be “$500 or less”. This is a nice little product, but it is little. We think the price needs to be around $200 if
the Side Stage wants to take center stage and be a star.
Biggest/Busiest Booth of the Show: Samsung – Samsung’s, with its video wall display and “Samsung Cavern”.
Whose show was this anyway – the industry’s or Samsung’s?
Left to right are Lenovo’s dual screen notebook PC, D-link’s add-on display, and Samsung’s monster video wall
which attracted enormous attention at the show…
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February 2009
Plastic Electronics Conference and Showcase
October 28-29, 2008, Berlin, Germany
Although this key conference covered by Phillip Hill, and organized by the Plastic Electronics Foundation
and Intertech/PIRA, was mainly about flexible displays and electronics, there were many presentations
relevant to High Resolution: Siemens, Kodak, Rutgers University, Silecs Oy, UDC, QD Vision, and CDT
Quantum Dot Light Emitting Devices for Solid State Lighting
Peter Kazlas, QD Vision, Watertown, Massachusetts
Kazlas first looked at existing LED technologies. There are incomplete solutions for design, color and stability.
Inorganic LEDs are point sources and are rigid. Organic LEDs have inherently poor color matching, the
manufacturing cost is high, and scaling to large glass is difficult for small-molecule OLEDs. Quantum dot
semiconductor nanocrystals are a practical solution to deliver light with extraordinary color and efficiency, tunable
from the visible to infrared, Kazlas said. He showed a graph of QD photoluminescence spectra (see illustration).
QDs operate in two modes: electroluminescence (EL mode), activated by electronic energy giving direct emission
of colored light; and photoluminescence (PL mode), activated by light energy – conversion of color from other light
sources – any light with shorter wavelengths (LEDs, lasers, and OLEDs).
The company has demonstrated the highest achieved peak EQE (>7%) for QLEDs and demonstrated the highest
achieved brightness (>13,000 nits) for a QLED; and 3-4.6cd/A at brightness values ranging from 1000 to 10,000
nits. All devices exhibit excellent color saturation at high brightness values. Current QLED lifetimes range from
100’s to1000+ of hours at 100 nits. QD Printing and solution processing offer important benefits compared to the
shadow mask evaporation processes typically employed for small molecule OLEDs: high material utilization; fine
feature resolution; scalability; high uniformity. QD printing methods include spin casting, contact printing and inkjetting. QDs are not triplet emitters. However, performance is not limited by the singlet:triplet ratio due to thermal
mixing. The result is that 100% of excitons in a QD device can emit. The unique combination of high efficiency,
extraordinary color, intrinsic stability and low-cost patterning makes QLEDs an exciting and beneficial EL
technology for next generation and solid-state lighting and display applications, Kazlas concluded. Based on the
company’s understanding of QLED device physics, with continued development QLEDs can achieve external
quantum efficiencies of 20%, similar to PHOLEDs.
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February 2009
The Efficiency Staircase for OLED Lighting
Arvid Hunze, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany
An intriguing title and an intriguing presentation... Hunze gave an introduction to OLED lighting and white color
requirements on the CIE chromaticity diagram. The starting point on the staircase was full fluorescent white at 5-7
lm/W with the structure on the left:
Improvements were made by lowering the voltage (e.g. with n/p-doped layers) to give this at 8-12 lm/W, (center left).
Further improvements were made to OLEDs by introducing phosphorescent green and red emitters allowing further
improvement of white possible with hybrid whites: stable fluorescent blue, and phosphorescent green and red
emitters, to give 25-30 lm/W. Improvements by enhanced out coupling from the OLED layer achieved 40-50 lm/W.
The development of a hybrid 3-color white OLED, although the mode distribution depends strongly on the distance
between EML and cathode, led to this at 60-70 lm/W (the ovals below the glass layer represent the enhanced out
coupling) – (center right). A full phosphorescent 3-color white OLED was then developed with materials from BASF
(in asterisks) giving the structure on the right.
Simulations have been carried out to compare the performance of a phosphorescent deep blue vs. light blue emitter.
With a deep blue emitter, and adapted red/green, and slightly improved out coupling, 100 lm/W at cold white color
coordinates could be possible. The full staircase is shown here:
Hunze concluded by saying that a key parameter for OLED lighting is the power efficiency at white color
coordinates. Using doped injection layers and easily applicable and production related out coupling structures and
phosphorescent green and red emitters can achieve high efficiency values for future lighting products. With the
hybrid approach already 3-color white 46
lm/W has been demonstrated. With a
phosphorescent light blue emitter, full
phosphorescent 3-color white at warm white
color coordinates with further improved
power
efficiency
is
possible.
Full
phosphorescent white with 62 lm/W has been
demonstrated (with very good color vs.
luminance stability possible). Further
efficiency improvements with cold white
color coordinates and CRI make it possible to
achieve efficiency in the range of 100 lm/W
with deep blue phosphorescent emitters
according to calculations.
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February 2009
OLED: Challenges and Solutions for Display and Lighting
James R. Buntaine, Kodak, Rochester, New York
Buntaine first pointed out that all AMOLED products use LTPS TFT and RGB-patterned OLED. All AMOLED
products have the OLED vapor deposited onto half glass of size Gen 4 (or smaller). The industry will not become
significantly profitable until Gen 5 or larger is achieved. He outlined what it will take to manufacture at Gen 5:
scalable backplane (LTPS, a-Si, Mox, oTFT); and scalable OLED deposition (vapor, solution, transfer). Turning to
manufacturing yield improvement in terms of GMC and shorting reduction, Buntaine said that Global Mura
Compensation eliminates nearly all Mura caused by LTPS TFT manufacture and has been proven in mass
production and demonstrated in five unique TFT size panels. Kodak has demonstrated a new technology to reduce
more than 100x the number density of shorting defects leading to unlit dots. Buntaine then told his audience about
the hype that OLED must avoid based on
reflections gathered from discussions with a
prominent (and frustrated) lighting designer. In
specifying performance, be truthful in a practical
sense. Many LED lighting companies claim
lifetimes, but will not warrantee them. If CIExy
is not on the Planckian locus, color temperature
has no meaning. If CIExy is not on the Planckian
locus, CRI has no meaning. Power efficiency
(LPW) must be evaluated in the illuminated
space, not in some maximal manner in an R&D
Kodak’s recently announced digital OLED picture frame
lab. “When OLED lighting delivers true
with a 7.6-inch diagonal, 800x600 pixels, and 30,000:1
performance, it will be successful,” he said.
contrast ratio
Hybrid Semiconductors: Designer Materials with Enhanced Properties for Optoelectronic Applications
Jing Li, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
Rutgers University has developed an unprecedented type of inorganic-organic hybrid semiconductor. These
materials show very strong structure-induced quantum confinement effect (QCE). They exhibit exceptionally large
blue shift in their optical absorption edge, which is similar to, and in most cases exceeds, that of the smallest
quantum dots grown by colloidal methods (e.g. InP, ZnSe). Perfectly ordered and extended crystal structures are
promising for optoelectronic devices requiring high conductivity and mobility (e.g. LEDs, PVs, TEs). The essential
electronic and optical properties and functionality of the parent semiconductor bulk are retained in these hybrid
semiconductors, with enhanced and new/interesting features. The organic spacers play an important role in their
structural, mechanical, and thermal expansion properties. The strong property tunability as a result of structureinduced QCE, the capability of systematic
modification
of
their
structures
and
dimensionality, and unique and new properties
make these hybrid semiconductors particularly
interesting (both fundamentally and with respect
to possible applications). The concept of particlesize-independent (or structure-induced) QCE may
be applicable in other nanostructured crystal
systems. Infinite 2D layers allowing conduction
pathways and thus high mobility and conductivity
are anticipated, promising for electroluminescence
Blue LED (a); sample coated blue LED (not illuminated)
and direct use as active emitting layers in white
(b); coated LED (c); coated LED (Mn 0.5%) (d)
light LED configurations.
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February 2009
Organo-Siloxane Based Light Management Materials
Juha T. Rantala, Silecs Oy, Espoo, Finland
Silecs produces advanced polymer materials for
manufacturing semiconductors and optoelectronics devices.
It has a high volume production site in Finland for various
silicon-based products with global distribution channels
qualified by the leading semiconductor manufacturers.
Chemical technology and IP-driven application customized
products are backed by more than 30 patents granted or
pending covering mainly various monomers, polymer
compositions and processing methods. The materials address
optoelectronics device performance and cost down through
organo-siloxane based materials for opto-device light
management. With the right selection of monomers equal
One of the company’s focuses is on atmospheric
printing quality to organic polymers can be obtained with
processes and printable polymeric materials
superior and properties, Rantala said. To maximize light
controllability in an imaging device a low index of refraction is required. Organo-siloxanes with special catalytic
chemistry offer a route to low refractive index optical coatings. At the other end of the spectrum, high index of
refraction siloxanes provide an excellent matrix for nanoparticle incorporation. Commercial and custom-made
surface modifying agents are available. Silanes are the most common surface modifying agent of inorganic
particles. Inorganic nanoparticles can increase significantly the index of refraction of a bulk optical medium. Novel
organo-siloxane based optical dielectrics offer a viable route to address light management issues in common
optoelectronics devices. With careful design of materials the company can address various device and
manufacturing specific challenges, e.g. non-yellowing, contrast enhancing, high-resolution materials for TFT-LCD
manufacturing. The company’s materials also enable pixel shrink in advanced CMOS digital image sensor
products; and improve quantum efficiency and color repeatability of opto devices.
Status of High Efficiency and Long Lifetime Phosphorescent OLEDs
Mike Hack, Universal Display Corporation, Ewing, New Jersey
The outline of Mike Hack’s talk was an introduction to phosphorescence – a critical technology for OLED displays
and lighting; the current status of UDC’s RGB phosphorescent OLEDs (PHOLEDs); dual-doped PHOLEDs with
improved performance; and white PHOLEDs and applications to solid-state lighting. Hack outlined the
phosphorescent OLED advantage. Radiation is from triplet excitons, i.e. four of four spin states or ~100% internal
quantum efficiency (IQE). With fluorescent OLEDs, radiation is restricted to singlet excitons, i.e. one of four spin
states or ~25%. Phosphorescence is achieved through the use of phosphorescent molecules that contain a heavy
metal atom core such as iridium or platinum. Which facilitates
intersystem crossing of singlets to triplets. Hack said that his
company’s PHOLEDs were energy efficient and ideal for mobile
devices, a key for AMOLED TVs, and critical for lighting.
Prospective cost savings come from batteries, drivers, and heat
dissipation components. They are also compatible with multiple
manufacturing methods and active-matrix backplanes. Hack went
into details of dual-doped PHOLED structure and materials before
turning to white OLEDs and their latest impressive performance
figures as measured by the independent Luminaire Testing
Laboratory. In conclusion, Hack made the analogy of “from pixels
to prototypes”, “from bulbs to panels”, “from heat to light”.
More light than heat
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February 2009
The Bright Future of OLED Lighting
Richard Wilson, CDT, Cambridge, England
After giving a brief history of CDT and its takeover by Sumitomo, Wilson made the obvious case for energyefficient lighting. Before discussing anything about OLEDs, Wilson hit out at compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
They have slow turn-on (albeit improving), have poor color rendering (albeit improving), and lifetimes can be
shorter than advertised – for example, 6,000-15,000 hours continuous vs. 1,000 hours if turned on and off every
five minutes. The lamps also contain mercury (up to 5mg of mercury in each CFL) with the potential for
widespread mercury contamination in incinerators and landfill. Practical efficiencies drop due to fixture losses from
drivers, reflectors, etc. Installed luminaire efficiencies are around 30-60 lm/W.
Many organizations are investigating OLEDs for lighting. In many cases, governments are funding developments.
The drivers for OLEDs in solid-state lighting include: potential for long lifetime (important cost savings in
buildings, transport systems, etc.); high efficiency; lower bill of materials than CFLs; and no mercury. OLED
design advantages for lighting are that it is a large area diffuse light source; it gives directional light – no reflectors
are required; devices are thin, flat, and lightweight; they give fast switch-on and are fully dimmable; many colors
are possible, including different white points; and they are transparent or mirror-like in the off-state.
Wilson then turned to OLEDs compared to high-brightness LEDs. OLEDs are best suited to applications requiring
uniform, diffuse large area emission. OLEDs are not a good match for point source or highly directional
applications. Inorganic LEDs are best suited to applications requiring point sources of light. Inorganic LEDs are not
a good match for uniform, diffuse large area emission. For that they would require diffuser materials, arrays of
LEDs, and costly assembly and integration. Inorganic and organic LEDs are complementary and together will be
able to cover a wide range of lighting needs. Wilson then turned his attention to the flaws of small molecule OLED
devices. They require many layers for optimum performance; each layer requires precise thickness control; yield
remains an issue; materials are
deposited by evaporation under
vacuum; there is poor material
utilization; and the cost of vacuum
equipment scales as the dimension
cubed. Polymer OLED (P-OLED)
device fabrication, on the other hand,
requires significantly fewer layers,
color is controlled during polymer
manufacture; and solution processing is
A polymer OLED from Siemens; on the right is a polymer OLED ceiling
low cost and give a higher lumen/$.
lighting fixture demo from Osram and Ingo Maurer
Towards the end his presentation following on from the technical aspects of P-OLEDs, Wilson mentioned the
“Topless” project (Thin Organic Polymeric Light Emitting Semiconductor Surfaces). It is a UK consortium
comprising Thorn Lighting, Sumation (CDT), and the University of Durham, sponsored by a UK government grant.
Its objective is to develop efficient single white light emitting polymer devices (40 lm/W @ 1,000cd/m2 and >10k
hours lifetime).
In summary, Wilson said that OLED technology is rapidly expanding from displays into lighting application
spaces. SSL is an attractive market and OLED capabilities are well placed to meet product requirements. P-OLED
offers significant manufacturing advantages over SM-OLEDs for SSL in the diffuse lighting market. P-OLEDs
complement – not compete with – HB-LEDs in replacing incumbent, but flawed, technologies (a reference to
CFLs). The applications will be in general and architectural lighting.
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Veritas et Visus
High Resolution
February 2009
SID Mobile Displays Conference 2008
September 23-24, 2008, San Diego, California
Phillip Hill covers the high-resolution aspects of this conference with presentations from Uni-Pixel
Displays, Global Lighting Technologies, 3M, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Microvision, and EpiCrystals
Mobile Projection Devices
Ian Brown, Microvision, Redmond, Washington
The talk covered PicoP technology. The company’s business strategy and focus is on the development and
commercialization of the PicoP miniature laser projector engine. It has over 200 issued and pending US patents,
and 150 employees. The PicoP utilizes a bi-axial MEMS scanner, RGB lasers, tiny laser optics, and custom
electronics. The MEMS scanner is a silicon-based device at the center of which is a tiny mirror that simultaneously
oscillates both vertically and horizontally. The image is created pixel-by-pixel analogous to a CRT. The key
advantages of PicoP are its thickness (<7 mm thick engine); thinness is independent of resolution; it is always in
focus; no projection lenses or user adjustment required; wide projection angle (~1:1 throw ratio); lower power –
light sources only used when needed; vivid colors (>200% NTSC possible – see chromaticity diagram); and
exceptional contrast.
“SHOW” plug-and-play prototype. The production version will be 25% smaller and thinner.
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February 2009
Field Sequential Color in Mobile Applications
Dan van Ostrand, Uni-Pixel Displays, The Woodlands, Texas
Van Ostrand’s presentation was mainly visual, some of which is shown below. The talk concentrated on Time
Multiplexed Optical Shutter (TMOS) with a technology overview, outlining performance advantages, followed by
Field Sequential Color (FSC) challenges and solutions. He first showed a graphic comparing LCD layers with
TMOS layers.
Van Ostrand then explained how light is guided in TMOS with single pixel activation by electrostatic attraction. He
then looked at optical efficiency of TMOS vs. LCD (see illustration below). The estimated performance of TMOS
is based on modeling and empirical measurements to date.
Turning to power efficiency in lm/W, van Ostrand said that TMOS was 6x to 10x more efficient than LCD with
identical specifications. The LEDs consume most of the energy in TMOS. He then discussed FSC and color
breakup. If either the eye or the observed object move too quickly, the bursts of color can hit different parts of the
retina causing color breakup. If color bursts reach the eye within 4ms, it has been shown that color breakup is
eliminated. TMOS pixel speed is <2μs response time (1,000x faster than LCD). TMOS video frame rates are >150
fps and the FSC field rate is >3600/sec.
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February 2009
Continuing on the theme of color breakup, van Ostrand dealt with non-contiguous primary colors. TMOS not
restricted to contiguous primary color sub-frames. With bit rearrangement, R-G-B bits can occur in any order. The
red light need not be emitted from the display in a single contiguous time segment within a frame (see illustrations).
Intensity modulation is also used to shorten overall frame time. As the number of different LED intensities increase,
the time required for each color subframe decreases. Overlapping primaries can also shorten the overall frame time.
The amount of savings depends on program content. Uni-Pixel has demonstrated savings of over 50% with video
content. Turning off the light source when no pixels are open can also shorten the overall frame time. Again, the
amount of savings depends on program content.
Projection Image Modulation of a Novel Diffractive Optical MEMS Device
JongHyeong Song, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Suwon City, South Korea
Most of the presentation dealt with the SOM (spatial optical modulator) technology. It uses piezoelectric operation
and diffraction and micro ribbons (see illustration below left). Specific technical functions of the SOM image
processor include a low power consumption algorithm, geometric image distortion compensation (distortion is
<1%) and natural laser color compensation (converts to sRGB). The SOM produces a fast modulation speed of ~0.7
microseconds. Song devoted much of the presentation to speckle suppression. The features of SOM are that it gives
a seamless image by 100% fill factor with no color breakup, no image blur, low speckle, and a wide operation
temperature.
The Spatial Optical Modulator is shown on the left; on the right is an optical diagram of SOM-based color
projection displays
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February 2009
Backlighting Mobile Displays
Brett Shriver, Global Lighting Systems, Brecksville, Ohio
GLT is a technology-based lighting company. Its proprietary know-how includes precise optical design and
processing; proprietary 3D optical ray tracing; proprietary software for “MicroLens” pattern development; precision
in-house equipment to produce optical MicroLens and lens arrays; in-house tool design and mold fabrication; and
in-house rapid prototyping. It has over 2400 employees worldwide. Its strategy is to be a leading supplier of
optoelectronics with focus on high volume backlights for LCDs, by delivering a better lighting technology at
competitive costs. Handheld portable devices are becoming smaller and smaller. As a result all components are
being driven to utilize less real estate and become more efficient. The unique challenges are in fitting light guide
plate (LGP) assemblies into a thin form factor while maintaining efficiency. Design considerations are the LED
package, number of LEDs, spacing of LEDs, and LED power consumption. These design factors will determine
what is possible in terms of backlight thickness, uniformity, brightness, and visual smoothness. Shriver turned to
light directing features (specular vs. non specular). Specular light extraction features are optimized to deliver light
within the acceptance angle of the optical system. Printed, chemical, or laser etch dots scatter light in random
directions. He went into details of the company’s specular light extraction technology – MicroLens. This uses pixelbased light-extraction where 2D uniformity correction is possible. It produces high brightness and the optical
features are transparent. Normal reflection and transmission percentages are roughly 60% and 40% respectively.
Light is reflected and transmitted from the optical features in a specular manner. The angles at which light is
emitted from the light guide can be controlled. MicroLens depths can be controlled to within +/-2 microns
permitting a high degree of control throughout the panel. The angle of the reflective surface(s) for the MicroLens
can be chosen to customize the angles that the light rays exit the light guide. Density can be continuously and
precisely varied to maximize brightness and optimize uniformity in two dimensions. Randomization can be
introduced into MicroLens patterns to improve moiré or other undesirable visual effects. MicroLens or other light
extracting features can be populated on the top (exit) surface of the light guide to maximize brightness. Light
extraction features can be distributed, arranged, and optimized to work with almost any light source location.
Lens arrays provide a uniform visual appearance using a reduced number of light sources; the GLT solution
is shown in an illuminated keypad
As a result of GLT’s proprietary light ray analysis software and engineering experience as well as patented
technology GLT can offer uniformly illuminated keypads with limited numbers of LEDs (see photo above). LGPs
as thin as 0.4mm can be produced with total backlight assemblies of 1.0mm or less.
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February 2009
How to Fit a 50-inch Display in Your Pocket
Michael O’Keefe, 3M, St. Paul, Minnesota
O’Keefe said that the challenge is to develop a miniature projector that meets all the requirements (listed in the
table below) for adoption in a mobile device. The result is the 3M Mobile Projection Engine with LED illumination
and LCoS microdisplay (see photo).
The benefits of LED illumination are that it is proven, reliable, efficient, high volume manufacturing, low cost, and
safe. Heavy investment equates to rapid improvement. The challenge of LED illumination is that most LEDs are
designed for maximum light extraction, without regard to angular light output. It is very difficult to efficiently, and
in a small package, capture LED light for projection systems. 3M’s answer is to create an illumination system that
captures the maximum amount of light within the smallest area – based on proprietary designs, 3M enabling
components, and industry partnerships. Advanced 3M materials and designs offer the promise of ever-increasing
efficiency and reduced size using LEDs. The benefits of LCoS for mobile projection are that it is proven, efficient,
flexible, low cost, high resolution in a small package, it produces an excellent image, and there are multiple
suppliers. The challenge of LCoS is that it requires polarized light and optics to manage polarized light. 3M’s
answer is to use the 3M PBS with a high extinction ratio and wide operating angle, which enables ultra compact
and efficient design. It is a polarized LED illumination system based on proprietary multilayer optical film.
O’Keefe described the color filter LCoS from Himax Display. It creates clear, natural images for video and data
applications (just like an LCD). It is robust,
stable,
meets
stringent
reliability
requirements, and is easily integrated.
Himax provides a total solution, including
driver IC. When coupled with 3M’s LED
illumination optics and polarization
management optics, it results in a compact,
efficient optical engine (see illustration).
O’Keefe concluded by looking at other
technologies. He said that a number of
companies
are
developing
other
technologies – such as DMD and laserbased projectors. 3M is looking at all
technologies to see where it can add value.
One potential product is a LED illumination optical system that could reduce the size and increase the lumens of a
DMD miniature projector. 3M advanced optics are also well-suited to laser LCoS systems (possibly laser scan as
well). As RGB lasers suitable for mobile projection are introduced and available, 3M will evaluate the potential
benefits, he said.
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February 2009
Novel Laser Light Sources for Display Applications
Janne Konttinen, EpiCrystals, Tampere, Finland
The company was founded in 2003 and has 17 employees including seven PhDs. It is a technology-oriented team
with 200+ published scientific papers. Key team members have background at the Optoelectronics Research Centre,
Tampere University of Technology, Finland. Its main products are visible lasers for projection display applications.
Products are novel RGB laser modules including the patented DeCIBEL laser platform. The consumer electronics
industry is calling for light sources for ultracompact projectors. The main requirements are
low cost, low speckle, high efficiency, and low
étendue. The design parameters of DeCIBEL
are that it is the most compact design for a
frequency-converted laser. It is suitable for any
ultra-compact projection engine and has a
simplified module assembly and produces low
speckle contrast on the display. No additional
speckle reduction required and it has excellent
temperature performance. There is no
temperature control for highest efficiency and it
allows for a high-temperature compatible 620
nm red laser. It has high modulation bandwidth
suitable for raster scanning projection.
DeCIBEL stands for Double-Cavity Integrated
Bottom-Emitting Laser (see diagram).
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+ Ceravision, Tim Reynolds, CEO
+ Cypress Semiconductor, Darrin Vallis, Director
+ Dolby, Barath Rajagopalan, Director
+ Fusion Optix, Terry Yeo, CEO/Founder
+ LG Display, Eddie Yeo, Executive Vice President
+ Luminus Devices, John Langevin, VP of Sales/Marketing
+ MacDermid Autotype, Steven Abbott, Technical Director
+ Merck KGaA, Roman Maisch, Sr. VP of Marketing/Sales
+ Mitsubishi, David Naranjo, Director of Product Dev.
+ Nouvoyance, Candice B. Elliott, CEO
+ nVidia, Andrew Fear, Product Marketing Manager
+ Rutherford Appleton Lab, Bob Stephens, Prin. Scientist
+ SID, Tom Miller, Executive Director
+ Synaptics, John Feland, Human Interface Architect
+ Westar Display Technologies, Phil Downen, Sales Mgr
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February 2009
Displaybank San Jose Conference
September 9, 2008, Santa Clara, California
Phillip Hill covers presentations from LG Electronics, Samsung SDI, and NEC
Promising LED LCD TV
Jeong Soo Lee, LG Electronics, Seoul, South Korea
The merits of LED backlights are high color gamut (NTSC 120%)/tunable CCT; high contrast; long lifetime
(>100,000 hours); no mercury, RoHS compliant; low voltage driving; rapid response time (microseconds); no
limitation for dimming range by PWM; dynamic backlight control (scanning/blinking/local dimming) reducing
motion blur and power consumption and increasing CR; cold start/instant start (< 100ns); color filter-less; and color
sequential LCD is possible. Current issues are high cost and
performance/reliability. Contributing to the high cost issues are the
number of LEDs in a backlight system; LED sorting increasing cost
(IF, VF, I-V, I-L, wavelength, etc.); high power chip supply and
yield; local dimming vs. driver cost; additional control circuits/color
sensors, calibration. On the performance/reliability side, the problems
are low lm/W (power consumption, heat management); unreliable
electric/optical characteristics; steep electrical, optical and thermal
characteristics change; structure for color mixing; unproven reliability
in the backlight and TV set; phosphor reliability issue for white LED
backlights.
Lee moved on to prospects and future work covering local dimming,
and pixel compensation/inter-block correction (see illustration and
photos). Due to the cost issues, white LED backlights will be the
mega-trend for the time being followed by RGB color dimming. New
design, manufacturing, and testing methodologies for mass
deployment of LED BLUs are needed for cost minimization, Lee
concluded.
[No Local Dimming]
[Local Dimming Only]
Local dimming of LED BLUs
[Pixel Compensation]
Pixel compensation means higher picture quality and reduced energy consumption
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February 2009
AMOLED, a Journey to Perfection
Sean Sunam Lee, Samsung SDI, Seoul, South Korea
In a presentation that shows that the different arms of Samsung are still in healthy disagreement, Lee spent most of
the talk unfavorably comparing LCD performance with that of OLED. He first showed a graphic (see below)
illustrating the company’s impressive progress in OLED development from the first tentative steps in 2001 to the
present time. He then went into details of all the different products on the market.
SDI’s AMOLED technology is based on color patterning with RGB individually evaporated, top emission, with an
LTPS backplane. Lee said that true black and vivid color can be represented through AMOLED. In the case of
TFT-LCD, a backlight unit has to be on all the time regardless of the image, making true black unattainable. For
LCDs, viewing angle and response time have to be evaluated. The characteristics are based on the original
characteristics of the LC. TFT-LCD’s contrast ratio drops with change in viewing angle. In AMOLED, measuring
viewing angle is not necessary. The response time of TFTLCD changes with change in temperature. In AMOLED,
measuring response time is not necessary. The color gamut
of TFT-LCD decreases with change in gray levels. For
AMOLED, color gamut maintains about 100% color gamut
regardless of the change in gray scale.
Lee then discussed backplane technologies used by SDI.
LTPS TFTs provide excellent mobility and stability that
meet OLED current drive requirements, but needs the
development of facilities of large glass and the reduction of
manufacturing cost, Lee said. He then discussed the world’s
largest (at the time) AMOLED driven by oxide TFTs array –
a 12.1-inch 1280x768 notebook (see photo). Lee concluded
with color patterning technology.
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February 2009
Public Display Market and Product Trends
Pierre Rocher. NEC, Tokyo, Japan
Much of this presentation was given over to general market growth forecasts across all sectors and technologies
before Rocher concentrated on the topic of expanding information display options with superior screen
performance, lower total cost of ownership, and enhanced display management.
He listed the ideal features for information display products. These included high brightness level and contrast ratio,
to enhance the user experience; NEC’s XtraView technology that allows for up 178° wide-angle viewing; userfriendly, efficient design featuring VESA-standard mounting and an overall lightweight construction for easy
transport and installation; automatic black level adjustment regulating grayscale images for optimal picture quality;
reduced reflection and glare in high ambient light environments providing a more comfortable view of the screen;
built-in expansion slot allowing for seamless integration of future third-party components; optional detachable
speakers delivering an enhanced multimedia experience; optional digital tuner expanding the display’s capabilities
for high-definition television; optional internal HD-SDI card achieving broadcast-grade video; NEC’s Rapid
Response technology delivering virtually uninterrupted, undistorted viewing of high-speed, full-motion video.
Rocher went into detail on NEC’s “Digital Signage Technology Suite” (DSTS). It is a set of over 20 features
addressing three key areas that are specific to digital signage that is unique to the industry and offers state of the art
performance: improved screen performance; lower total cost of ownership; and enhanced display management. It
addresses the requirements of demanding commercial applications and differentiates a digital signage network from
low-end networks based on consumer TVs or low cost feature poor bands. DSTS uses 1366x768 for true 16:9
aspect ratio. The high-definition capable display supports 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. A high quality backlight
system leads to better brightness uniformity. Zoom mode enables you to customize the screen size in three
directions. TileMatrix allows you to build video walls and TileComp works in tandem with TileMatrix to
compensate for the bezel width and create a more seamless video wall. Image flip allows you to properly display
content originally prepared for alternative display technologies such as rear projection. Film mode delivers a
smoother image for DVD movies by bypassing frame buffer. It is color temperature adjustable from 2,600K to
10,000K, allowing for perfect matching to input/output devices.
Turning to the DSTS enhanced display management, improved CableComp technology equalizes the video signal
to eliminate color halos on long cable runs. Video detect automatically finds the first or last signal used for easy
setup. Picture-in picture (PIP) places a smaller video frame within the full-screen video frame. Picture-on-picture
(POP) places a smaller video frame next to the full-screen video frame. DDC/CI enables communication between
the PC and monitor for display
management, diagnostics and the remote
control. Power-on delay allows for
multiple displays on a single electrical
circuit. A 6-axis color control engine
allows for precise and simplified color,
color
temperature
and
saturation
adjustment. Daisy chain capability is
enabled through RS-232C allowing for
individually addressable display control.
Digital signage market competitive landscape
according to 2007 Frost and Sullivan’s
“World Digital Signage Markets”
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Displaybank Korea Display Conference
July 2-4, 2008, Seoul, South Korea
Phillip Hill covers talks from Samsung Cheil Industries, Samsung SDI, Displaybank, Lite-On
Technology Corporation, and SAIT
Trend of Key Parts and Materials Technologies for Advanced LCD
Kyuha Chung, Samsung Cheil Industries, Seoul, South Korea
Chung went into detail on the TFT-LCD structure and TFT-LCD module cost structure for a 17-inch monitor and a
32-inch LCD TV (see graphic).
He then looked at the components of an LCD BLU. Because an LCD cannot emit light itself, a backlight source is
necessary involving a light source, optical sheets, a mold frame and chassis. He showed a slide (below) illustrating
the difference between an LCD monitor and an LCD TV.
The talk then turned to overall trends in BLU materials before looking in detail at polarizers. New PVA films will
improve polarizing efficiency more easily and achieve high contrast ratios up to 5,000:1. There is also new optical
phase compensation of LCDs, which improves the contrast ratio at the front and side and reduces cost. Optical
coatings for surface structure will improve contrast ratio and visual clarity. In terms of color filter trends, finer
pigments will produce high contrast ratio and brightness. Maintaining dispersion stability is also required. New
printing processes (inkjet, off-set) will give lower costs (less mask), together with panel uniformity and
reproducibility.
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The Future of SDI PDP Technology
I.H. Song, Samsung SDI, Seoul, South Korea
Song first looked at the flat panel TV outlook. 2008 was PDP TV’s turning point. The PDP market was set to
increase by 40% in 2008. He then outlined the advantages of plasma displays. There is currently a paradigm shift in
display quality. “Emotional Picture Quality” is more important than big numbers (he cited LCD numbers of
1,000,000:1 for LCDs). For Song, emotional picture quality means deep black, vivid skin, and moving picture
expression. PDP has great moving picture performance, he said, with natural picture quality. A higher number of
gradation levels gives enhanced image depth, conveys fine detail, and recreates ambience. He showed a slide that
illustrated perfect black expression with delicate and detailed black. The slide compared a PDP at normal brightness
with an LCD at low brightness and an LCD at high brightness (see below).
In the third part of the presentation, Song covered the strategy of SDI PDP technology. Energy efficiency will
increase from a level of 1.0cd/W in 2008 to 2.5cd/W in 2010. Key technologies are innovative cell structure, new
materials, and optimal driving methods. Slim design developments will reduce module thickness from about 62mm
in 2008 to about 15mm in 2010. Key technologies are glass-less film filters, highly integrated circuit boards, and
high efficiency components. Contrast ratios will move to 2,000:1 in a bright room in 2008 to 4,000:1 in 2010. Key
technologies are “extreme contrast”, C/R enhancement algorithms, and noise-free algorithms. Extreme contrast
means reducing reflection by 30%, upgrading film filter by adding enhanced anti-reflection layers, and increasing
brightness by using lower transparent filters.
Public Information Display Market Trend
Calvin Lee; Displaybank, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Lee first looked at size and resolution positioning by device. CRT covers from 10 to 32-inch small and medium
area while TFT-LCD occupies from 10 to 108 inches. In the case of PDP, it occupies from 32 to 150 inches. LCD
and PDP are mainly used for public information display, replacing CRT in small and medium-size applications.
PID shares relatively the same area with TV but covers a wider range.
FPD is ready for PID, Lee said. Affordable prices attract new applications and expand market availability. The FPD
penetration ratio is already mature for notebook PCs and monitors. Even for TV, the penetration ratio exceeded
50%. Growing size of FPD stimulates advertisers and meets commercial needs to replace existing print and still
advertising market.
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Lee turned to recent issues particularly high reliability. Long-term operation can cause burn-in (see photo). There is
also a need for dust flow protection, excellent temperature uniformity, constant brightness control during the whole
lifetime (3-5 years), and durability against unstable power.
In conclusion, Lee said that
PID is a rising market for
display applications. There
are still lots of technology
obstacles to overcome:
reliability, large displays,
outdoors, cost, weight. An
integrated business with
hardware (display device)
and software would be the
best solution. It is a complicated and mixed market. As new applications appear, expectation will get higher and the
consumer requires higher specifications and features.
LED Technology Trend for Backlight Application
Francis Wong, Lite-On Technology Corporation, Taipei, Taiwan
LCD backlights are a key demand driver. Wong looked at the advantage of LED backlights. They are lighter in
weight. The thickness of the LCD module can be reduced to half when it is equipped with thinner LCD glass and an
LED backlight module. LED is a directional light source. It can easily be coupled into a light guide. Therefore an
LED backlight gains 20-30% of power. With a conjugated low voltage CPU and other low power components, the
total power of notebook PCs can be reduced more than 30% and battery life extended.
There are issues with slim backlights in terms of low yield. There is also a poor supplier pool. Most of the
investment of light guide production before 2005 was dedicated to normal CCFL backlight modules. And total light
guide production capacity worldwide is over demand. But this production capability is not able to support slim type
light guides. Do we really need such thin backlight
modules (BLMs), Wong asked. Side view package
costs are higher than with top LEDs. There are
worse characteristics compared with CCFL. Module
cost is going up and yield is going down due to the
need for thin BLMs and thin panels. The current
investment in injection machines can’t support thin
BLM production. One issue to be closed is long
color mixing (see illustration for explanation). New
light patterns are being developed to reduce the
mixing distance. Wong said that LED backlights are
adopting high reliability packages with lower
thermal resistance. LED is being implemented on
mainstream monitors and TV backlights with RG
phosphor technology. LED is solving the long color
mixing distance and hot spots issue by new LED
light pattern designs.
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Trend of Technology for Picture Quality Improvement on TV
Du-Sik Park, SAIT (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology), Gyunggi-do, South Korea
Park addressed the question, “what is image quality?” It is very important and easily recognizable, but is hard to
define and difficult to measure. He gave two definitions: “An integrated set of perceptions of the overall degree of
excellence of an image” [Peter G. Engledrum, Imcoteck], and “The subjective impression formed in the mind of the
observer relating to the degree of excellence exhibited by an image [Ralph Jacobson, University of Westminster].
Park looked at image quality on TV. Perceived image quality is given by the formula IQIIF x IQDPF x IQHPF (see
illustration for how it works). He gave examples of image quality metrics:
 IQIIF: peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR)
 IQDPF/IQHPF: square root integral (SQRI), modulation transfer function area (MTFA), Δea*b* (CIELAB)
 IQIIF/IQDPF/IQHPF: mean opinion score (MOS), scaled mean score (sMOS).
Park went into detail on contrast improvement and all the different methods around. There is no standard contrast
measure for complex images. The same applies to color quality improvement. There is no standard colorfulness
measure for complex images. Well-produced memory colors will improve the overall image quality. A wide gamut
display can reproduce more vivid natural colors.
Turning to brightness and gradation improvement, brightness can be improved by adding digital value or light
sources, but new approaches are on test, such as four-color displays. Bit resolution improvement technology is
being explored to recover gradation information from lower bit images or degraded. The real solution for a good
gradation is a good display having higher bits.
On spatial quality improvement, detail improvement technology is moving to sub-pixel rendering technology
related to display pixel structure. Interpolation based resolution scaling is not enough, said Park. We need
sophisticated resolution reconstruction techniques such as SR because HD is dominating the market and ultra high
definition is coming.
Image quality improvement technology for TV has made tremendous progress in producing more vivid and natural
images due to the development of image processing technology and flat-panel displays. Image/video processing
technology will be more tightly combined with display driving technology for the reproduction of “ultra realistic”
images on future TVs, such as UDTV and 3DTV. Further research on the mechanism of human perception is very
important for realizing ultimate realism on TV, Park concluded.
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Insight Media Projection Summit 2008
June 16-17, 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada
In this third report of three, Phillip Hill covers presentations from Philips Lighting, Arasor Corporation,
Barco Simulation, Scalable Display Technologies, Insight Media, and Pacific Media Associates
Is Simulation the Future of LCoS?
Paul Lyon, Barco Simulation, Kortrijk, Belgium
CRTs have been king for a long time in simulation with good black level, good light points and good quality. The
simulation industry now needs a replacement for CRTs. The CRT market for simulation is diminishing and causing
much concern for current users. The operational costs of CRT are increasing. Features of CRT that need to be
maintained with alternate technology include: low smear; low latency; no artifacts; no pixel structure; good
nighttime; good edge blending; good resolution; and automatic alignment. Lyon went on to describe some potential
technologies. Laser as a light source for DLP and LCoS will be more successful in the simulation market than
traditional scanned or grating light
valve laser displays. LCoS has the
resolution
advantage
(see
illustration)
and
JVC
has
announced
Super
Hi-Vision
LCoS: 7,680 pixels across by
4,320 pixels. The simulation
markets
want
eye-limited
resolution. Lyon looked at latency
in CRT, LCD, LCoS and DLP.
There is no inherent frame latency
for a CRT or LCD projector. Input
is displayed instantaneously. DLP
has latency on the other hand.
Looking at smear reduction and
response time, Lyon said the problem was response time – the time the projector needs to adapt to new information
and change the pixel’s color. The shift between colors (especially gray-to-gray) takes too much time for a fastmoving image. The solution to LCoS response time smearing can be reduced by Barco’s “True Motion
Reproduction” (TMR). Peaking add extra force to the signal to speed up the switching. LCoS smearing can be
reduced by solving the problem of sample and hold. Digital projectors leave and object fixed on the retina for an
entire field time. The human visual system expects an object to move smoothly, not in 16.67ms steps. The result is
jitter or smearing. The solution is to “shutter” the amount of time an object remains stationary on the retina. An
AFRL study states that smearing is reduced to CRT levels. Lyon discussed brightness dynamic range and color
depth of LCoS projectors. The sequential contrast of LCoS projectors has significantly improved. Typical contrast
now ranges from 6,000:1 to 15,000:1. Further improvements are expected. The brightness dynamic range is being
increased past the sequential contrast via optical apertures and “4th chip” modulators. LCoS has more than 8 bits
per color capability at the “chip” interface to better handle these large brightness dynamic ranges. Typical DVI
interfaces only allow 8 bits of data per color. Alternative interfaces are being devised.
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Ultra High Power and Advanced Driving Schemes
Theodoor Scheerder, Philips Lighting, Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Scheerder first gave an introduction to Philips’ lighting activities and the front projection market environment. He
then looked at the illumination system requirements for the large venue segment, which is currently dominated by
xenon. Looking at application performance improvements and the roadmap for UHP, power will be up enabling
large venue applications, and arc size will be down enabling smaller, low-cost panels. Turning to the value
proposition of UHP vs. xenon, Scheerder said that the UHP technology benefits are efficacy 75% up (UHP is
~70lm/W, xenon ~40lm/W); luminance level 3x up; improved TCO (lower lamp system costs, lower cooling needs
(6A vs. 80A), and lower replacements costs); improved design flexibility (very compact/etendue matching, and
lower acoustical noise); and improved reliability by multi-lamps. There will be continued innovation in UHP lamp
systems: higher power and third-generation ultra short arc. High power up to 400W could be introduced in Q4’09
enabling >6000Alm single lamp projectors and >7500Alm dual-lamp projectors. Third-generation UHP solution,
due to be introduced in Q2’09, will give significant brightness efficiency gain – more than 10% for next-generation
small panels; excellent lifetime through Intelligent Driving Scheme (IDS); and enhanced video performance. The
next level of flexible driving schemes (VIDI2) will act as a brightness booster. Dynamic brightness technology will
act as a contrast booster, and high-power short arc solutions will enable downsizing of panels.
The front projection market environment: sub-segments have different end users, different needs, and
different product architectures
Lasers and Large Venues: Do They Go Together?
Gregory Niven, Arasor Corporation, Sunnyvale, California
Arasor, an Australian-origin company, took over Novalux at the beginning of 2008 and spun out Necsel Inc. in the
middle of 2008 to exploit this new laser technology. The agenda for Niven’s presentation was a Necsel update; key
benefits of lasers versus laps; the value proposition of lasers for digital cinema; and the value proposition of lasers
for large venues.
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Niven predicted that laser TVs would launch in 2008. However, several design wins evaporated in 2007 and many
future designs would depend on Mitsubishi. There were delays to several laser-based products and the supply chain
of “laser components” was the main reason. Looking forward, large venues are aggressively adopting lasers and
there have been home theater/data projector design wins. Lasers are in an advanced R&D stage for LCD BLUs.
Arasor’s strengths are it produces periodically poled lithium niobate crystals for lasers and has low cost laser
assembly. Novalux’s strengths are its Necsel IP and know-how and its markets and customers. The result of the
combination is lowest possible costs with complete control of the laser BOM. Faster development cycles are
possible – no more license partners, and all components can be optimized. Lasers will follow a natural progression
into several major markets: microdisplay projection products; direct scan projection products (with 2D MEMS
scanners); and specialty lighting and illumination applications. Niven defined “large venue” as any projector over
5,000 lumens or intended for large screens and audiences. Only lasers and lamps are suitable for large venue
projection. LEDs will never be capable due to their physical limitations, he said.
Lasers are the only light source that produce saturated primary colors that reach over 90% of what your eye can see
in nature, Niven pointed out. Lamps are about 45-50%, LEDs about 55-60%, and CCFL and phosphors about 4045%. Lasers also offer color stability and
consistency. Necsel lasers can be tuned to
any wavelength in the visible spectrum
beyond the standard RGB (see
chromaticity diagrams). Large venue
projectors can allow for custom
wavelengths to extend the gamut even
further. Laser lifetime greatly exceeds
lamps – lasers will last 7-10 years before
replacement compared to lamps that last
3-6 months. This saves about $3,000 per
year in lamp costs per projector, and
saves on maintenance costs. Lasers can
run with constant power – there is no degradation as with lamps and the projector never needs calibration. Lasers
offer substantial power savings over lamps. There is roughly 50% less electrical consumption and improving. This
saves about $1,000 per year in electricity costs per projector. Lasers offer scalable brightness by adding as many
lasers as necessary to achieve the lumen target, something that cannot be done with lamps, and makes it great for
3D. The lasers can be located remotely or integrated directly into the projector. For digital cinema, lasers enhance
the creative process with true color films and animations, more precise color management, increased contrast ratio,
ultra-wide color gamut, tunable color gamut, dynamic white point control, and dynamic level control.
In conclusion, Niven said, yes, lasers and
large venues go together. Lasers win over
lamps for cost, color, lifetime, efficiency
and brightness. They are also safe – laser
projector permits are not a significant issue
for cinemas and other large venues. Lasers
solve a number of key problems currently
facing both cinema and large venue
projectors.
On the right, a 27-laser, 81W light source using
1mm fibers and a 20m fiber umbilical; on the
left, a laser projector for digital cinema
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Multi-Projector Displays
Andrew Jamison, Scalable Display Technologies, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jamison first showed some photographs of four and five-projector array systems. He then discussed how a multiprojector array scales:




Warp the images to align the pixels
Create over-lapped “common area”
Blend the intensity in the overlap
Color balance the projectors.
Example of a four-projector array at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York
He pointed out that four low-cost projectors
in an array is lower cost than one large
projector. Some factors to be considered are
color and intensity calibration. Aging of
lam-s results in a need for frequent color
calibration. Geometry needs to be
calibrated by manual or automatic
alignment. Edge blending also needs to be
considered.
Color matching techniques involve firstly
modifying the characteristics of the
projectors by manipulating each projector’s
color values. Weaker lamps are boosted to
achieve the best possible images. Secondly,
the image signals sent to the projector can
be modified. This is easier to implement but
results in inferior images. One weak lamp
can drag down the performance of the entire
array. With geometry calibration, the
emerging approach is for fully automatic
calibration. Domes, cylinders and other
complex geometries are very difficult to
correct manually.
A 5-projector array with an articulated wall
Markets and Forecasts for Pico and Pocket Projectors
Matthew Brennesholtz; Insight Media, Norwalk, Connecticut
This talk covered battery powered projectors – pico projectors (both integrated and companion), and battery
powered pocket projectors – and included market overviews and forecasts. There are three categories of small
projector products. Firstly, pico projectors integrated into hand-held systems are expected to be available in 2010.
Secondly, companion pico projectors have a size comparable to a cell-phone or PDA and products have been
announced. Thirdly, pocket projectors have a larger and higher lumen output worked by battery or wall plug. They
are available now.
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There will be multiple revenue streams for industry: sales of the projector to the end user; data stream revenues to
mobile service providers; mobile TV revenues through subscriptions and ad revenue. Success does not have to rely
on a simple sales model. Pocket projectors are stand-alone
projectors to be used with a variety of video sources:
laptops, portable DVD players, PMPs, cell phones, PDAs,
etc. Manufacturers are migrating away from battery power
in this category of projector because the battery is just too
heavy and expensive for a 150 lumen projector.
Brennesholtz said that this may be a dead end. How can a
150 lumen line-powered projector compete with a 1000
lumen line-powered projector that costs less and doesn’t
weigh much more? The current generation of products are
too expensive for consumer use. Products are currently
available but have not sold well because of high prices
($700-$900). The current generation are LED powered but
lasers may be coming into this segment. LED-based
pocket projectors cannot compete with lamp-based
Companion pico projector with iPod
projectors on price until at least 2013.
Brennesholtz concluded by saying that a total of about 40,000 pocket projectors (at the time of the conference) had
been sold since the product category was introduced in 2005. Initial products were expensive and low output.
Current products are expensive and larger. Higher outputs come partly from larger size, not more efficient design.
By 2012, most battery powered projectors will be in the companion projector category based on size and price.
Pocket projectors are floundering as a category. They must maintain their weight/size differentiation from linepowered ultra-portable projectors. The category is likely to merge with companion projectors. Companion
projectors were due to arrive on the market at the end of 2008 from multiple vendors. Acceptance is expected to be
good despite the low lumen output. The low price (<$300) should open new markets. Prices are expected to decline
to <$75 by 2012.
On the left is the market for companion projectors: 11M vs. 45M is a large variation. Integrated sales will have
almost overtaken companion sales by 2012. On the right is the market forecasts for integrated projectors: 4M or 40M
in 2012? There is a huge variation due to the lack of history of the product category.
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Integrated projectors are expected on the market by 2010. A few may be available in late 2009. Sales will be from
multiple vendors using multiple technologies. Acceptance is expected to be good despite low lumen output. The
low price (<$160 in 2010) should open new markets. Prices are expected to decline to <$75 by 2012. Low prices
make it almost (but not quite) and impulse purchase. Can it reach the cost/value level of camera phones? Mobile
service providers look to pico projectors as a way to increase data revenue. They may even subsidize projectors to
capture revenue streams.
Pico/Pocket Projector Opportunities
William Coggshall; Pacific Media Associates, Menlo Park, California
The talk covered the overall front projector market and the “new era” front projector market (gaming and personal
projectors, and miniature projectors). “New era” means less than 500 lumens. Something big is happening in small
projectors, said Coggshall. There were big investments, both within large corporations and venture capital into
start-ups. Hundreds/thousands of potential industrial customers are seeking solutions to as-yet-unfulfilled display
needs.
The miniature projector demandenhancing factors are that there is a
large installed base, and solid
continued growth, of devices that
could use a companion or embedded
miniature projector: mobile phones,
music/video players, and digital
cameras. There is an increasingly
widely perceived benefit of pictures
larger than those on built-in screens of
mobile devices on the part of content
owners, content transmitters, and
mobile device manufacturers.
Coggshall
turned
to
miniature
projector demand-limiting factors.
Some potential killer apps have been
duds so far: TV and video, and games.
New mobile devices will have larger
screens – touch-screen mobile phones,
mobile Internet devices, and ultra
mobile PCs and netbooks. There is an
apparent communications bottleneck
between content-laden mobile devices
and companion projectors – a lack of
an ideal wired solution, and a lack of a
fast-enough wireless solution.
There are still unanswered questions
regarding
miniature
projectors.
Companion or embedded form?
Consumer vs. professional end
market? Which “household name”
brands? Which distribution channel(s)?
Front projectors by brightness bands (worldwide unit shipments)
Total “new era” front projector market (worldwide unit shipments)
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SID Display Week 2008 Symposium
May 20-23, Los Angeles, California
Phillip Hill covers presentations from Tokyo Institute of Technology/National Taiwan University, Barco,
Sharp Corporation/CIS Laboratories/Rochester Institute of Technology, Taiwan TFT LCD Association,
University of Central Florida/Chi-Mei Optoelectronics, Seoul National University/Hanyang University,
HYDIS, and UDC/University of Southern California
Modeling of Amorphous Oxide Semiconductor Thin Film Transistors and Sub-gap Density of States
Hsing-Hung Hsieh, Toshio Kamiya, Kenji Nomura, and Hideo Hosono; Tokyo Institute of Technology,
Yokohama, Japan; Chung-Chih Wu, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
The researchers report a model of the carrier transport and the sub-gap density
of states in a representative amorphous oxide semiconductor, amorphous
InGaZnO4 (a-IGZO), for device simulation of a-IGZO TFTs. To design
electronic devices and circuits, it is important to know the physical properties of
the materials. This simple model is valid for a wide variety of a-IGZO TFTs
including depletion-type and enhancement-type TFTs, indicating that the aIGZO TFT operates as a nearly ideal field-effect transistor except for the subgap DOS. The obtained sub-gap density of states revealed that a-IGZO has very
small density of states in the band gap compared to covalent semiconductors
like hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The TFT model presented in this work
will be of general use for designs of TFT devices and circuits from a-IGZO or
other AOSs, and will benefit further development of the oxide TFT technology
toward the computer aided design stage.
The bottom gate and topcontact type device structure
of the a-IGZO TFTs studied
in this work
A Near Infrared OLED for Day/Night Display
Jason Brooks, Lech Michalski, Ray Ma, Mike Hack, and Julie J. Brown, UDC, Ewing, New Jersey
Carsten Borek, Laurent Griffe, and Mark E. Thompson, University of Southern California, LA, California
Recently there has been a growing interest in OLEDs that emit in the near infrared region (700-1250nm) for covert
night vision applications. The poster reports results on a high efficiency phosphorescent metalloporphyrin OLED
device with a λmax=765nm. The researchers demonstrate a bi-color day/covert night active matrix display
fabricated on flexible metal using this material for the IR pixel.
They demonstrate a new Pt based porphyrin that emits with high efficiency at a wavelength of 769nm. This dopant
has been shown to give reasonable device efficiencies for near infrared emission and long device lifetime. They
plan to use this dopant to fabricate a bicolor day/night display for covert nighttime operations. The display will be
on a steel foil substrate with a polysilicon active matrix TFT backplane. Following OLED deposition, the display
will be monolithically encapsulated. They presented data showing further device optimization of the IR device
architecture that will be incorporated into the flexible display, as well as the results from the display fabrication
itself.
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Color Bias Elimination Technique for Motion Image
Yueh-Yi Lai, Wen-Hung Liao, and Kai-Chieh Chang, Taiwan TFT LCD Association, Hsinchu, Taiwan
The issue of color motion blur has become the most significant study of LCD image quality, the researchers claim.
The motion blur edge width and the motion color bias are two major components of the color motion blur. In this
paper, a color bias elimination technique is proposed to improve the image quality of motion color images. Added
pseudo color is presented to reduce the level of color bias and new color bias index is used to judge the level of
color bias of captured images via a pursuit camera system. A color lookup table (CLUT) has been built
automatically by this technique to improve the image quality of moving color images. Experimental results revealed
that the added pseudo color images had better image quality than the original moving images not only in the color
bias index evaluation but also in the subjective test. The illustration is an example of a complex image using the
CLUT to improve moving image quality by
eliminating color bias. The red circles are
some improved regions where moving
edges were sharper and color transition were
more natural.
The added pseudo color was the symmetric
color of expectative color in the color shift
region. The pursuit camera system was used
to capture images and build the CLUT
An example of a complex image using the color bias elimination
automatically. There are few color pairs that
technique to improve the image quality of a moving edge
didn’t have a better visual effect when using
the added pseudo color. The researchers will attempt another uniformity color space and focus on these color pairs
to find the appropriate pseudo color added into the boundary of color pairs. Then the exact color lookup table can
be generated to reduce the color bias of any moving color pairs. The different scrolling speed and different moving
direction are two very interesting topics in future works, the researchers conclude.
Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan
Yoichi Yamamoto, CIS Laboratories Inc., Nara, Japan
Noboru Ohta, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
The researchers clarified how wide the gamut of subjects intended to be reproduced on a display are, and what kind
of characteristics the BT.709 display has. First they revealed the theoretical limit of real object colors (surfacecolors) with pseudo optimal color, and the gamut of real object colors referred SOCS. Then they revealed the
characteristics of the BT.709 display gamut from comparison between BT.709 display gamut and TV color signal
distribution which was measured. Then they estimated a probability distribution of real object colors, and suggested
a display color design strategy with this knowledge.
In this research, first they revealed the theoretical limit of real object colors with pseudo object colors, and
compared theoretical limit to gamut of real object colors which is converted SOCS under D65. Secondly from
comparison between SOCS and the Pointer’s database, they revealed problems about reference data of real object
colors. Thirdly from comparison between BT.709 display gamut and natural and artificial object colors of SOCS,
the limiting characteristics of BT.709 display gamut for real object colors is revealed. It was verified by measuring
TV broadcast color distribution. Finally they pointed out that they could efficiently improve display color
reproduction ability based on the probability distribution of real object colors. distribution. Finally they pointed
out that they could efficiently improve display color reproduction ability based on the probability distribution of
real object color.
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A New Methodology for Clinical and Perceived Quality of Medical Displays
Cédric Marchessoux, Guillaume Spalla, and Tom Kimpe, Barco, Kortrijk, Belgium
The aim of the study presented in this paper is to develop and validate a new methodology for comparing medical
displays by means of a clinical perceived image quality approach. For this purpose, as virtual specialist, a Human
Visual Observer Model (HVOM) was developed and can determine when the signal pathology can be perceived on
the displays. A new methodology for comparing medical displays by means of a clinical perceived image quality
approach has been developed and validated. A HVOM was developed that can determine visibility of a signal
pathology. Based on this HVOM, a new type of curve corresponding to the perception vs. signal contrast can be
generated and used to compare performance of display systems. This methodology has been used to compare three
display systems for lung nodule detection and has proven to be able to predict some important characteristics of
medical displays such as noise. The methodology described in this paper could become a standard for testing and
validating medical displays.
Fast Response Transflective Display using a Tight Pitch Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal
Dong-Woo Kim, Eunje Jang, Yong-Woon Lim, and Sin-Doo Lee, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Chang-Jae Yu, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea
This is a report on a fast response transflective display using a vertically aligned tight pitch ferroelectric liquid
crystal (FLC) in a single gap configuration. The optical path difference between transmissive and reflective regions
is compensated by adopting in-plane electrodes on two substrates and on one substrate, respectively. In the
transflective FLC display, several unique features such as uniform alignment, fast response, and gray scale
capability are demonstrated. In this configuration, the extremely uniform alignment over large area was naturally
achieved without additional processes including a rubbing process and an electric field treatment. The response
times were found to be on the order of hundred microseconds.
The left image is related to the Barco presentation above showing mammography a: original x-ray chest image
(1536x2048 pixels); b: example of the background with signal inserted at different densities. The image on the right is
a schematic diagram of the transflective FLC cell in a single gap geometry with in-plane electrodes on two substrates
in the T regions and on one substrate in the R regions: (a) under no applied electric field (a dark state) and (b) under
an applied electric field (a bright state).
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New Polarization Converter for Enhancing LCD Brightness
Chang-Ching Tsai and Shin-Tson Wu, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Wang-Yang Li and Chung-Kuang Wei, Chi-Mei Optoelectronics Corp., Tainan, Taiwan
A novel polarization converter using reflective metallic gratings has been developed. This device converts
unpolarized light to linear polarization with over 85% efficiency. Its application for enhancing the brightness of
direct-view liquid crystal displays is emphasized in the poster.
Power consumption is a critical issue for the LCD industry. More than half of the backlight energy is wasted
without using a polarization converter. This broadband wide-angle polarization converter can recycle over 87% of
the incident light with consideration of absorption and dispersion. This device will have a great impact to LCD
backlight industry, especially for these portable devices, where power consumption is always a great concern, the
researchers say.
Enhanced Outdoor Readability in AFFS Plus Technology by Negative LC
Suk Choi, Jun Baek Park, Soon Ju Jang, Kwang Hyun Park and Yoon sung Cho, HYDIS, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
The researchers have developed 10.4-inch 1024x768 tablet with upgraded advanced fringe-field switching plus
(AFFS+ Ver.2). AFFS+ Ver.2 adopts optimized electro-dynamics technology of negative LC with high reflectance
(~ 2.0%) and high contrast ratio (~ 900:1) as well as high transmittance (~9.3%) for superior outdoor readability.
In AFFS+ technology, they increased aperture ratio and created an embossing patterned reflector on the gate area.
However, compared to the transflective mode, in spite of excellent indoor characteristics, it is evident that that
outdoor readability is relatively low due to the narrow reflection area. To improve outdoor readability toward a
level of transflective mode, we should improve inner reflectance of the pixel area as well as LC efficiency and
contrast
ratio.
So,
the
researchers propose AFFS+
with negative LC technology
for upgraded outdoor readability
than AFFS+. They evaluated
indoor and sunlight readability
in 10.4-inch XGA panel with a
new AFFS+ design (called as
AFFS+ Ver. 2) and compared
the display images of 10.4-inch
XGA panels with AFFS+ Ver.2
and AFFS+, respectively.
Competing with transflective
mode in outdoor environments
and any LC modes in indoor
environments,
this
newly
developed AFFS Plus Ver.2
will dominate tablet market by
superior indoor and outdoor
readability as well as riffle-free
characteristics, according to the
company.
Image comparison between Ver 1 and Ver 2 in 10.4 inch XGA: indoor image
(top) and outdoor image (bottom) (Ver 1: left, Ver 2: right).
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February 2009
How this can be…
In the last edition of High Resolution, we showed the leopard/elephant illusion, showing the interchangeable
importance of resolution and viewing distance. Up close, and at high pixel densities, the image is clearly a leopard,
but with viewing distance and increased blur, the image is clearly an elephant.
In many ways, the leopard/elephant example illustrates the basic concept of spatial dithering. Another example is
shown using the colors red and yellow. Up close and at high resolution, the center bar appears as alternating red and
yellow stripes, but from a distance and increased blur, the center bar turns orange. If you are looking at these
images on a low-resolution display, you will be able to see the elephant and the orange color much more easily…
Of course dithering and the grayscale phenomenon of anti-aliasing are much more complex than these simple
examples. The checkerboard pattern below is a famous example of the effectiveness of anti-aliasing algorithms:
Figure 1-a
Figure 1-b
Figure 1-c
Figure 2
Figure 1-a illustrates the visual distortion that occurs when anti-aliasing is not used. Notice that near the top of the image,
where the checkerboard is very distant, the image is impossible to recognize, and is not aesthetically appealing. By contrast,
Figure 1-b is anti-aliased. The checkerboard near the top blends into gray, which is usually the desired effect when the
resolution is insufficient to show the detail. Even near the bottom of the image, the edges appear much smoother in the antialiased image. Figure 1-c shows another anti-aliasing algorithm, based on the sinc filter, which is considered better than the
algorithm used in 1-b. Figure 2 shows magnified portions of Figure 1 for comparison. The left half of the image is taken from
Figure 1-a, and the right half of the image is taken from Figure 1-c. Observe that the gray pixels help make 1-c much
smoother than 1-a, though they are not very attractive at the scale used in Figure 2.
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How can this be?
Visual comments
by Alan Stubbs
Alan Stubbs teaches for the Psychology Department and the Art
Department at the University of Maine. His area of interest in
psychology is perception and in art it is photography and digital
imaging. I addition to illusions, he is interested in the design of
graphs and large format printing on a variety of papers. A current
hobby is cooking better habenero cornbread. He maintains a
website that features many of the fascinating optical illusions that
he has created: http://perceptualstuff.org
The circular illusions in High Resolution #26-27 are both
beautiful and fascinating. Since they are a varied lot and have
been created in a variety of ways, there is not yet an easy two-orAlan Stubbs is illuminated by a lightbox that
three sentence explanation that will cover all of them. An
shows
one of his dynamic luminance illusions.
excellent source is the website of Akiyoshi Kitaoka.
(http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/index-e.html). He created many of these and similar illusions, has provided a
good category system for different illusions, and has offered excellent information about and detailed explanations
for many of them.
Publisher’s note: We showed the above twelve circular optical illusions in the last edition of the High Resolution newsletter.
When reduced to this smaller size, it’s interesting to note that the effects of the optical illusions are different – and diminished.
I would like to show a few examples that will (a) point to an underlying set of conditions that produce an illusory
effect, (b) examples that apply to what at first glance might seem like very different illusions, and (c) examples that
look different but are really the same: simple and complex cases might seem different, but the same underlying
elements are involved.
Let’s start with a classic illusion, the Café Wall illusion. In the first example, the wall has offset yellow and red
“tiles” and the “mortar” separating them is gray. Although the horizontal lines are all parallel, they appear to
diverge and do not look parallel. The illusion does not work if the red and yellow tiles are not offset. If red tiles sit
right on top of yellow and vice versa, the illusion disappears. Many people who describe the illusion fail to mention
another important factor – that the illusion also depends on the thickness of the mortar. If, for example, the gray
lines become much thicker than they are, the illusion will go away.
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The important factor for the Café Wall illusion is that darker and lighter tiles are utilized and that the mortar is of an
intermediate value. This example used light, yellow tiles and dark, red tiles and middle gray mortar. If black mortar
is used (example 2) or white mortar (example 3), the illusion vanishes. If the color of the mortar were changed to a
middle blue, or middle green, or some other middle
value hue the illusion would still work.
The Café Wall illusion would still be present if black and
white tiles replaced red and green (or light green and
dark blue, or light orange and dark indigo). Example 4
uses a simple black and white tiling, but the tiles are
placed in perspective. And example 5 also contains black
and white, but this example uses more complex designs
in each tile. But, both examples retain the basic feature
of lighter and darker tiles and mortar of an intermediate
shade. These two examples are starting to look different
from the previous examples, but the essential aspects for
producing the illusion are still present.
Example 1: The Café Wall illusion
In example 2 (left) the Café Wall illusion doesn’t work if the mortar is black or if it is white, as in example 3.
In examples 4 and 5, black and white tiles in different formats illustrate the same effects as the Café Wall illusion
although the visual appearance is starting to look quite different.
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The next three figures were created with different design issues and questions in mind. In example 6, different
colors were employed, rather than the usual arrangement of one lighter color and a second, darker color. Also, this
example does not have the standard arrangement of a strict alternation of light-dark-light-dark. Instead, dark tiles
(and also light) were sometimes adjacent to each other. A final change from the usual arrangement is that the
columns are not all of the same width: thicker and thinner tiles were used. In the figure every tile is rectangular and
all of the vertical lines are straight and parallel. But, the lines appear to curve and there is in addition an undulating
appearance to the figure due to the irregular arrangement of lighter and darker tiles. Although the figure differs in a
number of ways from the usual Café Wall figures, it still has the basic features of light and dark tiles with an
intermediate shade of mortar.
Example 7 has tiles that at first glance might seem of a different sort. But although the neighbors are all colored
colors lighter than the mortar alternate with colors darker than the mortar. In this example, only some tiles are
filled, and the illusory effects occur only there. When the different colors are omitted, the lines straighten and are all
perceived correctly.
In examples 6 and 7, a variety of colors and column thicknesses were used, resulting in some fascinating illusions.
Having worked on many variants of the Café Wall, I
explored using other forms to see what effects that
might have. Figure 8 is one example with round-edge
tiles. Even with this change the illusory effects are still
present.
The Café Wall illusion can be related to the circular
illusions in High Resolution #26-27. The Café Wall
examples are all arranged focusing on horizontal or
vertical lines. But it is also possible to use the same
feature of dark and light tiles with curved lines to see
what will happen. Example 9 shows one example. And
in this case, the circles seem to be offset as in the
different cases in the last issue of High Resolution.
Example 8: The Café Wall illusion still works with
When circular arrangements are used the result is more
round-edge tiles
complex and perhaps more interesting than the illusory
rising or falling of parallel lines in the Café Wall examples. But, just as irregular placement of light and dark tiles
can lead to an undulating effect in the Café Wall, use of curves lines can also lead to interesting illusory distortions.
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I have concentrated on one way of producing illusory
distortions. There are others. Rather than using offset
light and dark tiles with mortar of an intermediate shade,
similar distortions can be produced with a light and dark
checkerboard pattern with small darker and/or lighter
areas in corners. Figure 10 show one example of the
effects one can obtain. Many other examples can be
found at Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s website, (see previously
referenced URL), as well as more information and
detailed explanations for many illusions. Although this
last example is different, in one way from the prior
figures, they all have a common feature of a change in
brightness near the corners.
The final example makes a general point. Figure 11 came
from hours of exploring (and playing) with various
combinations. The arrangement is certainly different
from the previous examples. But that is only in the
particulars of the design. At the most basic level,
however, this figure has the same features as does the
very first figure and the others.
Example 9: The Café Wall illusion can create
intriguing illusory distortions in a round pattern
Examples 10 and 11 show some complex examples of different ways of producing illusory distortions
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Primary colors
by Clive (Max) Maxfield
Clive (Max) Maxfield is president of TechBites Interactive (http://www.TechBites.com), a
marketing consultancy firm specializing in high technology. Max is the author and coauthor of a number of books, including Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (An Unconventional
Guide to Electronics) (ISBN: 0750675438) and How Computers Do Math (ISBN: 0471732788)
featuring
the
pedagogical
and
phantasmagorical
virtual
DIY
Calculator
http://www.DIYCalculator.com. Widely regarded as being an expert in all aspects of
computing and electronics (at least by his mother), Max was once referred to as “an
industry notable” and a “semiconductor design expert” by someone famous who wasn’t
prompted, coerced, or remunerated in any way. Max can be reached at max@techbites.com.
This article is abstracted from the paper “The Origin of the Computer Console” from the
author’s http://www.DIYCalculator.com website.
In the case of color televisions and computer screens, each picture element (pixel) is formed from a group of red,
green, and blue (RGB) dots (The Origin of the Computer Console: http://www.diycalculator.com/sp-console.shtml).
If all three of these dots are active (lit up) at the same time, from a distance we’ll perceive the group as a whole as
being white. (If we looked really closely we’d still see each dot as having its own individual color.) If we stimulate
just the red and green dots we’ll see yellow; combining the green and blue dots will give us cyan (a greenish, lightbluish); while mixing the red and blue dots will result in magenta (the color magenta, which is a sort of purple, was
named after the dye with the same moniker; in turn, this dye was named after the battle of Magenta, which occurred
in Italy in 1859, the year in which the dye was discovered). Furthermore, mixing different proportions of the three
light sources will result in a gamut of colors, where the word “gamut” means “a complete range or extent”.
Now, this may seem counter-intuitive at first, because it doesn’t seem to work the way we recall being taught at
school, which was that mixing yellow and blue paints together would give us green, mixing all of the colored paints
together would result in black (not
white as discussed above), and so
on. The reason for this is that
mixing light is additive, while
mixing paints or pigments is
subtractive (Figure 1).
The appellation “primary colors”
refers to a small collection of
colors that can be combined to
form a range of additional colors.
In the case of light, the primary
colors we typically use are red,
green, and blue. Since bringing in
new color components “adds” to
the final color, these are known as
the “additive primaries”.
Figure 1: Additive and subtractive primary color combinations
By comparison, when it comes to paints or pigments, the primary colors used by printers are cyan, magenta, and
yellow (CMY). In this case (for the reasons discussed in the following topic), bringing in new color components
“subtracts” from the final color, so these are known as the “subtractive primaries”.
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Actually, forming black by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks together is expensive and typically results in a
“muddy” form of black, so printers typically augment these primary colors with the use of black ink. The result is
referred to as CMYK, where the “K” stands for “black” (we don’t use “B” to represent “black” because this could
be mistakenly assumed to refer to “blue”).
Now, it may be that you have accepted all of the above without a quiver of doubt. On the other hand, you may be
staring at this page with a furrowed frown on your forehead saying to yourself: “Just a minute, that's not what my
old art teacher – Professor Cuthbert Dribble – taught me at elementary school. When it came to paints, he said that
the three primary colors were red, yellow, and blue (RYB); that mixing red and yellow gave orange; combining red
and blue gave purple; and blending yellow and blue gave green. So, can you explain this conundrum?”
Well of course I can! Look into my eyes... have I ever lied to you before? The simplest explanation is that teachers
can tell you anything they like at elementary school and you’ll believe them. A slightly more complex answer is
that the concept of red, yellow, and blue as primary colors predates our modern scientific understanding of color
theory. However, although both of these arguments are true in their own way, the fact that you are reading this
article marks you as a person of high discernment, sharp wit, and keen intellect who demands nothing less than the
most fulsome of explanations for your reading pleasure, so here goes...
In reality, you can pretty much pick any three (or more) colors and call them “primary” colors, and this will be true
on the basis that they are your primary colors. Mixing two of your primary colors together will result in a secondary
color; mixing one of your primary colors with one of your secondary colors will result in a tertiary color, and so
forth.
One example of a non-standard collection of primary colors was an early color photographic process known as
Autochrome, which was invented circa 1903-1904 in France by the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis. This
process typically used orange, green, and violet as its primary colors.
In 1666, as part of his experiments with prisms, Sir Isaac Newton developed a circular diagram of colors that is now
commonly referred to as a “color wheel”. For one reason or another, theorists of that time decided that red, yellow,
and blue were the best primary colors for pigments, and –
even though we now know that red, yellow, and blue
primaries cannot be used to mix all of the other colors –
they have survived in color theory and art education to
the present day.
Purely for the sake of completeness, let’s consider a color
wheel based on red, yellow, and blue as its primary triad
as shown in Figure 2.
Using our three primary colors as a starting point, we can
generate three secondary hues: mixing red and yellow
gives orange; yellow and blue gives green; and blue and
red gives purple. Similarly, mixing the primary colors
with their adjacent secondary colors results in six tertiary
hues: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, bluegreen, blue-purple, and red-purple.
There are lots of different theories regarding the way in
which different colors can be used in conjunction with
each other so as to produce a pleasing effect to the eye
(that is, so that it looks good to humans). For example,
Figure 2: Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors
based on red, yellow, and blue (RYB) as being the
primary triad on a standard “color wheel”
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complementary colors are any two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel and provide
maximum contrast, such as red and green, red-orange and blue-green, and so forth as illustrated in Figure 3(a). By
comparison, analogous colors are any three colors that are side-by-side on the color wheel, such as yellow, yellowgreen, and green as illustrated in Figure 3(b).
The problem is that – Figures 2 and 3
notwithstanding – red, yellow, and blue are
not well-spaced around a perceptuallyuniform color wheel that embraces the entire
spectrum of colors. This means that using red,
yellow, and blue as primaries yields a
relatively small gamut, and it is impossible to
mix them so as to achieve a wide range of
colorful greens, cyans, and magentas. This is
the reason why modern color photography and
three-color printing processes employ cyan,
magenta, and yellow as primaries, because
these offer a much wider gamut of colors.
At this juncture, we should perhaps briefly
mention terms like shade, tint, and hue. The
problem is that all of these words have several
different meanings depending on whom you
Figure 3: Two examples of different ways in which colors can be
are talking to. For our purposes here, we may
used together.
say that hue is the quality of a color that
allows us to assign it a name like “greenish-blue” or “reddish-orange”. More formally, one might say that the hue is
the dominant wavelength of a particular color – that is, the “color of a color”.
Meanwhile, shade may be described as “the degree of darkness within a hue” and tint may be considered to be “the
degree of lightness within a hue”. In the case of painting, for example, artists have long used the word “shade” in
the context of mixing a color with black, so a shade is a color that has been made darker in this way. By
comparison, artists use the word “tint” to refer to the mixing of a color with white, so a tint is a color which has
been made lighter in this way. As a further point of interest, it is common to refer to red, yellow, green, blue, white,
and black as being the psychological primaries, because we subjectively and instinctively believe that these are the
basis for all of the other colors.
Before we move on, a reader of an earlier version of this paper – retired electronics engineer Dwight W. Grimes –
e-mailed me to say that he’d been pondering my original “Additive and subtractive color combinations” diagram
shown at the beginning of this topic. After considering the additive and subtractive color combinations in the
context of Venn Diagrams (one of the logical tools used by electronics and computing engineers), Dwight
suggested that a slightly more intuitive representation might be as illustrated in Figure 4.
Dwight’s idea is that, in the case of light, the surrounding “world” (in the form of an empty theater/stage/room with
the lights turned off, for example) should be black, then we add red, green, and blue light by activating
appropriately colored spotlights; the combination of all of these light sources results in white light. By comparison,
in the case of paint, the surrounding “world” (in the form of a large piece of paper, for example) should be white,
then we subtract colors by applying cyan, magenta, and yellow pigments to the paper; the combination of all of
these pigments results in black. By Jove, I think Dwight is right (I’m a poet and I never knew it). I will use this new
representation in the future. (If you want to know more about the origin of Venn Diagrams, please feel free to
peruse and ponder my paper Logic Diagrams and Machines at http://www.diycalculator.com/sp-logicdiag.shtml).
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Last but not least, I recently (as I
pen these words) ran across yet
another representation of the
mixing of primary colors that
rather took my fancy. As you can
see in Figure 5, this is similar to
Dwight’s proposal, except that this
new version is presented as a
gradual merge between the various
primary colors (I’m sorry I
couldn't arrange for the primary
colors in this new illustration to be
in the same relative locations as
for my earlier diagrams, but this is
the way I found them).
Mixing light versus mixing
paint: So why does mixing light
work one way while mixing paint
works another? Gosh, I was
hoping you wouldn’t ask me that
one. Well, here’s a question right
back at you – what colors come to
mind when you hear the words
“tomato”, “grass”, and “sky”? You
almost certainly responded with
red, green, and blue, respectively,
but why? The main reason is that
when you were young, your
mother told you that “Tomatoes
are red, grass is green, and the sky
is blue”, and you certainly had no
cause to doubt her word.
Figure 4: A slightly different representation of the additive and
subtractive color combinations.
Figure 5: Yet another way of looking at things
(Courtesy of http://home.wanadoo.nl/paulschils)
However, the terms “red”, “green”, and “blue” are just labels that we have collectively chosen to assign to certain
portions of the visible spectrum. If our mothers had told us that “Tomatoes are blue, grass is red, and the sky is
green”, then we would all quite happily use those labels instead. What we can say is that, using an instrument
called a spectrometer, we can divide the visible part of the spectrum into different bands of frequencies, and we’ve
collectively agreed to call certain of these bands “red”, “green”, and “blue”. Of course everyone’s eyes are slightly
different, so there’s no guarantee that your companions are seeing exactly the same colors that you are. Also, our
brains filter and modify the information coming from our eyes, so a number of people looking at the same scene
will almost certainly perceive the colors forming that scene in slightly different ways.
Here’s another question for you: “Why is grass green?” In fact we might go so far as to ask: “Is grass really green
at all?” Surprisingly, this isn’t as stupid a question as it might seem, because from one point of view we might say
that grass is a mixture of red and blue; that is, anything and everything except green! The reason we say this is that,
when we look at something like grass, what we actually see are the colors it didn’t absorb. For example, consider
what happens when we shine white light on patches of different colored paint (Figure 6).
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The red paint absorbs the green and blue
light, but it reflects the red light, which is
what we end up seeing. Similarly, the green
paint absorbs the red and blue light and
reflects the green, while the blue paint
absorbs the red and green and reflects the
blue. The white paint reflects all of the
colors and the black paint absorbs them all,
which means that black is really an absence
of any color.
Thus, returning to our original question
about the color of grass: we could say that
grass is green because that’s the color that it
reflects for us to see, or we could say that
grass is both blue and red because those are
the colors it absorbs.
Figure 6: The effect of shining white light on different colored paints.
This explains why the process of mixing paints acts differently to that of mixing light. If we start off with two tins
of paint – say cyan and yellow – and shine white light at them, then each of the paints absorbs some of the colors
from the white light and reflects others. If we now mix the two paints together, they each continue to absorb the
same colors that they did before, so we end up seeing whichever colors neither of them absorbed, which is green in
this case. This is why we say mixing paints is subtractive, because the more paints we mix together, the greater the
number of colors the combination subtracts from the white light.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Enough resolution, p18
Square pixels, p57
Ray tracing, p67
Megapixels, p18
The MultiView compilation newsletters bring together the contributions of various regular
contributors to the Veritas et Visus newsletters to provide a compendium of insights and
observations from specific experts in the display industry.
http://www.veritasetvisus.com
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Quality vs. value: when is enough enough?
by Michael Reichmann
Michael Reichmann has been a professional photographer for some 45 years and operates a
fine-art photography gallery located in Toronto, Canada. His works have appeared in
numerous magazines and books in six countries. For the past 15 years he’s instructed
photography at the college level and he teaches photographic workshops and seminars
throughout the world. He’s also author of more than 300 articles on photographic technique
as well as equipment reviews. He serves as a consultant to numerous companies with regard
to product design and marketing. He is founder, publisher, and primary author of the
Luminous Landscape and the Luminous Landscape Video Journal, in which this article first
appeared. http://www.luminous-landscape.com
We are coming to a significant crossroad in the evolution of digital photography. There is
a convergence of factors underway that is changing the way in which we perceive the
merits and value of the equipment that we purchase.



On the one hand we have a rapidly flattening slope on the image quality side of the ledger, where it
takes a serious additional expenditure to derive what is often only a moderate increase in image quality.
On the other we have the worst global economic environment in our lifetimes, which is causing
photographers to more seriously evaluate the value proposition of their purchases than ever before.
The third hand holds the issue of numeric analysis vs. the evidence of one’s eyes. What do we do when
the test numbers tell us one thing and ours eyes tell us another?
Cloud Shrouded Mountain – Antarctica, January 2009
Phase One 645 with P65+ back and 75-150mm lens @ ISO 100
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That was then: As photographers we are constantly searching for cameras and lenses that will produce the highest
quality images. In the days before digital this search for the holy grail of image quality meant using the finest
grained and highest resolving B&W films available, along with the best lenses that money could buy. Of course we
also would shoot with the largest format that we could, along with using the best shooting techniques to optimize
image quality.
But all of this came with a price – a practical one more often than financial. Yes, a 4x5-inch view camera could
produce much higher image quality than a 35mm, but bulk and practicality were sacrificed for many applications.
ASA 25 film had very fine grain, but didn’t lend itself well to hand-held shooting. Top-of-the-line lenses cost an
arm and a leg, as they still do today, and primes not zooms were always the order of the day. Slow films along with
large formats usually meant tripods, and optimum shooting techniques were a must if highest quality images were
to be achieved.
This is now: During the past ten years photography has undergone a massive shakeup. Many of the old rules have
been turned on their heads, but others are as true today as they were before the turn of the past century, just nine
years ago. Whereas 35mm film was rarely able to produce high quality prints above 11x14 inch, today with 21-25
megapixel sensors 35mm DSLRs we can routinely produce 20x24-inch prints of excellent quality by almost any
standard. This quality would once have been the domain of the best medium format systems. Medium format backs
are now available offering between 39 and 60 megapixels, at a full 15-16 bit bit-depth. Such files, again – when
shot with the best lenses and appropriate technique – can produce 30x40-inch prints that not just rival but easily
surpass the quality possible from large format sheet film.
Boat Wreck – Half Moon Island, Antarctica. January, 2009
Nikon D3x with 24-70mm f/2.8 @ ISO 200
Price not size as a determinant: More so than ever before though, price is a significant determining factor in what
one can achieve when it comes to an image’s technical quality. In fact, unlike in the days of film when exceptional
technical quality was possible from often modest systems – as long as the largest possible film sizes were used – the
goodness of today's sensor-based imaging system’s quality correlates most directly with cost rather than size.
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So, putting aside common factors such as the use of quality lenses, appropriate shooting technique, and optimum
post processing and printing, what we come down to is a paradigm shift. Yes, size does matter, but cost is a more
significant determining factor when it comes to technical quality than in the pre-digital days where, all other things
being equal, film size was the most significant factor. Then, a used $500 4x5-inch camera with a decent lens could
produce a print that was technically head and shoulders better than that from the best and most expensive small
format systems. Godzilla was right – size mattered.
The value factor: Today though, there is a direct link between image quality and price. Using the same lens a
1960’s $200 Nikkormat and a $1,500 Nikon F would produce identical image quality. The camera itself hardly
contributed to image quality. It was the type of film and especially the film format's size that mattered most.
This is definitely not the case when it comes to today’s DSLRs. Continuing the Nikon analogy, a D40 and a D3x
produce different image quality but are separated by more than an order of magnitude in price!
Now we get to the crux of the matter. How big is that image quality difference? At a price ratio of 10x does this
mean that the D3x is ten times better than a D40 in terms of image quality? Similarly, and so I’m not accused of
Nikon bashing (I'm an equal opportunity basher) is a Canon 1Ds MKIII worth 10x the price of a Canon Rebel XS?
Since it’s obvious that today’s photographer contends with a different size/performance and price/performance
paradigm than in the past, now more than ever we need to consider what I’m calling the value factor.
I shook up (actually pissed-off is more like it) a lot of people late last year when I compared the image quality
possible from a $500 15-megapixel Canon G10 with a $40,000 Phase One P45+ 39-megapixel back on a
Hasselblad H2. My little test showed that on a selection of 13x19-inch prints a panel of industry pros couldn’t
differentiate between the two more than roughly 50% of the time. What the hell was that about?
The answer is the value factor, and the extent to which it is becoming a significant issue in the photographic
industry. Nikon fans were both excited and depressed when the D3x was announced. It appeared to be an exciting
new flagship for the company, breaking Canon’s nearly eight-year-long dominance of high-resolution pro-level
camera bodies, but at over $8,000 the price seemed a bridge too far, as I called it at the time.
Why? Because of two things. The D3 camera, which is absolutely identical to the D3x other than for its sensor,
costs $4,000. This means that the sensor alone in the D3x is costing us a cool $4 grand. But the Sony A900 also has
a 25-megapixel sensor and sells for under $3,000 – less than the cost of the Nikon sensor alone! What’s with that,
especially since it is now known that these two camera’s sensors share the same underlying Sony fabricated silicon,
so chip yield can’t be a significant factor?
Exacerbate this with Canon simultaneously shipping the 5D MKII, a sub-$3,000 21-megapixel camera, and
photographers were left wondering about a lot of things. Further compound this with the worst economic downturn
in a lifetime, and the plot thickens.
Value vs. perceived quality: All of this was on my mind during the first three weeks of January during my
Antarctic Photographic Expedition. Here were 77 photographers working together on a ship almost 24 hours a
day for 13 days. These people were primarily advanced amateurs and pros, and more to the point, were affluent
enough to have afforded a trip, which, with travel expenses, cost close to $15,000.
Looking at the mix of camera system represented, about 70% were shooting Canon and some 30% were shooting
Nikon – with lots of D700's represented in that group. Of the Canon shooters a surprising 50%, a total of 26 people,
had the new Canon 5D MKII, while among the Nikon shooters there was just one D3x (other than the test sample I
was carrying). Looking at the 50 Canon photographers we saw that the vast majority also had various expensive
1 Series bodies, and among the total group there were also eleven people shooting with medium format systems as
well as their DSLRs. These consisted of ten Phase One backs mounted on a mix of Phase One and Hasselblad
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bodies, with one older Imacon (Hasselblad) back as well. Incidentally, this count did not include either me or Kevin
Raber, who were also shooting with Phase One systems.
Midnight – Marguerite Bay, Antarctica, January 2009
Sony A900 with Sony 70–300mm f/4.5-5.6 G @ ISO 200
One last point of interest. Kevin and I were each shooting with the just-released 60-megapixel P65+ back, and were
loaning them to anyone on the trip that cared to try them. Of the ten people already shooting with medium format
backs I know that six have now committed to upgrading to the P65+ after seeing what it was capable of – a very
high percentage, and at not an inconsiderable expenditure.
The point I’m making is that this relatively affluent group of ardent amateurs and pros seemed through their
purchases to be expressing a very clear bias toward a combination of both image quality and value. The value
proposition of the Canon 5D MKII clearly appealed to many since 50% of them had bought one for this trip along
with whatever other Canon cameras that they already owned, mostly 1 Series. Conversely, the perceived image
quality proposition represented by the P65+ obviously appealed to existing Phase One owners on the trip, though
the price of an upgrade is considerable – more in fact than the price of any current DSLR!
The take-away from this, at least to my mind, is that those that can afford cameras that produce the best image
quality will spend the money, but there has to be both perceived as well as actual value. Value in this instance is a
multifaceted metric, representing a balance between dollars and performance.
The value curve: One only has to look at the DxOMark chart which compares price to performance to see how
various cameras compare. On the next page, we see a chart that shows price on the bottom axis along with the
DxOMark score on the left. The further to the right the higher the price, and the further up the chart, the better the
image quality, according to their criteria. A DxOMark score without reference to price is a fairly meaningless
number for most people, at least when it comes to making a purchasing decision.
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Before going further I should mention that I also have a serious beef with DxOMark in that it does not take
resolution into account. This seriously skews the results, because a relatively low-resolution camera with high
image quality (such as the Nikon D90) scores very well, though it only has 12 megapixels. If you only make small
prints, then that’s fine, but if largish prints or layouts are your thing then you have to take absolute resolution into
account, and for this purpose 12 megapixels is likely not enough, even if the image quality of those pixels is high.
As a consequence, a small group of individuals active in the industry, including an economist trained in the
requisite mathematics, are trying to come up with a template which will integrate DxOMark ranking, price, and
resolution into a composite that will be useful for people with varying needs in making purchasing decisions. More
on this in a future article...
So – keeping these caveats in mind, how do things shape up? If you load this chart directly yourself on the
DxOMark web site (http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor) what you’ll see is that the highest
performing camera along with the highest price tag is the Nikon D3x, at the far top right. Based on my own
shooting experience with it in Antarctica I can verify that indeed the image quality from this camera is outstanding,
and it offers build quality and features that one can see are commensurate with it likely being the best DSLR
currently on the market.
But, on the value scale it runs aground. The highlighted camera on the graph is the Sony A900. Besides the D3x
there are three other cameras that surpass the A900 in DxOMark score – the Nikon D700, D3 and the Canon 1Ds
MKIII. In each of these cases the score
differences are trivial, and in the case of the
D3 and D700 these are 12MP cameras, not
25MP. As for the 1Ds MKIII it is twice the
price of the A900.
Are you getting my drift yet? Unless you
recently won the lottery, now more than at
any time in most people’s lifetimes, value
has to be considered when making a
purchase. How is value determined? By
balancing price and performance based on
one’s own particular needs and abilities.
Using this metric, in my opinion the best
camera value on the market today is the
Sony A900. It offers the fifth highest
DxOMark score of all cameras and of the
four cameras ahead of it two offer only half
the resolution and the other two cost
between two and three times as much.
What about features and build quality?
After a week in the Arizona desert followed
by two weeks in Antarctica, all without a hint of problem, I can say that the Sony body and lenses offer all the
ruggedness that most people need, and as for features, while not being the most feature laden, they do have such
niceties as in-body stabilization and sensor dust shake removal, which the class-leading D3x doesn’t.
Am I trying to sell you an A900 or dis the D3x? No, of course not. This was my choice, not yours. It is completely
immaterial to me what camera you purchase. As an equipment reviewer, teacher and journalist I own all three
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brands, and have paid for each of them through purchase at retail. I have no brand loyalty or bias. Simply a personal
preference for both high image quality and value.
It was based on this calculation that several months ago I purchased a Sony A900 system, consisting of a couple of
bodies and a selection of Sony and Zeiss lenses. Given the changing economic times I wanted to see how the
marketplace was going to handle the value factor, and my calculation was that the A900 represented the sweet spot
in that equation.
But – and this will really confuse some people, I have also just finished field testing a production Phase One P65+
back, a 60-megapixel medium format back costing more than $40,000, and have decided to buy one by upgrading
from my current P45+. Why? Not because I feel that the P65+ scores well on the value scale – by any measure it
doesn’t – but because I believe that it scores at the absolute pinnacle of the performance scale, offering image
quality beyond anything that I've seen before. So as a professional landscape and nature photographer I find this
expenditure to be worthwhile – for me.
Car Shadow, Tin Roof and Flowers, Ushuia Argentina. January, 2009
Canon G10 @ ISO 200
Where now? Confused? Annoyed? Frustrated? Understandably.
Life isn’t simple, and neither are purchasing decisions. What I do, and the reasons why, may not be right for you,
and vice versa. I have the freedom to buy different gear for long-term use and testing because of the nature of my
business. Few photographers other than the very wealthy do similarly (though I know a few, and some are also
really exceptional photographers, so don’t be too cynical about those with high disposable income and talent).
The point of this ramble is that we are now in a different technical as well as economic environment than most of us
have lived though for the past several decades. On the one hand we have price being an absolute factor in
determining image quality (the Nikon D3x and Phase One P65+ as but two examples), and a flattening price/
performance curve as evidenced by the Sony A900, offering maybe 90% of the goodness of the higher priced
spread at less than a third of the price.
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And in an era where a $500 pocket camera like the Canon G10 can produce A3 sized prints that can fool industry
experts as to whether they were from a medium format back, we really need to start applying some rationality to
our discussions, if not our purchasing decisions.
Those who demand and can afford the very best will continue to purchase it, be it a Nikon D3x, a Phase One P65+,
or something else. Those with high image quality demands but more moderate budgets will shop carefully and reap
the benefits. And those with very low budgets will be able to purchase and use gear that while inexpensive is
remarkable in its ability to produce excellent quality results when used within certain constraints. Not everyone
needs either ISO 25,000 or 30x40-inch prints.
And, finally, I’m sure that there are still countless happy photographers out there shooting 4x5-inch film with their
sub-$500 thirty year old view cameras and producing large prints of astonishing quality in the chemical darkroom.
Notwithstanding the dire economy, this really is the golden age of choice when it comes to photographic
equipment.
Kinetica Art Fair and Technologies Workshop
March 2, 2009
Venue: P3, London’s newest art space, located opposite Baker Street Tube
This event is a unique opportunity to network with, talk to, and be truly inspired by the imaginations of
cutting edge new media artists and technologists. The Kinetica Art Fair is taking place over four days
bringing together galleries, museums and organizations from around the world. With Exhibitions and
Performances from some of the world’s leading artists in kinetic, electronic, robotic, light, sound, timebased and interdisciplinary new media art.
On Monday 2nd March, Kinetica Art Fair will host a comprehensive series of presentations in association
with UK Displays & Lighting KTN. Ten pioneering artists, engineers and technologists specializing in
electronics, display technology and light art will be presenting their work and ideas over the course of the
day. The purpose of this Emerging Technologies Day is to bring the arts and science communities together
to explore the many opportunities and innovations presented by new technology.
Artists
Jason Bruges
Chris O Shea
Dominic Harris
Chris Levine
Martin Richman
Rory Marples
http://www.jasonbruges.com
http://www.chrisoshea.org
http://www.cinimodstudio.com
http://www.chrislevine.com
http://www.martinrichman.com
http://www.iGuzzini.co.uk
Technologists
Richard Kirk
Phil Surman
Bill Crossland
Adrian Cable
Polyphotonix
De Montfort University
Cambridge University
Light Blue Optics
The technologists will present on leading edge 3D research, printable OLED lighting, state-of-the-art
projection systems and color reflective displays. For further details: http://www.kinetica-artfair.com/
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Content everywhere… in what form, what format?
by Andy Marken
Andy Marken is president of Marken Communications in Santa Clara, California. He has
been involved in the video/illustration content and storage industry for more than 20 years.
Years ago, he was instrumental in helping Philips introduce CD technology to the US. He
has helped launch and educate the market regarding DVD-R and DVD-RAM. Today he is
working to launch the blue laser technologies – Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Andy has also been
instrumental in supporting a wide range of video and content firms including Sigma
Designs, Dazzle, Pinnacle Systems, FAST, InterVideo, Ulead, and other firms in the
software and hardware industries. He can be reached at http://www.markencom.com.
Photos grab moments. Videos/movies tell stories. The challenge is to figure out which
one the market will want (or get) in the next 3, 5, 10 years That sort of sums up the
annual information-rich 6Sight Conference in Monterey, CA. Sure there are a few of the boring “gee we’re great”
company sessions but for the most part the event keeps a clear focus on the light at the end of the tunnel…
information, imaging, communications convergence.
The broad brush: The chip industry has long had its Moore’s Law (transistors double every two years). Not to be
outdone the imaging industry has (Barry) Hendy’s Law – pixels per dollar.
Figure 1: Laws of the land – Moore’s Law (l) of computer power increases has been around since 1958.
Hendry’s since 1998. Image sensor price/performance is very good but not quite keeping pace with the chip
industry. Sources – Wikipedia, PMA
The microprocessor industry ships over 400M units a year and 10B embedded microprocessors a year. The imaging
industry ships over 100M photo/video devices annually and 1 billion camphones. Obviously photo/video folks have
some catching up to do. In addition to dropping them into cameras, camcorders and phones they plan to put cheap
and ultra small complete and general purpose units… everywhere! Chris Aubuchon of Tessera gave attendees a
look at what could be possible when you get image sensors wafer level small, power conservative, onboard
intelligent and cheap. As he said, “If it can be done, it will!” OK, so he sees cameras everywhere.
But if the industry can come close to Hendy’s Law units could be used for:


TV – gesture control and personalized settings, content/lighting settings
Autos – safety, lane change detection, passenger monitoring, security systems
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

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Toys – speech/emotional detection/personalization
Advertising – crowd/demographic settings, content
control/modification
Home – security, family monitoring, personalized
settings, safety
Public – security, foot and auto traffic flow,
activity monitoring
The British already complain about their images being
captured at least 300 times a day. If Aubuchon’s vision
turns into reality we may have to give up eating, going to
the bathroom and having… ever again!
Figure 2: Photo panel – beyond megapixels, camera
Capturing today, tomorrow: It became painfully obvious
manufacturers continue to add features and
that professional and casual consumers wanted/expected
capabilities to encourage and expand sales. Panel
more for less… even if they didn’t need it, didn’t know
members are (L-R): Paul Worthington, Future Image;
how to use it. Camera sales peaked a year ago and while
Chuck Westfall, Canon; Daniel Grotta,
initial projections showed a slight increase, analysts felt
DigitalBenchmarks; Gregg Vandivert, Kodak; Darin
the market would be flat or even drop a little. NPD noted
Pepple, Fujifilm; Dr. Goulin Ma, DxO Labs
that there was a total 76% camera penetration in the US,
74% compacts and 10% SLR (single lens reflex). Globally, Gfk said sales rose from 126M units (+18%) in ’07 to
140M (+11%) in ’08. InfoTrends noted that device sales would remain static or experience a slight increase in ’09.
To stimulate demand there’s a growing stress on delivering higher resolution, increased sensitivity,
speed/performance, packaging style, in-camera processing, overall ease-of-use.
Two years ago the average resolution was 5MP. It jumped to 7+MP last year and this year it’s 10MP. Tomorrow?
While the panelists agree that more MP is so much BS, no one is willing to blink in the MP race. Devices with
50MP and AVCHD capture just mean more storage requirements. But RED’s 261MP camera seems a little over the
top unless you make your living using this instrument. Higher resolution units are sitting in the wings. Raising the
bar on MP resolution also causes sensitivity problems. New devices have increased computational power to reduce
noise, improve low-light sensitivity and reduce blur. Early digital camera users hated the horrendous click-tocapture shutter lag. Today it’s pretty
difficult to see any difference in devices.
Speed and performance are expected.
Manufacturers continue to push the
envelope with 5-7 frames-per-second
(fps). Leave it to RED, their camera
captures 120 RAW fps and some of the
leading edge movie cameras capture 1,000
+ fps. It’s seems ironic that the industry
talks about device specs in old-fashioned
photography
terminology.
Younger
videographers never “used” them and you
get a blank stare when you discuss them
with normal consumers. It was agreed that
added capabilities and functions would
Figure 3: Flat to down – cameras and camcorders hit their peak in ’07
include
onboard
computer
editing
and were expect to be flat or down slightly in ’08. While compact unit
capabilities
to
help
make
even
sales are falling off, single lens reflex (SLR) unit sales remain strong.
photos/videos “viewable”.
Source – PMA
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Cameras/camcorders are available with computerized features:





enhanced scene and face/smile/blink detection
facial/ shadow enhancement
object/image tracking
red-eye, complexion modification
High dynamic range (HDR)
luminescent/image techniques
We’re not certain who but firms that leap to
the next level will deliver:



automated face recognition/labeling
GPS geo-tagging
Automated means of finding either
of these without searching every
folder, every image
Analyst check: Kristy Holch, one of the
founders of InfoTrends, moderated a blue
ribbon analyst roundtable to give attendees
the 30,000 ft view of issues, opportunities
and challenges.
Figure 4: MP race – since no manufacturer will blink in
delivering greater megapixel performance, the median resolution
continues to grow from 5 to 7 to 10MP. Source -- NPD
Key execs from Lyra, InfoTrends, Gfk,
NPD, PMA and Future Image had similar
crystal ball visions of 2011. While they
agreed on the challenges for ’09, their
priorities were all over the scale:








Economy
HD – living room
Telling stories with images
Camera types (emerging, DSLR,
compact)
Video/still convergence
Image management, preservation,
retrieval
Content infrastructure, connected
experiences
Tagging/sorting/managing images
That’s what makes the industry interesting.
Figure 5: Near term, long term – the industry’s leading
camera/video/imaging industry analysts gathered on the stage at the
6Sight to discuss the industry’s challenges and opportunities for the
short term (through ‘09) as well as long term (2011). They all were in
agreement on the issues, just not the priority order. Source – Kristy Holch
Veni, video, vici: Today, nearly every camera shoots video and every camcorder shoots video. The two devices
coexist in the consumer market. In the professional and prosumer markets there are clear distinctions.
Paul Worthington, moderator and FutureImage analyst, set the stage by noting that video is the most powerful
communications tool available. Anyone can access the tools to capture, view, distribute high quality video. He said
good VGA content can be captured with cameras, camcorders and even camphones but few people do anything
more than file it… somewhere.
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Tanguy Leborgne, VP of worldwide marketing for Pinnacle, made a distinction between photos and videos.
“Photos capture a moment, videos tell a story – HD on the TV screen or VGA on YouTube,” he noted. People want
to tell their story,” he continued, “but non-professionals don’t have the training or self-discipline to think through,
begin and end the story.” He noted it’s not a daunting task but the thought and flow functions are foreign to average
users”:
“Our task as hardware and software providers is to
help them break hurdles and help them produce
really interesting videos,” he added. “They may
never produce a Hollywood spectacular but at least
they will be movies for their family, their church,
their school, their neighbors that they can be proud
of. When they do that… we make the world a more
beautiful place.”
Content calls: Tony Henning, senior analyst at
Future Image, referred back to the camera market
update and noted that while camera/camcorder
sales were flat in the established markets and
increasing only slightly in the emerging market,
which certainly wasn’t the case for camphones. As
with most people, he credits the iPhone in turning
the “nice to have” feature of camphones to a
requirement.
The growth inhibitors for camphones have been
poor image quality, awkward hardware design,
nearly impossible software, poor transfer options,
slow/spotty networks and overly expensive data
plans. But in looking at sites like Flickr that tracks
the type of device photos and videos are uploaded
from, the iPhone leads the pack by more than 3:1!
Despite the introduction of a wide range of iPhone
“competitors,” the recently introduced Motorola
Motozine comes close to being a serious
camera/camcorder/phone. Henning sees a steady
increase in camphone resolution and at this stage he
feels pixels do matter. He believes in the next year
or two we will see camphones with:






Auto-focus mechanisms
Improved video including VGA at 30fps,
slow-mo, fast-mo, HD
DSC
features
including
anti-shake,
face/smile/blink
detection,
red-eye
reduction, panorama/scene modes, and more
Larger, tighter displays with richer color
palettes
Geo-tagging
Complete connectivity options
Figure 6: Helping hand – executives in the video session agreed
that most of the video content captured – phone, camera or
camcorder – seldom moves from the device to storage to
viewing. Education seems to be the key. Panel members (L-R):
Paul Worthington, Future Image; Stephan Cote, Arcsoft; Chuck
Westfall, Canon; Andrei Andrievsky, Kodak; and Tanguy
Leborgne, Pinnacle
Figure 7: Phone Resolution – For the younger crowd better quality
photos, even with their camphones, is important. As a result,
resolution increases continue to improve. Soon they’ll be looking
for intelligent units with advanced capabilities as well.
Source – Future Image
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Shrinking pixels: Henning’s projections were probable music to Tessera’s Aubuchon ears who showed the
audience how the industry had progressed from Apple’s 1994 Quicktake 100 to today’s cameras, camcorders,
camphones and next generation modules. Back then the image sensors were 9 micro millimeters costing about $20
per module. Today they are 1.75 um costing about $2.30 per VGA module. While camphones have stimulated the
development of smaller, more integrated, more intelligent mechanisms; he sees a world of “camera” opportunities
in the years ahead. The new compact imaging sensors are only the tip of the iceberg in his estimation thanks to
significant research including:








Sub-wavelength pixel research sub-500 nm at
Stanford U
Color filter, complex optical integrated color
pixels at Stanford U
Multi-aperture imaging/polydioptric cameras at
Stanford U
Smart and OptiML algorithm optics at Tel-Aviv U
Compressive sensing/imaging at Rice U
Fast 3D Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR),
photo stitching – UC Berkeley
Polynomial texture mapping - HP
Real-time image processing/generation – UCSD
Figure 8: Size doesn’t matter – there is a world of
difference between Apple’s 1994 QuickTake 100
imaging sensor electronics and today’s advanced chip
level units. Source -- Tessera
He added that there are hundreds of photo and video research projects
that will place will put cameras… everywhere!
During the dinner reception at the Monterey Aquarium, Alexis Gerard
(founder of Future Image) noted that the content industry is growing in
both depth and breadth.
“There are some outstanding solutions being introduced for
professional and prosumer photographers and videographers,” he
commented. “But the real excitement is the rapid improvement of and
merging of imaging and communications technologies that is being put
into use by normal people around the globe.
“Photos and videos are really the universal language that make ideas
and things easy to understand no matter where you work, live or relax,”
he added.
Figure 9: Cameras everywhere –
Extremely small imaging sensors
such as those developed by Tessera
will expand the performance of
image capture devices (cameras,
camcorders, camphones) and lower
costs. The range of applications for
camera and camera modules will
continue to expand with each new
generation of hardware and
software. It’s all in the palm of the
hand. Source -- Tessera
Veritas et Visus publishes the LCD TV Association newsletter,
filled with news and information about the booming market for
LCD TVs. You can freely download these informative
documents from the Veritas et Visus website:
http://www.veritasetvisus.com/lcdtva.htm
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DTV transition: DTV tuner integration
by Rodolfo La Maestra
Rodolfo La Maestra is the senior technical director at HDTV Magazine. Rodolfo has
participated in the HDTV vision since the late 1980s when HDTV was proposed as an analog
system. In the late 1990s, he began tracking and reviewing HDTV related technologies and
hundreds of consumer products, which prompted him in 2002 to pioneer the authoring of the
annual HDTV Technology Review report. Rodolfo considers himself an educator, not a
journalist, transferring knowledge, research, and experience. In addition to this annual
publication, he has authored a variety tutorials, books, and educative articles for HDTV
Magazine, DVDetc, HDTVetc Magazine, Veritas et Visus, DisplaySearch, and served as
technical consultant/editor for the “Reference Guide” and the “HDTV Glossary of Terms”
for HDTVetc Magazine.
Publisher’s note: President Obama made the digital TV delay official earlier February, signing legislation to put off
the switch until June 12. He and Congress hope to give millions of unprepared viewers four more months to upgrade
their equipment so they don’t lose over-the-air programming. The law allowed stations to apply to switch on the
original date (February 19) or any time before June 12. More than a quarter of the nation's 1,749 full-power stations
have applied for permission to turn off their analog signals on the original date. But there is a requirement that at
least one station in the market continue analog broadcasts of local news and public affairs programming, as well as
emergency and digital TV transition information for at least 60 days. Rodolfo’s article was written in September,
prior to the delay legislation. Note also that a more complete version of this article and others in the same series
about the DTV transition, along with numerous links to related articles from Rodolfo and others is available at:
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2008/11/dtv_transition_can_you_help_part_4_dtv_tuner_integration.php
This is one of a series of articles with the purpose of helping the public and the industry understand the digital
television (DTV) transition, and to motivate readers to help others. This part is dedicated to tuner integration and
the role it was expected to play in the DTV transition. As mentioned in a previous article in this series, 15 million
households have over-the-air-only TVs, and many cable/satellite subscribers may also tune broadcast on their
secondary TVs.
Would DTV tuner integration address this situation? Yes, for those that purchased an integrated DTV, but the rest
would have to use a set-top-box tuner/converter to receive a digital signal, and in both cases an antenna pointing to
the digital stations would be needed. The idea is simple, a digital tuner could be within the DTV, or could be within
a separate set-top-box (STB). The STB could be used for an analog TV but also for a digital TV that lacks a tuner (a
monitor manufactured before the FCC’s tuner integration mandate).
However, a digital monitor that does not have tuning capabilities can only give its full potential when connected to
a digital HD-STB that is capable to tune and send to the DTV the SD/ED/HD program at its full resolution, a
feature that is not possible with a government coupon-program tuner/converter. Analog TVs can only display at
480i resolution. A government-coupon-program converter would tune to digital channels but would down-convert
their resolution to 480i so the analog TV could display them. Analog TVs do not need to be replaced if that level of
image quality is satisfactory enough for the viewer. Coupon-program converters do not output digital HD signals as
fully capable HD-STBs do. While it is possible to use these coupon-converters to feed analog 480i to even a tunerless monitor DTV, the DTV resolution capabilities would be under-utilized when a high-resolution image is tuned
and the coupon-program converter box reduces its quality to just 480i.
An integrated DTV tuner would perform a similar function as a separate HD-STB regarding tuning HD, but it has
the virtue of not having a separate box around the TV and also save the cost/inconvenience of additional wiring to
the TV. The trade-off? If the internal tuner fails, performs badly, or becomes obsolete, the integrated DTV itself is
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subjected to the inconvenience/service, rather than just a box that can be independently serviced or replaced while
the TV can still be used with another STB or for other purposes.
Original integrated tuner mandate: In 2002, the FCC issued a mandate for over-the-air tuners to be gradually
included into every DTV manufactured after that date. On-the-clear QAM cable tuners (for unscrambled content)
were also included into DTVs as part of an industry agreement made around that time. Beware of some recent
erroneous and misleading claims of uninformed journalists, such as: “many of these DTVs lack ATSC tuners; all
DTVs weren’t mandated to include tuners until last March.” The claim is “just” five years off.
Actually integrated DTVs were gradually introduced with 2003 models following a five-year phased-in plan, which
originally was issued as follows:



50 percent of sets measuring 36 inches and larger by July 1, 2004; 100 percent by July 1, 2005.
50 percent of sets measuring 25 inches to 35 inches were to add DTV tuners by July 1, 2005; 100
percent by July 1, 2006.
The rest were to conform by July 1, 2007.
In 2005, that plan was modified with stricter deadlines and screen sizes.
Updated integrated tuner mandate: In mid 2005, the FCC made a tentative decision to change the deadline, and
requested feedback from manufacturers, broadcasters, and industry trade groups. The decision was to accelerate the
deadline of tuner integration for TVs under 25 inches to make them compliant six months earlier than planned,
advancing the date from July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2006. The decision also included smaller sets under 13
inches, not included within the original mandate. Advancing the deadline was also viewed as a way to reduce the
number of D/A converters that would be needed in the subsidy program when analog signals stop broadcasting.
On their response, the CEA requested to eliminate the July 1, 2005 deadline that required manufacturers to make
half of the 25/35 inches sets capable of receiving digital. The argument from manufacturers was that consumers
would end up buying the cheaper analog sets, and retailers were less willing to order the more expensive digital
sets. The FCC rejected that request.
Walt Disney, the NAB, and the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) urged the FCC to adopt the
advanced deadline of December 31st, 2006, while the CEA, the CERC (Consumer Electronics Retailers’
Association), Sharp Electronics, and Philips Electronics North America opposed to it, and claimed not having
enough time to manufacture those DTVs by the end of 2006.
The CEA and CERC issued the following statement: “The FCC should refrain from making any rulings regarding
the inclusion of digital tuners in new receivers with screen sizes less than 13 inches until manufacturers, retailers
and the commission adequately are able to examine the impact of the small chassis products that currently are
subject to the commission’s tuner requirements.” They opposed accelerating the timetable claiming that no
evidence justified the change. Other comments from the CEA regarding the effect of accelerating the mandate on
manufacturing and consumers were as follows:



“Some manufacturers could opt to market monitor-only models that remove both digital and analog
tuners, or stop manufacturing certain sets altogether. For smaller sets, 13 to 26 inches, the requirement
would double the development costs for manufacturers, as well as double the price of a typical 13-inch
television to consumers.”
“If the product is rejected by lower income and other consumers because the price exceeds their budget,
it will not be carried by retailers and, eventually, not produced by manufacturers.”
“The unfortunate result of accelerating the tuner mandate deadlines for all sets would be to decrease the
number of DTV tuners in the marketplace, which clearly does not serve the transition.”
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Finally, in November 2005, the FCC voted for setting the new date as March 1, 2007 for all sizes including those
smaller than 13 inches, which received the support from the NAB taking into consideration how important they are
in times of emergency and are commonly used without STBs. The FCC revised the deadline dates for DTVs to have
integrated tuners as follows:
Upon approval
By March 1, 2006 for
By March 1, 2007 for
By March 1, 2007 for
>=36 inches
>= 25 inches (was July 1, 2006 on the original plan)
>= 13 inches (was July 1, 2007, and was agreed for March
07 although the FCC proposed it for December 31, 2006)
< 13 inches (was not required before)
The mandate does not apply to other small screen video capable devices that do not receive analog OTA
broadcasting, even when they might be used to watch TV shows, such as PDAs, mobile phones, iPODs, etc., but it
applies to other non-screen devices that have analog tuners to perform their purpose, such as VCRs and DVD
recorders. 11.8 million DTVs were produced between 1998 and 2003 and most are tuner-less monitors that need an
external STB tuner to view digital TV. Most of those DTVs also do not have DVI/HDMI digital connections with
HDCP content protection; they only include component analog connections for HD.
The lack of protected digital connectivity could render them incapable of eventually receiving protected premium
content from an external STB when connected with analog component cables, which is another wrinkle of the DTV
transition that hit hard on the efforts early-adopters did to help establish DTV in the US.
The majority of the remaining 69.3 million DTVs that were sold between 2004 and 2007 have an integrated tuner to
comply with the mandate, although many of that period were still permitted to be tuner-less depending on their size.
A large part of these sets may also have QAM cable TV tuners for unscrambled content, and many of those also
have CableCARDS for premium content, although with only unidirectional capabilities.
Integrated tuner mandate enforcement: In June 2007 Regent USA (Maxent) and Syntax-Brillian (Olevia) were
issued “apparent liability for forfeiture” notices by the FCC for allegedly failing to comply with the ATSC tuner
mandate on the DTVs they manufactured, imported or shipped, and the FCC added, under “willful and repeated
violations”. Regent was fined $63,650 for importing or shipping 1,182 non-compliant DTV tuners. Syntax-Brillian
was fined $2,899,575, for 22,069 DTVs imported or shipped within the statute of limitations, and the FCC
commented: “We believe that the proposed forfeiture reflects the gravity of Syntax-Brillian's apparent violations,
the company's ability to pay, and the need to deter Syntax-Brillian and other companies from future violations of
the act and the rules”.
Tuner-less DTVs even under the mandate: In 2007, Toshiba introduced new lines of HD flat-panels, rearprojection, and direct-view sets that excluded the mandated over-the-air digital tuner by not including the analog
tuner on the sets, which then qualified them as valid “monitors”. Toshiba was not alone in cutting down on tuning
components. CableCARD-less TV lines started to appear from various manufacturers that found no merit in
integrating a unidirectional cable tuner with CableCARDs into DTVs while the cable industry was moving toward a
bi-directional OCAP solution. Toshiba announced the 2007 monitors to cost $300 less than comparable
“integrated” TVs with mandated tuners.
In perspective, when integrated DTVs were introduced in 2003 the difference between a monitor DTV and an
integrated version of the same TV was $704 more on average. Since 2003, millions of consumers have paid for
integrated tuners they do not use because most subscribe to satellite or cable. Additionally, consumers could not
know of the extra cost of the unneeded tuner because monitor-only versions of their integrated sets where no longer
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produced. “This is all the video display a consumer needs if they get programming from a cable or satellite TV
box,” Toshiba said.
Was tuner integration timed right? Let me be clear on one point right up front: This article is neither an
endorsement nor a criticism of a mandate that is now history. This is an analysis of the facts related to tuner
integration as implemented over the past six years within the 10-year DTV transition, and how those facts affect
consumers depending on the service they use (broadcast, cable, satellite, or Telco). At closing I will also identify
the available options of DTVs and STBs so you can decide what is best for your particular tuning situation.
Hopefully you could help others with this as well, as that is the primary purpose of this series of articles.
Why integrated tuners? Since its inception in the mid 1900s, TV traditionally performed a tune-and-display role
in a world of broadcast-only tuning. In time, cable and satellite came along and brought an alternative to broadcast
content distribution, but they required a different tuner. This gave birth to the STB approach, a tuner outside the
TV. Later, analog cable tuners were incorporated into cable-ready analog TVs to tune to unscrambled content.
When premium content (e.g. HBO) arrived, in order to protect the investment and the effort of creating the content,
service providers implemented security controls under a pay distribution model to unscramble premium content,
which required an STB even when the analog TV was cable-ready.
When turning the page from analog to digital, the video content distribution model grew with more features but also
with more complexity for equipment and connectivity, with CableCARDs, digital/analog conversions, image
resolution controls, integrated digital DVRs, selectable output controls for content protection, digital audio and
video connections, etc. The complexity certainly affected user friendliness in millions of households that were
already accustomed to live with blinking 12:00 VCRs. Incidentally, JVC (the creator of VHS) just announced the
end of the manufacturing of single VCRs units.
The idea of integrating tuners into DTVs responds to the same tune-and-display concept of decades of broadcast
TV, however, the timing of applying the same concept to DTV is a subject that looks simpler than it is. Factors like
cost, maturity, reliability, upgradeability, and serviceability of a digital tuner were not at their prime in 2002,
enough to discourage integration at that time. However, the alternative of not-integrating then and wait for the best
timing of the combination of all of those factors might not have helped the transition and could potentially expand
the risk beyond the effort of coupon-program converters to help 15 million households with analog TVs not go dark
on February 2009.
Why beyond? Because not integrating could have instead meant having 100+ million tuner-less DTV monitors
installed in more than 56 million households (about 50% of US households) by the transition deadline, and many
millions of those risking going dark if used for broadcast and have no tuner. Although they could be connected to
HD-STBs to avoid going dark, HD-STBs are three times more expensive than coupon-program digital-to-analog
converters, and are not subsidized by the government coupon-program as converters for analog TVs are. I will
mention a few more factors surrounding this matter later in this article.
Integrating cable: As mentioned previously, integrated DTVs have been gradually manufactured with internal
over-the-air (OTA) tuners to comply with the FCC's mandate proposed in 2002. At that time an agreement was
made with the cable industry for DTVs to also include a QAM digital cable tuner for on-the-clear unscrambled
programming; some DTVs also included a CableCARD slot for the QAM cable tuner to be able to tune scrambled
premium programming (e.g. HBO) without using a cable set-top-box (STB).
While digital cable STBs are bi-directional to permit Video-on-Demand (VOD), Impulse Pay-Per-View (PPV), and
cable supplied Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the cable tuners integrated within DTVs are only uni-directional
and cannot perform those services. More details about cable integration are included further below.
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(Dis)Integrating satellite: Although digital cable tuners were integrated into DTVs, small-dish-satellite tuners
were not, except for two Thomson/RCA CRT DTVs with DirecTV tuners manufactured in the late 90s, a 38-inch
Direct-view and a 61-inch rear-projection set. Edward Milbourn, a Thomson/RCA manager at that time,
participated in the introduction of those and in the creation of the DTC-100, the first DirecTV HD-STB. The DTC100 was one of the most reliable satellite HD-STBs ever created. It was a workhorse that even received occasional
firmware upgrades though the dish to improve its functionality and performance, a normal feature now, but
visualize that almost a decade ago. I still keep my DTC-100 as a symbol of the beginnings of small-satellite HDTV.
In Ed’s words “the DTC-100 satellite HD-STB, the 61-inch DTV, and the 38-inch DTV, in that order, were
introduced over a six month period of time because of the time required to obtain DirecTV certification (the hardest
part of the project).”
There are no plans disclosed to the public to integrate satellite tuners within DTVs, so get accustomed to having a
perennial HD-STB solution, HD wires, A/V rack space, the need for managing multiple HD inputs, eventual
selectable output controls for protected content when connected with component analog connections (a problem for
DTV early adopters), and the mood of HDCP, DVI and HDMI in some equipment. The same picture applies to
digital cable STBs now, but help is on its way with Tru2way DTV integration, more on that later.
Integrate all tuners? Traditionally, cable STBs do not include satellite tuners and vice versa, but that should not
surprise anyone, they are in direct competition for subscribers. Cable-company supplied STBs usually do not
include over-the-air tuners for free broadcast TV, although some cable DVRs and combo STBs for PC networking
have OTA tuners. Satellite HD-STBs from Dish Network, such as the ViP722, include OTA tuners (analog and
digital), however, while DirecTV used to include OTA tuners on their HD-STBs, the most recent DirecTV STB
models do not, which can be solved by adding another STB between the antenna and the satellite tuner. This STB
provides the missing broadcast tuning functionality. Over-the-air STBs for broadcast do not include any other
tuners.
Telecom companies and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) are also competing for TV subscribers and use STBs.
In other words, no STB has multiple tuners for all possible services into a single cabinet, nor is it viewed that a
DTV should have all of them integrated, because consumers usually select only one of those services to receive TV
(broadcast, cable, satellite, or Telco), and considering the price of tuners, why would a consumer be interested in
paying for all of those tuners within a DTV or within a universal STB?
Therefore, a consumer should expect to have multiple STBs on the audio/video rack if all of those services are
wanted, even when having a DTV that is already tuner-integrated with OTA and cable.
The cost of internal tuner parts installed into a DTV should be lower than the price of an STB because a DTV does
not need the STB cabinet, front panel, buttons, rear connections, power supply, remote control, STB assembly
labor, etc., but the reality is that after 10 years of DTV transition, the price consumers pay for tuner integration has
not come down as low as one might expect (details later in the article). Every service provider company has
introductory packages for new subscribers, but individually purchased HD-STBs/DVRs for cable, DirecTV, Dish
Network, and OTA are not as low as it should be expected.
The benefit of monitors: Before the integrated-tuner idea was proposed by the FCC in 2002, digital televisions
manufactured since 1998 were monitors without digital tuning capabilities. The monitor DTVs need an HD-STB to
tune over-the-air broadcast when connected to a UHF/VHF antenna. Later, HD-STBs for satellite reception
(DirecTV and Dish Network) and for digital cable were introduced. The HD-STBs require component analog or
DVI/HDMI wires for HD signals.
The monitor approach provided several benefits to consumers, especially early in the transition, when DTVs and
STBs were very pricey and immature. It was common to recommend a separation between the STB and the DTV
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monitor, at least until tuners cost less and become more reliable to be part of an expensive TV set. In perspective, a
1999 Pioneer Elite OTA tuner ($3000) was connected to a 64-inch CRT rear-projection HDTV Pioneer Elite
monitor (close to $10,000). Should the two have been integrated back then a $13,000 300-pound DTV might have
forced a costly home service if the internal tuner failed.
I recall my comment on my 2003 HDTV Technology Review: “Over the last five years we have experienced all
kinds of early adoption let downs regarding HD-STBs. Noisy fans, hot units, slow/unfriendly menus, weird
software behavior, frozen units, dead units, killed units on firmware upgrades, etc.”
During the first couple of years of the integration mandate, the cost of integrated DTVs was considerably higher
than the monitor versions. Not only were the added tuner-parts expensive and low in volume, but there were risk
factors about tuner's performance, serviceability, failure, obsolescence, etc., whereas a troubled tuner in a separate
HD-STB would not compromise and inconvenience the larger DTV investment, in fact it could be as easy as asking
the service provider for a new upgraded unit at no cost.
An integrated DTV looking for an HD-STB: Regarding tuner's performance and obsolescence, a reader was
surprised when a low-cost coupon-program tuner was sensitive enough to pick up 40+ DTV stations, better than the
integrated tuner of his high quality new Sony DTV using the same over-the-air antenna. Enticed by the experience,
he was looking for an HD-STB that would be as sensitive as the coupon-program-tuner, and use the HD-STB to do
the tuning for his Sony DTV, rather than having the DTV do the tuning. Ironically, adding an STB to an integrated
DTV defeats the basic concept of integration, but if having a separate box and cabling is not an issue it could be
worth a try. Modularity generally offers better flexibility, upgradeability, serviceability, and replace-ability.
Although new generations of tuners are expected to perform better, it is a mixed bag considering the numerous
choices, prices, and quality among dozens of STB and DTV manufacturers.
Cable impact on integrated DTVs: Since the mandate, consumers have purchased 107.4 million DTVs (from
2003 to 4Q08. Although some of those are monitors, most are integrated DTVs. As mentioned earlier, because
QAM cable tuners in integrated DTVs were only implemented with uni-directional capabilities, millions of DTV
owners had to lease or purchase a cable HD-STB for bi-directional functionality, an additional expense to their
“tuner-ready” integrated DTV. Although tuner integration is also expected to eventually support bi-directional cable
tuners within DTVs, it has only reached a mid-point solution.
Panasonic just announced the introduction by fall 2008 of a couple of integrated DTV models with bi-directional
cable tuners (facilitated by a platform named tru2way), but the industry keeps implementing millions of unidirectional cable tuners within most cable-ready DTVs, and the impact to consumers will grow until all models
from all DTV manufacturers are tru2way capable.
Visualize this analogy for a minute: imagine that since 2002 people can only buy cars having a forward-only
transmission (uni-directional tuners in DTVs) that cannot be modified or upgraded for reverse. Conversely, imagine
if rent-a-cars were built capable to drive in both forward and reverse (bi-directional cable features in STBs). The
days you need to park in reverse you better lease a rent-a-car (cable STB) and leave your car (integrated DTV
tuner) in the garage.
Here is a short quiz: As a car (DTV) owner, what would be your overall cost to be able to drive in both directions?
How long would you think the car sale industry could have lasted under those rules?
When the tuner integration mandate idea started in 2002 the expectation was that it might take another couple of
years for bi-directionally to be into DTV integrated cable tuners, so it was agreed to start installing uni-directional
cable tuners to move on. We are almost in 2009 and are still waiting. Assuming it could take another couple of
years before we see tru2way fully deployed by all in the industry, another 74.2 million DTVs are projected to be in
the hands of consumers in 2009 and 2010, their cable tuners would be only uni-directional. Adding 74.2 million
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DTVs to the 107.4 million DTVs that were already sold until 2008 makes a total of 181.6 million integrated DTVs
estimated by the end of 2010, which is about 52% of the existing 346 million TVs in the whole US (analog and
digital). Over the past five years I predicted the above scenario in every HDTV Technology annual report.
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/reports/hdtv-technology-review.php. However, the alternative of waiting until a bidirectional solution was created, embraced by the industry, and integrated in volume was discouraged because it
was apparently less favorable to the DTV transition and the consumer. Some related factors are mentioned below.
Was tuner integration timed right? Again, this article is neither an endorsement nor a criticism of a mandate that
is now history, but rather it is an analysis after 6 years of facts. In theory, the concept of tuner integration should
have spared a viewer of DTV broadcast from the need to purchase an external OTA digital STB, but because only a
minority tunes to OTA broadcast, it meant that a majority of DTV owners still needed to purchase or lease an STB
(satellite, bi-directional cable, FiOS, etc).
The driver of the tuning consumer decision was the preference of the content distribution service, but what if the
cost factor of monitor vs. integrated was included in the analysis? When the mandate was issued, integrated DTVs
cost consumers $704 more on average compared to their tuner-less monitor versions (2003/2004 models). Over the
past few years several manufactures (Westinghouse, Hitachi, etc.) introduced a few compliant monitors (because
they also lacked analog tuners), but most if not all 2008 integrated DTVs from most manufacturers have no monitor
versions of the same set, therefore I cannot make an industry wide comparison study as I did in 2003.
However, in 2007, one major manufacturer announced monitors that cost $300 less than their similar integrated
versions, and in September 2008 at CEDIA, Bob Perry, Senior VP of Panasonic, said that the new “tru2way” bidirectional cable integrated DTVs (mentioned earlier for fall 2008) will be priced $300 more than their non-tru2way
counterparts. This only compares integrated uni-directional to integrated bi-directional cable DTVs. The price
difference to tuner-less monitors should obviously be higher, if available.
In summary, even after six years of the issued mandate, the price to consumers for tuner integration is not as
negligible as OTA/cable analog tuners were for NTSC color television. Some say that is the price of innovation. On
the other hand, if the integration mandate/cable agreement would have been implemented only when matured tuners
reached a negligible cost to consumers, the delay could have affected other factors, and could have potentially
damaged the success and the timing of the overall transition.
Solving your specific tuning
a. If you are a satellite (or Telco TV) subscriber and:


Tune local channels with the STB: buy a monitor if available, there is no need for the integrated
OTA tuner within the DTV.
Tune local channels with an OTA antenna: buy an integrated DTV and use its internal OTA tuner, or
buy a DTV monitor with an over-the-air HD-STB (not a coupon-program converter STB, which is
only 480i analog/SD resolution quality).
In both cases the STB has to be connected to the DTV with component or DVI/HDMI digital video
connections to view HD.
b. If you view broadcast TV and:

Are not ready to buy a DTV: you can still use a current analog TV with a coupon-program converter.
Request the $40 coupon and pay for the difference, if any. Connect the converter to your analog TV
using the RF, composite, or S-video connections, which are limited to the TV’s 480i resolution.
There is no need for the higher quality component or DVI/HDMI digital video cables.
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If you need more than two coupon-program converters for additional analog TVs you would have to
pay the full price of each extra coupon-program converter, there is no government subsidy for extra
converters beyond the allowed two.

Are ready and want to view DTV: buy an integrated DTV, it should have the needed OTA digital
(and analog) tuner, otherwise, if the DTV is not integrated, you need to purchase an over-the-air HDSTB because the DTV is a tuner-less monitor:
o Manufactured before the mandated deadline for the screen size (mentioned in Part 4), or
o Was recently manufactured but is one of the monitor exceptions mentioned earlier in this
article.
c. If you are a cable subscriber and:

Do not need DTV quality for your image requirements: you can keep using your existing analog TV.
If the cable service is offered only in digital lease or buy a digital cable STB. If the cable company
still sends the analog feed connect the TV directly to the wall RF coax plate to tune to basic
programming, or lease an analog cable STB if you want premium services. Refer to (a) for local
channels.

Need to view DTV but do not need bi-directional cable functionality:
o Buy a cable-ready integrated DTV with a QAM on-the-clear tuner for non-premium
channels; connect the coax wire directly to the DTV.
o Buy a cable-ready integrated DTV with CableCARD for premium channels; connect the
coax wire directly to the DTV.
o Buy a DTV monitor and connect to a digital cable STB (even when you do not need bidirectional cable functionality). The STB has to be connected to the DTV with
component or DVI/HDMI digital video connections to view HD.
Refer to section a) for local channels.

Need to view DTV, want bi-directional cable functionality but cannot wait for a tru2way integrated
DTV: buy a monitor DTV (or integrated DTV if none is available) and lease an HD-STB/DVR from
the cable company, or purchase a TIVO DVR. Refer to (a) for local channels.

Need to view DTV, want bi-directional cable functionality and a tru2way DTV is available: buy it, it
should have all you need for bi-directional cable functionality without resorting to digital cable STBs
and extra wiring. Refer to (a) for local channels.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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Meridian’s beautiful 10-megapixel projector
by Chris Chinnock
Chris Chinnock is founder and president of Insight Media, and focuses his efforts on
projection systems, 3D displays, and FPD business expertise. Preceding his 10 years
heading up the Insight Media efforts, Chris spent 15 years in a variety of engineering,
management ,and business development positions at MIT Lincoln Labs, Honeywell ElectroOptics, GE AstroSpace, and Barnes Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in
Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the University of Colorado. This article is reprinted by
permission from the Display Daily, published by Insight Media on February 25, 2009.
http://www.displaydaily.com
On a recent trip to the UK, I took the opportunity to visit the high-end home theater
providers Meridian Audio Limited, who are located in Cambridgeshire, UK. While the
company’s roots are in audio, it is also doing pioneering work in very high-quality video. Meridian’s 10-megapixel
projector offers such fine images, you don’t want to leave the showroom!
The Meridian 810 projector is based on a 2400x4096-pixel JVC platform, but the calibration that Meridian does
sets it apart from the JVC projector. In this process, Meridian first does a 24-hour lamp burn-in to stabilize the light
source. Then, it performs a four-hour calibration that creates an image with very high brightness uniformity (<0.1%,
we were told) and very accurate gray scale and color gamut. In addition to the projector calibration, however,
Meridian needed a very high-performance scaling engine. For this, it turned to Marvell.
According to Meridian’s director of business development, Roland Morcom, Marvell offered a scaler and image
processor that was particularly good with poor-quality sources. And, when scaling to 10-megapixels from DVD or
PAL sources, you need a very good processor/scaler. So, the two worked together to develop the new outboard
scaler box, which can take content with PAL-level resolution content and scale it to 10-megapixels. As Morcom put
it, “that is creating about 97% of the on-screen pixels”.
The scaler processor box features four DVI output cables that run to the projector. But since this is more pixels than
a quad-FHD display, each scaler engine must provide about 25% more processing than a conventional 1080p image
processor. This is where Marvell and Meridian worked together to improve the performance of Marvell’s baseline
1080p processor/scaler.
In the demonstration, a clip from the Jay Leno show was shown first. This was broadcast 1080i content that was
scaled to 10-megapixels. It was particularly good in one scene, where you could see through the very fine grill of a
microphone to reveal the skin beyond. Next, we saw a new transfer of the 40-year old
movie Patton in which film grain had been nearly eliminated. Some will argue
whether this is a good or a bad thing. Nevertheless, the image quality was superb, with
some scenes having a 3D-like feel to them. The final demo was a special request to
see a standard DVD upconvert. For this, a PAL version of Seabiscuit was shown. This
demo was definitely a bit softer than the other two, but nonetheless spectacular on the
20-foot-wide screen (brightness optimized for theater-like 14-foot Lamberts). And
remember, all of this scaling and processing is being done in real time.
My one complaint was that the motion blur in 24-frame content is still noticeable.
Morcom agreed, but he noted that their motion-compensation algorithms are not yet
good enough to commercialize. They will be at some point. The 810 is a superb projector, but at $185K, it is not for
everyone. As the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.
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Samsung’s new “QWXGA” pixel format
by Mark Fihn
I’m willing to bet that a year ago, if you’d put 20 display engineers in a room and asked them to identify the pixel
format for a “QWXGA” panel that none of them would have suggested 2048x1152. But that’s what Samsung is
calling their latest introduction into the wild, wild, west of the 16:9 aspect ratio. (Actually, I’m willing to bet that
even after Samsung came out with the QWXGA moniker that most of those 20 engineers would still not be able to
correctly identify the pixel format).
The trend toward 16:9 panels in the PC industry, (a trend that I’ve decried repeatedly in articles written for our
Display Standard newsletter), has let LCD manufacturers to create a variety of entirely new pixel formats.
Samsung recently introduced their 2342BWX LCD monitor, a 23-inch monitor in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but rather
than utilizing the existent standard TV industry of 1920x1080 pixels, Samsung introduced a new format at
2048x1152 pixels. Here’s some commentary taken from a variety of sources justifying the nature of this format:

“This 23.0-inch model will see a maximum resolution of 2048x1152 compared to the standard
1920x1080 which is pretty common these days. The additional space it touted to be able to fit another
two letter-sized documents side-by-side, leaving enough space for sidebars as well as other vertical
elements in an operating system.”
Clearly this writer doesn’t understand that two letter-sized documents will fit identically into a
1920x1080 panel as into a 2048x1152 panel. While the quality of the images will be slightly
better on the higher resolution panel, because the aspect ratios are identical, so will the
windowed layout.

“Samsung’s 2342BWX solves a small but painful problem. The problem has to do with 1920x1200. You
see, 1920 divided by 2 equals 960. When you’ve opened two browser windows and click on “Show
Windows Side by Side” (in Vista) the two browser windows neatly arrange themselves. But there’s a
problem. It’s small but very annoying. Remember the 960 number? Well almost all Internet pages are
formatted for 1024 pixels wide. The 960 doesn’t cut it. So when I have two browser windows up on my
24.0-inch LCD monitor, I have to scroll horizontally for a lot of pages to see the whole page. Of course,
I can zoom out but some browsers just shrink the font size and keeps the overall layout at 1024.
Samsung has felt our pain and brought us the 2342BWX! The 2342BWX is the first LCD monitor to
sport a pixel format of 2048x1152. Now divide 2048 b two and you get 1024. Perfect. The 1152 vertical
pixels are a bit less than the 1200 that I’m used to, but I’d rather have no horizontal scrolling in two
browser windows rather than an extra 48 vertical pixels.”
I was unaware of the “Show Windows Side by Side” capability until reading this bit of advice
and after spending 20 minutes figuring out how to do it, I must agree that it is a very useful tool.
I suspect that the vast majority of Vista users are unaware of the capability. Moreover, the claim
that “almost all Internet pages are formatted for 1024 pixels wide” is pure fiction. While some
web designers have chosen to “fix” their sites at 1024 pixels, the trend is certainly to design
based on liquid design rules where the website’s width is adjusted based on the width of the open
window – not some arbitrary assumption about how a user chooses utilize Windows or the
screen’s pixel format. I also tend to question how often users will actually want two websites
open simultaneously. It’s much more likely that users will have one website open along with an
Excel file or a Word file – browsing in one window, while working in the adjacent window – and
for this the “Show Windows Side by Side” capability is very useful – but the argument that 2048
is better than 1920 is rendered moot – not to mention that you have more up and down scrolling.
I should also note that in my personal set-up, I maintain a toolbar on the rights side of my
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screen, I keep my “favorites” open in Internet Explorer, and I use the tab function rather than
having the browser open in multiple windows. By the time I exit all of these very useful features
so that I can utilize the “Show Windows Sid by Side” as suggested, I really am sacrificing
productivity in order to potentially save some left/right scrolling.

It’s worth looking at some of the press photos associated with Samsung product announcement to
discern Samsung’s intent with the new format:
Ignoring
Samsung’s
long-standing
propensity to employ young female models
in their display product advertising,
(which may explain why Samsung is #1 in
the LCD monitor industry), the screen
layouts are also interesting… The images
show 2, 4, and 6 web pages open
simultaneously, plus a Sidebar. In all three
pictures, two of the web pages are
repeated. Considering the 960 column
argument (above) related to web page
designs, the use of Sidebar means that
even the 2048x1152 solution is
inadequate, (although in the pictures
above, that is not indicated).
Interestingly, it’s immediately obvious that the images on the screens have been “created” to fit the
format. Instead of using actual web pages, the screens are representing “advantages” that simply do
not exist. If you look at the upper left image in the first photo, you will note that it is the same image
as the one on the left of the second photo. But, clearly one (or both) of these images has been
altered. While I recognize that Photoshop is likely to be used in preparing ad material, it seems
particularly disingenuous to me to alter images in ways that go to “prove” the claimed advantages.
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The left image is captured from the picture with two open web pages; the center image is
from the picture with 6 open web pages; the right image is from the picture with 4 open web
pages. Clearly, the images have been stretched to fit the screen – calling into question the
suggestion that 2048x1152 is somehow an optimal solution for web browsing.

“The 2342BWX runs at 2048x1152 resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio that’s conveniently ideal for
watching feature films”
If your source material is at 1920x1080, then it is not “ideal” to show it on a 2048x1152 screen.
The system needs to invent pixels to showcase the image at full-screen. More importantly, if the
monitor is to be ideal for watching movies, one would have thought Samsung would have been
considerate enough to include an HDMI port to enable simple hook-up to CE devices. The
monitor has only DVI and VGA ports.

Finally, one friend wrote to me and suggested that I’d like this new format, because it raised LCD
monitor pixel densities above 100ppi. My response:
Well, improving from 96ppi to 102ppi is hardly the sort of improvement in pixel density I’m
suggesting for LCD monitors. Let’s move to 135ppi or more… In any case, I’d prefer to have a
22.0-inch panel at 1920x1200 on my desk than a 23-.0-inch panel at 2048x1152. Here’s the
comparison:
Diagonal
23.0
22.0
Pixel format
2048x1152
1920x1200
Pixel count
2,359,296
2,304,000
Aspect ratio
1.778
1.600
PPI
102
103
Surface area
226.041
217.528
LCD monitors continue to fail to provide either the information content or the pixel density that I
personally would find useful on my desktop. Accordingly, I currently have two 17.0-inch
notebooks on my desk – running simultaneously at 1920x1200 pixels. That’s a total of
3840x2400 all at 133ppi, which serves me quite well and I will be hard-pressed to move
backwards in terms of pixel count or pixel density…
That said, I am considering LCD monitors as a way to get more pixels in front of me. The 30.0inch class is the only obvious place of opportunity. Considering the below comparison, guess
which one I wish were available to me in the mainstream?
Diagonal
30.0
30.0
Pixel format
2560x1600
3280x2048
Pixel count
4,096,000
6,717,440
Aspect ratio
1.600
1.602
PPI
101
129
Surface area
404.494
404.321
The 3280x2048 monitor has been released by Barco for high-end medical and professional
applications using a panel manufactured by Hitachi.
The simple fact of the matter is that it’s very difficult to justify a 16:9 aspect ratio for use primarily as a PC
monitor. Samsung does us no obvious favors by introducing this 2048x1152 solution… Someone, please come up
with a mainstream monitor that really enhances the offering. The Barco offering might just do the trick…
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Last Word: One size fits all?
Too little ≠ Too few
by Fluppeteer
Fluppeteer is contributing to Veritas et Visus based on a long background working as a
computer graphics programmer, and a similarly long background torturing his display
hardware to within an inch of its life. He uses an IBM T221 display (3840x2400 pixels) and
multi-monitor setups, the attempts to extract the best out of which have given him some
insight into the issues specific to high-resolution displays. Fluppeteer holds an MA from the
University of Cambridge (England) and an MSc in Advanced Computing from King’s
College London. His efforts to squeeze the most from monitors stretch from ASCII art to ray
tracing. Laser surgery left him most comfortable 1-2 feet away from the monitor, making
high-resolution a necessity. He is currently ranked 16th in the word at tiddlywinks.
I don’t like it when people claim that things are impossible. I especially don’t like it when they claim that products
are pointless because they’re impossible to use – chances are the manufacturer will listen to them and stop making
niche products, and that’ll stop me from being able to buy nice toys.
There seems to be a belief, for example, that “netbooks” (actually, let’s call them “budget subnotebooks” until
Psion has stopped trying to sue) aren’t usable for extended periods of time. I beg to differ – in fact I’m writing this
on just such a device. A common complaint about them is that the screen is “too small”; the keyboard also gets
some complaints, but having spent a few years with an old Libretto I have to say that the keyboard on my MiniNote is incredibly spacious – and that it doesn’t actually affect me much anyway. “Too small” is usually extended
to mean that there isn’t enough space for applications that were designed for a larger desktop screen.
Of course, very few applications could give a hoot how large the screen is – all they care about is the pixel count.
Give a subnotebook enough pixels and applications will fit in just fine. The user may have to sit a little closer, but I
can vouch that one of the benefits of subnotebook computers is that it’s much easier to get your head close to the
screen than is the case with a 17.0-inch behemoth.
It’s annoying, then, that very few budget subnotebooks are available with a “proper” screen resolution. Indeed,
matters are getting worse – in spite of user complaints about the screens on these devices not having enough room
(and of the original 800x480 EeePC being less popular than the 1024x600 versions), Dell has recently announced a
device with a 1024x576 screen – even fewer pixels. There was a minor outcry when HP announced the successor to
the Mini-Note on which I’m typing this, with the most lauded feature – the 1280x800 screen – switched for the
1024x600 “standard”. Allegedly Intel has had something to do with this – forcing laptop vendors not to pair their
Atom processors with larger screen sizes, in the interests of ensuring that more profitable laptop processor sales
don’t get poached.
Fortunately, there have been a few advances in the subnotebook space. Sony’s Vaio P has a useful 1600x768 pixels
– an odd aspect ratio, but at last a decent total pixel count. UMID’s mBook has a just-about usable 1024x600
resolution (while a bit small, at least as much as most budget laptops) in a 4.8-inch, pocketable form factor.
Obviously neither of these is as spacious as a workstation with a T221 attached, but you can’t carry a T221 very far.
These niche products invariably draw incredulity from those who don’t use them. How can a screen above 200ppi
possibly be usable? Well, the T221 is extremely “usable” and several cell phones have significantly smaller pixel
pitch. Some people may struggle with such devices; some people would never have need of the extra pixels, too. I
suspect more would benefit, and more would find the resolution acceptable, than is suggested by preconceptions –
I’ve known many people to expect a T221 screen to be impossible to use until they actually see one. Because of this
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reaction, sales of these devices are low; the problem with niche products is that there aren’t many of them, which
means that the choice of device is defined solely by the one niche feature – for example, I’d not have chosen my
Mini-Note’s Via processor if I’d been able to get the screen resolution another way.
Mobile phones have similar problems. These days, phones are expected to do more than make calls – they surf the
Internet, view office documents, run editors, play games.
I wouldn’t be writing for this newsletter if I didn’t feel that the display resolution plays a big part in how usable
such a device may be. Sadly, the operating system plays a part, too – all the cell phones I’ve been able to find with
800x480 screens have run Windows Mobile, which is generally poorly-received in comparison with some of its
competitors. Nonetheless, it only took one side-by-side comparison of a web page on a Toshiba G900 and an
iPhone for me to realize that I’d put up with the operating system for the screen quality. Apple is showing no sign
of changing the iPhone resolution – this is, after all, the company that claimed that 100ppi was perfect, for many
years. I switched from the (now defunct) UIQ line of Symbian phones produced by Sony-Ericsson because there
was no sign of the resolution ever increasing. Palm has settled for 480x320 with their new device, a resolution
shared by the T-Mobile G1 (although Android has been known to run on higher-resolution devices); I would be
tempted to jump to either of these product lines if only more pixels were available.
Bigger ≠ better: Manufacturers aren’t entirely deaf to customer complaints – but it’s possible that some of these
complaints get filtered through some misconceptions. Customers say that “the screen is too small on our
subnotebooks” results in 10.0-inch and larger screens in pricier devices – removing both the cost and portability
benefits that spawned the “netbook craze” without actually solving the problem. Diversity has its benefits – trying
to turn a niche product into a mainstream product means that the unique advantages of the niche get lost.
The more recent WVGA cell phone have larger screens than my G900 – fair enough, if it’s really not feasible to
increase the resolution and keep the dot pitch constant. It’s odd, though, that “four inch screen” makes the headlines
in the reviews of a phone, where the actual resolution is relegated to the small print.
Desktop screens have the same problem, but worse. A 22.0-inch screen with a 1920x1200 display is perfectly
comfortable; a 27-inch screen with the same resolution takes up a vast amount of desk space with little benefit. The
recent move to 16:9 displays – including Dell’s latest 1920x1080p monitor – wastes even more display area;
reducing the height of the display means that the total area which will fit in a row of monitors standing on a desk
will drop compared to more conventional sizes.
The fixation with 16:9 divides the market. There are those who consider a 16:10 monitor to be a waste, because
there are black bars when video is shown. The aforementioned Vaio P raised derision because of how unsuitable its
display was to 16:9 content (never mind that it’s one of the few modern subnotebooks with a enough resolution to
show 720p video without down-sampling it, and the odd aspect ratio fits an exceptional pixel count into the form
factor of a device that can fit in a pocket). There’s a vaguely-justifiable claim that 16:9 monitors would allow game
designers to concentrate on a single aspect ratio, but this ignores a great deal of backward compatibility with the
existing monitor installed base. For those of us who use computers for reasons other than playing video (or video
games), 16:9 is a curse – I want my monitor to be a better monitor, not a better television.
The push to larger desktop monitors – indeed, some gamers have expressed a desire to have larger pixels, rather
than mode, so as to increase immersion while limiting the computational overhead – seems to me to miss a point.
I’ve argued in the past that projectors give the best trade-off – the user can scale the image to the desired pixel size
(and count) – but in this case it seems to me that the best television is a television. I have a 42-inch 1080p television
that’s a lovely gaming screen and – obviously – is pretty good at showing video content. It’d make a terrible
monitor, so I don’t see why I should expect a monitor to make a good television; a 24-27-inch screen isn’t going to
compare well with an HDTV in the same price bracket.
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The more the merrier (but enough is enough): Fortunately, there are still consumers out there – at least on
discussion boards – who know what they want. The move from 1920x1200 panels to 1920x1080 ones has been
called out: “The good news is that it can show 1080p” (when the same is just as true of a 1200 line display) isn’t
slipping past people. Maybe consumers have been poisoned by 19.0-inch 1280x1024 screens into believing that
HDTV resolutions are the epitome of video quality, but there’s hope that people are noticing that the resolution
numbers are getting smaller.
There are limits to any form factor. Currently, there are few benefits to taking a television beyond 1920x1080 pixels
– the arguable benefits of 3840x2160 panels would be much less convincing had the 720p standard not been
allowed to coexist with the higher resolutions. This hasn’t stopped some esoteric displays (2560x1080 ultra-widescreen televisions, anamorphic lenses on projectors) but since such approaches are typically detrimental to the
actual image quality I can’t see them taking off unless content starts being produced in a wider range of formats.
The increasing capabilities of cell phones and subnotebooks mean that the demands on their screens are rising.
Even I wouldn’t argue that a 4.8-inch 1024x600 screen is superior, for general use, to the same pixel count in a
10.0-inch form factor – the advantage comes from the benefits of a device that is small, not from small pixels. High
dpi displays have their own benefits in terms of image smoothness and fitting ever more content into them, but for
many applications – especially in a low-powered portable device – one could say that having “enough pixels” is
acceptable, so long as “enough” really is “enough”. The mistake is to compromise on the resolution, in the belief
that one must stick to the most comfortable pixel pitch, and ignore the pixel count and screen size, which are best
suited to the device. Too often it’s the wrong variable which has to give.
(As an aside, my interest in photography means that the difference between the digital camera market and
the display market is particularly ironic. Digital cameras have been pushing to ever-higher resolutions, with
many knowledgeable commentators observing that the devices are not necessarily getting better as a
consequence. The display market seems determined to improve everything but the resolution first)...
I’m probably steeped in the cynicism of old age. The “normal” desktop monitor of today does have more pixels
than the normal monitor of ten years ago; mobile phone displays are at least not always limited to QVGA or lower,
and there aren’t many SVGA laptops out there. There still seems to be a push against exploring the extremes of
resolution, even when it's discovered that the capabilities of devices are expanded significantly as the pixel count
rises and as products are made smaller. I can only hope that as devices become more capable, as having more data
on a display becomes more commonplace, higher resolutions will spread - and those of us who like to live on the
edge will be able to push the limits farther.
Display Industry Calendar
A much more hyper-linked version of this calendar is at: http://www.veritasetvisus.com/industry_calendar.htm.
Please notify mark@veritasetvisus.com to have your future events included in the listing.
March 2009
March 2
Kinetica Art Fair and Technologies
Workshop
London, England
March 2-4
US FPD Conference
San Diego, California
March 3-8
CeBIT 2009
Hanover, Germany
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March 4-5
Electronic Displays Conference 2009
Nuremberg, Germany
March 4-5
HD Expo
Beverly Hills, California
March 5-6
ITC'09 / SID Mid Europe Spring Conference
Paris, France
March 9-11
Photonics in Surveillance and Biometrics
Washington, D.C.
March 9-12
DVB World 2009
Berlin, Germany
March 9-12
O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference
San Diego, California
March 10
Integrating Plastic Electronics
Oxford, England
March 10-11
TV of Tomorrow Show
San Francisco, California
March 10-12
Smart Fabrics 2009
Rome, Italy
March 11-13
FPD China
Shanghai, China
March 11-14
EHX Spring
Orlando, Florida
March 14-15
Symposium on 3D User Interfaces
Lafayette, Louisiana
March 14-19
Virtual Reality 2009
Lafayette, Louisiana
March 17-19
Air Traffic Control
Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 17-19
Semicon China
Shanghai, China
March 17-19
electronica & ProductronicaChina 2009
Shanghai, China
March 17-19
Laser World of Photonics China
Shanghai, China
March 17-21
Emissive and Organic Emissive Displays
Nottingham, England
March 18-20
Symposium on Haptic Interfaces and
Virtual Environments
Salt Lake City, Utah
March 23-27
2009 Measurement Science Conference
Anaheim, California
March 24-26
Image Sensors Europe 2009
London, England
March 24-26
Phosphor Global Summit 2009
Miami, Florida
March 24-26
Future of Television
Los Angeles, California
March 30 - April 2
Showest 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada
March 30 - April 3
MIPTV
Cannes, France
March 31 - April 2
LEDs Asia
Hong Kong, China
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March 31 - April 2
Display 2009
Paris, France
March 31 - April 3
Active Matrix Displays
Dundee, Scotland
April 2009
April 4-9
CHI 2009
Boston, Massachusetts
April 6-9
Miniature and Near-to-Eye Displays
Edinburgh, Scotland
April 7-8
Printed Electronics Europe
Dresden, Germany
April 7-8
Photovoltaics: Beyond Conventional
Silicon
Dresden, Germany
April 7-8
Screen Expo Europe
London, England
April 9-10
2009 Taiwan FPD Conference
Taipei, Taiwan
April 15-17
Touch Panel Japan
Tokyo, Japan
April 15-17
FineTech Japan & Display 2009
Tokyo, Japan
April 15-17
LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo
Tokyo, Japan
April 15-18
International Sign Expo
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 18-23
NAB 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada
April 19-24
European Conference on Liquid Crystals
Colmar, France
April 22-23
Interactive Displays 2009
San Jose, California
April 26-30
Digital Holography and Three Dimensional
Imaging
Vancouver, British
Columbia
April 27-29
Organic Photovoltaics
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
April 27-30
IDMC/3DSA/Asia Display 2009
Taipei, Taiwan
April 28-30
Sign UK/Digital Signage Showcase
Birmingham, England
April 30
Emerging Display Technology
Cambridge, England
May 2009
May 4-9
3DTV-CON 2009
Potsdam, Germany
May 5-7
Digital Signage Expo 2009
Essen, Germany
May 5-8
International Conference on Animation,
Effects, Games, and Digital Media
Stuttgart, Germany
May 6-7
Digital Signage Show 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada
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May 12-13
HDTV Conference China
Shenzhen, China
May 12-15
Orbit-iEX
Zurich, Switzerland
May 13
Laser Processing for Plastic Electronics
Abingdon, England
May 20-22
SEMICON Singapore
Singapore
May 20-23
International FPD Korea
Seoul, Korea
May 31 - Jun 5
SID International Symposium
San Antonio, Texas
June 2009
June 1-2
SID Business Conference 2009
San Antonio, Texas
June 2
Dynamic Digital Facades
London, England
June 2-4
SEMICON Russia 2009
Moscow, Russia
June 2-4
Dimension3 Expo
Seine-Saint-Denis, France
June 2-4
Digital Living Room Conference
Santa Clara, California
June 2-6
Computex 2009
Taipei, Taiwan
June 3-4
HD Expo
Chicago, Illinois
June 4-9
SIIM 2009
Charlotte, North Carolina
June 11-13
Photonics Festival: OPTO Taiwan ,
SOLAR, LED Lighting, Optics
Taipei, Taiwan
June 9-10
RFID Smart Labels
San Francisco, California
June 9-11
Plastic Electronics Asia
Taipei, Taiwan
June 15-16
Projection Summit
Orlando, Florida
June 15-18
Laser World of Photonics
Munich, Germany
June 16-17
Web3D 2009 Symposium
Darmstadt, Germany
June 16-17
Photovoltaics USA
Denver, Colorado
June 16-18
National Electronics Week
London, England
June 16-19
Display Metrology Short Course
Boulder, Colorado
June 17-19
InfoComm '08
Orlando, Florida
June 22-25
Cinema Expo
Amsterdam, Netherlands
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June 22-25
CEDIA Expo Europe
London, England
June 23-25
LOPE-C -- Large Area, Organic and Printed
Electronics Convention
Frankfurt, Germany
June 25-26
Korea Display Conference 2008
Seoul, Korea
July 2009
July 8-10
China International Flat Panel Display
Exhibition
Shanghai, China
July 8-10
China International Touch Screen
Exhibition & Seminar
Shanghai, China
July 8-13
National Stereoscopic Association
Convention
Mesa, Arizona
July 10-13
SINOCES
Qingdao, China
July 13-17
International Symposium on Display
Holography
Shenzhen, China
July 15416
Semicon West 2009
San Francisco, California
July 15-17
E3 Media and Business Summit
Los Angeles, California
July 16
2009 Small-Medium Display Forum
Taipei, Taiwan
July 19-24
International Conference on HumanComputer Interaction
San Diego, California
July 29-30
Japan Forum
Tokyo, Japan
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