Samsung Electronics will introduce a 3.5" LCD with embedded touch screen, and a 7" LCD driven by a single chip, at the 2006 Society for Information Display International Symposium and Exhibition(SID). Samsung is also unveiling widescreen versions of 24", 27" and 30" monitors for specialty-market, digital information displays, as well as a 21.3" black-and-white monitor with clearer X-ray viewing for medical applications.
3.5" Panel
The 3.5" LCD, referred to as the 3.5" hTSP (hybrid Touch Screen Panel), features qVGA resolution and a built-in touch screen. Normally, an LCD panel with touch screen must have a separate printed circuit board (PCB) attached to the top of the LCD panel that contains sensor circuitry. Now, Samsung has eliminated this requirement by including all sensor circuitry within the panel. As a result, mobile devices designed with the new 3.5" display can be thinner and lighter, while maintaining a bright, high contrast image. Adding to production cost efficiencies, the company produced the touch screen circuitry inside the new panel using the same thin-film transistor (TFT) processing that it uses today in mass production at existing LCD facilities. The LCD panel can be applied to a wide range of portable applications that require a touch screen, such as navigation terminals for vehicles, and personal media players (PMPs). Future applications will include smart phones, PDA phones, ultra-mobile PCs and other multimedia mobile products.
7" LCD with single chip
Samsung also is showcasing a 7 inch single-chip LCD display at SID 2006. The display, completed in May, boasts a (WVGA) resolution of 800x480 pixels. The display uses Samsung's proprietary amorphous silicon gate technology, which allows the gate IC function to be built directly onto the glass panel. The time controller function also is built into the driver IC, reducing the circuitry footprint and the number of parts by about one-third. The embedded digital LCD chip also simplifies the task of circuit design in the finished product. Seven inches is now the most common size LCD screen used for digital multimedia broadcasting handsets, PMPs and car navigation systems.
Wider, Larger Monitors
The monitors that will be exhibited by Samsung at SID 2006 are wider than most of the standard-aspect-ratio panels available today and offer increased functionality, which is helping to blur the distinction between consumer electronics and IT network products. The monitors have a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:10 in 24", 27" and 30" diagonal sizes.
Medical Monitor
Samsung also anticipates a great deal of interest at SID in a 21.3" black-and-white monitor that will be used in medical applications. Featuring greatly enhanced brightness and a 2000:1 contrast ratio, made possible by a unique Samsung pixel configuration, the medically applicable display can be used as an alternative to X-ray film. Samsung is showing 7" plastic LCD, using amorphous silicon. The flexible LCD suggests many possibilities for displays that are both wearable and fashionable. Samsung will also provide the first public viewing of its prototype 8th-generation glass substrate.
