By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter

Dongbu HiTek, the group's chip making affiliate, may supply its latest flat-screen driver chip for unnamed Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers.

They are in the final stage of talks.

On Wednesday, Dongbu said it has successfully developed a display driver IC (DDI) in operating the next-generation flat-screen panel of active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM OLEDs).

The chip is to be used in high-end portable electronics devices such as ultra-mobile PCs, navigations, digital frames and other multi-media players, according to its spokesman.

"The shipping target date is expected in the second quarter of the year," an industry source told The Korea Times.

Dongbu spokesman Kwon Ki-joo declined to comment.

The operating chip offers a picture quality of 1024X768 pixels, 30 percent better than the conventional one with a resolution of 800X480 pixels, helping flat-screen manufacturers save costs, Dongbu officials said.

A DDI is a semiconductor located in the periphery of a display panel driving flat-screen cells by transmitting electric signals to individual pixels.

As the push toward large, high-resolution displays accelerates, DDI has become a key component, as more than 20 DDIs are usually integrated per flat-screen panel.

AM OLED displays, often called "dream displays," are based on highly competitive technology because they are self-luminous and, unlike LCDs, don't require expensive backlighting.

Its high price is considered a major drawback for the expansion of the AM OLED market. Thus, they're now being used for smaller portable devices such as phones and car navigation systems for the time being.

As leading flat-screen makers including Samsung Electronics and LG Display are fighting for a bigger slice in the next panels, applications for them are widely forecast to be up for expansion to televisions.

DisplaySearch, a market research firm, expects the global AM OLED market to grow to $5.58 billion in 2011, up from last year's $220.5 million.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr