A model poses with Samsung Electronics’ slimmest LCD panel which will be used to make a 40-inch LED television. / Korea Times |
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics has successfully developed the world's thinnest LCD panels to be used in LCD TVs with light emitting-diode (LED) backlights.
The world's biggest LCD panel maker employed its own super-shrink technology, a combination of 3.9-millimeter thick glass and "needle slim" technology to achieve the largest viewing area within the smallest outline dimensions.
"These super-shrink LCD panels meet the specifications for slimmer LED TVs where display frame size is critical," a Samsung spokesman Kim Choon-gon said.
For the product, the South Korean flat-screen maker has newly developed core components and realigned the backlight unit structure, Kim said.
"Samsung is still gauging the right timing for the mass production of the panels. But it is highly unlikely it will be this year," according to the spokesman.
The announcement came as "slim" has emerged as the top buzzword for Samsung Electronics' TV business this year due to its aggressive "LED TV" campaigns.
The company's LCD business department has begun mass-producing the industry's first ultra-slim panels suited for large size TVs.
Its edge-lit LED backlighting offers lighter weight and thinner designs, which are preferable for wall mounting over bulkier direct-lit LED LCDs.
While a direct-lit LED backlight will project light forward across the full expanse of the display from the front, edge-lit LEDs emit light from a row of LEDs on the top and bottom of every panel, using less power.
According to Samsung executives, the edge-lit technology gathers the light toward the center of the display and bends it, reflecting it forward through a light-guide plate that precisely focuses the light for outstanding picture quality.
"Regardless of the panel size, Samsung is still maintaining a full high-definition viewing quality and 5,000:1 contrast ratio," Kim said.
Samsung, which is capturing most of the global LED TV market, is planning to sell over 10 million LED TVs in 2010, inspired by the rising demand for slimmer and high-end TVs. Most of the LED TVs that Samsung is set to sell are edge-lit based.
Along with slimmer LCD panels for television sets, Samsung has also been applying the similar slimmer technology to manufacture high-end monitors and portable notebooks.
Its 24-inch LCD panel for a monitor is highlighted 3.5 millimeters thick, while the 12.1-inch LCD panel for a notebook is 1.64-millimeters thick, officials said.
The products will be exhibited at the upcoming flat-panel display international show in Yokohama, Japan, to be held from Oct. 28 to 30.
yckim@koreatimes.co.kr
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