Samsung, LG Boast of Display Technology Again

A model poses by Samsung Electronics’ 82-inch LCD panel, which uses ultra-high definition technology, at the SID show in Los Angeles, the United States, Sunday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter

For Samsung Electronics and LG Display, selling their latest panel technologies to potential clients is their top concern amid the globally booming flat screen industry.

They aim to steal the limelight at a leading North American show for electronic-displays in Los Angeles by introducing their newest products, which the companies claim are the world’s first, even though experts doubt their marketability.

On Sunday, Samsung Electronics showcased an ultra-high definition 82-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) panel for 120Hz television sets at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition in the U.S. city. The show will run from May 18 to 23.

The world’s largest LCD panel supplier said the latest product offers much clearer viewing as its 120Hz technology, which displays an image 120 times per second, increases the frame time by twice that of the existing technology.

Meanwhile, Samsung said the panel uses a light-emitting diode (LED) backlight, with the increasing popularity of LED-backed flat screens triggering soaring demand worldwide.

Industry experts said that so far backlight module makers around the world have yet to effectively improve defect rates in making light-guide plates and assembling LED backlight modules. As a result, the price of LED backlight modules remains far higher than that of the current cold cathode fluorescent lamp model.

``I personally hope the next-generation ultra-high definition level in the LCD panel market will open soon, with increasing consumer demand for clear viewing in households and public spaces,’’ Kim Sang-soo, executive vice president of Samsung’s LCD Technology Center, said. Samsung also exhibited an 82-inch LCD e-Board using ultra-high definition technology.

At the show, LG Display, the world’s No. 2 LCD panel manufacturer, is exhibiting an LCD roll-printing technology to replace the photolithography process used in LCD fabrication.

The environmentally friendly roll-printing technology is capable of reducing the amount of chemicals required by the photolithography process and can be easily applied to the fabrication of next-generation flexible displays.

``This show gives us a chance to find more clients and we are planning to boost marketing in our showrooms,’’ its chief technology officer Chung In-jae said.

Samsung SDI, the first mass producer of organic light-emitting diode display panels using an advanced active-matrix method, will release 15 such panels ranging from 2-inch to 31-inch.

The company is planning to introduce an e-business card equipped with a 3.0-inch WVGA AM OLED panel and is also set to show off an e-passport adopting a 2-inch QVGA AM OLED panel.

``As AM OLED panels have reached economies of scale thanks to increasing production yields, we are positive about getting more calls for our products,’’ Seo Hae-su, a company spokesperson, said.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr