CES to Showcase Flat-Panel Technologies
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
If someone asks what will be a key trend at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas, it will be technologies related to flat panels.
The high-tech conference, which officially starts Monday and runs through Thursday in the U.S. desert city, is expected to draw 140,000 attendees and more than 2,700 exhibitors in some 30 categories. It is the world’s largest consumer technology trade show.
With the slogan ``Welcome to the World of Imagination,’’ Samsung Electronics will exhibit the industry’s biggest ever 82-inch quadruple full high-definition TV with the highest picture quality ― 3840X2160 pixels ― in its 700 square meter booth.
Samsung also plans to introduce an advanced PC lineup armed with artistic dual LCD monitors.
``Although Internet-connected mobile devices will be the major focus of the show in general, we should reap `actual results’,’’ a high-ranking Samsung official said Sunday, without elaborating further.
Samsung Electronics, which embraced the flat-panel TV business as one of its next growth engines to offset falling profits in the chip segment, has recently revised upward its sales target of LCD TVs by 60 percent to 20 million in 2008. Experts say that the global LCD TV market will continue its brisk movement this year thanks to a demand and supply imbalance.
According to DisplaySearch, a market research firm, the global TV market is expected to deliver 111 million LCD TVs in the year but the international panel supply is estimated at only 105 million, pushing panel suppliers and TV maker to form alliances.
Whisper-thin OLED TVs with low-power displays that beat LCDs on color, contrast and side viewing angles will also be featured at the show.
Samsung SDI is ready to unveil its newly launched 31-inch and 14-inch OLED panels using an active-matrix and a low temperature poly-silicon manufacturing process, while Samsung Techwin will release the ``L’’ series of high-definition digital cameras equipped with OLED displays.
LG.Philips LCD (LPL), which is looking for a quarterly record operating profit of some 800 billion won, is expected to steal the limelight by exhibiting ``eco-friendly’’ LCD products.
In the company’s product list are the industry’s biggest 51-inch multi-touch screen, 47-inch ultra slim panel with a thickness of 19.8 millimeters for LCD TVs, 14.3-inch color flexible display, 17-inch switchable lens type 3D display and 22-inch LCD panel using anti-pollution polarizing technology.
``We will unveil pricey lineups featuring faster screen refresh rates for better picture quality,’’ said Chung In-jae, LPL’s chief technology officer.
``With LCDs continuing to drive toward market dominance across most screen sizes, the category will be alive as LCD TV makers like Sony and Sharp and panel suppliers try to tout models with reduced overall display depth and thinner bezels,’’ said Park Young-joo, an analyst from Woori Investment & Securities.
Separately, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics plan to strengthen ties with bigger clients to sell the latest phones offering live TV, the function that iPod and iPhone do not support.
Samsung has recently overtaken Motorola to become the world’s No. 2 handset manufacturer, while LG Electronics is gearing up to narrow the market gap with No. 4 Sony-Ericsson after the launch of 5-megapixel Viewty phones.