LG, Sony expand talks over LCDs

By Kim Yoo-chul

Flat-screen giant LG Display is in advanced talks with Sony to supply large-sized liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for the Japanese maker's high-end flat-screen televisions.

Adding Sony to its premium list of customers would boost LG Display's attempt to overtake domestic rival Samsung Electronics for supremacy in the flat-screen industry.

"We are negotiating with Sony to expand LCD supplies toward large-sized ones," LG Display chief executive officer (CEO) Kwon Young-soo said on the sidelines of a technology forum in Seoul, although refusing to discuss the details of the talks as the agreement hasn't been finalized.

Hong Ji-eun, a Korean representative of Sony, declined to comment on the issue.

In January, LG Display announced it has resumed delivering LCD products to Sony for the first time in more than six years.

Although the first shipments consisted of panels used for screens in portable devices and small-to-mid-sized televisions in the 20- and 30-inch range, LG Display has been hoping to sell a wider variety of products to Sony.

In expressing hopes for a lucrative partnership, Kwon was also bullish about what the sales of Apple’s new iPad would do for LG Display's business.

LG Display has been a major screen provider for Apple over the past years. The iPad 2 will maintain the 9.7-inch screen it used in the first model.

"We think the iPad 2 will sell well," Kwon said.

He also predicted that the market for 3D televisions will rise faster than most industry observers have been expecting.

"In China, the demand for value-added televisions such as 3D and LCD models with light emitting-diode backlighting is looking quite healthy. We sold 30 percent more during the Lunar New Year holiday seasons there than we did last year."

The LCD market is always tough to predict, but Kwon said the company is expecting a global turnaround sometime after the second-quarter.

3D demonstration

LG Display has recently been upping its efforts to drive technology standards in the 3D television industry.

Kwon said the company will demonstrate 3D televisions employing a newer version of its film patterned retarder (FPR) technology to journalists later this month.

"We know all about the safety-related controversies surrounding 3D televisions and technologies. We are ready to demonstrate to the world that we have the solution that could quiet the concerns about health and picture quality," he said.

"The distinctive strength of FPR-based 3D televisions is that they realize full high-definition (HD) picture images."

By sales, Samsung Electronics is still the leader in the global 3D TV market and its shutter-glass (SG) technology is shared by most global firms including Sony.

But LG Display claims that its FPR technology eliminates "cross-talk," or the overlapping of images, and flickering, which are problems for current 3D television models.