dcom 15 tft lcd factory

Ann Arbor Technologies (Ann Arbor, Mich.) has the WebLink. This factory-floor network computer has a Sun Sparc IIep processor, Java operating system, and a 13.8-in. active matrix TFT (thin film transistor) display.

Dynapro (Delta, British Columbia, Canada) is offering a diskless PC with Microsoft Windows CE embedded. The active matrix TFT flat panel display comes with a resistive touchscreen or an optional patented Near Field Imaging touchscreen.

Reflecting this vision, Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis.) now has color flat-panel displays from 6- to 15-in. and a 20-in. CRT monitor which all use a common software configuration.

Two Technologies Inc. (Horsham, Pa.) now offers the HV-30 hand-held terminal. This ASCII terminal with serial connectivity (RS-232, 422) has a 2-line by 40-character LCD device. Supertwist LCD and backlit LCD are also available. The 30-key membrane keypad has configurable function keys. Priced at just over $200, this is an economical entry-level system.

TD17 text display from Siemens Energy and Automation (Alpharetta, Ga.) is an LCD text only display that can use two font sizes. The 6- and 11-mm fonts can be mixed on one line or use only one for emphasis or to pack more information on the screen. TD17 is programmed with the current Pro Tool software operating under Windows 95. It has drivers not only for Siemen’s Simatic products but also for several other brands of PLCs.

PLCDirect’s (Cumming, Ga.) OptiMate family of operator interfaces are low-cost LCD interfaces that feature user-configurable function keys, annunciator lamps in various colors, and setpoint display capability.

Aromat Corp. (New Providence, N.J.) has incorporated two-color backlit LCDs into the D30 graphic touch panel. Paging functions create screen changes such as a flashing red light alarm. The D30 can display text, graphics, symbols, and bar charts. The product stores up to 256 message screens with up to 32 function keys per screen.

GE Fanuc Automation (Charlottesville, Va.) builds in networking to each display station in its Cimplicity HMI product line. On the low end, the Datapanel 160 still supports graphics, messaging, alarming, scaling of data, redefinable function keys, and membrane keypad data entry. Fieldbus networks such as Profibus and Genius are also supported. The Datapanel 1000 series has ported color active matrix TFT down to a 10.4-in. display. Engineers at GE Fanuc believe Windows CE will add more functionality to low-end devices while the market will also drive manufacturers to larger flat-panel displays.

Larger flat-panel displays made for the factory floor are beginning to make it to the market. Total Control Products (Melrose Park, Ill.) has introduced the Marathon Series of PCs, monitors, and peripherals. The monitors have TFT color technology with SVGA (800 x 600 pixels) and XGA (1,024 x 768 pixels) resolution. The displays are up to 14.9-in. active matrix TFT and 17.7-in. passive LCD.

Sometimes the resolution of the graphic presented to the monitor is not of sufficient quality for higher resolution screens. Interlaced full motion, video and progressively scanned computer graphics are a challenge. Computer Dynamics (Greenville, S.C.) has developed the Vamp-SmartSize. Available in Computer Dynamics’ panels from 6.4- to 15-in., the Vamp-SmartSize provides smooth image resizing so that VGA images will now fill the entire SVGA or XGA screen. Video from NTSC video sources like CCD cameras, VCRs, or any type of TV signal can be displayed. Automatic calibration makes it easier to get the optimum image on the screen.

If a 15-in. display isn’t large enough for graphics, Aydin Displays (Horsham, Pa.) has the answer. The AMLCD FPD is a 20-in. active matrix LCD flat-panel display that supports 1,280 x 1,024 pixel resolution.

Combining the trend toward larger flat panel displays with their expertise in touch, Elo Touchsystems (Fremont, Calif.) is now shipping two new flat-panel, active matrix, TFT displays. The Trimline 12.1-in. Touchmonitor features the Elo AccuTouch five-wire resistive touchscreen while the 14-in. model has a surface acoustic wave touchscreen in a NEMA 12 configuration. The 12.1-in. model has SVGA resolution and the 14-in. one is XGA.

Inova Inc. (Richland, Wa.) has taken surface acoustic wave technology a little further and claims to have the first packaged in a NEMA 4X display. The 12.1-in. active matrix, TFT display has 4,096 x 4,096 individual touch points so that ultra-fine precision is achieved. Have a problem with a glob of grease or peanut butter from lunch stuck on the screen giving a false signal? Inova engineers have developed algorithms that “see” an unmoving object and tunes it out.

New object technologies such as OLE for Process Control (OPC) and the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) are allowing industrial applications to become more finely distributed while remaining integrated by way of system architecture. Distributed data within an integrating architecture fit the distributed nature of the intelligent plant-floor and the access needs of the overlying business systems.

These two technologies, OPC and DCOM, are complementary and will result in eliminating the proprietary drivers used to connect data from the device to the application and from application to application. For industrial applications at and above the HMI level in the architecture, these techniques will see wide acceptance. The Manufacturing Execution System (MES) layer where integration costs have remained high will see an immediate benefit from these techniques. Current MES projects with integration service content over 40% will see drastic improvement as “drag and drop” integration is provided within the base technology.

The OPC and DCOM impact in industrial automation will be further amplified when combined with other supporting technologies such as ActiveX, Ethernet, HTML and dynamic HTML, micro web servers and browsers. In combination, the result will be a flurry of new products as these new technologies are adopted.

High luminance of 300cd/m2 and a wide color gamut of 72%, equivalent to that of a cathode-ray tube ("CRT"), are realized through NEC LCD Technologies" own unique UA-SFT technology (*1), which boasts improved panel transmissivity (180% from A-SFT technology (*2), and 120% from SA-SFT technology (*3)). This LCD achieves accurate color reproduction of clear and vivid color images even in bright environments.

UA-SFT technology also enables an ultra-wide viewing angle of 170 degrees (contrast ratio greater than 10:1) and reduces the color and/or contrast shift problem that occurs due to a change in viewing angle. Allowing greater flexibility in terms of installation location and viewing position, the 15-inch LCD is also suitable for multi-screen use.

Recently, CRTs are being increasingly replaced by LCDs for a variety of industrial uses. In high-end industrial fields such as medical diagnostic imaging, motion picture editing and broadcasting systems, LCD display performance equivalent to that of CRTs has become a vital replacement condition. In the fields of broadcasting and motion picture editing, there is a high demand for small/medium-sized monitors with high picture quality and high brightness for TV operation or movie studios that monitor various pictures displayed on multiple screens, or for outdoor location shooting. In the medical field, small/medium-sized high-picture quality monitors are also required for various modality systems such as the endoscope, ultrasonograph, or funduscope.

NEC LCD Technologies responded to these needs by launching an 8.4-inch XGA TFT color LCD module (part number NL10276BC16-01) in July 2003, the first product equipped with UA-SFT technology, and has contributed to the promotion of the replacement of CRTs with LCDs in the above fields. However, customers in these fields expressed their need for an enhanced version of the 8.4-inch product, which led to the development of the 15-inch module.

"Our new 15-inch TFT LCD module boasts picture performance equivalent to that of our 8.4-inch TFT LCD, and we are satisfied that it can meet the various demands of the medical diagnostic imaging, motion picture editing, and broadcasting system fields, adding to our extensive line of superior quality products" said Hidetoshi Usui, department manager in charge of product planning and marketing, NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd.

NEC LCD Technologies will continue to expand the sales promotion of this new product to a wide-range of industrial fields which require high picture quality, and to develop and promote various TFT LCD modules to respond to the emerging needs of a variety of industrial fields.