diy alternatives to lcd displays made in china
Looking to take your project to the next level in terms of functionality and appearance? A custom LCD display might be the thing that gets you there, at least compared to the dot-matrix or seven-segment displays that anyone and their uncle can buy from the usual sources for pennies. But how does one create such a thing, and what are the costs involved? As is so often the case these days, it’s simpler and cheaper than you think, and [Dave Jones] has a great primer on designing and specifying custom LCDs.
The video below is part of an ongoing series; a previous video covered the design process, turning the design into a spec, and choosing a manufacturer; another discussed the manufacturer’s design document approval and developing a test plan for the module. This one shows the testing plan in action on the insanely cheap modules – [Dave] was able to have a small run of five modules made up for only $138, which included $33 shipping. The display is for a custom power supply and has over 200 segments, including four numeric sections, a clock display, a bar graph, and custom icons for volts, amps, millijoules, and watt-hours. It’s a big piece of glass and the quality is remarkable for the price. It’s not perfect – [Dave] noted a group of segments on the same common lines that were a bit dimmer than the rest, but was able to work around it by tweaking the supply voltage a bit.
We’re amazed at how low the barrier to entry into custom electronics has become, and even if you don’t need a custom LCD, at these prices it’s tempting to order one just because you can. Of course, you can also build your own LCD display completely from scratch too.
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Asia has long dominated the display module TFT LCD manufacturers’ scene. After all, most major display module manufacturers can be found in countries like China, South Korea, Japan, and India.
In this post, we’ll list down 7 best display module TFT LCD manufacturers in the USA. We’ll see why these companies deserve recognition as top players in the American display module industry.
STONE Technologies is a leading display module TFT LCD manufacturer in the world. The company is based in Beijing, China, and has been in operations since 2010. STONE quickly grew to become one of the most trusted display module manufacturers in 14 years.
These products are all widely used in various industries such as in medicine, home security, automotive, energy field solar charging, and domestic equipment use.
Now, let’s move on to the list of the best display module manufacturers in the USA. These companies are your best picks if you need to find a display module TFT LCD manufacturer based in the United States:
Planar Systems is a digital display company headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon. It specializes in providing digital display solutions such as LCD video walls and large format LCD displays.
The company started in 1983 as a corporate spin-off from the American oscilloscope company Tektronix. In 2015, Planar Systems became a subsidiary of the Chinese manufacturer Leyard Optoelectronics.
Planar’s manufacturing facilities are located in Finland, France, and North America. Specifically, large-format displays are manufactured and assembled in Albi, France.
Another thing that makes Planar successful is its relentless focus on its customers. The company listens to what each customer requires so that they can come up with effective display solutions to address these needs.
Microtips Technology is a global electronics manufacturer based in Orlando, Florida. The company was established in 1990 and has grown into a strong fixture in the LCD industry.
Microtips also provides value-added services to all its clients. The company’s Electronic Manufacturing Services team gives product suggestions and shares insights on how clients can successfully manage their projects.
Taiwan and Mainland China are two Asian countries where Microtips set up their manufacturing plants. The factories boast of modern equipment, high-quality raw materials, and stringent quality control measures. Microtips even earned ISO9001 and ISO14001 certifications for excellent quality management.
What makes Microtips a great display module TFT LCD manufacturer in the USA lies in its close ties with all its customers. It does so by establishing a good rapport with its clients starting from the initial product discussions. Microtips manages to keep this exceptional rapport throughout the entire client relationship by:
Displaytech is an American display module TFT LCD manufacturer headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It was founded in 1989 and is part of several companies under the Seacomp group. The company specializes in manufacturing small to medium-sized LCD modules for various devices across all possible industries.
The company also manufactures embedded TFT devices, interface boards, and LCD development boards. Also, Displaytech offers design services for embedded products, display-based PCB assemblies, and turnkey products.
Displaytech makes it easy for clients to create their own customized LCD modules. There is a feature called Design Your Custom LCD Panel found on their site. Clients simply need to input their specifications such as their desired dimensions, LCD configuration, attributes, connector type, operating and storage temperature, and other pertinent information. Clients can then submit this form to Displaytech to get feedback, suggestions, and quotes.
Clients are assured of high-quality products from Displaytech. This is because of the numerous ISO certifications that the company holds for medical devices, automotive, and quality management. Displaytech also holds RoHS and REACH certifications.
A vast product range, good customization options, and responsive customer service – all these factors make Displaytech among the leading LCD manufacturers in the USA.
Products that Phoenix Display offers include standard, semi-custom, and fully-customized LCD modules. Specifically, these products comprise Phoenix Display’s offerings:
Phoenix Display also integrates the display design to all existing peripheral components, thereby lowering manufacturing costs, improving overall system reliability, and removes unnecessary interconnects.
Clients flock to Phoenix Display because of their decades-long experience in the display manufacturing field. The company also combines its technical expertise with its competitive manufacturing capabilities to produce the best possible LCD products for its clients.
True Vision Displays is an American display module TFT LCD manufacturing company located at Cerritos, California. It specializes in LCD display solutions for special applications in modern industries. Most of their clients come from highly-demanding fields such as aerospace, defense, medical, and financial industries.
The company produces several types of TFT LCD products. Most of them are industrial-grade and comes in various resolution types such as VGA, QVGA, XGA, and SXGA. Clients may also select product enclosures for these modules.
All products feature high-bright LCD systems that come from the company’s proprietary low-power LED backlight technology. The modules and screens also come in ruggedized forms perfect for highly-demanding outdoor industrial use.
Slow but steady growth has always been True Vision Display’s business strategy. And the company continues to be known globally through its excellent quality display products, robust research and development team, top-of-the-line manufacturing facilities, and straightforward client communication.
LXD Incorporated is among the earliest LCD manufacturers in the world. The company was founded in 1968 by James Fergason under the name International Liquid Xtal Company (ILIXCO). Its first headquarters was in Kent, Ohio. At present, LXD is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
All of their display modules can be customized to fit any kind of specifications their clients may require. Display modules also pass through a series of reliability tests before leaving the manufacturing line. As such, LXD’s products can withstand extreme outdoor environments and operates on a wide range of temperature conditions.
LXD has research centers and factories in both the United States and China. The US-based headquarters feature a massive 30,000 square feet of manufacturing and research development centers. Meanwhile, LXD’s Chinese facilities feature a large 5,000 square meters of cleanrooms for manufacturing modular and glass products.
Cystalfontz America is a leading supplier and manufacturer of HMI display solutions. The company is located in Spokane Valley, Washington. It has been in the display solutions business since 1998.
Crystalfontz takes pride in its ISO 9001 certification, meaning the company has effective quality control measures in place for all of its products. After all, providing high-quality products to all customers remains the company’s topmost priority. Hence, many clients from small hobbyists to large top-tier American companies partner with Crystalfontz for their display solution needs.
We’ve listed the top 7 display module TFT LCD manufacturers in the USA. All these companies may not be as well-known as other Asian manufacturers are, but they are equally competent and can deliver high-quality display products according to the client’s specifications. Contact any of them if you need a US-based manufacturer to service your display solutions needs.
We also briefly touched on STONE Technologies, another excellent LCD module manufacturer based in China. Consider partnering with STONE if you want top-of-the-line smart LCD products and you’re not necessarily looking for a US-based manufacturer. STONE will surely provide the right display solution for your needs anywhere you are on the globe.
In this article, we are looking at the benefits of looking for Chinese TFT LCD manufacturers. Instead of resorting to other manufacturing means, opting for the Chinese is a much wiser and lucrative choice. If you are looking for Chinese LCD manufacturers, you should start with STONE Tech.
There is no doubt that China has taken the mass manufacturing business by storm. There are few products that we can encounter in our lives that don’t have the words ‘Made in China’ scribbled underneath. There is a glut of products that are mass-manufactured by the Chinese and then shipped out internationally to be sold.
Handbags, wallets, phone cases, and other similar items have become the favorites of wholesalers and bulk buyers. These products are directly sold to end consumers. However, the fascinating thing about the Chinese production and manufacturing business is that it does not only cover the end-consumer products. Rather, you can also acquire raw and basic materials needed for the further manufacturing of goods and products. One such product is LCD displays.
LCD displays have become something of a necessity in today’s world of tech advancement. Many things in our daily life have been automated, and are operated using an interactive user interface. For these kinds of machines and gadgets, LCD displays are typically necessary.
In this article, we are looking at the benefits of looking for Chinese LCD manufacturers. Instead of resorting to other manufacturing means, opting for the Chinese is a much wiser and lucrative choice. If you are looking for Chinese LCD manufacturers, you should start with Stoneitech.com.
STONE Tech is an LCD manufacturer located in Beijing, China. It was founded back in 2010, and it has been developing TFT LCD display modules ever since. These modules can be used for a variety of different machines including electric equipment, precision instruments, and civil electronics etcetera.
One of the main benefits that you get with Stoneitech.com is that there is a wide range of diverse products that you can purchase. For example, there are three different application types that you can choose from which include the Industrial Type, Advanced Type, and Civil Type. Similarly, there is a range of different sizes that you can choose from. There are 11 different sizes that you can buy, ranging from the smallest 3.5-inch display to the large 15.1-inch one. The same goes for the Android series which where you can choose between 4.5-inch and 31.5-inch displays.
When you are going to be ordering in bulk, you need to save up on costs as much as you can. The more you save up, the more profit you can make when reselling. Furthermore, lower costs can allow you to set lower prices when selling. This can attract more customers and your sales can increase.
In the initial period of your business, you want to build trust with your customers and give them more value than they expect. The best way you can achieve this is by making your products available for less than the average price. And this can only be done if you are saving up on costs yourself.
The same applies to LCD displays. When you save up on costs when buying LCD displays, you can set a lower price for the whole machine or gadget that you are producing.
This is a very useful benefit for small start-up companies. Generally, manufacturers in the USA are not going to be very willing to work with you unless you are a big company or unless you have a large recognition and following. Due to this, smaller companies can have trouble getting their demands heard. However, the refusal of suppliers to do so is not unjustified. Smaller companies are going to start off with smaller orders. Small orders are not very lucrative and beneficial for suppliers. The larger the order, the more convenient it will be for the manufacturer.
However, with Chinese manufacturers, this problem is minimized. The Chinese often don’t care how big a brand you are and what recognition your company has. As long as you meet the minimum order requirements, you can get your products easily. This is highly advantageous for smaller companies. Due to this, smaller firms can get started and kick off their business.
When it comes to LCD modules, the orders are not received by the hundreds or thousands as is the case with other smaller products such as handbags and wallets etcetera. One module can cost around $250, and it is for this reason that the dynamics are a little different with this business. That is why STONE offers single pieces for sale as well as multiple pieces. This encourages smaller businesses to make their purchases since they can easily purchase as many modules as they like. As long as you meet the limit stated by the supplier, you are good to go.
Typically, when you are paying less, you can have the expectation that the quality might not be good or the time taken may be too long. However, when you are buying from the Chinese, you don’t have to face any of these problems. While you are paying less, you can get satisfactory quality and even the production time is cut down.
The factories in China have more machines and workers working simultaneously. This means that you can get bigger orders more quickly. For example, if you are getting 10 units from a domestic supplier in 4 days, you will be able to get 12 units from a Chinese supplier in just 3 days. That means that the production rate is increased, and the time taken is also cut short. This is merely an example to show that both aspects of production are enhanced when you do business with the Chinese.
Another great benefit of getting production done in China is the option for expansion. What that means is that while you can transport your merchandise to your home country, you also have the option of making them available in China. Instead of only bringing the goods back home to resell, you can set up a business that makes your merchandise available for sale in China as well.
In the case of LCD modules, this benefit relates to a reselling business. For example, if you are planning on buying some modules to use in your machines etcetera, then there is not a very suitable opportunity for you to expand. If you want to start a business in another country, you will have to open a manufacturing unit there so that your products can be produced and then get sold. Or, you will have to transport your final products to the other country in order to run your business.
However, if you are buying the LCD modules to resale at a profit, you can use the Chinese markets to grow your business. You can buy the modules at a reduced price and then sell them at a profit in a different area or city where the people will be willing to pay more.
Now that we have seen the benefits of choosing Chinese manufacturers for LCD modules, let us narrow it down a bit and look at why you should choose STONE specifically.
With STONE, you get the option of buying a range of different-sized modules. If your business deals in making different electronics and machines that require panels of different sizes, you don’t have to look at multiple suppliers to fulfill your need. You could be making some products that require 3.5-inch panels, while some of your machines could be needing 15.1-inch modules. Instead of taking the trouble to go to different suppliers, you can enjoy an all-in-one experience from STONE.
STONE offers its customers ease when it comes to making a purchase. Generally, wholesalers and suppliers sell their merchandise in bundles of 10, 50, 100, etc. However, the STONE store gives you the option of buying single pieces so that you can buy as much as you presently need.
One of the main things that you have to look at in any supplier is the level of reliability and trust. This is usually determined by the level of experience and the time that the supplier has spent in the market. STONE was founded in 2010 and has been producing LCD modules for the past 10 years.
If you are looking to buy LCD modules in bulk, look no further than the Middle Kingdom. China has become the hub of mass manufacturing and is the favorite spot for wholesalers and business owners.
In case you need some convincing about buying from the Chinese, we have compiled a list of benefits that you can enjoy when looking for TFT LCD manufacturers in China.
The process to take your LCD idea from a concept to having prototype samples in hand is simple and requires just the few steps listed below. (Download PDF)
In many cases, FocusLCDs’ lead time for custom LCD samples is as little as 6-7 weeks after you approve our counter drawings and data sheet. This lead time increases by 4-6 weeks between November to early February due to Chinese New year. Standard production orders for custom displays have a lead time of 10-12 weeks, which can increase by 2-4 weeks during Chinese New year.
Focus Display Solutions offers several LCD technologies. The majority of these displays can be customized to fit your need. Below is a short introduction to each type of LCD.
Ultra-Wide Viewing Display (UWVD) is a new technology that is named after one of its most notable characteristics – it is viewable from all angles. In addition to the viewing angle, this technology provides a better contrast than other options and can allow for multiple colors. Call one of our design specialists today to see if UWVD is the right technology for you.
Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays (TFTs) are perhaps the most encountered display technology we see daily. Often seen in cell phones, tablets, cameras and countless other devices, this technology offers several hundreds of thousands of colors with a high pixel count to offer supreme visual clarity. In addition, all TFTs are available off the shelf with resistive and capacitive touch panel options.
Character LCDs have been around since the 1950s and are still very common. These displays offer 256 selectable characters and are available with several different font tables to show a variety of languages. They are most commonly known for their ease of programming wide variety of sizes, character arrays and colors.
► When the leading Korean players Samsung Display and LG Display exit LCD production, BOE will be the most significant player in the LCD market. Though OLED can replace the LCD, it will take years for it to be fully replaced.
► As foreign companies control evaporation material and machines, panel manufacturers seek a cheaper way to mass-produce OLED panels – inkjet printing.
When mainstream consumer electronics brands choose their device panels, the top three choices are Samsung Display, LG Display (LGD) and BOE (000725:SZ) – the first two from Korea and the third from China. From liquid-crystal displays (LCD) to active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED), display panel technology has been upgrading with bigger screen products.
From the early 1990s, LCDs appeared and replaced cathode-ray tube (CRT) screens, which enabled lighter and thinner display devices. Japanese electronics companies like JDI pioneered the panel technology upgrade while Samsung Display and LGD were nobodies in the field. Every technology upgrade or revolution is a chance for new players to disrupt the old paradigm.
The landscape was changed in 2001 when Korean players firstly made a breakthrough in the Gen 5 panel technology – the later the generation, the bigger the panel size. A large panel size allows display manufacturers to cut more display screens from one panel and create bigger-screen products. "The bigger the better" is a motto for panel makers as the cost can be controlled better and they can offer bigger-size products to satisfy the burgeoning middle-class" needs.
LCD panel makers have been striving to realize bigger-size products in the past four decades. The technology breakthrough of Gen 5 in 2002 made big-screen LCD TV available and it sent Samsung Display and LGD to the front row, squeezing the market share of Japanese panel makers.
The throne chair of LCD passed from Japanese companies to Korean enterprises – and now Chinese players are clinching it, replacing the Koreans. After twenty years of development, Chinese panel makers have mastered LCD panel technology and actively engage in large panel R&D projects. Mass production created a supply surplus that led to drops in LCD price. In May 2020, Samsung Display announced that it would shut down all LCD fabs in China and Korea but concentrate on quantum dot LCD (Samsung calls it QLED) production; LGD stated that it would close LCD TV panel fabs in Korea and focus on organic LED (OLED). Their retreats left BOE and China Stars to digest the LCD market share.
Consumer preference has been changing during the Korean fab"s recession: Bigger-or-not is fine but better image quality ranks first. While LCD needs the backlight to show colors and substrates for the liquid crystal layer, OLED enables lighter and flexible screens (curvy or foldable), higher resolution and improved color display. It itself can emit lights – no backlight or liquid layer is needed. With the above advantages, OLED has been replacing the less-profitable LCD screens.
Samsung Display has been the major screen supplier for high-end consumer electronics, like its own flagship cell phone products and Apple"s iPhone series. LGD dominated the large OLED TV market as it is the one that handles large-size OLED mass production. To further understand Korean panel makers" monopolizing position, it is worth mentioning fine metal mask (FMM), a critical part of the OLED RGB evaporation process – a process in OLED mass production that significantly affects the yield rate.
Prior to 2018, Samsung Display and DNP"s monopolistic supply contract prevented other panel fabs from acquiring quality FMM products as DNP bonded with Hitachi Metal, the "only" FMM material provider choice for OLED makers. After the contract expired, panel makers like BOE could purchase FFM from DNP for their OLED R&D and mass production. Except for FFM materials, vacuum evaporation equipment is dominated by Canon Tokki, a Japanese company. Its role in the OLED industry resembles that of ASML in the integrated circuit space. Canon Tokki"s annual production of vacuum evaporation equipment is fewer than ten and thereby limits the total production of OLED panels that rely on evaporation technology.
The shortage of equipment and scarcity of materials inspired panel fabs to explore substitute technology; they discovered that inkjet printing has the potential to be the thing to replace evaporation. Plus, evaporation could be applied to QLED panels as quantum dots are difficult to be vaporized. Inkjet printing prints materials (liquefied organic gas or quantum dots) to substrates, saving materials and breaking free from FMM"s size restriction. With the new tech, large-size OLED panels can theoretically be recognized with improved yield rate and cost-efficiency. However, the tech is at an early stage when inkjet printing precision could not meet panel manufacturers" requirements.
Display and LGD are using evaporation on their OLED products. To summarize, OLED currently adopts evaporation and QLED must go with inkjet printing, but evaporation is a more mature tech. Technology adoption will determine a different track for the company to pursue. With inkjet printing technology, players are at a similar starting point, which is a chance for all to run to the front – so it is for Chinese panel fabs. Certainly, panel production involves more technologies (like flexible panels) than evaporation or inkjet printing and only mastering all required technologies can help a company to compete at the same level.
Presently, Chinese panel fabs are investing heavily in OLED production while betting on QLED. BOE has four Gen 6 OLED product lines, four Gen 8.5 and one Gen 10.5 LCD lines; China Star, controlled by the major appliance titan TCL, has invested two Gen 6 OLED fabs and four large-size LCD product lines.
Remembering the last "regime change" that occurred in 2005 when Korean fabs overtook Japanese" place in the LCD market, the new phase of panel technology changed the outlook of the industry. Now, OLED or QLED could mark the perfect time for us to expect landscape change.
After Samsung Display and LGD ceding from LCD TV productions, the vacant market share will be digested by BOE, China Star and other LCD makers. Indeed, OLED and QLED have the potential to take over the LCD market in the future, but the process may take more than a decade. Korean companies took ten years from panel fab"s research on OLED to mass production of small- and medium-size OLED electronics. Yet, LCD screen cell phones are still available in the market.
LCD will not disappear until OLED/QLED"s cost control can compete with it. The low- to middle-end panel market still prefers cheap LCD devices and consumers are satisfied with LCD products – thicker but cheaper. BOE has been the largest TV panel maker since 2019. As estimated by Informa, BOE and China Star will hold a duopoly on the flat panel display market.
BOE"s performance seems to have ridden on a roller coaster ride in the past several years. Large-size panel mass production like Gen 8.5 and Gen 10.5 fabs helped BOE recognize the first place in production volume. On the other side, expanded large-size panel factories and expenses of OLED product lines are costly: BOE planned to spend CNY 176.24 billion (USD 25.92 billion) – more than Tibet"s 2019 GDP CNY 169.78 billion – on Chengdu and Mianyang"s Gen 6 AMOLED lines and Hefei and Wuhan"s Gen 10.5 LCD lines.
Except for making large-size TVs, bigger panels can cut out more display screens for smaller devices like laptops and cell phones, which are more profitable than TV products. On its first-half earnings concall, BOE said that it is shifting its production focus to cell phone and laptop products as they are more profitable than TV products. TV, IT and cell phone products counted for 30%, 44% and 33% of its productions respectively and the recent rising TV price may lead to an increased portion of TV products in the short term.
Except for outdoor large screens, TV is another driver that pushes panel makers to research on how to make bigger and bigger screens. A research done by CHEARI showed that Chinese TV sales dropped by 10.6% to CNY 128.2 billion from 2018 to 2019. Large-size TV sales increased as a total but the unit price decreased; high-end products like laser TV and OLED TV saw a strong growth of 131.2% and 34.1%, respectively.
The change in TV sales responded to a lifestyle change since the 4G era: people are getting more and more used to enjoy streaming services on portable devices like tablets and smartphones. The ‘disappearing living room" is a phenomenon common for the young generation in Chinese tier-1 cities.
Millions of young white-collars support the co-leasing business in China and breed the six-billion-dollar Ziroom, a unicorn company that provides rental and real estate management services. As apartments can be leased by single rooms instead of the whole apartment, living rooms become a public area while tenants prefer to stay in their private zones – it hints that the bedroom is too small to fit in a TV.
Besides the tier-1 cities" "disappearing living rooms," the mobile Internet gives another reason to explain the declining TV sale in China. Various streaming services and high-speed networks allow people to watch programs wherever and whenever they would like to. However, the change in life does not imply TV will disappear. For families, the living room is still a place for family members to gather and have fun. The growth of high-end TV sales also tells the "living room" economy.
The demand for different products may vary as lifestyles change and panel fabs need to make on-time judgments and respond to the change. For instance, the coming Olympics is a new driving factor to boost TV sales; "smart city" projects around the world will need more screens for data visualization; people will own more screens and better screens when life quality improves. Flexible screens, cost-efficient production process, accessible materials, changing market and all these problems are indeed the next opportunity for the industry.
In 1991, a business unit called Samsung Display was formed to produce the panels used in products made by its parent company, Samsung Electronics. Afterward, it was a leading supplier of LCD panels not just for Samsung Electronics but for other companies in the industry as well.
The business received a stay of execution when the pandemic led to a global surge in demand for consumer electronics, but that demand is now declining, and projections aren"t good for LCD panel revenue.
Add to that the fact that emerging technologies like QD-OLED are the future for TV and monitors, and the case for keeping Samsung Display"s LCD business going becomes a hard one to make.
It was previously reported that Samsung planned to sunset the business at the end of 2020, but The Korea Times claims that the faster-than-expected falloff in consumer demand accelerated the timeline.
Samsung Display will now focus heavily on OLED and quantum dot. Most of the employees working in the LCD business will move to quantum dot, the publication claims.
The Korea Times has accurately reported similar stories like this before, but it has also occasionally missed the mark, so keep an eye out for an official statement from Samsung.
Even if there isn"t a statement about a change in direction, the writing has been on the wall for Samsung"s LCD business. Unless something radical changes, it"s more a question of when than if at this point.
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Long-time display manufacturer Samsung Display will likely stop the production of LCD displays this year. A recent report says several factors have influenced the South Korean firm’s decision.
Samsung has been a reputed LCD display manufacturer since 1991. It manufactures panels for its own devices and also works as a supplier for several other Big Tech firms, such as Apple. Its displays are used in virtually all products, ranging from foldable smartphones to televisions and tablets.
Despite the company’s successful business, a recent report from The Korea Times suggests Apple is exiting the LCD production business for good. One of the biggest reasons cited for the decision is the increased competition from Chinese and Taiwanese display manufacturers in the recent past.
Samsung wanted to shut its LCD production late in 2020 and its move was on the cards for a while now. Samsung probably kept its LCD manufacturing facilities operational during the pandemic due to the sudden and unprecedented spike in demand. However, LCD technology has been eclipsed by OLED and QD-OLED technologies on most mainstream devices in the last few years. This is another reason why Samsung will probably shutter the business later this year.
Moreover, research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) believes the average price index of LCD panels measured as 100 in January 2014 will drop down to just 36.6 in September 2022. The figure is indicative of the demand for LCD panels and it plummeted to a record low of 41.5 in April this year. The April figure is a whopping 58 percent lower than the record-high index value of 87 in June 2021 when the pandemic was raging. This reduction in demand and price could also be detrimental to the company’s plans to soldier on producing LCDs.
The report says that in the future, Samsung will remain focused on manufacturing OLED panels and more advanced quantum dot OLED displays. LCD division staffers will likely be transferred to the QD-OLED division. Meanwhile, Samsung Display did not respond to the Korea Times’ request for comment.
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EarthLCD is a division of Earth Computer Technologies, Inc. originally founded in 1984. A full line of products plus custom engineered solutions are available. We source LCD displays direct from major manufacturers world wide allowing for a cost advantage over our competitors. EarthLCD offer’s the world’s widest variety of LCD’s in fully integrated solutions for OEM supply chain requirements.
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Samsung Display will stop producing LCD panels by the end of the year. The display maker currently runs two LCD production lines in South Korea and two in China, according to Reuters. Samsung tells The Verge that the decision will accelerate the company’s move towards quantum dot displays, while ZDNetreports that its future quantum dot TVs will use OLED rather than LCD panels.
The decision comes as LCD panel prices are said to be falling worldwide. Last year, Nikkei reported that Chinese competitors are ramping up production of LCD screens, even as demand for TVs weakens globally. Samsung Display isn’t the only manufacturer to have closed down LCD production lines. LG Display announced it would be ending LCD production in South Korea by the end of the 2020 as well.
Last October Samsung Display announced a five-year 13.1 trillion won (around $10.7 billion) investment in quantum dot technology for its upcoming TVs, as it shifts production away from LCDs. However, Samsung’s existing quantum dot or QLED TVs still use LCD panels behind their quantum dot layer. Samsung is also working on developing self-emissive quantum-dot diodes, which would remove the need for a separate layer.
Samsung’s investment in OLED TVs has also been reported by The Elec. The company is no stranger to OLED technology for handhelds, but it exited the large OLED panel market half a decade ago, allowing rival LG Display to dominate ever since.
Although Samsung Display says that it will be able to continue supplying its existing LCD orders through the end of the year, there are questions about what Samsung Electronics, the largest TV manufacturer in the world, will use in its LCD TVs going forward. Samsung told The Vergethat it does not expect the shutdown to affect its LCD-based QLED TV lineup. So for the near-term, nothing changes.
One alternative is that Samsung buys its LCD panels from suppliers like TCL-owned CSOT and AUO, which already supply panels for Samsung TVs. Last year The Elec reported that Samsung could close all its South Korean LCD production lines, and make up the difference with panels bought from Chinese manufacturers like CSOT, which Samsung Display has invested in.
Samsung has also been showing off its MicroLED display technology at recent trade shows, which uses self-emissive LED diodes to produce its pixels. However, in 2019 Samsung predicted that the technology was two or three years away from being viable for use in a consumer product.
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From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe MicroLED Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. HDR support and superior dynamic range create vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge MicroLED technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior décor.
From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. These professional-grade displays provide vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior decor.
From cinema content to motion-based digital art, Planar® Luxe MicroLED Displays offer a way to enrich distinctive spaces. HDR support and superior dynamic range create vibrant, high-resolution canvases for creative expression and entertainment. Leading-edge MicroLED technology, design adaptability and the slimmest profiles ensure they seamlessly integrate with architectural elements and complement interior décor.
Planar® CarbonLight™ VX Series is comprised of carbon fiber-framed indoor LED video wall and floor displays with exceptional on-camera visual properties and deployment versatility, available in 1.9 and 2.6mm pixel pitch (wall) and 2.6mm (floor).
Carbon fiber-framed indoor LED video wall and floor displays with exceptional on-camera visual properties and deployment versatility for various installations including virtual production and extended reality.
a line of extreme and ultra-narrow bezel LCD displays that provides a video wall solution for demanding requirements of 24x7 mission-critical applications and high ambient light environments
Since 1983, Planar display solutions have benefitted countless organizations in every application. Planar displays are usually front and center, dutifully delivering the visual experiences and critical information customers need, with proven technology that is built to withstand the rigors of constant use.
China is the leader in producing LCD display panels, with a forecast capacity share of 56 percent in 2020. China"s share is expected to increase in the coming years, stabilizing at 69 percent from 2023 onwards.Read moreLCD panel production capacity share from 2016 to 2025, by countryCharacteristicChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwan-----
DSCC. (June 8, 2020). LCD panel production capacity share from 2016 to 2025, by country [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved January 01, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1056470/lcd-panel-production-capacity-country/
DSCC. "LCD panel production capacity share from 2016 to 2025, by country." Chart. June 8, 2020. Statista. Accessed January 01, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1056470/lcd-panel-production-capacity-country/
DSCC. (2020). LCD panel production capacity share from 2016 to 2025, by country. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: January 01, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1056470/lcd-panel-production-capacity-country/
DSCC. "Lcd Panel Production Capacity Share from 2016 to 2025, by Country." Statista, Statista Inc., 8 Jun 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1056470/lcd-panel-production-capacity-country/
DSCC, LCD panel production capacity share from 2016 to 2025, by country Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1056470/lcd-panel-production-capacity-country/ (last visited January 01, 2023)
microLED, also known as micro-LED, mLED or µLED, first invented in 2000Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin of Texas Tech University while they were at Kansas State University, is an emerging flat-panel display technology. microLED displays consist of arrays of microscopic LEDs forming the individual pixel elements. The first high-resolution and video-capable InGaN microLED microdisplay in VGA format was realized in 2009 by Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin and their colleagues at Texas Tech University and III-N Technology, Inc. via active driving of microLED array by a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) IC.LCD technology, microLED displays offer better contrast, response times, and energy efficiency.
MicroLED offers greatly reduced energy requirements when compared to conventional LCD displays while also offering pixel-level light control and a high contrast ratio. screen burn-in.
As of 2021Sony, Samsung, and Konkavideo walls.LG, Tianma, PlayNitride, TCL/CSoT, Jasper Display, Jade Bird Display, Plessey Semiconductors Ltd, and Ostendo Technologies, Inc. have demonstrated prototypes.BOE, Epistar, and Leyard have plans for microLED mass production.flexible and transparent, just like OLEDs.
Inorganic semiconductor microLED (µLED) technologyHongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin of Texas Tech University while they were at Kansas State University. Following their first report of electrical injection microLEDs based on indium gallium nitride (InGaN) semiconductors, several groups have quickly engaged in pursuing this concept.Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin) allowing for the development of single-chip high voltage DC/AC-LEDs
Early InGaN based microLED arrays and microdisplays were primarily passively driven. The first actively driven video-capable self-emissive InGaN microLED microdisplay in VGA format (640 × 480 pixels, each 12µm in size with 15µm between them) possessing low voltage requirements was patented and realized in 2009 by Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin and their colleagues at III-N Technology, Inc. (a company funded by Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin) and Texas Tech University, via heterogeneous integration between microLED array and CMOS integrated circuit (IC)
There are several methods to manufacture microLED displays. The flip-chip method manufactures the LED on a conventional sapphire substrate, while the transistor array and solder bumps are deposited on silicon wafers using conventional manufacturing and metallization processes. Mass transfer is used to pick and place several thousand LEDs from one wafer to another at the same time, and the LEDs are bonded to the silicon substrate using reflow ovens. The flip-chip method is used for micro displays used on virtual reality headsets. The drawbacks include cost, limited pixel size, limited placement accuracy, and the need for cooling to prevent the display from warping and breaking due to thermal mismatch between the LEDs and the silicon. Also, current microLED displays are less efficient than comparable OLED displays. Another microLED manufacturing method involves bonding the LEDs to an IC layer on a silicon substrate and then removing the LED bonding material using conventional semiconductor manufacturing techniques.pick-and-place machines and the test and repair process takes several hours. The mass transfer process alone can take 18 days, for a smartphone screen with a glass substrate.µm across.
Excimer lasers are used for several steps: laser lift-off to separate LEDs from their sapphire substrate and to remove faulty LEDs, for manufacturing the LTPS-TFT backplane, and for laser cutting of the finished LEDs. Special mass transfer techniques using elastomer stamps are also being researched.
Quantum dots are being researched as a way to shrink the size of microLED pixels, while other companies are exploring the use of phosphors and quantum dots to eliminate the need for different-colored LEDs.
Digital pulse-width modulation is well-suited to driving microLED displays. MicroLEDs experience a color shift as the current magnitude changes. Analog schemes change current to change brightness. With a digital pulse, only one current value is used for the on state. Thus, there is no color shift that occurs as brightness changes.
Current microLED display offerings by Samsung and Sony consist of "cabinets" that can be tiled to create a large display of any size, with the display"s resolution increasing with size. They also contain mechanisms to protect the display against water and dust. Each cabinet is 36.4 inches (92 cm) diagonally with a resolution of 960 × 540.
microLEDs have innate potential performance advantages over LCD displays, including higher brightness, lower latency, higher contrast ratio, greater color saturation, intrinsic self-illumination, and better efficiency. As of 2016, technological and production barriers have prevented commercialization.
As of 2016, a number of different technologies were under active research for the assembling of individual LED pixels on a substrate. These include chip bonding of microLED chips onto a substrate (considered to have potential for large displays), wafer production methods using etching to produce an LED array followed by bonding to an IC, and wafer production methods using an intermediate temporary thin film to transfer the LED array to a substrate.
Glo and Jasper Display Corporation demonstrated the world"s first RGB microLED microdisplay, measuring 0.55 inches (1.4 cm) diagonally, at SID Display Week 2017. Glo transferred their microLEDs to the Jasper Display backplane.
In March 2018, Bloomberg reported Apple to have about 300 engineers devoted to in-house development of microLED screens.LG Display demonstrated a 173-inch (4.4 m) microLED display.
At SID"s Display Week 2019 in May, Tianma and PlayNitride demonstrated their co-developed 7.56-inch (19.2 cm) microLED display with over 60% transparency.China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSoT) demonstrated a 3.3-inch (8.4 cm) transparent microLED display with around 45% transparency, also co-developed with PlayNitride.Plessey Semiconductors Ltd demonstrated a monolithic monochrome blue GaN-on-silicon wafer bonded to a Jasper Display CMOS backplane 0.7-inch (18 mm) active-matrix microLED display with an 8μm pixel pitch.
At SID"s Display Week 2019 in May, Jade Bird Display demonstrated their 720p and 1080p microLED microdisplays with 5μm and 2.5μm pitch respectively, achieving luminance in the millions of candelas per square metre. In 2021, Jade Bird Display and Vuzix have entered a Joint manufacturing agreement for making microLED based projectors for smart glasses and augmented reality glasses
At Touch Taiwan 2019 on September 4, 2019, AU Optronics demonstrated a 12.1-inch (31 cm) microLED display and indicated that microLED was 1–2 years from mass commercialization.TCL Corporation demonstrated their Cinema Wall featuring a 4K 132-inch (3.4 m) microLED display with maximum brightness of 1,500cd/m2 and 2,500,000∶1 contrast ratio produced by their subsidiary China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSoT).
A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) is a variant of a liquid-crystal display that uses thin-film-transistor technologyactive matrix LCD, in contrast to passive matrix LCDs or simple, direct-driven (i.e. with segments directly connected to electronics outside the LCD) LCDs with a few segments.
In February 1957, John Wallmark of RCA filed a patent for a thin film MOSFET. Paul K. Weimer, also of RCA implemented Wallmark"s ideas and developed the thin-film transistor (TFT) in 1962, a type of MOSFET distinct from the standard bulk MOSFET. It was made with thin films of cadmium selenide and cadmium sulfide. The idea of a TFT-based liquid-crystal display (LCD) was conceived by Bernard Lechner of RCA Laboratories in 1968. In 1971, Lechner, F. J. Marlowe, E. O. Nester and J. Tults demonstrated a 2-by-18 matrix display driven by a hybrid circuit using the dynamic scattering mode of LCDs.T. Peter Brody, J. A. Asars and G. D. Dixon at Westinghouse Research Laboratories developed a CdSe (cadmium selenide) TFT, which they used to demonstrate the first CdSe thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD).active-matrix liquid-crystal display (AM LCD) using CdSe TFTs in 1974, and then Brody coined the term "active matrix" in 1975.high-resolution and high-quality electronic visual display devices use TFT-based active matrix displays.
The liquid crystal displays used in calculators and other devices with similarly simple displays have direct-driven image elements, and therefore a voltage can be easily applied across just one segment of these types of displays without interfering with the other segments. This would be impractical for a large display, because it would have a large number of (color) picture elements (pixels), and thus it would require millions of connections, both top and bottom for each one of the three colors (red, green and blue) of every pixel. To avoid this issue, the pixels are addressed in rows and columns, reducing the connection count from millions down to thousands. The column and row wires attach to transistor switches, one for each pixel. The one-way current passing characteristic of the transistor prevents the charge that is being applied to each pixel from being drained between refreshes to a display"s image. Each pixel is a small capacitor with a layer of insulating liquid crystal sandwiched between transparent conductive ITO layers.
The circuit layout process of a TFT-LCD is very similar to that of semiconductor products. However, rather than fabricating the transistors from silicon, that is formed into a crystalline silicon wafer, they are made from a thin film of amorphous silicon that is deposited on a glass panel. The silicon layer for TFT-LCDs is typically deposited using the PECVD process.
Polycrystalline silicon is sometimes used in displays requiring higher TFT performance. Examples include small high-resolution displays such as those found in projectors or viewfinders. Amorphous silicon-based TFTs are by far the most common, due to their lower production cost, whereas polycrystalline silicon TFTs are more costly and much more difficult to produce.
The twisted nematic display is one of the oldest and frequently cheapest kind of LCD display technologies available. TN displays benefit from fast pixel response times and less smearing than other LCD display technology, but suffer from poor color reproduction and limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. Colors will shift, potentially to the point of completely inverting, when viewed at an angle that is not perpendicular to the display. Modern, high end consumer products have developed methods to overcome the technology"s shortcomings, such as RTC (Response Time Compensation / Overdrive) technologies. Modern TN displays can look significantly better than older TN displays from decades earlier, but overall TN has inferior viewing angles and poor color in comparison to other technology.
Most TN panels can represent colors using only six bits per RGB channel, or 18 bit in total, and are unable to display the 16.7 million color shades (24-bit truecolor) that are available using 24-bit color. Instead, these panels display interpolated 24-bit color using a dithering method that combines adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade. They can also use a form of temporal dithering called Frame Rate Control (FRC), which cycles between different shades with each new frame to simulate an intermediate shade. Such 18 bit panels with dithering are sometimes advertised as having "16.2 million colors". These color simulation methods are noticeable to many people and highly bothersome to some.gamut (often referred to as a percentage of the NTSC 1953 color gamut) are also due to backlighting technology. It is not uncommon for older displays to range from 10% to 26% of the NTSC color gamut, whereas other kind of displays, utilizing more complicated CCFL or LED phosphor formulations or RGB LED backlights, may extend past 100% of the NTSC color gamut, a difference quite perceivable by the human eye.
The transmittance of a pixel of an LCD panel typically does not change linearly with the applied voltage,sRGB standard for computer monitors requires a specific nonlinear dependence of the amount of emitted light as a function of the RGB value.
In-plane switching was developed by Hitachi Ltd. in 1996 to improve on the poor viewing angle and the poor color reproduction of TN panels at that time.
Initial iterations of IPS technology were characterised by slow response time and a low contrast ratio but later revisions have made marked improvements to these shortcomings. Because of its wide viewing angle and accurate color reproduction (with almost no off-angle color shift), IPS is widely employed in high-end monitors aimed at professional graphic artists, although with the recent fall in price it has been seen in the mainstream market as well. IPS technology was sold to Panasonic by Hitachi.
In 2004, Hydis Technologies Co., Ltd licensed its AFFS patent to Japan"s Hitachi Displays. Hitachi is using AFFS to manufacture high end panels in their product line. In 2006, Hydis also licensed its AFFS to Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices Corporation.
Less expensive PVA panels often use dithering and FRC, whereas super-PVA (S-PVA) panels all use at least 8 bits per color component and do not use color simulation methods.BRAVIA LCD TVs offer 10-bit and xvYCC color support, for example, the Bravia X4500 series. S-PVA also offers fast response times using modern RTC technologies.
When the field is on, the liquid crystal molecules start to tilt towards the center of the sub-pixels because of the electric field; as a result, a continuous pinwheel alignment (CPA) is formed; the azimuthal angle rotates 360 degrees continuously resulting in an excellent viewing angle. The ASV mode is also called CPA mode.
A technology developed by Samsung is Super PLS, which bears similarities to IPS panels, has wider viewing angles, better image quality, increased brightness, and lower production costs. PLS technology debuted in the PC display market with the release of the Samsung S27A850 and S24A850 monitors in September 2011.
TFT dual-transistor pixel or cell technology is a reflective-display technology for use in very-low-power-consumption applications such as electronic shelf labels (ESL), digital watches, or metering. DTP involves adding a secondary transistor gate in the single TFT cell to maintain the display of a pixel during a period of 1s without loss of image or without degrading the TFT transistors over time. By slowing the refresh rate of the standard frequency from 60 Hz to 1 Hz, DTP claims to increase the power efficiency by multiple orders of magnitude.
Due to the very high cost of building TFT factories, there are few major OEM panel vendors for large display panels. The glass panel suppliers are as follows:
External consumer display devices like a TFT LCD feature one or more analog VGA, DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort interface, with many featuring a selection of these interfaces. Inside external display devices there is a controller board that will convert the video signal using color mapping and image scaling usually employing the discrete cosine transform (DCT) in order to convert any video source like CVBS, VGA, DVI, HDMI, etc. into digital RGB at the native resolution of the display panel. In a laptop the graphics chip will directly produce a signal suitable for connection to the built-in TFT display. A control mechanism for the backlight is usually included on the same controller board.
The low level interface of STN, DSTN, or TFT display panels use either single ended TTL 5 V signal for older displays or TTL 3.3 V for slightly newer displays that transmits the pixel clock, horizontal sync, vertical sync, digital red, digital green, digital blue in parallel. Some models (for example the AT070TN92) also feature input/display enable, horizontal scan direction and vertical scan direction signals.
New and large (>15") TFT displays often use LVDS signaling that transmits the same contents as the parallel interface (Hsync, Vsync, RGB) but will put control and RGB bits into a number of serial transmission lines synchronized to a clock whose rate is equal to the pixel rate. LVDS transmits seven bits per clock per data line, with six bits being data and one bit used to signal if the other six bits need to be inverted in order to maintain DC balance. Low-cost TFT displays often have three data lines and therefore only directly support 18 bits per pixel. Upscale displays have four or five data lines to support 24 bits per pixel (truecolor) or 30 bits per pixel respectively. Panel manufacturers are slowly replacing LVDS with Internal DisplayPort and Embedded DisplayPort, which allow sixfold reduction of the number of differential pairs.
Backlight intensity is usually controlled by varying a few volts DC, or generating a PWM signal, or adjusting a potentiometer or simply fixed. This in turn controls a high-voltage (1.3 kV) DC-AC inverter or a matrix of LEDs. The method to control the intensity of LED is to pulse them with PWM which can be source of harmonic flicker.
The bare display panel will only accept a digital video signal at the resolution determined by the panel pixel matrix designed at manufacture. Some screen panels will ignore the LSB bits of the color information to present a consistent interface (8 bit -> 6 bit/color x3).
With analogue signals like VGA, the display controller also needs to perform a high speed analog to digital conversion. With digital input signals like DVI or HDMI some simple reordering of the bits is needed before feeding it to the rescaler if the input resolution doesn"t match the display panel resolution.
The statements are applicable to Merck KGaA as well as its competitors JNC Corporation (formerly Chisso Corporation) and DIC (formerly Dainippon Ink & Chemicals). All three manufacturers have agreed not to introduce any acutely toxic or mutagenic liquid crystals to the market. They cover more than 90 percent of the global liquid crystal market. The remaining market share of liquid crystals, produced primarily in China, consists of older, patent-free substances from the three leading world producers and have already been tested for toxicity by them. As a result, they can also be considered non-toxic.
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The ST7290 allows you to define up to four 16x16 bitmaps. These bitmaps can be shown in any 16-bit location in the DDRAM, occupying the place of two individual characters.
At startup, we can now load our bitmaps into one or more of the CGRAM locations. Let"s make outselves some Space Invader aliens!void load_custom_bitmaps() {
We write 1"s where we want a pixel lit up, and 0 where we want it dark. If you stand far away from your monitor, you may be able to make out the pictures embedded in the binary strings!