diy alternatives to lcd displays supplier

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.

If you have ever wondered what it took to make your own custom graphic LCD from scratch, this video from [Applied Science] is worth a watch. It’s concise and to the point, while still telling you what you need to know should you be interested in rolling your own. There is also a related video which goes into much more detail about experimenting with LCD technology.

[Applied Science] used microscope slides and parts purchased online to make an LCD that displays a custom graphic when activated. The only step that home experimenters might have trouble following is coating the glass slides with a clear conductive layer, which in the video is done via a process called sputtering to deposit a thin film. You don’t need to do this yourself, though. Pre-coated glass is readily available online. (Search for Indium-Tin Oxide or ‘ITO’ coated glass.)

The LCD consists of a layer of liquid crystal suspended between two layers of conductive glass. An electrical field is used to change the orientation of crystals in the suspension, which modulate the light passing through them. Polarizing filters result in a sharp contrast and therefore a visible image. To show a particular shape, some of the conductive coating is removed from one of the layers in the shape of the desired image. The process [Applied Science] uses to do this is nearly identical to etching a custom PCB.

Parts of LCD technology can be quite hackable. Neither of these videos are brand-new, either. Have any of you taken on the challenge of DIY LCD displays? We’ve seen experiments with electrochromatic glass using old LCD displays, as well as experiments in playing with polarized light to hide secret messages on LCD screens.

Liquid Crystal Displays or more commonly known as LCDs are one of the most common electronic components which help us interact with an equipment or a device. Most personal portable equipment and even gigantic industrial equipment utilize a custom segment display to display data. For many portable consumer electronics, a segment LCD display is one of the biggest contributors to the overall cost of the device, hence designing a custom segment display can drive the cost down while also utilizing the display area in the most optimum manner. These displays have the lowest cost per piece, low power requirements, and a low tooling fee too.

At first thought, designing a custom segment LCD might look like a Herculean task, but trust me that it is easier than it seems. In this article, we have summarised and compared the display types and available technologies which are required to construct a custom segment LCD. We have also provided a flowchart that can act as a step-by-step guide while you design your own custom LCD. We have also provided the process we followed, a require gathering sheet we used for communicating our needs to the manufacturer, and a few other data and the quotation we received from the manufacturer.

Icons: A silhouette of any shape can be placed on the glass which enhances the ability to display data. For example, a symbol of a heart can be made to denote heart rate or an icon for a low battery to show that the battery needs to be charged. Icons are counted as a single pixel or segment and can give a lot more details than similar-sized text.

LCD Bias– It denotes the number of different voltage levels used in driving the segments, static drives (explained later in this article) only have 2 voltage levels or 2 bias voltage while multiplex drives have multiple voltage levels. For example, 1/3 will have 4 bias voltages.

LCDs utilizes the light modulating properties of liquid crystals which can be observed by using polarizing filters. Polarizing filters are special materials that have their molecules aligned in the same direction. If the light waves passing through polarisers have the same orientation as the filter, then the molecules of lights are absorbed by the filter, hence reducing the intensity of light passing through it, making it visible.

In Layman’s language, when an electric current is applied to the electrodes, i.e. to the segment line and common line, it twists the Liquid Crystals w.r.t to the polarizing filter, obstructing the light in that particular area as shown in the figure below. Hence, that area becomes darker and prominent.

A custom LCD is important for maximizing the efficiency of the display area by adding custom symbols and characters. It also helps in reducing the cost and improving energy efficiency of the product. A higher number of custom symbols and specified placement of numerical and alphanumerical characters make the display more informative and readable for the user. This makes it look better than the plain old boring displays we get in the market. Furthermore, we can specify the viewing angle, contrast, and other specifications which can increase durability or give a better value for money for our intended usage.  A typical Custom Segment display is shown below, we will also show you how to design and fabricate the same further in the article.

The LCD display doesn’t emit any light of its own, therefore it requires an external source of illumination or reflector to be readable in dark environments.

While designing a custom segment LCD display, we have the leverage of choosing a lot of parameters that affect the final product. From the color of the display to the illumination technique and color of illumination as well as the type of input pins. Some important considerations we need to take while designing a custom 7 segment display are - the type of display, i.e. positive or negative, illumination method, driving technique, polarising type, and connection method. All these design criteria are explained below:

Positive and negative displays can be easily distinguished by the colour of the background and characters. Some common differences between the positive and negative displays are:

So, which one should you choose? When the displays are to be used in areas with higher ambient light, we should select positive segment LCD display as it has better visibility than negative segment LCD displays without using a backlight.

As we know that LED displays don’t emit any light, hence to illuminate it and make it visible in a dark environment, we can use different methods of illumination. The most common LCD Illumination methods are compared below:

For displays that need to be used for budget-friendly devices that should be small and rugged, LED lights are preferred for the displays due to the high durability and low cost of operations. For high brightness, CCFL and Incandescent lights can be used.

A polarizer film is the most important component of an LCD display, which makes it possible to display characters by controlling the light. There are 3 types of polarizers that can be used in the LCD display, the properties and difference are given below:

If your products need to be used with a switchable backlight, then trans-reflective reflectors are best to be used for front reflectors. If the device has to be used without backlight, then we can select a reflective polarizer for the back-panel as it gives the best contrast ratio.

Displays can be categorized into two types, passive displays, and active display, passive displays are simpler to construct as they have 2 connections at each segment, the conductors comprise of an Indium Tin Oxide to create an image, whereas the active displays use thin-film transistors (TFT) arranged in a grid. The name is due to its ability to control each pixel individually.

If your displays have fewer segments, then static LCD drive is preferred as it is easier to control and cheaper to construct, and has a better contrast ratio. But let’s say that if the number of segments in the display are more than 30-40 then a multiplex LCD drive should be preferred as it has multiple common pins, hence reducing the total number of pins required to drive the display.

Choosing a connector type!!! For the prototyping phase or if you need to connect your LCD display on a Microcontroller directly, a pin type connector is the best and most economical option you have. If you need to connect your LCD display in a final product with a high volume of production which also requires to be extremely durable, but at the same time should not take up a lot of space, a Flex type LCD Connector will work best for you

LCDs have limited viewing angles and when seen from an angle they lose contrast and are difficult to be observed.  The viewing angle is defined by the angles perpendicular to the center of the display towards its right, left, up, and down which are denoted by the notations 3:00, 9:00, 12:00, and 6:00 respectively. The viewing angle of LCD can be defined as the angle w.r.t. to the bias angle at which the contrast of segments is legible.

To improve the viewing angle in an LCD, a Bias is incorporated in the design which shifts the nominal viewing angle with an offset. Another technique is to increase the Voltage, it affects the bias angle, making the display crisper when viewed from a direction.

For example, the viewing angle of a TN type TFT LCD is 45-65 degrees. Extra-wide polarising film (EWP) can increase the viewing angle by 10 degrees, using an O film polariser can make the viewing angles 75 degrees but these come at a cost of reduced contrast.

Anti-glare filters are bonded with the top polarising filters using adhesive. It improves the viewability by re-directing light waves so they don’t reflect back towards the viewer thus reducing glare. Newer materials are capable of reducing the front glare by up to less than 0.3%.

LCD Control chip or LCD driver chips can be mounted on the flex cable, display, or externally on a PCB. The placement of LCD control chip can affect the cost and size of the display. The 2 most common methods of chip placement are-Chip of Board (COB)and Chip on Glass(COG) which are described below:

We planned to design an air quality monitoring system for which we needed a custom segment LCD panel for an air quality monitoring device. Our product needs to display the following data: 2.5-micron and 10-micron particulate matter (PM) suspended in the air; the units should be in parts per million (PPM). CO2 in the air in PPM along with total volatile organic compounds present in the air in parts per billion (PPB). To make the product more usable, we included time in 24-hour format, Temperature in ºC, Battery status, loudspeaker status, Bluetooth status, and Wi-Fi status. And for some personal touch, we also added how good the air quality in the room is by using 3 different smileys.

We realized that it was impossible to provide all these data in a generic LCD available in the market, thus decided to build a custom LCD for our project.

A step-by-step flowchart is shown below to walk you through each and every step of selecting components and getting your custom segment LCD manufactured.

We started by listing down our requirements and drew a mock-up of the display on paper. After finalizing the placement of all the segments and icons on the prototype sketch of the display, we then decided which all icons and segments have to be kept on for the whole time and which needs to be driven. Realizing that there are too many segments, characters and icons, hence we selected a multiplex drive with 8 common pins which helped us bring down the total pins from an estimated 180 pins to less than 40 pins.

Since the device was meant to be used inside houses and offices, which are more often than not well lit and protected from environmental conditions, we opted for a positive mode display. For superior contrast ratio and better viewing angle, we chose a Film Super Twisted Nematic Display (FSTN) with a drive condition of 1/8 Duty and bias of 1/4.

Usually, the displays are mounted at a height of 4.5 feet from the ground, thus the viewing direction was selected to be 12"O clock with an operating frequency of 64Hz. We selected a Transmissive polarizer for the front glass and a reflective polarizer for the rear glass so that the natural light can pass through the front panel and the display can achieve the maximum contrast without the need for backlighting and we opted for the pin type connectors as they are easy for prototyping and are suitable for harsh environment with a lot of vibrations and shocks which best suited our purpose.

In the above image of a custom display design, we sent to the manufacturer, the red lines over multiple characters indicate that all these are considered as a single segment. For the sake of simplicity, we added test like T, S, U, B to denote Text, Symbols, Units, and Battery respectively. These characters were followed by numbers to simplify communication between us and the manufacturer. For example, if we needed any particular text or symbol to remain on, we can easily specify that to the manufacturer by using the corresponding text for that segment.

We mailed our requirements to multiple LCD manufacturers, (you will find a lot of LCD manufacturers on the Internet). Most LCD manufacturers have competitive pricing, and reply within a week. A sample requirement sheet is shown above which a customer needs to fill to specify all the details to the manufacturer.

This is a sample Custom Segment LCD quotation we got from one of the manufacturers. As you can see, the cost is based on the quantity. Higher the quantity, lower the cost. Apart from the cost per quantity, there is one more component called tooling fees. Tooling fee is a one-time fee charged by the manufacturer. It is for the technical design, support, and customization of the product. Customization of PCB or tooling of LCD can drive the tooling price higher or lower.

The tooling time and cost depend on how detailed and accurate designs you sent to the manufacturer. They then send the exact dimensions and technical details of the product they will be manufacturing. Once you confirm the design, they manufacture and ship the product which might take 4-8 weeks to arrive depending on the size of the order and mode of transportation selected.

A custom segment LCD can help you personalize your product while also saving the overall cost of your product. The whole process will take you around 2-3 months, which will include the designing phase, prototyping phase, and getting your custom segment LCDs delivered to your doorstep. Higher ordering quantity will reduce the cost per piece of each unit, thus driving down the cost of your final product.

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Energy efficiency is crucial for future technologies. We need to make our products more power efficient to reduce the stress we put on the environment. Consumers demanding wireless products without bulky cables is another reason to reduce power. Hardware engineers developing IoT projects are struggling to stay within the power budget where the display often is the main problem. To meet these challenges there is a huge demand for ultra-low power IoT displays. In this article, we summarize the three most common low energy displays from a power perspective.

Reflective LCD displays, such as 7 segment displays, have been around for a long time. We recognize them from all kinds of household appliances including thermometers, ovens, watches, toys and medical devices. Until recently, LCD has been the only option for low power but now two alternative technologies exist on the market; the E Ink display based on electrophoresis and the Rdot display based on electrochromism, both offering features that LCD is lacking.

In this article, we investigate E Ink, Reflective LCD and the Rdot Display from a power perspective. All these technologies are categorized as reflective displays. Reflective displays are essentially required for ultra low power applications since emitting light is very power consuming (read more about reflective, transflective, and transmissive displays here). We want to clarify that displays from different manufacturers have slightly different energy consumption, and the data presented here is an average from the suppliers with the most energy efficient displays.

Before we go too deep it is important to understand the driving requirements of each display technology. Reflective LCD displays need an active driver that varies the polarity of the voltage across the pixel in a frequency of about 60Hz. E Ink, on the other hand, doesn"t need any active control once the display has been updated, this feature is often referred to as bistability. Rdot Displays is somewhere in between LCD and E Ink; once the display has been switched the controller can go idle for about 15 minutes (there exist versions that can be idle for up to 24 hours as well). We usually call this phenomenon "semi-bistability". After this time a small refresh pulse is required to maintain the state. For E Ink and Rdot, energy is only required during switching and updating while no energy is consumed during idle state. Typically, the energy required for a full switch on an E Ink display is about 7 to 8mJ/cm2. The corresponding number for the Rdot display is about 1mJ/cm2 with the addition of 0,25mJ/cm2 every 15-60 minutes. LCD continuously consumes about 6µW/cm2.

Followed by the different driving characteristics of the displays, we need to look into how often the display is updated to truly understand which display is the most energy efficient for your specific application. This is done by calculating the average power as a function of the number of switches per day. As seen in the diagram the E Ink display is the most power effective choice if the application is switching less than seven times a day. Between 4 and 600 switches, the Rdot display is the most energy efficient choice. If the display switches more than 600 times a day reflective LCD would be the best option from a power perspective.

To summarize the findings we can conclude that the Rdot display is the most power efficient choice if you need a display that is supposed to switch 4-600 times a day. However, we need to remember that there might be other features to take into consideration as well. For example, the Rdot display is flexible in its standard appearance and can be offered in multiple different colors without additional cost.

It may have been years since you last switched to a new LCD display supplier. And chances are, that original vetting process may not have been very thorough if done at all, which may be why this is why you"re re-evaluating today. Asking the right questions during this process clarifies what you need for a successful partnership with your display provider.

Questions like; What do you need to know about them? What do they need to know about you? Do they have the capabilities needed to address your display needs?, can help you adequately vet your new LCD supplier.

Much of the vetting process comes down to asking the right questions about your needs. Knowing exactly what display needs should be accommodated by the new LCD display manufacturer will inform you as to what capabilities they should possess.

What industry are you in? Undoubtedly, the industry you operate in will play a part in shaping the context of your display needs. For example, the aerospace and military industries have specific quality standards as well as geographic manufacturing restrictions. Similar distinctions would be present in industries such as automotive and industrial markets, whereas the consumer market tends to be too price sensitive to employ these same rigid standards. Does your potential supplier manufacture displays for the same industry you operate in?

What technology do you require? This question offers another important point for consideration. Monochrome and color TFT displays offer significantly different tooling costs and minimum order quantities. And you may need OLED or another technology; however, knowing the answer, even if you’re unsure, will help you determine whether the LCD display manufacturer could be a good fit.

Are there special requirements that force your display to be custom? Reasons for this could be as diverse as mechanical or motion-based constraints or temperature / environmental concerns. There are also optical considerations, such as contrast, brightness, response time, and viewing angles, as well as durability and interface requirements. You may also have custom features, such as buttons or customized icons on the glass or touch panel.

Are you designing a new product requiring an LCD display, or trying toan existing LCD display you’re already using? These are two very different needs, and the new LCD supplier may

not be able to accommodate both. Does the supplier have a standard off the shelf product that fits your needs? If not, are they willing to support custom or semi-customizations to simplify the integration of this new component into your product? How willing are they to

What are your typical annual display volumes? There’s a significant difference between 2,000 per year and 200,000 per year; not only in numbers, but in the ability for an LCD display supplier to meet certain volume demands effectively and efficiently.

What is your product lifecycle? Similar to the previous question, be aware of lifecycle classifications: For longer durations, you will need to make sure that your supplier has component obsolescence strategies in place they"re willing to accommodate re-design efforts to keep your LCD configuration in production for the duration of the end products’ lifecycle.

Can your system handle any LCD display changes? Essentially, how easily can the display become obsolete? Are you ready for the changes? How much would this impact your business if the display supplier couldn’t keep up with the changes?

Recalling the industry distinctions, the military, aerospace, and medical industries typically have many qualifications and are so cost and time intensive that you need to keep additional stock and be able to make changes to avoid issues.

Depending on the effects of display changes, the supplier will need to have the appropriate configuration control and obsolescence mitigation to insure that your supply chain is uninterrupted throughout the life of the end product.

Do you have additional logistics requirements? Whether you require JIT ordering, buffer stock, or less than lead-time ordering, will determine what the LCD display manufacturer needs to use to ensure a seamless integration.

Compare multiple display suppliers to see how well each one matches your list. It"s not always about cost. If the display supplier doesn’t work within your core competencies, then you will most likely find much higher ancillary costs and a higher overall system level cost by partnering with the wrong supplier.

There has been a significant shift in the global display industry lately. Apart from new display technologies, the display world is now dominated by players in Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. And rightly so, the world’s best famous LCD module manufacturers come from all these countries.

STONE Technologies is a proud manufacturer of superior quality TFT LCD modules and LCD screens. The company also provides intelligent HMI solutions that perfectly fit in with its excellent hardware offerings.

There is also a downloadable design software called STONE Designer. This is a completely free GUI design software you can use to create responsive digital module-ready user interfaces.

STONE TFT LCD modules come with a microcontroller unit that has a Cortex A8 1GHz Standard 256MB. Such a module can easily be transformed into an HMI screen. Simple hexadecimal instructions can be used to control the module through the UART port. Furthermore, you can seamlessly develop STONE TFT LCD color user interface modules and add touch control, features to them.

You can also use a peripheral MCU to serially connect STONE’s HMI display via TTL. This way, your HMI display can supply event notifications and the peripheral MCU can then execute them. Moreover, this TTL-connected HMI display can further be linked to microcontrollers such as:

In this post, we list down 10 of the best famous LCD manufacturers globally. We’ll also explore why they became among the reputable LCD module manufacturers in the world.

Samsung is the world’s largest semiconductor and consumer electronics manufacturer by revenue. The electronics giant is well-known for its smartphones and home appliances, but the company also manufactures LCD, LED, and OLED panels.

The success of this company didn’t come overnight. Samsung worked hard to establish independent product innovation and technology development strategies. All of these undertakings started in the late 1990s and paved the way for the success that Samsung is now enjoying since the 2000s.

Probably the most in-demand and popular display panel product for Samsung is their OLED technology. Most of its current smartphones use their trademark Super AMOLED displays. The technology allowed Samsung’s smartphones to be ultra-thin, with better image brightness, and less energy consumption.

Samsung now produces panels for smart TVs. With their ever-evolving technological expertise and high-quality products, the company shows no signs of slowing down as one of the world’s best famous LCD module manufacturers.

Established in 2004, Stone Technologies has been an emerging giant in the Chinese display industry. The company is headquartered in Beijing, China, and operates its manufacturing plants, sales, product testing, and R&D units from there.

Stone provides a professional product line that includes intelligent TFT-LCD modules for civil, advanced, and industrial use. Furthermore, Stone also creates embedded-type industrial PCs. The company’s products are all highly-reliable and stable even when used with humidity, vibration, and high temperatures.

One of the key strengths of Stone Technologies is its commitment to professionalism and client satisfaction. The company provides its clients with technical support such as demos, software training, and troubleshooting assistance. Also, Stone offers an unlimited warranty policy where a client may send back any product with damages and failures to be replaced completely for free.

Stone Technologies caters to a wide range of clients and industries, being among the world’s best famous LCD module manufacturers. The company’s products are used in the following industries:

Originally, LG Display was a joint venture of mother company LG Electronics and the Dutch company Phillips. They dedicated the company to creating active-matrix LCD panels. Another joint venture called LG. Phillips Displays was created to manufacture deflection yokes and cathode ray tubes.

However, Phillips decided to start selling its shares in 2008, and the dwindling company shares of Phillips prompted LG to change its corporate name to LG Display with approval from all existing shareholders.

Today, LG Display is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company has eight manufacturing plants in South Korea, specifically in Paju and Gumi. LG Display also operates one module assembly plant in Wroclaw, Poland, as well as two others in Guangzhou and Nanjing, China.

LG Display has risen above the rest because of its world-class module products. Because of this, the company caters to a massive range of famous clients including Hewlett Packard, Apple, Sony, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo. LG Display also creates LCD modules and similar display panels for the company’s television product range.

Innolux Corporation is another famous LCD module manufacturer. This company was established in 2003 and is currently based in Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan.

The company is a well-known manufacturer of display panels in Taiwan. Innolux supplies TFT-LCD and LED panels, open cells, and touch modules for the following products:

Innolux has 14 manufacturing plants, with the main ones being in Zhunan and Tainan, Taiwan. Other plants are established in the Chinese areas of Shanghai, Nanjing, Foshan, and Ningbo. Each Innolux plant has a complete production line capable of manufacturing technologies ranging from 3.5G to 8.6G. Meanwhile, Taiwan remains the main hub of Innolux’s training center and R&D unit.

What makes Innolux stand out from other LCD module manufacturers is the company’s commitment to its humanistic qualities. Innolux believes that they are in the business to contribute to the well-being and prosperity of their customers. This is then achieved by creating world-class products that satisfy its clients.

Sharp is a Japanese company founded in 1912. It is now based in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. The company produces various kinds of electronic products including mobile phones, LCD panels, calculators, PV solar cells, and consumer electronics. Sharp has produced TFT-LCD products as early as the 1980s.

For the regular public consumers, Sharp produces a variety of smart TVs and LCD TVs marketed under the Aquos brand. The company’s television line-up boasts of impressively high-quality technology. The TVs are equipped with technologies that support 4K and 8K UHD display, allowing for a great high-resolution viewing experience.

Meanwhile, Sharp operates several factories worldwide. Apart from plants in its native Japan, Sharp also has manufacturing plants in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Poland.

Sharp credits its success to the company’s commitment to sincerity and creativity. Sharp believes that sincere work and a creative mindset will bring fruitful progress for its clients, dealers, shareholders, and the entire company worldwide.

The company manufactures display products for smartphones, computers, televisions, monitors, tablets, vehicles, wearable devices, and medical equipment. Specifically, here are some of the display products that BOE creates:

BOE’s success in the display industry is mainly due to its innovative technologies and capable manufacturing lines. Furthermore, the company has tied up with several famous clients including Huawei, Motorola, and Apple.

The company proudly utilizes high-end technologies to create world-class display solutions. For instance, AU’s production lines can manufacture a variety of display applications in a full panel size range. The manufacturing lines also support:

AU Optronics operates in countries such as Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea, the United States, and Europe. Its manufacturing plants are scattered across these countries, with the main factories being housed in Taiwan.

Sustainability is among the ultimate goals of AU Optronics. The company takes steps to integrate green solutions into their products for more sustainable development. This commitment to sustainability, among other strong qualities, makes AU Optronics one of the best LCD manufacturers in the world.

Toshiba is a huge Japanese multinational conglomerate company. It was founded in 1939 and is currently based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company is engaged in a wide variety of businesses which also include display solutions for consumer households and industrial use.

Most of these products use TFT-LCD panels alongside other technologies to create ultra-high-definition images. Also, modern Toshiba display products incorporate IoT and artificial intelligence for a smarter product experience.

Kyocera is a Japanese LCD manufacturer. The company started in 1959 as a fine technical ceramics manufacturer but gradually added consumer electronics products to its offerings.

The Japanese company acquired Optrex Corporation in 2012. The acquisition paved the way for creating an R&D center and more production, sales, and marketing bases. Hence, Kyocera’s global LCD business boomed even more.

Kyocera Corporation is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Its Japanese manufacturing plants are located in areas such as Hokkaido, Fukushima, Kanagawa, Nagano, Shiga, and Kagoshima.

The company also operates factories, R&D centers, and marketing facilities in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Oceania continents. Kyocera has a vast worldwide reach that makes it one of the world’s best famous LCD module manufacturers.

All these high-end technologies make Tianma’s display products suitable for automotive, mobile phones, tablet PCs, industrial screens, avionic displays, medical equipment, and home automation products.

Tianma is committed to creating a colorful life for all, as stated in the company mission. And indeed, the company does not fall short of fulfilling this mission. Tianma continues to create display solutions that fit the needs of several satisfied clients globally.

To wrap all this up, we listed 10 of the world’s best famous LCD module manufacturers. These are all highly-respected companies that built their reputations and climbed up the ladder of LCD module manufacturing. Their quality products, dedication to their craft, and excellent customer service truly make them among the world’s best display solutions providers.

EarthLCD is a leading “Assembled In The U.S.A.” manufacturer of Industrial ezLCD “Smart” Touch Serial LCD’s for Embedded Systems, LCD Touch Monitors, Industrial Grade LCD Kits, LCD Touch Screen Kits, Industrial NTSC Monitors & Kits, Open Frame Monitors, Smart LCD Screens, Touch Screen Monitors, Industrial LCD Touch Screen Monitors, All in one Monitors, Custom OEM solutions, Integrated Solutions for OEM, LCD Touch Screen Modules, Custom LCD Display and LCD Controller Cards.

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.

EarthLCD targets industries such as Point Of Sale, Industrial Automation, Security, Hospitality, Kiosks, Home Automation, OEM, Gaming, Banking, Service, Test Equipment and Monitoring, Embedded Systems, Automotive, and many other applications.

The new line of 3.5” TFT displays with IPS technology is now available! Three touchscreen options are available: capacitive, resistive, or without a touchscreen.

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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.

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.

Monochrome character, graphic and static displays require different input voltages. All the different LCD voltage symbols can be confusing, but believe it or not, there is a system to the madness.

The voltages VCC, VDD, VSS and VEE are used in describing voltages at various common power supply terminals. The differences between these voltages stem from their origins in the transistor circuits they were originally used for.

This LCD voltage terminology originated from the terminals of each type of transistor and their common connections in logic circuits. In other words, VCC is often applied to BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor) collectors, VEE to BJT emitters, VDD to FET (Field-Effect Transistor) drains and VSS to FET sources. Most CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) IC data sheets now use VCC and GND to designate the positive and negative supply pins.

In the Pleistocene era (1960’s or earlier), logic was implemented with bipolar transistors. NPN (Negative-Positive-Negative) were used because they were faster. It made sense to call positive supply voltage VCC where the “C” stands for collector. The negative supply was called VEE where “E” stands for emitter.

When FET transistor logic came around a similar naming convention was used, but now positive supply was VDD where “D” stands for drain. The negative supply was called VSS where “S” stands for source. Now that CMOS is the most common logic this makes no sense. The “C” in CMOS is for “complementary” but the naming convention still persists. In practice today VCC/VDD means positive power supply voltage and VEE/VSS is for negative supply or ground.

The convention of VAB means the voltage potential between VA and VB. The convention of using 3 letters was used to show power supply and ground reference voltages as well. In some cases a processor may have both an analog and digital power supply. In this case VCCA/VCCD and VSSA/VSSD are used. Another reason for the 3 letters is in an NPN circuit with a load resister between the collector and VCC. VC would be the collector voltage. In this case VCC is the positive power supply voltage and would be higher than VC.

Note: Most Segment, Character and Graphic displays will operate with a VDD of 5V or 3.3V. It may be possible to drive the display with as little as 3.0V, but the module may not perform very well in colder temperatures. The colder the ambient temperature, the more power is required to drive the segments.

Pin three (3) is Vo and is the difference in voltage between VDD and VSS. This LCD voltage is adjusted to provide the sharpest contrast. The adjustment can be accomplished through a fixed resistor or a variable potentiometer. Many products have firmware that monitor the temperature and automatically adjust the contrast voltage.

In a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), V0 is used to vary the screen brightness or contrast. Contrast, simply put is the ratio of the light areas to the dark areas in a LCD. This is usually done in a production setting with values which are optimized for most users. Temperature can have an undesirable effect on the display brightness and for this reason a varying resister or potentiometer is used to accommodate the desires of the user.

Below is a data sheet of a 16x2 Character LCD module that shows various recommended driving voltages. The LCD voltage can range from MIN (minimum) to TYP (Typical) to Max (maximum).

If the supplied LCD voltage drops too low, the display is ‘under-driven’ and will produce segments that are ‘grey’. The lower the LCD voltage falls below the acceptable threshold, the lower the contrast will be.

If the LCD is over-driven, you may see ghosting. This is where segments that should not be ‘on’ are gray. They are not as dark as the segments that should be on, but they can be seen and may cause confusion for the end user.

There are times when a customer needs to replace a display that has been discontinued or EOL (End-Of -Life) by their previous LCD supplier. The previous LCD’s pin-outs may be different than Focus’ standard, off-the-shelf display. This is not a large problem to overcome.

Focus Displays will redesign the PCB to match the customer’s old pin out. This will save the customer time and cost so that they will not need to redesign their PCB.

LED backlights are DC (Direct Current) driven and can be supplied from any one of three locations. The most popular is from pins 15 and 16. The second most popular option is to draw power from the ‘A’ and ‘K’ connections on the right side of the PCB.

The third option is to pull power from pins one and two. This is the same location from which the LCD is pulling its power. Focus does not recommend this option and can modify the PCB for the customer to connect the backlight from a different location.

Many LCD Modules will require more than one internal voltage/current. This may make it necessary for the customer to supply the needed inputs. They may need to supply 3V, 5V, 9V, -12V etc.

The solution for this is to integrate a charge pump (or booster circuit) into the LCD circuitry. This solution works in most applications, but if the product will be operating in an intrinsic environment, care must be taken with layout of the circuit board.

Intrinsically-safe LCDs are Liquid Crystal Displays that are designed to operate in conditions where an arc or spark can cause an explosion. In these cases, charge pumps cannot be employed. In fact, the total capacitive value of the display needs to be kept to a minimum.

Focus Display Solutions does not build a display that is labeled ‘Intrinsically safe’ but we do design the LCD to meet the requirements of the engineer. In meeting the design engineer’s requirements, the display may need to contain two or three independent inputs. Focus can redesign the PCB and lay out the traces to allow for these additional inputs.

The upcoming launch of the "iPhone 8" will reportedly see Apple in a precarious position in terms of parts, as the only company currently capable of producing OLED panels for the new edge-to-edge display is said to be rival Samsung.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities issued a note to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, revealing that Samsung has strong bargaining power against Apple.

He suspects that the OLED displays for the "iPhone 8" cost Apple between $120 and $130 per unit — well beyond the $45 to $55 per unit Apple is said to pay for the iPhone 7 Plus 5.5-inch LCD screen.

According to Kuo, "Apple is in urgent need of finding a second source of OLED." Any diversity in the supply chain will take time, however, as competing display makers need to not only ramp up OLED output, but also master manufacturing of the next-generation display technology to meet Apple"s quality control standards.

Interestingly, Kuo still seems unsure as to whether the next iPhone will have a fingerprint sensor. In Wednesday"s note, he suggested that Apple "may abandon" its Touch ID technology in favor of the OLED display, but stopped short of saying definitively that it has been removed from the handset, which will be revealed in less than a week.

"We believe 3D Touch module could be unfavorable for scan-through performance of under-display fingerprint recognition," Kuo said, "which is one of the main reasons why OLED iPhone may abandon fingerprint recognition."

All the mysteries will be resolved next Tuesday, when Apple is holding an event to presumably unveil its next-generation iPhone lineup, headlined by the flagship "iPhone 8." Other names given to the unannounced product include "iPhone Pro," "iPhone Edition," and "iPhone X."

The device is expected to carry a premium price starting at around $1,000, and will be flanked by successors to the iPhone 7 lineup, sporting legacy (and cheaper) LCD technology.

In addition, a new "Series 3" Apple Watch with integrated LTE radio, and a new 4K Apple TV with support for HDR content, are expected to be announced at the event. AppleInsider will be there live, at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, with full coverage and analysis.

A traditional LCD screen is considered transmissive — individual elements change color, but are at the mercy of assorted backlight technologies for presentation. OLED screens are emissive, meaning that each individual pixel is its own light source with brightness being able to be set per pixel.

As a result, OLED technology can have has significant power efficiency improvements over LCD screens, assuming software is utilized appropriately. For instance, a truly black pixel consumes no power, allowing for other utilizations of an OLED screen, such as only using a small portion of it for a constant time and notification display, with minimal impact to battery life.

Without the need for a backlight, an OLED screen can be thinner than competing technologies, all other factors equal. OLED response times can theoretically reach 0.01 milliseconds, versus 1 millisecond for modern LCD screens.

Other than Samsung, there are several vendors of OLED panels. However, at this time even with vendor"s government aid and Apple"s support, none come close to approaching the volume of the Samsung fabrication plants, and won"t for a while.

Samsung holds the vast majority of OLED technology patents, with Samsung holding 97.7 percent of global production in April of 2016. Manufacturing problems remain the primary hurdle to wider success by others.

Samsung appears to be banking on Apple being a major customer for some time for the technology. After rumors in April surfaced about increased OLED production contracts from Apple, Samsung was said to be bulking up factories for production of the screens.

Other companies said to be heavily investing in OLED are Japan Display, and LG Display. When efforts by either company will produce sufficient volume for Apple is not clear.

Established in 1998, Winstar Display Co. Ltd has devoted itself to the manufacturing and development of high-quality products for Industrial LCD Displays including monochrome TN/STN/FSTN LCM, COG LCD, VATN-LCD, TFT, and OLED LCD display modules. Winstar has become one of the leading display manufacturing companies in the field of small & medium-sized displays and its continuous innovation allowed it to secure several global patents.

Winstar provides products and services with high price-performance as well as the logistics support to deliver products and services competitively. Winstar Display is an ISO approved manufacturer for both quality ISO9001 and environment ISO14001 certificated manufacturer. Qualified engineers and production management that making Winstar Automotive TS16949 certified. As a leader manufacturer in the display module market, Winstar will continue to be dedicated the research & development, design, of the new technology of LCD, TFT, OLED displays, and embedded systems.

Winstar offers a wide range of standard and full or semi-custom design industrial displays, PMOLED, and LCM modules. Our LCM module product lines are including monochrome TN/STN/FSTN Character LCD and Graphic LCD modules, COG LCD, FSC-LCD, VATN LCM Module, TFT LCD displays, and PMOLED display modules. In order to support these products, Winstar technical team can support customers a total custom solution and a wide range of semi-custom including add connectors, ZIP, FPC, touch panel, interconnect solutions, and development control boards. Winstar Embedded System technical team can offer customers motherboard, and with TFT display solutions.

IPS (in-plane switching) is a screen technology for liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). In IPS, a layer of liquid crystals is sandwiched between two glass surfaces. The liquid crystal molecules are aligned parallel to those surfaces in predetermined directions (in-plane). The molecules are reoriented by an applied electric field, whilst remaining essentially parallel to the surfaces to produce an image. It was designed to solve the strong viewing angle dependence and low-quality color reproduction of the twisted nematic field effect (TN) matrix LCDs prevalent in the late 1980s.

The TN method was the only viable technology for active matrix TFT LCDs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Early panels showed grayscale inversion from up to down,Vertical Alignment (VA)—that could resolve these weaknesses and were applied to large computer monitor panels.

One approach patented in 1974 was to use inter-digitated electrodes on one glass substrate only to produce an electric field essentially parallel to the glass substrates.

After thorough analysis, details of advantageous molecular arrangements were filed in Germany by Guenter Baur et al. and patented in various countries including the US on 9 January 1990.Fraunhofer Society in Freiburg, where the inventors worked, assigned these patents to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Shortly thereafter, Hitachi of Japan filed patents to improve this technology. A leader in this field was Katsumi Kondo, who worked at the Hitachi Research Center.thin-film transistor array as a matrix and to avoid undesirable stray fields in between pixels.Super IPS). NEC and Hitachi became early manufacturers of active-matrix addressed LCDs based on the IPS technology. This is a milestone for implementing large-screen LCDs having acceptable visual performance for flat-panel computer monitors and television screens. In 1996, Samsung developed the optical patterning technique that enables multi-domain LCD. Multi-domain and in-plane switching subsequently remain the dominant LCD designs through 2006.

In this case, both linear polarizing filters P and A have their axes of transmission in the same direction. To obtain the 90 degree twisted nematic structure of the LC layer between the two glass plates without an applied electric field (OFF state), the inner surfaces of the glass plates are treated to align the bordering LC molecules at a right angle. This molecular structure is practically the same as in TN LCDs. However, the arrangement of the electrodes e1 and e2 is different. Because they are in the same plane and on a single glass plate, they generate an electric field essentially parallel to this plate. The diagram is not to scale: the LC layer is only a few micrometers thick and so is very small compared with the distance between the electrodes.

The LC molecules have a positive dielectric anisotropy and align themselves with their long axis parallel to an applied electrical field. In the OFF state (shown on the left), entering light L1 becomes linearly polarized by polarizer P. The twisted nematic LC layer rotates the polarization axis of the passing light by 90 degrees, so that ideally no light passes through polarizer A. In the ON state, a sufficient voltage is applied between electrodes and a corresponding electrical field E is generated that realigns the LC molecules as shown on the right of the diagram. Here, light L2 can pass through polarizer A.

Unlike TN LCDs, IPS panels do not lighten or show tailing when touched. This is important for touch-screen devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers.

Toward the end of 2010 Samsung Electronics introduced Super PLS (Plane-to-Line Switching) with the intent of providing an alternative to the popular IPS technology which is primarily manufactured by LG Display. It is an "IPS-type" panel technology, and is very similar in performance features, specs and characteristics to LG Display"s offering. Samsung adopted PLS panels instead of AMOLED panels, because in the past AMOLED panels had difficulties in realizing full HD resolution on mobile devices. PLS technology was Samsung"s wide-viewing angle LCD technology, similar to LG Display"s IPS technology.

In 2012 AU Optronics began investment in their own IPS-type technology, dubbed AHVA. This should not be confused with their long standing AMVA technology (which is a VA-type technology). Performance and specs remained very similar to LG Display"s IPS and Samsung"s PLS offerings. The first 144 Hz compatible IPS-type panels were produced in late 2014 (used first in early 2015) by AUO, beating Samsung and LG Display to providing high refresh rate IPS-type panels.

Cross, Jason (18 March 2012). "Digital Displays Explained". TechHive. PC World. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.

tech2 News Staff (19 May 2011). "LG Announces Super High Resolution AH-IPS Displays". Firstpost.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

"Samsung PLS improves on IPS displays like iPad"s, costs less". electronista.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.