Green Electronics Round-Up
Veritas et Visus (June 12, 2009):  Eighteen summaries from around the world...from Dell banning e-waste to IEEE working groups to efforts in UK and Australia to get  the industry "greener."

Nuggets from Display Taiwan
Display Daily (June 11, 2009): Display Taiwan has much of the vertical display industry character of Japan's FPDI but it's smaller--  a unique opportunity to speak with Taiwanese display makers on their own turf.

Has Corning Solved the AMOLED Backplane Problem? 
Display Daily (June 4, 2009): At SID's Display Week, Corning revealed the secrets of its new silicon-on-glass (SiOG) technology. 

FDC and Universal Display Make Breakthrough in Flexible Display Manufacturing Process
Press Release (June 1, 2009): The Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University and Universal Display Corporation today introduced the first a-Si:H active matrix flexible OLED display-- a significant milestone towards achieving a manufacturable solution for flexible OLEDs.

HP Enables New Field of Flexible Electronics with Reflective Display Technology
Press Release (June 1, 2009): HP announces the launch of a new display technology for the personalization of consumer electronics products.

SID Announces 2009 Display of the Year Award Winners
Veritas et Visus (May 19, 2009): The Society for Information Display (SID) announced the winners of the 2009 Display of the Year Awards, the display industry's most prestigious honor for commercial innovations of display technology. 

ASU's Flexible Display Center and UT Dallas Develop Flexible CMOS Circuits
Press Release (May 13, 2009): Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center (FDC) and the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) today announced that they have successfully produced CMOS circuitry on a flexible plastic substrate.

Can Emerging Display Technologies Succeed?
Display Daily (May 11, 2009): Most emerging display technologies fail. Now a couple new emerging technologies (OLED and EPD) are getting established, with robust revenue growth projections.

Panel Innovations Entering Production in 2009
Display Daily (May 7, 2009): Edgelighting is an economical way to introduce LED backlighting to LCD televisions and notebook PC makers understood this relatively early. But TV makers were slow to catch on.

The Last Word: The Standard TV Set
Veritas et Visus (April 29, 2009): This is the first recession where TV has meant LCD and not CRT. For 40 years, the industry managed to sell almost exactly the same product for the same price. This article is about how they did that.

Is the Other R Word (Recovery) Back in Vogue?
Display Daily (April 28, 2009): A review of recent headlines has that second "R" word showing up more frequently. 

SID Honors 2009 Award Recipients for Exceptional Contributions to Display Technology
Press Release (April 23, 2009): The Society for Information Display unveiled the recipients of its prestigious 2009 honors and awards for outstanding contributions to the display industry.

Emerging Display Technologies
Veritas et Visus (March 24, 2009): At the recent DisplaySearch U.S. FPD Conference, Jennifer Colegrove discussed the OLED display market.

Can Companies Do Well by Doing Good?
Display Daily (March 20, 2009): In Japan, recycling of flat panel TVs will become required on April 1, 2009.  Kansai Recycling Systems Co. Ltd. has announced that its recycling line for flat panel TVs is poised to commence operations.

A Time for Lemonade—Your Next Flat Panel May Just be Solar
Display Daily (Mar 12, 2009): The backplane structure of both LCD panels and solar cells are (basically) the same, meaning owners of large LCD fabrication plants can shift production from consumer electronic displays to an entirely different product and industry that’s booming.

LCD Industry Adjusts-- with Some Optimism
Display Daily (Mar 5, 2009): Panel makers are making serious adjustments to accommodate to changing global markets and not all of the adjustments are negative.  Some of the changes anticipate recovering prices and demand.

Core Issues in Flexible Display Technique 
DisplayBank (Mar 3, 2009): The ultimate flexible display is a combination of TFT-LCD and OLED techniques—with advances developed in various fields such as processing, component, and materials.

The Changing Face of the Display Industry
Display Daily (Feb 17, 2009): It's not easy being caught in a 100-year cyclical "depression:" Learn what the Panasonic COO said about it.

Good News or Bad News?
Display Daily (Feb 11, 2009): Tough decisions in the TV space while the rapidly unfolding events in the e-book market hold promise.

That Was the Year that Was
Display Daily (Feb 5, 2009): The new “Friday the 13th” movie looks like a daisy-picking expedition compared to DisplaySearch's latest Quarterly Large-Area TFT LCD Shipment Report.

MIT Comes Up with New Way to Print Quantum Dots
Veritas et Visus (Jan 2009):  Researchers at MIT have shown that they can use rubber stamps to deposit quantum dots – tiny light-emitting crystals – on a surface. The technique is a crucial step in the development of color quantum-dot displays, which promise to be thinner, more flexible, brighter, sharper, and more power efficient than flat-panel LCDs.

3D Based on LCDs Poised to Win at Home
Display Daily (Jan 7, 2009): Despite the fact that the 3D image produced by DLP-based rear projection TVs look great and that plasma-based 3D offerings have entered the fray, the simple fact is that LCDs dominate home displays. 

Samsung to Build 11G LCD Plant as Early as 2010
Veritas et Visus (December 2008):  Samsung Electronics will start to build an 11G fab as early as 2010-2011. Speaking at FPD International 2008, Samsung executive VP Chang revealed the size of the 11G substrate: 3,320 x 3,000 mm.
 
NF3 Emissions from Display and PV Markets-- 19.5K Metric Tons by 2010
Veritas et Visus (Dec 2008):  A powerful greenhouse gas is at least four times more prevalent in the atmosphere than previously estimated, according to a team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.   

Here Comes Yet another Color Standard
Display Daily (Dec 15, 2008):   It’s long been appreciated that existing color systems are constrained, not only by current display technologies, but also by the standards that define the color gamuts.

Plasma Display Coalition
Veritas et Visus (Dec 2008): A presentation by Jim Palumbo describes the Plasma Display Coalition, the growth of plasma HDTV, and green initiatives.  

No OLED TVs from Samsung (for Now or Forever?)
Display Daily (Dec 9, 2008):  Samsung announced that it will not bring OLED TVs to market anytime soon, stating that "... the technology is currently considered too expensive, and customers would not pay the premium, as OLED sets would cost 10 times as much as equivalent LCD or plasma HD TVs." 

CMO Says LOVE Will Help It Flourish
John Boyd (Nov 21, 2008): Taiwan’s Chi Mei Optoelectronics, a TFT-LCD manufacturer  for the last 10 years, says it will dedicate the next 10 years to L.O.V.E.-- an acronym for “products for green Living through green Operations, added Value and protection of the Environment.”  While commendable, this decision could be risky.

 
Roll-to-Roll in Ohio; Sharp's Mystery ePaper; and an LCD for Sunlight
Display Daily (Nov 13, 2008): Kent Displays will start making LCD displays on a roll-to-roll manufacturing line. At FPD International, Sharp showed very low-power LCD technology. At CES, Samsung announced its 70-inch 2,000-nit digital information display (DID).

The Incredibly Complex FPD Industry
Veritas et Visus (Nov 3, 2008): Mark Fihn reports on a China FPD presentation by David Hsieh of DisplaySearch, who details the complexity of the industry.

Godzilla-like Substrate Sizes-- A Huge Challenge for Equipment Suppliers
John Boyd (Oct 31, 2008): Currently, the Sharp-Sony joint-venture TFT-LCD Gen 10 fab is under construction in Sakai City, near Osaka in Western Japan. The fab is slated to start up in spring 2010—just about the time that Samsung Electronics says it could begin construction on its Gen 11 plant. Global economic downturn or not, size still matters in the flat panel industry.

LCD Glass Demand Rises on Falling Prices, DisplaySearch Reports
DisplaySearch (Oct 31, 2008): Sales of glass substrates to TFT LCD producers may grow only 4% Y/Y in Q4’08, according to the recently released Q3’08 Quarterly LCD Glass Substrate Report by DisplaySearch.

Shinoda Introduces Flexible Plasma Tube Display at FPD International
Display Daily (Oct 30, 2008): Shinoda Plasma Company introduced its flexible Plasma Tube Array (PTA) display at FPD International yesterday. 

When in Doubt, Look to the Key Component Suppliers
Display Daily (Oct 9, 2008): It’s confusing. Small and medium panel sales are up, but some makers are cutting back on expansion plans. Plans for Gen 10 and 11 fabs are moving forward, but some nearer-term expansion plans are slowing down. 

Flexi Display Technology is Now
Institute of Physics (Oct 2, 2008): Screen display technology takes a step forward as Sony and the Max Planck Institute demonstrate bendable OLED for the first time, based on red or IR-A light upconversion.

Panel Makers: It's Going to Be a Bumpy Night
Display Daily (Oct 2, 2008): Max Wang and Rodney Chan (Digitimes) cited sources who believe "the panel industry will lapse into a lengthy low period before a possible rebound in demand emerges in the third quarter of 2009."   

Images from Beijing
Veritas et Visus (Sept 2008): Mark Fihn provides photos and commentary from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.  “We have combined creativity with the most complicated technologies in Olympic history to maximize the visual and sensory impact on the audience,” said Yu Jianping.  

Flat Panel Surge Defies Economic Woes
Display Daily (Aug 19, 2008): Economic woes never materialized for the flat TV market.  DisplaySearch reports a full 28% surge in Q2 sales over the same period in 2007.  

6D Passive Display at SIGGraphics 
Display Daily (Aug 17, 2008): MIT boys (and girls) have come up with a new 6-D technology that is "light aware." 

Nokia Stokes the AMOLED Fire
Display Daily (Aug 14, 2008): Nokia will only select panel makers who can develop AMOLED displays.

Samsung: Juggling Demands and Conflicting Promises 
Display Daily (July 17, 2008): As LCD panel makers juggle the conflicting demands of short-term (emerging oversupply) and long-term (the need for more capacity), we see promises of next-Gen fabs-- with announcements of reductions in plant utilization. 

USDC Expands Mission to Include Flexible, Printed Electronics
USDC (July 9, 2008): The U. S. Display Consortium (USDC) announced today that it is expanding its mission to support the emerging flexible, printed electronics market— and changing the organization’s official name to the FlexTech Alliance to reflect this new activity.

LCD TVs Show Strong Growth Potential in Emerging Markets
SEMI (June 12, 2008): Despite relatively high market penetration in developed countries, the LCD TV business has plenty of room left for growth, according to Frank Hsu from AU Optronics Taiwan. Also speaking on the second day at Display Taiwan 2008 (co-organized by SEMI), Vinita Jakhanwal from iSuppli talked about OLED display challenges in commercial acceptance.

Taiwan’s FPD Industry Accounts for 39% of LCD Glass Demand
SEMI (June 11, 2008): Taiwan accounts for 39% of global LCD glass demand, behind Korea at 45% but ahead of Japan (14%) and China (2%), according to a keynote speaker at Display Taiwan 2008, co-organized by SEMI. Alan Eusden, president of Corning Display Technologies Taiwan, provided an overview of market and technology trends in the LCD industry.
 

Dramatic 2008 Display Taiwan and Photonics Festival—as Four Major Organizations Work Together
SEMI (June 9, 2008): Display Taiwan 2008, held simultaneously with the Photonics Festival on June 11–13, will showcase Taiwan’s dominant position in many sectors of photonic technology and manufacturing. For the first time ever, four major Taiwan groups are working together to offer this event: TAITRA, PIDA, SEMI, and TCA.

OLED News from Around the World
Veritas et Visus (June 2008): DuPont and Dainippon Screen plan to develop printed OLED technology for FPD market.

Slot-coated OLED Displays Could Hit Market in 2010
Display Daily (June 19, 2008): According to NexTechFAS (Austin, Texas), slot-coated OLED displays could hit the market in 2010. 

Not Roll-to-Roll, but Roll is Good Enough
Display Daily (May 29, 2008): LG Display announcing a roll-to-roll process for fabricating thin-film transistors for LCD backplanes?  No, printing with a roller onto a flat bed-- or "roll" printing.

Are Big OLED Displays Really Coming?
Display Daily (May 13, 2008): The OLED ramp up is coming? Cost and manufacturing yield are still problematic.

Rebound! After a Tough 2007, Strong Growth for TFT-LCD Market in 2008
SEMI (May 12, 2008): LCDs are everywhere--and you see them on everything. According to DisplaySearch, the TFT-LCD market is projected to exceed US$ 110 billion this year. TFT LCD equipment spending has increased significantly from US$ 1B (in 1996) to an estimated US$ 12.5B for 2008. Similarly, TFT-LCD materials have also grown significantly from US $3B to $55B in the same timeframe.

A MEGASCREEN Coming to your Next Event?
Display Daily: May 9, 2008: Is there a market for a stadium-sized display on an enormous semi-truck that can pull up to an event and offer video and advertising? Apparently, yes.

Beating the Odds
Display Daily: May 8, 2008: The odds against successfully bringing a new display technology to market are immense. It’s virtually impossible for a new technology to compete directly, so where is the next opportunity?

Matsushita and Pioneer to Merge PDP Operations
Display Daily: May 1, 2008: When Pioneer first announced that it was getting out of the PDP business in early March, we thought that Matsushita would make panels for Pioneer. Then the story got interesting.

Electronic Paper Finds Applications in the Display Market
SEMI (Apr 21, 2008): While the market for e-books has yet to take off in a big way, so-called e-paper displays may be ready to make an impact in retail and other applications. E-paper displays are typically fabricated with alternative display technologies which are simpler and less expensive to fabricate than LCD-based products.

Sony's OLED TV: Interview with Tetsuo Urabe
John Boyd: Apr 18, 2008: Tetsuo Urabe, President of Sony’s Display Devices Development Group, explains how the XEL-1 with its 11-inch-wide 1/8-inch thick panel came to be produced.

3D on the NAB Radar
Display Daily: Apr 16, 2008:  NAB is a big show with a lot to see. Fortunately, others helped out with coverage. For this column, I’ll focus on 3D.   

World's First Commercial Portable Product with Integrated Pico-Projector Unveiled
Display Daily: Apr 15, 2008: At the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, Sunlink and iView introduced the first commercially available Portable Media Player (PMP) with an integrated projector.
 

Flat Panel Displays Enable New Applications; Spur Eco-Friendly Manufacturing
SEMI (Apr 9, 2008): Flat panel displays are no longer just displays; they have become enablers for new and different technology applications, according to a keynote speaker on the first day of the SEMI Global FPD Partners Conference (GFPC) in Miyazaki, Japan.

Smart Phones Provide Demanding Application for Panel Makers
SEMI (Apr 9, 2008): Smart phones provide a demanding application for display manufacturers but the pay off could be huge. According to speakers at the SEMI Global FPD Partners Conference (GFPC) in Miyazaki, Japan, smart phones have the potential to exceed mobile computing in terms of market size and growth.

TV Panel Makers Start Worrying
Display Daily: Apr 3, 2008: Updated market forecasts early this year need adjustment based on the U.S. economy and serious snowstorms in China in Q1.  | Read More | 

Clairvoyante is Dead, Long Live Nouvoyance
Display Daily: Mar 27, 2008: Samsung Electronics has acquired the IP assets of Clairvoyante Inc., the creator of PenTile sub-pixel-rendering display technology and related gamut-mapping algorithms.  

Teetering U.S. Economy Doesn't Affect Panel Sales--or Does It?
Display Daily: Mar 20, 2008: Displaybank President and CEO Peter Kwon said that TFT-LCD panels will be in desperately short supply.  

PV Grid Parity Coming Soon to a Location near You
John Boyd: Mar 18, 2008: PV has morphed into a hot new industry, and suppliers of display panel and semiconductor manufacturing equipment are taking notice. | Read More | 

The World is Flat: FPD Globalization Subject of China TV Executive Roundtable
SEMI (Mar 14, 2008): Globalization, supply chain collaboration, manufacturing efficiency, and technology trends were among the subjects addressed at the China TV Executive Roundtable, held at FPD China 2008 in Shanghai on March 12. With over 100 exhibiting companies from over 10 countries, FPD Expo is China’s premier flat panel display supply chain exposition.

Major Panel Makers and TV Makers Will Gather at FPD China 2008
SEMI (Feb 27, 2008): In recent years, FPD technologies and products have increased rapidly all over the world. The revenue of global FPD industry is expected to breakthrough 100 billion dollars (U.S.) for the first time.

OLED & E-Paper-- New Drivers of Growth to be Discussed at GFPC 2008
SEMI (Feb 27, 2008): Demand for flat screen TVs will continue to fuel the industry over the next few years, as the world switches from analog to digital. But the industry cannot afford to be complacent and needs to find new growth drivers to sustain growth.
 

SEMI Standards--Simplifying the FPD Manufacturing Process
SEMI (Feb 25, 2008): SEMI has developed international standards for semiconductor manufacturing for the past 35 years. SEMI expanded its International Standards Program activities into FPD, aided by key similarities between chipmaking and display fabrication technologies.
 

OLED-TV Production Investment Begins in Earnest
Display Daily (Feb 20, 2008): Sony announced that they will spend $203M "to accelerate development" for large OLED panels. Sony wants to have full production technology in place by the end of fiscal 2009, but a lot of this money will be used to buy-out its partner.

An Interview with Tracey Stephens from Xenia Technologies
Veritas et Visus: Feb 14, 2008: Xennia is the world’s largest independent industrial inkjet integrator.
| Read More | 

An Interview with Mike Johnson from Conductive Inkjet Technologies
Veritas et Visus: Feb 14, 2008: This interview was conducted by Veritas et Visus (“Truth and Vision”).
| Read More | 

The Future is Bright for TFT-LCD Manufacturers and Materials/Equipment Suppliers
DisplaySearch: Feb 7, 2008: Ross Young at Display Search explains that even with a bright future, caution is advised. | Read More | 

The Future is Bright for TFT-LCD Manufacturers and Materials/Equipment Suppliers
DisplaySearch (Feb 4, 2008): The flat panel display industry reached the $101 billion mark, which is expected to grow to $130.5 billion by 2012.

NEC - Fabless Approach to Signage Business Adds Value
John Boyd (Nov 15, 2007): NEC looks to dominate the digital display signage segment.
 

Sharp - Thinking Outside the Box
John Boyd (Nov 11, 2007): Sharp's management leads by creative thinking.
 

Report from FPD International, October 2007
John Boyd (Nov 1, 2007): Report from the October 2007 FPD International Show in Japan.

SEMI Standards Holds Factory Automation Workshop at FPD International
SEMI (Oct 19, 2007): SEMI will hold an FPD Factory Automation Workshop focusing on cost reduction and factory integration during FPD International 2007, to be held on October 24 – 26 in Yokohama, Japan.

Industry Opinion: Market Cyclicality
LCD TV Association: Oct 1, 2007: Bruce Berkoff of the LCD TV Association on FPD cyclicality and opportunities in niche markets.
| Read More | 

DisplaySearch Report Indicates TEL, ULVAC, AKT and Nikon will be the Top Four TFT LCD Array Equipment Companies in 2007
SEMI (Sept 17, 2007): DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, reports that TEL, ULVAC, AKT and Nikon will be the top four TFT LCD Array Equipment companies in 2007—all with revenues exceeding $485 million...

Industry Opinion: Market Pricing
LCD TV Association: Sept 1, 2007: Bruce Berkoff of the LCD TV Association on FPD pricing. | Read More | 

DisplaySearch Indicates 22% of LCD TVs Outsourced in Q2'07; TPV & AmTRAN Are Top 2 OEMs
SEMI (Aug 29, 2007): DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research, has released its Q2'07 LCD TV Value Chain Report.

An Interview (Part 2 of 2 ) with Dr. Lai-Juh Chen of AUO
John Boyd: Aug 15, 2007: Read more about AUO's manufacturing insights and the plan for the future in this second part of a two-part interview. | Read More |

Sharp Invests $3.2B in Combination LCD + Solar Plant
SEMI (Aug 2, 2007): Sharp announces that it will build the Manufacturing Complex of the 21st Century in Japan by investing $3.2 billion in a combination LCD and solar plant could be a turning point in the solar or PV industry.
 

SEMI FPD Standards – What’s Coming Next?
SEMI (Aug 1, 2007): Bettina Weiss discusses SEMI FPD Standards efforts.

An Interview (Part 1 of 2 ) with Dr. Lai-Juh Chen of AUO
John Boyd: July 15, 2007: AUO's new leader discusses industry trends, AUO's manufacturing strategy, and the competition in this first part of a two-part interview.  | Read More |

Join Us at FPD Today
SEMI: July 17, 2007: George Lin, VP of SEMI Global FPD, discusses worldwide growth in the flat panel display market and welcomes members to the new FPD website.   

Welcome!
SEMI: July 17, 2007: FPD manufacturing is entering an exciting and challenging era. Stanley Myers, president of SEMI, discusses how FPD Today hopes to help the industry advance!

AUO Pursues Green Production and Sustainable Development
SEMI (July 10, 2007): Dr. L.J. (Lai-Juh) Chen, currently senior VP and GM of Global Manufacturing at AU Optronics (AUO), discussed the company’s advanced environmental efforts.
 

FPD Expo Taiwan 2007 Executive Panel Addresses Growth Challenges
SEMI (July 5, 2007): At FPD Expo Taiwan 2007, executive panel addresses growth challenges.

LCD Industry Needs $60 billion in New Investments between 2008 and 2011
SEMI (June 25, 2007): To meet the rising demand for LCD panels in monitors and TVs, the industry needs additional investments on new production lines worth $60 billion between 2008 and 2011 

Nanotechnology and Flat Panel Displays
SEMI (June 25, 2007): Researchers at Purdue University and Northwestern University have now made flexible, see-through transistors using zinc-oxide and indium-oxide nanowires. 

Japan Regional Standards Committee Tackles Tough Safety Standards
SEMI (June 21, 2007): The Japan Regional Committee on Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Standards has drafted a proposed safety guideline to comprehensively address EHS issues in FPD manufacturing.

Korea FPD Working Group Receives Full Technical Committee Status
SEMI (June 1, 2007): In recognition of their accomplishments, the Korea Flat Panel Display (FPD) Working Group was recently granted full Local Technical Committee status.