Tuesday, May 15th 2007

LG.Philips LCD Develops World’s First Flexible Color A4-Size E-Paper

LG.Philips LCD [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220], a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, announced today that it developed the world's first 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper display, equivalent in size to an A4 sheet of paper. This is a second breakthrough in E-paper for LG.Philips LCD, which introduced the world's first 14.1-inch black and white flexible E-paper display in May 2006.

The 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper uses electronic ink from E-Ink Corp. to produce a maximum of 4,096 colors. It can be viewed from a full 180 degrees, so that images always appear crisp, even when the display is bent.

Like the black and white flexible display, the color version uses a substrate that arranges Thin-Film Transistors (TFT) on metal foil rather than glass, allowing it to recover its original shape after being bent. This model includes a color filter coated onto the plastic substrate, allowing it to display color images.

LG.Philips LCD's use of metal foil and plastic substrate rather than glass substrate makes the flexible color E-paper display bendable and durable while maintaining excellent display qualities.

To make this new display possible the company developed proprietary processing technology that minimizes panel deformation and prevents circuit structure change during high-temperature processes. LG.Philips LCD focused on the designs of the color filter structure and TFT, as well as color filter lamination technology. This allowed them to overcome processing difficulties inherent in the lack of heat resistance in metal foil and plastic substrates.

These displays are extremely energy efficient, only using power when the image changes. Additionally the displays are extremely thin, less than 300 micrometers(㎛). The images displayed are comparable in quality to printed pages.

"LG.Philips LCD is the first company to develop a flexible color E-paper display of this size." said Mr. In-Jae Chung, the company's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President. "The potential applications for this display are incredible and will allow our customers to create new products that are not only convenient to use but also save natural resources. This represents the next generation in display technology."

In October 2005 LG.Philips LCD unveiled the world's first 10.1-inch flexible E-paper display. The company followed it up with its groundbreaking 14.1-inch model in May 2006.

Flexible Display Market Projection
According to a recent report from Displaybank, a Korea-based research firm specializing in the display industry, the flexible display market is projected to grow into a USD 5.9 billion market by 2010, rising to USD 12 billion by 2015.

About LG.Philips LCD
LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd. [NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220] is a leading manufacturer and supplier of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels. The Company manufactures TFT-LCD panels in a wide range of sizes and specifications for use in TVs, monitors, notebook PCs, and various applications. LG.Philips LCD currently operates seven fabrication facilities and four back-end assembly facilities in Korea, China and Poland. In addition, LG.Philips LCD has sales and representative offices in ten countries and has approximately 23,000 employees globally. Please visit http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com for more information.
Source: lgphillips-lcd
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14 Comments on LG.Philips LCD Develops World’s First Flexible Color A4-Size E-Paper

#1
ex_reven
Is durability/shock protection the only use this has over conventional LCD?

What other applications can it be used in?
Posted on Reply
#2
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
they say it is energy effecient and think of how much space it will save
Posted on Reply
#3
ex_reven
Easy Rhinothey say it is energy effecient and think of how much space it will save
true.
Imagine your friends coming over and going "where the hells the tv?"

and then you roll out a 2 metre long screen :roll:
Posted on Reply
#4
Casheti
LCD paper? Omg I want some!
Posted on Reply
#5
ex_reven
CashetiLCD paper? Omg I want some!
you mean cardboard :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#6
Casheti
As in maleability or thickness?
Posted on Reply
#7
ex_reven
thickness.
Malleability would be more like a mix between paper and melty plastic :roll:
Posted on Reply
#8
kakazza
Somehow I think you guys don't get what e-paper is.
It's not a replacement for a monitor with its 4096 colors. It is meant to be a replacement for - you guessed it - paper.
Instead of getting a thick newspaper every day, you buy one e-paper and just download the newspaper to it.

Many people I know are looking forward to something like that for reading books and mangas on it. And since books/ebooks are very small in filesize (only text) a very small flashchip will do as storage.

Newspapers however will stay for a few more decades I guess.
Posted on Reply
#9
Grings
cool, i want a tv i can stick to the wall with blutack
Posted on Reply
#10
jydie
This is probably a stupid idea, but if the sheets are transparent then maybe they could stack them 3 or more deep and create some "true" 3D effects on a display. :)
Posted on Reply
#11
SilentAces
i also saw where this could be used in many other ways, besides e-paper...from what i saw this stuff will be able to roll up like a map...

in the future they see

video cell phones that look like pens and unroll a touch screen
walls in homes that are one huge screen
glasses and sunglasses with built in screens
even vehicles could have paint replaced with this technology (good for military)

pretty cool stuff...
Posted on Reply
#12
a111087
i've seen those a long time ago but they were small like wallet size fotos :)
Posted on Reply
#13
Casheti
SilentAceseven vehicles could have paint replaced with this technology (good for military)
Like that car in James Bond that has cameras that display what they see on one side on the other side so it makes the car invisible lol...

That was awesome. Maybe one day they'll make something close to that.
Posted on Reply
#14
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
What exactly is E-Paper? Why would you use it for LCDs?
Posted on Reply
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