Samsung Becomes the World's First in Mass Production of Transparent LCD Panels
 

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that it began mass production of a 22-inch transparent LCD panel in March this year. The panels come in two types, the black-and-white type and the color type, and they have a contrast ratio of 500:1 with WSXGA+ (1680x1050) resolution.

Compared with the conventional LCD panels that use back light unit (BLU) and have 5% transparency, Samsung’s transparent LCD panel boasts the world’s best transparency rate of over 20% for the black-and-white type and over 15% for the color type. The transparent LCD panel has a high transparency rate, which enables a person to look right through the panel like glass, and it consumes 90% less electricity compared with a conventional LCD panel using back light unit. It’s because a transparent LCD panel utilizes ambient light such as sun light, which consequently reduces the dependency on electricity for generating power.

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-03-31/202a_thm.jpg http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-03-31/202b_thm.jpg http://www.techpowerup.com/img/11-03-31/202c_thm.jpg

Also, Samsung’s transparent LCD panel maximizes convenience for not only manufacturers but also consumers by incorporating the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

Transparent display panels have endless possibilities as an advertising tool, which can be applied to show windows and outdoor billboards or used in showcase events. Corporations and schools can also adopt the panel as an interactive communication device, which enables information to be displayed more effectively.

Younghwan Park, a senior vice president of Samsung Electronics LCD Business, said, “Transparent displays will have a wide range of use in all industry areas as an efficient tool for delivering information and communication. With the world’s first mass production of the transparent LCD panel, Samsung Electronics plans to lead the global transparent LCD market by developing various applications.”

I'd love to see shots of the front AND the back :)

its hard to tell what this actually does since half the press release seems to be about LED backlights, HDMI and USB.


low contrast ratio and 'dead' resolution seem odd?

Applications? Super-expensive windshields with HUD (augmented reality), or in much smaller scale, phones like this:

http://img.techpowerup.org/110331/bta9921.jpg

That's a touch-phone with a full color display.

http://img.techpowerup.org/110331/bta9922.jpg

except that they're making 22" 1680x1050 screens, where i dont see their purpose.

Technology demonstration. Even at 22" and 1680x1050, it serves as a good augmented reality device if they find a way to make the panel look contagious with the rest of a windshield.

Protip: not everyone uses a 1080p monitor.

Not every application even requires high resolution.

I'm surprised they are investing in transparent LCD prototypes, as Samsung has a huge investment in nexgen OLED manufacturing. There have been a few transparent OLED prototypes as well as flexible displays with plastic substrates (something that hasn't been done with LCD AFAIK).

One version of a transparent OLED screen:
http://media.bestofmicro.com/3/O/176...l/P1090443.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/OLE...play,6850.html

Flexible OLED:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/...f6e8c5ee07.jpg

Much more, including videos:
http://www.oled-display.net/flexible-oled

OLED isnt ready for prime time and as a market leader samsung wont put there eggs all in one basket, even if they got alot of money tied up in the OLED display tech there still pushing ahead in LCDs meaning other companies have to pick up the pace and slack to keep up with samsung, there not stagnating in 1 area there adopting anything and everything that will make them money in the world of displays.

Yep, LCD isn't something that can be ignored and Sammy wouldn't do that. They've got 2.2B invested in a nexgen OLED production plant and plan to keep running with it in parallel with LCD.

Here's a list of OLED products already on the market. Big screens in production late this year, forecasts point to majority of handhelds and tablets will be OLED by 2014. But, like the weather, it's just a forecast. :rolleyes:

http://www.oled-info.com/devices

exactly the new oled tech isnt quite ready for prime time yet so Samsung will just innovate on tech thats already saturated the market, it also gives them a bit of time to test transparency and other tech as it all moves forward,