AU Optronics has recently announced a new 4K 85-inch TV panel with a refresh rate of 240 Hz and support for Variable Refresh Rate technology according to a recent report from DigiTimes. The panel is reported to support HDR however no exact specification was specified and will cover 96% of the DCI-P3 color space. The display also features proprietary technology including an anti-reflective coating and unique surface structure design to reduce glare. We are unsure what type of Variable Refresh Rate technology the panel will support or how much and when it may be available. The panel is not currently listed on the AU Optronics website but has reportedly won the 2021 Ministry of Science and Technology Central Science Park Fine Manufacturer Innovation Product Award.

ASUS's upcoming ROG GL504 Scar II, Hero II, and Zephyrus GM501 gaming laptops have one thing in common - 144 Hz/3 ms narrow-bezel panels. A source within the company confirmed that ASUS had partnered with AU Optronics to produce the new panel exclusively for its gaming laptops. The Taiwanese manufacturer even funded a portion of the panel's research and development. As a result, ASUS has exclusive rights to the 144 Hz/ 3 ms panel for at least a year. Gaming laptop competitors such as Gigabyte and MSI will have to wait it out or look elsewhere.

Certainly there are many display panel manufacturers in the likes of BOE Display, LG Philips, Samsung, and Sharp. Unfortunately, they don't offer a panel that is able to rival the 144 Hz/ 3 ms panel from AU Optronics, which is already in mass production. Consumers who aren't after a gaming laptop with a 144 Hz/ 3 ms panel have other viable options. The current offering on the market includes the MSI GS65 and Gigabyte Aero 15X that feature a 144 Hz panel with a slightly higher response time of 7 ms. And there's also the MSI GS63VR that comes with a 120 Hz/ 3 ms panel.

AU Optronics Corp. announced that it will participate in China Optoelectronics Display Expo & China International TV Festival 2012 (CODE & CTVF 2012) in Shenzhen from May 10-12 and showcase its varied combinations of innovative display technologies and interactive applications to offer high value-added customized solutions.

AUO's theme for the show this year is "Boundless Views, Lively Up Close", as illustrated by more advanced 3D functions, super narrow bezels, and next-generation technology integrations to deliver the ultimate viewing experience for consumers. The exhibition highlights include 50" Super Narrow Bezel 3D TV display, Pattern Retarder 3D TV displays featuring the all-new 39" and 50" in size, and 4K by 2K Ultra-High Resolution TV display. In terms of public information displays, AUO will demonstrate a 138" LED display wall assembled with AUO's 46" Super Narrow Bezel LED panels, boasting the world's narrowest bezel-to-bezel distance. The 65" Photo-Sensor In-cell Touch E-board and 50" FHD Transparent display with application on vending machine will also be on display. In addition, qHD Ultra-High Resolution AMOLED, Transparent AMOLED, and One-Glass-Solution (OGS) touch panels are being demonstrated to provide customers with the widest choices of high value-added display applications.

One of the biggest suppliers of LCD panels to notebook and PC monitor manufacturers, AUOptronics, has been convicted by a US court on Tuesday, of price-fixing, a serious anti-competitive practice that cripples innovation and is bad for consumers and progress of the industry. The company faces fines as high as US $1 billion, which could amount to a big blow to the company that already finds itself facing losses.

AUOptronics' conviction follows the December 2011 mega-settlement of LCD makers including Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, HannStar, and Chimei Innolux. At the time, AUOptronics and LG Electronics were the only fence-sitters. LG Electronics agreed to pay a US $400 million fine, in 2008. AUOptronics' current position is that it finds the evidence presented against it, which led to the conviction as being "distorted and incomplete," and that it will appeal against the verdict. The quantum of fine levied against AUOptronics will surface in the months ahead.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple has a habit of trend setting. When Apple released their original iPad, it had a meager low resolution 1024 x 768 resolution display which was scoffed at by many, yet it didn't stop it from being a runaway success. And the iPad 2 didn't improve on it, either - perhaps surprisingly, since the original formula worked so well. However, in early 2012 Apple plans to introduce its new Retina display equipped next generation iPads, offering a very high 2048 x 1536 resolution. On the 9.7" screen of an iPad, this would make the pixels all but invisible to anyone, except for those with the sharpest of 20-20 vision, giving the screen superb clarity and wow factor. These will be incorporated into its next generation iPads, which is expected to push the PC notebook market to use higher resolution displays too in order to remain competitive.