NEC nous propose 4 nouveaux écrans SOG ou System On Glass LCD de 3.5 et 2.7 pouces utilisant les technologies Transmissive et Transflective. Ces écrans seront utilisés sur des GPS, PDA… L’intérêt d’écrans SOG, se trouve être dans la réduction des coûts de fabrication pour l’implémentation d’un tel type de LCD. En effet la partie “électronique” se trouve collée à l’écran ce qui facilite l’installation de celui-ci dans un produit final.

Tokyo, October 18, 2006 — NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. today announced the successful development of four new system-on-glass (SOG) liquid crystal display (LCD) modules, suitable for personal digital assistants (PDAs) and portable GPS terminals. Successful mass production trials for low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) thin-film-transistor (TFT) color liquid crystal display modules began at NEC Akita, Ltd. on October 1.

The new modules consist of a 3.5-inch (8.9-centimeters-diagonal) transmissive type LCD, a 3.5-inch transflective type LCD, a 2.7-inch (6.8-centimeters-diagonal) transmissive type LCD and a 2.7-inch transflective type LCD. All of the new products possess the same resolution as video graphics array (VGA) TFT LCD modules. Mass production for the 3.5-inch transflective LCDs and the 2.7-inch transmissive LCDs are aimed at February, 2007.

All four new LCD models have been developed for display devices of PDAs and portable GPS terminals. They achieve cost reduction, faster time to market and downsizing of instrumentation through a reduction in the number of instrumentation parts built into the new SOG LCD by integration of peripheral circuitry on the glass substrate of the TFT LCD. In addition, they possess a function for displaying 16.19 million colors by a built-in step interpolation circuit, boast a switching VGA/QVGA display, and are equipped with a touch panel.

The main characteristics of the new models are as follows:
1. 3.5-Inch (8.9cm Diagonal) Transmissive SOG LCD Module
Optimization resulting from high transmissivity of LTPS TFT LCD technology achieves a high luminance of 250cd/m2, a high contrast ratio of 400:1 and a wide color gamut of 70%, despite super-high density of 229 ppi.
2. 3.5-Inch (8.9cm Diagonal) Transflective SOG LCD Module
A combination of high transmissivity of LTPS TFT LCD technology and NEC LCD Technologies’ own unique super-reflective natural light TFT (SR-NLT) technology achieves high luminance of 200cd/m2 and a high reflective ratio of 15%, despite a super-high density of 229 ppi.
3. 2.7-Inch (6.8cm Diagonal) Transmissive SOG LCD Module
Optimization based on high transmissivity of LTPS TFT LCD technology achieves high luminance of 200cd/m2, a high contrast ratio of 400:1 and a wide color gamut of 70%, despite ultra-high density of 302ppi.
4. 2.7-Inch (6.8cm Diagonal) Transflective SOG LCD Module
A combination of high transmissivity of LTPS TFT LCD technology and NEC LCD Technologies’ own unique super-reflective natural light TFT (SR-NLT) technology achieves high luminance of 180cd/m2 and a high reflective ratio of 15%, despite ultra-high density of 302ppi.

NEC LCD Technologies has been developing higher value-added, small-sized LCD modules for next generation PDAs and portable GPS terminals over the past few years, while focusing on LCD modules for the high-end professional and industrial fields.

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the upgrading and diversification of functions for small devices. This has brought with it a demand for more information display on screens, while maintaining vivid color expression and improved visibility under direct sunlight. NEC LCD Technologies is responding to these requirements by developing both transmissive type SOG LCD modules that achieve a balance between high luminance and a wide color gamut, and transflective type SOG LCD modules that achieve a balance between high luminance and a high reflectance ratio. This balance is realized by capitalizing on the characteristics of LTPS TFT LCD modules that can achieve a high aperture rate as compared with amorphous silicon TFT LCD modules, despite boasting ultra-high density of 200ppi and above.

NEC LCD Technologies will start to focus on SOG technology as one of its new core competences, and will continue to develop and provide LCD modules of high added-value, while expanding their range of applications to include industrial fields as well as small-sized equipment.

These four new models will be displayed at FPD International 2006, which is being held at Pacifico Yokohama, Japan, from October 18 – 20.