
ASIA
Japan : NEC LCD Technologies announced that it will begin shipping
samples of its new 3.5-inch (8.9-centimeters-diagonal) amorphous silicon
thin-film-transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD), part number
NL2432HC22-40A, in the beginning of June. The new LCD is extremely
suitable for installation in various portable devices such as personal
digital assistants (PDAs) and portable GPS terminals as it can reproduce
colors clearly and vividly even in indoor/outdoor environments with
high ambient light.
By optimization of its optical design, the new LCD achieves the highest
level of luminance and reflective ratio in the category of semi-transmissive
LCDs with a high luminance of 220cd/m2 and a high reflective ratio
of 15%.
The main characteristics
of the new model are as follows:
1. Simultaneous
pursuit of high luminance and high reflective ratio
Further optimization of optical design based on NEC LCD Technologies'
own unique super-reflective natural light TFT (SR-NLT) technology
realizes both high luminance of 220cd/m2 (equivalent to approximately
2.3 times that of the conventional product NL2432HC22-22A) and a high
reflective ratio of 15% (equivalent to approximately 2.1 times that
of the conventional product), while maintaining backlight power consumption
equivalent to that of conventional products. In addition, this new
product achieves a high contrast ratio of 150:1 (conventional product
= 90:1). All of the above contribute to the achievement of bright
and clear display in any kind of ambient light environment.
2. Installation of both timing controller and DC-DC converter
For the first time, NEC LCD Technologies has installed both a timing
controller and a DC-DC converter in one of its LCD products. Consequently,
this new LCD offers a range of benefits to manufacturers of portable
devices in terms of development cost, lead time, as well as miniaturization
of portable devices.
3. Reduction
in weight by optimization of total module design
The optimization of the total module design achieves a reduction in
weight by approximately 10% for conventional products, despite the
installation of both a timing controller and a DC-DC converter. Their
installation also contributes to a reduction in weight of portable
devices as conventionally a timing controller and a DC-DC converter
needed to be installed externally.
Recently a variety of portable
devices have been appearing on the market due to the emergence of
a networked information society. Some of these devices are equipped
with semi-transmissive LCD modules as their display. Semi-transmissive
LCDs give customers a choice of two operating modes depending on the
ambient light environment; one is the transmissive mode that uses
a backlight system as a spectral source and the other is a reflective
mode that uses an ambient light as a spectral source. However, conventional
semi-transmissive LCD modules have long been faced with the dilemma
of how to balance brightness of the transmissive mode and the reflective
ratio of the reflective mode, primarily due to the need for each pixel
of semi-transmissive LCDs to be divided by transmissive construction
area and reflective construction area.
"Through a combination of several of our core technologies, SR-NLT
technology and adoptive design technology, NEC LCD Technologies has
solved the long-time dilemma of how to achieve simultaneous high brightness
and high reflective ratio of semi-transmissive LCDs," said Hidetoshi
Usui, department manager in charge of product planning and marketing,
NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. "This breakthrough will offer a multitude
of benefits to manufacturers of portable information devices, such
as shortened lead time, as well as reduced cost and weight. We remain
committed to the development of LCDs that meet all of our customers
needs in a variety of industries."
NEC LCD Technologies will
continue to commercialize products boasting high added-value such
as those with high picture performance and high specifications, even
in the field of small LCD modules for portable devices, aiming to
contribute to the achievement of a user-friendly networked information
society in the near future.
NEC LCD Technologies' new
model will be displayed at Display 2006, which is being held in Tokyo
Big Sight, Japan, from April 19 - 21.