Developments in Displays Lots of tweaking going on: every technology is being improved I’ll go through at least some of these; there are too many to cover completely. Then I’ll talk about some of the newer technologies The major players: CRTs (they’re still around) LCDs PDPs Projectors LEDs Some of the newer entries: OLEDs FEDs Flexible displays; electronic books 3D (if we have time and patience)

CRTs Still the best all-around image quality Brightness, moving images, viewing angle New, thinner designs But they’re still bulky and heavy

LCDs Speed is improving Materials, driving techniques, new geometries Viewing angle Backlights Improved color gamut and contrast; LED backlights Gray scale and contrast Transitions between gray levels, not just black to white Cost and prices New plants, new entrants

PDPs Excellent brightness, color, viewing angle Cost is still high, but lower than LCDs in large sizes Efficiency still a problem New geometries, driving waveforms, gas mixtures Motional artifacts have been essentially eliminated So has burn-in, allegedly

Projectors Four flavors: CRT, LCD transmissive, LCD reflective (LCoS), DLP CRTs are still around, but obsolescent LCD transmissive: one panel or three panels One panel with color wheel is inexpensive, but motion problems LCoS can be compact, but light engine is difficult to make DLP only from TI; can be very good. One or three panels Another MEMs device, grating, is still somewhat experimental Light sources are expensive, have limited life New optical designs can produce very compact projectors Problems with ambient light; new screen designs Front vs rear projection

LEDs Extremes: small displays and spectaculars The really big displays are now almost all LEDs The key was getting blue; now full color is available Bright, high contrast, easier to install than the previous Jumbotron CRTs Ubiquitous: Las Vegas, Times Square, stadia

OLEDs Rapid progress; some commercial products now All LCD manufacturers are exploring Attractions: printing techniques, low cost Organic TFTs to drive The possibilities for flexible displays Also possible for other technologies: LCD, particles Life and color gamut are improving Plastic substrates or metal plus plastic There will be intense competition with LCDs and PDPs

FEDs New approaches have brought this back to life

Major problem was life due to outgasing, cathode poisoning New cathodes have alleviated these problems Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), surface electron conduction Both seem to be resistant to ion bombardment Impressive demonstrations, but no products yet If they work, they have most of the advantages of CRTs

Flexible displays Can be OLED, electrophoretic, LCD, other Attractive for extreme portability Electronic books Need not be flexible, but that’s a possible added advantage Even possibilities for very large, roll-up displays

What do you look for in a display What’s it used for: entertainment TV, PC applications? The requirements are different TV wants brightness, motion reproduction PC or other analytic uses need lower B but high resolution Motion less important What’s the viewing distance? How important are color, gray-scale rendition? High definition? Viewing angle Ambient light. Reflections

3D A lot of interest, but not much real progress Multiple images via barrier layers; autostereoscopic Limited “sweet spot” Stimulate peripheral vision; IMAX, Cinemascope Two images and eyeglasses Head-mounted displays No breakthroughs yet, despite the hype But almost 200 companies are interested

Summary Multiple technologies available now New ones have an uphill fight, but there are still new entries The current majors--LCD, PDP, CRT—will not be displaced soon It takes 10+ years for a new technology to be real in the market place Lots that I haven’t discussed: simulators, digital cinema, the importance of small displays (cell phones, cameras, …) Stay tuned