EE Times Under The Hood - October 8, 2007 - (Page 61) SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENT Why the LCD TV Business is Booming T hink of technology as a rapidly moving target – fluid in its capabilities and all but unlimited in its potential. With competing technologies, the factor tipping the scales for one over another can be how much investment leading-edge companies are making. Over the past several years, Samsung has invested US$8.9 billion (8.3 Trillion KRW) to create its sprawling Tangjeong LCD complex, dedicated to producing LCDs for TVs – helping to make it easily one of the largest overall investors in LCD innovation. STUNNING ADVANCEMENTS And with that investment, the string of advancements has been nothing short of stunning. Consider contrast ratio – one of the most frequently used measures of a superior visual experience. For dynamic contrast ratio, high-end LCD screens have been ranging at 1000:1 to 10,000:1. Over the past few months, improvements in the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) approach to screen lighting has been moving contrast ratios to a breathtaking 25,000:1. On the horizon awaits backlighting with thousands of tiny LEDs (light emitting diodes) that will carrying the picture-quality torch to an extraordinary 100,000:1 and beyond. What we are seeing today is a watershed transition from where TV imagery resembles life-like images to where television virtually recreates life, visually. One indication of technology as clear as perfect-vision eyesight is new Samsung SmartLighting™, which will “intuitively” sense the TV signal and adjust the brightness level by turning on and off the right combination of backlight units to produce a contrast ratio of up to 500,000:1. WIDE VIEWING/CLEAR MOTION But not only is the picture getting remarkably clearer, viewers are being given the ultimate flexibility in where to sit. Today, you can watch TV from an adjoining dining room just as if you were sitting directly in front of the screen. TV viewers can sit almost completely to the side of their LCD screen – that’s up to a 180-degree viewing angle. Another long-time annoyance for LCD viewers – a bit of blurriness where action scenes are blazing – is well on its way to also becoming a relic. Recently, Samsung introduced the industry’s most advanced means of sharply reducing motion artifacts (the lack of distinct images when rapid movements occur). A technology known as motion picture frame interpolation (McFi™) features sensors in the digital TV’s microprocessor that actually “imagine” what a frame of action would look like between two existing frames and creates a third “in between” frame sixty times per second. This helps greatly to bridge visual gaps in fastmoving scenes that viewers have seen as blurring. The technology allows a doubling of the refresh rate – from 60 Hz to 120 Hz – ushering in a new era in clear LCD action-packed viewing. Together, these advancements have propelled LCDs into the driver’s seat not only for TV viewing, but desktop monitors, notebooks and consumer products from mobile phones, MP3 players, digital picture frames and portable navigation systems as well. LONG-POPULAR ADVANTAGES They are adding immeasurably to LCD’s long-admired benefits of freedom from ambient lighting woes; thin-panel profiles that make LCD technology a favorite for TV wall mounting; and the absence of phosphor burn-in – a potentially permanent disfigurement that had plagued other flat-panel screens when an image remains on screen for a prolonged period. All combined, the expansive LCD litany of technology triumphs is making LCD the darling of smart TV buyers and the envy of neighbors and friends alike. BY SCOTT BIRNBAUM, VICE PRESIDENT, SAMSUNG LCD BUSINESS For more information, visit www.tftlcd.com http://www.tftlcd.com http://www.tftlcd.com
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