TABLETS, eREADERS, AND MUCH MORE

Official Monthly Publication of the Society for Information Display • www.informationdisplay.orgFebruary/March 2012

Vol. 28, Nos. 2 & 3

Phone: +33 2 31 947 600 e-mail: sales@eldim.fr Web: www.eldim.frPhone: +33 2 31 947 600 e-mail: sales@eldim.fr Web: www.eldim.fr

ELDIM INTRODUCES A SERIES OF DOUBLE TELECENTRIC OBJECTIVES WITH VARIOUS SIZES. IT ALLOWS NORMAL INCIDENCE ANALYSIS OF SMALL & MEDIUM DISPLAY WITH UNPRECEDENTED ACCURACY. LUMINANCE, COLOR, POLARIZATION AND RADIANCE CAN BE MEASURED WITH THE NEW GENERATION OF UMASTER INSTRUMENTS.

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2 EditorialThe Progress of Portable Displays� By Stephen P. Atwood

3 Industry News� By Jenny Donelan

4 Guest EditorialTablets and eReaders: Fertile Ground for Display Innovations� By Jason Heikenfeld

6 Frontline Technology: The Future of Displays Is FoldableGrowth in mobile data consumption has pushed mobile-display sizes beyond 4 in., creating a potentialmarket for foldable displays that enable further enlargement of the display without increasing the mobile-device size and weight. The applications, alternatives, and status of the technology for foldable displays will be discussed.� By Edzer Huitema

12 Display Marketplace: Tablets Impact the Notebook Market: Enter the UltrabookThe tablet PC, in its short lifetime, has already influenced the mobile PC market in numerous ways, butnone more concretely than in inspiring the emergence of the Ultrabook. � By Richard Shim

16 Show Review: CES 2012 Display HighlightsDisplays large and small played a dominant role in the products exhibited at the most recent ConsumerElectronics Show in Las Vegas.� By Steve Sechrist

26 Enabling Technology: Dual-Pigment Electrophorectic Displays for ReadingTextbooksIn recent years, electronic paper has been hugely successful in augmenting traditional paper in the area of“leisure reading.” Now its developers are aiming at academic textbooks.� By Sriram Peruvemba

30 Frontline Technology: Touch Technology for eReadersFour touch technologies are currently used in eReaders: analog resistive, electromagnetic pen digitizer,scanned infrared, and projected capacitive. None of these meet 100% of the user and system requirementsfor optimum touch in eReaders.� By Geoff Walker

32 Frontline Technology: Toward the Ultimate 3-D DisplayHolographic stereography and a new photorefractive material may help create a 3-D display that reproducesall human visual cues.� By Pierre-Alexandre Blanche

38 Patent Legislation: Part I: What Companies Need to Know about the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) Patent Reform LegislationThe America Invents Act, the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, was signed intolaw on September 16, 2011. This series of articles will focus on selected provisions of the AIA that are like-ly to be the most relevant to companies in the display industry. Part I of this series of articles will focusmainly on key litigation-related provisions that are effective now.� By Clark A. Jablon

41 Journal of the SID February and March Contents

42 SID NewsSID Debuts Innovation Zone for Cutting-Edge Display Technologies

46 Display Week 2012 Housing Registration Form

48 Sustaining Members

48 Index to Advertisers

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012VOL. 28, NOS. 2 & 3

Next Month inInformation Display

SID 2012 Preview / Backlights� Syposium Preview

� Honors and Awards

� LED and Backlighting Forecast

� Evolving LED-Based Edge-Lit Light Guides

� Monolithic Segmented Light Guides

� Part II of America Invents Overview

INFORMATION DISPLAY (ISSN 0362-0972) is published 10 timesa year for the Society for Information Display by PalisadesConvention Management, 411 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, New York,NY 10003; William Klein, President and CEO. EDITORIAL ANDBUSINESS OFFICES: Jay Morreale, Editor-in-Chief, PalisadesConvention Management, 411 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, New York,NY 10003; telephone 212/460-9700. Send manuscripts to theattention of the Editor, ID. SID HEADQUARTERS, for corres-pondence on subscriptions and membership: Society for InformationDisplay, 1475 S. Bascom Ave., Ste. 114, Campbell, CA 95008;telephone 408/879-3901, fax -3833. SUBSCRIPTIONS: InformationDisplay is distributed without charge to those qualified and to SIDmembers as a benefit of membership (annual dues $100.00).Subscriptions to others: U.S. & Canada: $75.00 one year, $7.50 singlecopy; elsewhere: $100.00 one year, $7.50 single copy. PRINTED bySheridan Printing Company, Alpha, NJ 08865. Third-class postagepaid at Lehigh Valley, PA. PERMISSIONS: Abstracting is permittedwith credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyondthe limits of the U.S. copyright law for private use of patrons,providing a fee of $2.00 per article is paid to the Copyright ClearanceCenter, 21 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970 (reference serial code0362-0972/12/$1.00 + $0.00). Instructors are permitted to photocopyisolated articles for noncommercial classroom use without fee. Thispermission does not apply to any special reports or lists published inthis magazine. For other copying, reprint or republication permission,write to Society for Information Display, 1475 S. Bascom Ave., Ste.114, Campbell, CA 95008. Copyright © 2012 Society for InformationDisplay. All rights reserved.

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InformationDISPLAYON THE COVER: Tablets and eReaders place

display engineers in paradoxical situations that are fullof trade-offs. They are, therefore, platforms for the introduction of new display technologies. This extremely rich area of display development will be relevant – andcontroversial – for a long time to come. One can easilyargue that this sector of displays has the largest numberof distinct technologies pitted against each other. Howlong will it last? Maybe until that ultimate full-color,video-rate, readable in all-lighting conditions, unbreak-able, foldable, and energy-saving touch-driven display is developed. In the meantime, a few technologies havebeen carefully matched to the right applications,enabling early entry even without perfect screen perfor-mance. An example of this is E Ink’s electrophorecticdisplay made in a roll-to-roll processing plant inMassachusetts. In the photo, the latest gereration of E Ink’s display film is unrolled alongside the CharlesRiver near Boston.

ccoonntteennttss

SIDSOCIETY FOR INFORMATION DISPLAY

For Industry News, New Products, Current and Forthcoming Articles, see www.informationdisplay.org

The Progress of Portable Displays

by Stephen Atwood

This month, we take a look at the topic of tablets, rangingfrom eReaders to holographic displays, but I want to startwith some observations on the topics of tablets, eReaders,and other portable displays. We asked guest editor JasonHeikenfeld, Associate Professor & Director for the NovelDevices Laboratory at the School of Electronic and Com-puting Systems at the University of Cincinnati, to help us

understand the latest product trends, as well as how the new devices would be used,and what the future looked like for these types of products. Jason assembled a nicelineup of perspectives we are pleased to feature this month.

It is easy to be optimistic about this segment of the industry when you see the signif-icant adoption of eReaders, tablets, smartphones, and other similar devices appearingeverywhere. I am on an airplane as I write this, and everyone around me is peeringinto their tablet, smartphone, or eReader. I feel out of date with my traditional laptopcomputer and 15-in. screen as I click away on an almost full-sized keyboard, countingthe precious minutes until that dreaded pop-up flag alerts me to an empty battery. (I might also acknowledge that I feel pretty cramped too and will soon shut this downand grab my Kindle.) My fellow travelers are enjoying state-of-the-art touch screensand almost unending battery life with much more space on their tray tables. There hasclearly been a revolution in personal-computing technology.

However, as much as it seems that the frontier of personal-computing devices hasbeen conquered, some functionality still appears to be missing. For example, all of thedevices I can buy today use fixed, flat, rigid displays. The display dictates the physicaloutline of the device and displays larger than about 5 in. on the diagonal relegate thedevice to a bag or purse for transport.

The entire time I have been working with ID magazine, we have been publishingarticles on flexible displays and trying to keep a balanced view between the hype of“just around the corner” and the pessimism of “that will never happen.” We have published numerous articles on the underlying technologies for flexible displays, carried various accounts about the supply chain and manufacturing technologiesrequired, talked at length about the uncountable advantages of a display that can bendor fold, and in some cases noted the loss of early-entry developers who tried and failedto achieve the goal. Most of these perspectives have been positive, but none havedemonstrated the proof that rollable or foldable displays are soon to be in our hands inany mass-market application. The wait has been long.

This month, we offer another optimistic view in our Frontline Technology feature,“The Future of Displays is Foldable,” by author Edzer Huitema from Polymer Vision.Edzer’s view is that most of the underlying technology is indeed in place today, withwell-understood manufacturing processes and ever-improving substrate materials.The challenge, in part, will be to merge the “foldable” part of the effort with new display technologies such as OLED and electrowetting to move beyond the limitedrange of performance currently available from electrophoretic. Between now and then– and Edzer’s view is that “then” means another 3–5 years – we will need to see if thechicken-and-egg cycle of consumer acceptance can fuel any more product develop-ment to spur better volumes and hence generate enough revenue and profit to see anyrollable or foldable electrophoretic offerings become mainstream.

2 Information Display 2&3/12

The opinions expressed in editorials, columns, andfeature articles do not necessarily reflect the opinionsof the Executive Editor or Publisher of InformationDisplay Magazine, nor do they necessarily reflect theposition of the Society for Information Display.

(continued on page 44)

Executive Editor: Stephen P. Atwood617/306-9729, satwood@azonix.com

Editor-in-Chief: Jay Morreale212/460-9700, jmorreale@pcm411.com

Managing Editor: Jenny Donelan603/924-9628, jdonelan@pcm411.com

Sales Manager: Christine von Steiger413/783-0473, cvonsteiger@pcm411.com

Editorial Advisory Board

Stephen P. Atwood, ChairCrane/Azonix Corp., U.S.A.

Helge SeetzenTandemLaunch Technologies, Westmont,

Quebec, Canada

Allan KmetzConsultant, U.S.A.

Larry WeberConsultant, U.S.A.

Guest Editors

MaterialsIon Bita, Qualcomm MEMS

Technologies

eReaders and TabletsJason Heikenfeld, University of

Cincinnati

Backlighting/LEDsAdi Abileah, Planar Systems

Interacting with DisplaysGeoff Walker, IMS Research

TV TechnologyDavid Trczinski, Avid

Contributing Editors

Alfred Poor, Consultant

Steve Sechrist, Consultant

Paul Semenza, DisplaySearch

Information

DISPLAYeeddiittoorriiaall

2011 Holiday Sales HighlightsAccording to the National Retail Federation,U.S. retail industry sales for the 2011 holidayseason were up 4.1%, year-over-year, withtotal sales of $471.5 billion between November 1and December 31.1 This positive news issomewhat tempered by data from the UnitedStates Department of Commerce, which,while acknowledging that consumer spendingpicked up at the end of the year, notes thatsales of automobiles and the higher price ofgasoline may have had more to do with theupturn than widespread consumer confidence.2

As it turns out, retail holiday sales are difficultto track. Strong Black Friday and CyberMonday sales do not necessarily equate tostronger sales during the rest of the season,and what with returned merchandise and giftcards still to be redeemed, it may be a fewmonths more before we have a definitivenumber. In the meantime, here are someinteresting facts about sales relating to the display industry.

Amazon does not release sales figures, but has divulged that 2011 was the best yearto date for sales of its Kindle products.Throughout December, customers purchasedwell over 1 million Kindle devices per week.The $199 Kindle Fire (with an IPS LCDrather than an electrophoretic display) was thenumber one selling item on Amazon.com forthe 12 weeks leading up to Christmas.3

According to a recent Pew Internet report,4

tablet and eBook-reader ownership increasedspectacularly over the 2011/2012 holiday gift-giving period, with the share of adults in theUnited States owning tablet computers nearlydoubling from 10 to 19% between mid-December and early January. eReader ownersalso jumped from 10 to 19% over the sametime period.

The report noted that prior to the holidayseason, from mid-2011 into the fall, there hadnot been much change in the ownership numbers for tablets and eBook readers. Theauthors surmize that Amazon’s new low-priced tablet, the Kindle Fire, and Barnes &Noble’s Nook Tablet, which were introducedat considerably cheaper prices than othertablets, may have spurred spending. In addi-tion, the introduction of sub-$100 Nook andKindle eReaders very likely made it easier forconsumers to take the eReader plunge.

GameStop Corp. reported that holiday salesincreased only slightly, as sales of new video

game software from PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 titles such as “Call of Duty 3” and “ElderScrolls V” offset a 20% drop in hardwaresales. According to Reuters, sales of tradi-tional video game products such as consoleshave been struggling worldwide as gamershave turned to online gaming as well as gaming on tablets and phones.5

References1http://www.nrf.com/2http://www.esa.doc.gov/Blog/retail-sales-december-fourth-quarter-and-2010-43http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c= 176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1642935& highlight=4http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/E-readers-and-tablets.aspx5http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/09/us-gamestop-holidaysales-idUSTRE80810O20120109

Flexible Technology Update:ITRI Develops Rewritable PaperTaiwan’s Industrial Technology ResearchInstitute (ITRI) recently introduced its i2Rtechnology, electronic paper that is both re-writable and re-usable. To use it, you send animage to a thermal printer, which transfers theone-color image to the electronic paper (Fig. 1).The e-paper can be cleared and reprintednumerous times. “We’ve rewritten it close to300 times with our homemade equipment inthe lab,” says Janglin Chen, General Directorof ITRI’s Display Technology Center, “andthere’s no reason why it couldn’t be done 500or 1000 times.”

Possible applications include tickets forevents and transportation, ID badges, and signage. Chen notes that the technology is

ideal for temporary IDs, as well as for airlineboarding passes and other documents that aresignificant to security but are not meant tolast.

i2R is made of ITO-coated PET (polyethy-lene terephthalate) that is 125 µm thick. Atopthe ITO is a cholesteric liquid-crystal materialdispersed in gelatin. “It’s kind of a thicksyrup,” explains Chen. The “syrup” is thencoated with a layer of pigment, and on top ofthis pigment layer another layer of electrodesis placed. “The structure is simple and ele-gant,” says Chen. Apparently members of thepress think so; the i2R e-paper won a 2011Wall Street Journal Technology InnovationAward.

At this point, says Chen, e-paper is basi-cally ready for use by interested manufactur-ers. “We are not going to replace paper,” hesays, “but we offer options. We want peopleto consider it for applications that require afrequent update. Then bistable is perfectbecause it only requires power when itchanges.”

Flexible Technology Update:Liquavista Becomes Samsung’sR&D CenterBack in December 2010, Samsung ElectronicsCo., Ltd., acquired Liquavista, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Liquavista,founded in 2006 as a spin-off from PhilipsResearch Labs, is the developer of an electro-wetting technology for applications in eReaders,mobile phones, media players, and othermobile devices. This technology, which operates in transmissive, reflective, transparent,

iinndduussttrryy nneewwss

Information Display 2&3/12 3

(continued on page 45)

Fig. 1: ITRI’s rewritable e-paper allows text and graphics to be printed and then erased, making it possible to reuse the paper hundreds of times. Image courtesy ITRI.

Tablets and eReaders: Fertile Ground for Display Innovations

by Jason Heikenfeld

I am not an early adopter of technology. Over a year ago,my wife and I finally purchased a reflective Kindle using an E Ink screen, and it quickly became the dominant waybooks are read in our home. Just this past year, I purchasedan iPad, with some reluctance due to my impression that it

was just a toy. I now have the iPad tablet synced to cloud document storage and havefound it indispensable for my numerous work hours outside the physical office. Thisyear my three children (Luke, Will, and Jack) are now all at the same school, whereeach member of grades 6–8 is assigned his or her own tablet for use in nearly all class-room learning activities. Five years ago, we would have been talking about use of laptops at best. These personal examples represent a tiny part of how many of us areusing tablets and eReaders. Credit innovators such as Amazon and Apple for envisioning bold new consumer products – products that are centrally reliant onadvanced screens created by our display community.

This Tablet and eReader Applications issue of Information Display touches on oneof the most exciting, controversial, and technology-diverse areas of display develop-ment. We have selected a set of authors and articles that cover only a few applica-tions, but which communicate a great breadth of market opportunity. These opportu-nities also impose challenging requirements for displays. For example, weight is amajor concern, much more so than with laptops that you can rest on a table or smart-phones that have relatively small screens. This, in turn, imposes limits on battery sizeand increases the need for very low display power consumption. Also, these devicesoften leave the home or the office and find themselves in direct sunlight, where colorgamut and contrast ratio collapse for a conventional LCD panel. Furthermore, whilewe love portability, especially when we can store the device in our pocket, there isalways the desire for a much-larger-sized display.

Tablets and eReaders place display engineers in paradoxical situations that are fullof trade-offs. They are, therefore, ripe platforms for the introduction of new displaytechnologies. This extremely rich area of display development will be relevant – andcontroversial – for a long time. One can easily argue that this sector of displays hasthe largest number of distinct technologies pitted against each other. How long will itlast? Maybe until we develop that ultimate full-color, video-rate, all-lighting, read-able, unbreakable, foldable, and energy-saving touch-driven display. In the meantime,a few technologies have been carefully matched to the right applications, enablingearly entry even without perfect screen performance.

Two articles in this issue approach portable devices from an applications perspec-tive, which in most cases will determine the future winners and losers. E Ink presentsa piece on the potentially huge new market sector of electronic textbooks, and a re-invigorated Polymer Vision reminds us that there is pent-up demand for and a largetechnology push in foldable/rollable displays.

A more technology-based contribution comes in the form of a piece from industryanalyst Geoff Walker, who writes about the different forms of touch currently used byeReaders. Last, DisplaySearch describes the spectacular growth of the tablet marketand discusses “Ultrabooks,” a new notebook category designed to compete withtablets.

4 Information Display 2&3/12

(continued on page 45)

gguueesstt eeddiittoorriiaallSID EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: M. AnandanPresident-Elect: B. BerkeleyRegional VP, Americas: T. VoutsasRegional VP, Asia: H. S. KwokRegional VP, Europe: J. RaspTreasurer: A. GhoshSecretary: Y. S. KimPast President: P. Drzaic

DIRECTORS

Bay Area: J. PollackBeijing: B. P. WangBelarus: V. VyssotskiCanada: T. C. SchmidtDayton: D. G. HopperDelaware Valley: J. W. Parker IIIDetroit: J. KanickiFrance: J-P. ParneixHong Kong: H. LeungIndia: G. RajeswaranIsrael: G. GolanJapan: N. IbarakiKorea: K. W. WhangLatin America: A. MammanaLos Angeles: L. TannasMid-Atlantic: D. MortonMid-Europe: H. de SmetNew England: S. AtwoodPacific Northwest: A. AbileahRussia: I. N. KompanetsSingapore: X. W. SunSouthwest: S. O’RourkeTaipei: Y. S. TsaiTexas: Z. YanivU.K. & Ireland: S. DayUkraine: V. SerganUpper Mid-West: B. Bahadur

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Academic: P. BosArchives/Historian: R. DonofrioAudit: S. O’RourkeBylaws: A. KmetzChapter Formation – Americas: C. CurtinChapter Formation – Asia: W. LeiChapter Formation – Europe: H. de SmetConventions: D. EcelesConventions – Europe: I. SageDefinitions & Standards: J. MiseliDefinitions & Standards Co-Chair: T. FiskeDisplay of the Year: R. MelcherExhibit Advisory Committee: J. ChenHonors & Awards: F. LuoInvestment: A. GhoshLong-Range Planning: B. BerkeleyMembership: A. SilzarsNominating: P. DrzaicPublications: H. SeetzenSenior Member Grade: B. BerkeleyWeb Site: H. SeetzenWeb Activities: L. Palmateer

CHAPTER CHAIRS

Bay Area: G. WalkerBeijing: N. XuBelarus: A. SmirnovCanada: A. KitaiDayton: M. MostDelaware Valley: J. BlakeDetroit: S. PalaFrance: J. P. ParneixHong Kong: H. S. KwokIndia: S. KauraJapan: K. KondoKorea: Y. S. KimLatin America: V. MammanaLos Angeles: P. Joujon-RocheMid-Atlantic: I. KymissisMid-Europe: H. J. LempNew England: B. HarkavyPacific Northwest: A. SilzarsRussia: V. BelyaevSingapore/Malaysia: X. SunSouthwest: S. VenugopalTaipei: C. C. WuTexas: R. FinkU.K. & Ireland: M. JonesUkraine: V. SerganUpper Mid-West: P. Downen

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MOBILE data consumption has grownenormously over the past 5 years, with aworldwide growth rate of 159% in 2010 and a predicted annual growth rate of 92% until2015, according to the Cisco Visual NetworkingIndex. This growth was enabled on the onehand by the increasing availability of faster3G networks, but also by the evolution ofmobile-phone hardware, for which batterycapacity, processing power, and graphicscapabilities have all improved. A crucialaspect of this evolution is the display, whichhas increased in size dramatically with theintroduction of the iPhone in 2007, with anon-screen touch interface replacing all of thebuttons that were present 10 years ago. Thedisplay is now the dominant face of mostmobile phones.

With the start of the roll-out of faster 4Gnetworks, the pressure on display sizes isincreasing, while the form factor of the mobilephone is limited; users have to be able to carrythe devices all day. With the latest announce-ments of, for example, the HTC Titan with a4.7-in. display and the Samsung Galaxy Notewith a 5.3-in. display, the limits of mobile-device size have been reached and evenexceeded for most consumers.

On the other side of the spectrum, tabletshave emerged as the portable alternative for

laptops, netbooks, and eReaders as a newportable dedicated reading device. Tabletsand eReaders offer a display size of up to 10 in. and can be carried around. The fact thatthey are about five times the size and weightof smartphones and do not fit into a pocketlimits the current sales volumes of tablets andeReaders to about 5% of smartphone sales.

A solution for enabling even larger displaysin truly mobile devices would be to replace the glass display with a larger, lightweight displaythat can be bent to a shape that fits the pocketwhen the device is not in use. Although thefirst application areas of foldable displays will be pocket-sized eReaders and mobilephones, other markets, such as tablets, lap-tops, and eventually monitors and TVs, mightalso benefit from the use of these displays.

Flexible and Foldable DisplaysThe term flexible display is used to cover alldisplays that are intrinsically flexible, asopposed to glass-based displays that are rigidin nature. A more quantitative definition thatis commonly used is that a flexible display isable to be bent at least once to a radius smallerthan 50 cm (20 in.). Flexible displays mainlyuse plastic substrates instead of glass, but thinsteel or thin glass substrates can be used. Thelatter two have the advantage of being able towithstand higher processing temperatures,while plastic substrates are more flexible,lower in weight, and more robust. The use ofplastic substrates restricts the temperaturerange during processing to a maximum of

130–200°C, depending on the type of plasticused. The typical thickness of a flexible display is 0.2–1.0 mm.

Additional potential advantages for flexibledisplays include weight and thickness reduc-tion and a reduced chance in breakage, whichis a problem for larger-sized glass displays.They also enable products in which the display is used in a curved position, such asfor advertisement or in-car displays.

Companies that have demonstrated flexible-display prototypes recently include Samsung,6

LG,7 Plastic Logic,8 Bridgestone,9 E Ink,10

Fujitsu,11 Sharp,12 and others. Companies that have introduced flexible displays on the market include Fujitsu, with the Flepia eReader based on a stacked red, green, and blue cholesteric liquid-crystal (CLC) display usingplastic substrates, introduced in Japan in 2009,and recently by Plastic Logic, which intro-duced eReaders based on plastic substratesand electrophoretic technology in Russia.

A foldable display has different mechanicalstates in the product, so the flexibility of thedisplay is really used. It must be able to bebent many times. Also, the bending radiushas to be small enough to fit in a compactdevice. A more quantitative definition is thata foldable display should be able to be bent atleast 1000 times to a radius smaller than 7.5mm (0.3 in.), although for typical consumerproducts a specification of at least 25,000times bending is required.

The first report on foldable displays datesback to 2005.1 A number of companies have

The Future of Displays Is Foldable

Growth in mobile data consumption has pushed mobile-display sizes beyond 4 in., creating a potential market for foldable displays that enable further enlargement of the display without increasing the mobile-device size and weight. The applications, alternatives, and status of the technology for foldable displays will be discussed.

by Edzer Huitema

Edzer Huitema is CTO of Polymer Vision, the rollable-display company based in The Netherlands. He can be reached atEdzer.Huitema@PolymerVision.com.

6 Information Display 2&3/120362-0972/03/2012-006$1.00 + .00 © SID 2012

frontline technology

demonstrated advanced foldable-display prototypes2–5 that enable thin, light-weight products with displays as large as 6 in. and a form factor not larger than an average smartphone.

The Use Case and Competing Solutionsfor Foldable DisplaysFoldable displays are only one solution to theproblem of having a small device with a largeperceived display area. In Fig. 1, a foldabledisplay device is shown along with other competing solutions: pico-projectors and near-to-eye (NTE) displays.

Pico-projectors have already found theirway into mobile phones, with the introductionof the Samsung Galaxy Beam in 2010, whileLG and NTT introduced models with add-onpico-projectors. They are all based on TexasInstruments’ DLP technology and are particu-larly useful for presenting data or photos togroups. For private and mobile use, it has itslimitations due to the projection surface that isrequired. Also, battery life is limited to a fewhours of projection.

NTE displays, also referred to as head-mounted displays (HMDs), are already on the market and are particularly useful for watch-ing video or playing games individually.There are also see-through HMDs designedfor augmented-reality applications. Therecently introduced Sony HMZ-T1 is the first HMD with support for 3-D viewing andsurround-sound aimed at the mass consumermarket. Because it is immersive and requiresAC power, it is not intended for mobile use.

Foldable display devices retain the advan-tages of current mobile phones, such as smallform factor, low weight, and long battery life,while extending the display size. The keyinnovations needed for such a device are thedisplay and the mechanics to support the display in all configurations. Prototypes offoldable displays have been shown by Polymer Vision since 20051 and later also bySeiko-Epson5 and Sony.3,4

Current State of the Art of FoldableDisplaysSome of the latest foldable displays are shownin Fig. 2. Polymer Vision has demonstratedfoldable displays that are only 0.1 mm thickand can be bent more than 100,000 times to aradius as small as 5 mm (0.2 in.).2 These dis-plays are based on plastic substrates of 25 µmcombined with organic transistors processedat low temperature and an electrophoretic-display medium. The latest display module hasa 6-in. diagonal and SVGA resolution (170 ppi). Finger touch is included in the panel by use ofa novel integrated capacitive-sensing solution.

Epson demonstrated a foldable display with a thickness of only 0.1mm in 2006.5 The dis-play was based on plastic substrates combined with polycrystalline transistors and an electro-phoretic-display medium. There have not been any recent disclosures by Epson on this topic.

Sony demonstrated a foldable display bothby using electrophoretic material4 and OLEDmaterial3 in 2010 and 2011. Plastic substratesare used combined with organic transistors

processed at low temperature. Sony is stillactively working on this technology.

Samsung demonstrated in 2009 and 2010 avery different type of foldable display con-struction,13 where only the bending zone isnon-rigid. Two glass-based OLED panelswere stitched together by a very narrow fold-able stitching zone in such a way that in theflat position the stitching was almost not visible. Of course, this approach does nothave the low-weight and thickness advantageof the other approaches where truly foldabledisplays are used.

At the moment, foldable displays are still inresearch and development like most flexible-display technologies. The main reason is that the process flow for makingthese displays is not the same as the flow forglass displays. The temperature budget islower due to novel plastic materials and, insome cases, novel patterning methods areused as well. This requires substantialchanges to the standard manufacturing flowused for glass displays and also the develop-ment of new manufacturing equipment. Forfoldable displays, the form factor of newproducts needs to be changed: they are not asimple drop-in replacement for glass displays.

Technologies Used to Produce FoldableDisplaysThe main technologies used to produce fold-able or flexible displays are shown in Fig. 3.The general issue to solve is that a flexiblesubstrate is not suited for thin-film processing

Information Display 2&3/12 7

Fig. 1: Three different ways to create a large perceived image from a small device include (a) a foldable display device, (b) a pico-projector, and(c) a head-mounted near-to-eye display.

(a) (b) (c)

without attaching it to a flat and rigid supportcarrier somehow. Although plastic substratesare supplied on rolls, processing takes placesheet-to-sheet as the resolution and overlayrequirements for displays are in the micronrange, which is beyond the current capabilitiesof roll-to-roll processing.

With bond–debond processing, the plasticsubstrate is glued to a glass plate. The plate isthen processed on standard tooling for pro-cessing displays on glass plates. The plasticsubstrate imposes temperature restrictions onthe processing, as it starts to deform and meltat temperatures above 200°C, althoughrecently high-temperature plastics have beendeveloped that are less foldable but can with-stand temperatures up to 300°C. At the end ofthe processing, the display is debonded fromthe glass plate. If the display is sufficientlyfoldable, it can be rolled off the glass plate atmoderate temperature. The glass plate canthen be cleaned and reused. This technology

is used by Polymer Vision to produce foldabledisplays. Sony is using a similar technologyto produce foldable displays and AUO, LG,and Plastic Logic have been using such tech-nology to produce flexible displays.

Another technology is so-called transferprocessing. Here, the display is produced onrigid glass plates and subsequently transferredto a foldable substrate. Key to this process isa (partly) sacrificial layer, typically a-Si orpolyimide, that is used to separate the stackfrom the glass plate by a laser release process.This layer is one of the first layers that is putdown on the glass. After the release step, thefinal plastic substrate is glued to the backsideof the stack. Seiko-Epson has been using thisprocess to make foldable electrophoretic displays. In this process flow, an additionaltemporary top substrate was used to protectthe stack during the release process. E Inkalso uses a similar process for flexible electrophoretic displays.

With yet another technology, so-calledetch-back processing, displays are producedon a rigid glass or steel substrate. At the endof the processing the substrate is etched backso far that the display becomes flexible. LGhas used this process route to make flexibleelectrophoretic and OLED displays. Foldabledisplays have not been made using this routebecause the etched back substrates are, in general, not flexible enough to allow bending.

Display Media Suitable for FoldableDisplaysDisplay media suitable for foldable displaysmust be very thin, as the display in totalshould be at most 0.2 mm thick. Besides theswitching material itself, display media mightalso require certain optical layers, such aspolarizer films or retarders. These layers addsignificant thickness to the stack. For exam-ple, polarizer films are typically 100–300-µmthick, which is too thick for a foldable

8 Information Display 2&3/12

frontline technology

Fig. 2: The current state of the art of foldable displays is represented by (a) a Polymer Vision foldable electrophoretic display, (b) a Seiko-Epsonfoldable electrophoretic display, (c) a Sony foldable electrophoretic display, (d) a Sony foldable OLED display, and (e) Samsung OLED glasspanels with foldable stitching.

(a) (b)

(c)

(d) (e)

display. There have been efforts to make verythin polarizing films, but the quality is too lowto be competitive.

Liquid-crystal displays are by far the mostdominant type of rigid flat-panel displays onthe market. Since LCDs require two polarizerfilms, flexible LCDs are quite thick and havenever been prototyped at the extremely lowthickness needed for bendability. The back-lighting unit needed for a foldable transmis-sive LCD is an additional complication.

OLEDs have the advantage that they do notrequire a backlighting unit, but they do rely onan optical stack at the front side that typicallyincludes a polarizer and retarding film toincrease the daylight contrast. The extremesensitivity of the OLED material stack to oxygen and water puts high barrier require-ments on the substrates that are used, some-thing that glass and steel substrates do providebut that plastic substrates cannot provide with-out multi-layered barrier coatings. The tran-sistors in OLEDs have higher stability anduniformity requirements compared to that forLCDs, which is more difficult to achieve on a restricted temperature budget. LG,7 Samsung,6

and recently AUO have demonstrated flexibleOLED displays. Sony has demonstrated afoldable OLED display3 and, recently, Polymer Vision also made a foldable OLEDpanel together with the Holst Centre (to bediscussed shortly).

Electrophoretic displays have been in eReaders since 2004. The electrophoreticlayer is 20–40 µm, which is relatively thick,but does not require any optical films, a backlight, extreme oxygen barriers, or hightransistor performance. Therefore, this dis-play medium is very well suited for flexibleand foldable displays. Polymer Vision,2

Seiko-Epson,5 and Sony,4 have shown fold-able electrophoretic displays, while a largenumber of companies have shown flexibleversions.

Electrowetting displays have been proto-typed since 2003. They rely on switching bymanipulation of the contact angle between adielectric layer and a fluid system by a volt-age. Although electrowetting displays are notbistable, they have all the other advantages ofelectrophoretic displays, combined withvideo-speed switching. Liquavista is wellknown for its work on electrowettingdisplays.14 (The company was acquired bySamsung in early 2011.) Its technology isbest suited for rigid displays, as the fluid

layers are more than 50 µm thick. In 2009,Gamma Dynamics, a spin-off from the NovelDevice Laboratory of the University ofCincinnati, launched a new electrowettingconcept that is better suited for flexible andfoldable displays.15 In this so-called electro-fluidic display concept, the fluid layers areonly 3–5 µm thick, thus enabling robust flexible and foldable electrowetting displays.Gamma Dynamics is working with PolymerVision on foldable displays.

Product Concepts for FoldableDisplaysAlthough no products using foldable displaysare on the market yet, a number of interestingconcepts have been revealed (Fig. 4). PolymerVision has shown a family of concept devicesover the years. The first was a foldable eReader concept and prototype in which thedisplay was wrapped around the body of thedevice. The size of the eReader was as smallas a mobile phone, while the display was 5–6 in. The company has also shown a fold-able eReader phone concept, in which thefoldable eReader display is stored inside thedevice. The bend radius is controlled by a

hinge construction that creates a controlledloop inside the device. An extension of this isa phone-tablet concept in which a foldablefull-color video display is stored inside thedevice. After the device is opened, the fold-able display can be further extended bypulling the two device halves apart, therebyunwinding the display from a roll at the farend of the device.

Samsung recently published the SamsungGalaxy Skin phone concept using a foldableOLED display. It is not clear what themechanics are that support the display exceptthat graphene is mentioned as the material tobe used for the flexible casing. Sony recentlypublished a foldable laptop concept in whichone continuous foldable OLED display isused.

When Will Foldable Display DevicesCome to Market?Over the past several years, the technologyand concepts for foldable display devices havebeen maturing. Polymer Vision and Sony are leading in this capacity. The final steps toward commercialization will be early market accep-tance of these novel form-factor devices,

Information Display 2&3/12 9

Fig. 3: The main process methods used to make flexible and foldable displays are (a) bond–debond process, (b) laser release process, and (c) etch-back process.

laminate foil on carrier spin-on polyimide

AM process AM process AM process

thick STS

thin STS4

3

2

1

4

3

2

1

4

3

2

1

laminate front plane laminate front plane laminate front plane

delaminate displayfrom carrier

Electronics on Plastic byLaser Release

allowing the final investment into productioncapacity. The market is more ready than everwith the increasing pressure on the displaysize in mobile devices. Investment into pro-duction capacity can be kept relatively low byhaving a technology that is compatible withthe already existing LCD manufacturinginfrastructure. Polymer Vision’s technologyis fully compatible and only requires lamina-tion and delamination equipment to be addedfor the bond–debond process.

The first type of devices using foldable displays will be pocket-sized electrophoretic eReaders with 5–8-in. displays. The displayshave been demonstrated, and the foldableelectrophoretic display technology is moremature than foldable OLED and electro-wetting technologies.

Foldable OLED or electrowetting deviceswill be the next wave, as they offer full-colorvideo performance. As there are still techni-cal hurdles to overcome for both technologies,such as improved switching speed and opticalperformance for electrowetting and provenoperational and shelf lifetime for both OLEDand electrowetting technologies, it will proba-bly take 3–5 years before these devices will beon the market. When they finally arrive, theywill truly offer a tablet in your pocket.

References1E. Huitema, “Flexible electronic-paperactive-matrix displays,” J. Soc. Info. Display13/3, (2005).2E. Huitema, “Rollable Displays: From Concept to Manufacturing,” SID SymposiumDigest 40, 104 (2009).3M. Noda, “An OTFT-driven rollable OLEDdisplay,” J. Soc. Info. Display 19/4 (2011).4N. Yoneya, “Flexible Electrophoretic DisplayDriven by Solution-Processed OTFTs,” SIDSymposium Digest 42, 288 (2011).5T. Kodaira, “A flexible 2.1-in. active-matrixelectrophoretic display with high resolutionand a thickness of 100 µm,” J. Soc. Info. Display 16/1 (2008).6D. Jin, “Flexible AMOLED displays onstainless-steel foil,” J. Soc. Info. Display 14,1083 (2006).7S. Paek, “Flexible Display Technology for aMass Production using the Improved EtchingTechnology,” SID Symposium Digest 41,1047 (2010).8S. Burns, “A Flexible Plastic SVGA e-Paper Display,” SID Symposium Digest 37, 74 (2006).9M. Nishii, “Direct Printed Electrodes ofTransparent Conductive Polymers for FlexibleElectronics Papers,” SID Symposium Digest41, 814 (2010).

I. French, “Flexible E-Books,” SID Sympo-sium Digest 40, 100 (2009).11Y. Kurosaki, “Improvement in TemperatureDurability of Bendable Electronic PaperUsing Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (ChLC),”SID Symposium Digest 42, 153 (2011).12Y. Okada, “A 4-inch Reflective Color TFT-LCD Using a Plastic Substrate,” SID Sympo-sium Digest 33, 1204 (2002).13H. Shim, “A New Seamless Foldable OLEDDisplay Composed of Multi Display Panels,”SID Symposium Digest 41, 257 (2010).14J. Feenstra, “Large Size full-color eReaderDisplays Based on Electrowetting,” SID Symposium Digest 41, 480 (2010).15J. Heikenfeld, “Electrofluidic displays usingYoung–Laplace transposition of brilliant pig-ment dispersions,” Nature Photonics 3, 292(2009). �

10 Information Display 2&3/12

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Fig. 4: Product concepts using a foldable display include (top row left to right) a PolymerVision foldable eReader, a foldable eReader phone, and a foldable tablet phone and (bottom row, left) a Samsung foldable phone and (bottom row, right) a Sony foldable laptop.

10

Display Week 2012

SID InternationalSymposium, Seminar & ExhibitionJune 3–8, 2012

Boston, MA, USA

www.sid.org

Photo courtesy of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau

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TABLET PCs have given consumers whatthey have been asking for from notebook anddesktop PCs for years – convenience. At DisplaySearch, we describe the currentlyemerging era of computing as conveniencecomputing, in which devices enable instant-oncapability and all-day battery life in extremelyportable form factors. Notebook and desktopPCs have made incremental advances in convenience computing over the years, but those products remain predominately performance-computing devices. Tablets are more oriented toward convenience andtablet makers (more specifically, tablet-maker Apple) have experienced tremendoussuccess and shipment growth as a result (Fig. 1).

The notebook market is not in decline, butthe shipment forecast is not anywhere near as promising as that of the tablet market. In 2011, DisplaySearch estimates over 72.8 million tablets will ship, as compared to187.5 million notebooks. By 2015, tabletshipments will reach 271.1 million units, ascompared to 332.5 million notebooks. Inresponse to the rapid growth of the tablet market, a new category of notebook is emerging that is supposed to offer the key features of a tablet – notably instant-on andall-day battery life – in a thin (thinner thanthat for conventional notebooks) form factor.

Further down the road, we expect notebooksto take on characteristics found first in tablets,such as an app store and applications whoseusefulness is tied to the Internet. The note-book is called the Ultrabook, and expectations

are high that this product category can fulfillthe current needs of consumers and competewith tablets. (Display industry membersshould note that other than thinner glass anddesign, Ultrabooks are similar to notebooks

Tablets Impact the Notebook Market: Enter the Ultrabook

The tablet PC, in its short lifetime, has already influenced the mobile PC market in numerous ways, but none more concretely than in inspiring the emergence of the Ultrabook.

by Richard Shim

Richard Shim is Senior Analyst, Mobile Computing, for DisplaySearch. He can bereached at richard.shim@displaysearch.com.

12 Information Display 2&3/120362-0972/03/2012-012$1.00 + .00 © SID 2012

display marketplace

Fig. 1: Tablet sales increased spectacularly in 2011. While the rate of growth will not continue at 2011 levels, tablet shipments will continue to increase through at least 2015. Source: DisplaySearch.

350,000

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

300%

250%

200%

150%

100%

50%

0%02009 2010

Notebook PC Shipments (000) Tablet PC Shipments (000)

Notebook PC Y/Y Growth Rate (%)Tablet PC Y/Y Growth Rate (%)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

and are not expected to enable many new display characteristics at this point.)

One of the key beneficiaries of the rise oftablets is the ARM processor architecturedeveloped by ARM Holdings. All tablets running Android, iOS, webOS, and QNX useARM processors. These relatively simple butlow-power-consuming processors are a goodfit in tablets as well as smartphones, and theirrise in popularity is a sign that high perfor-mance is not the only characteristic used tomeasure experience on computing devices.

For 2011, DisplaySearch estimates over 71 million tablets using ARM processors willship, and by 2015 that number is expected toincrease to nearly 258.3 million units (Fig. 2).In 2011, no tablets running Android, iOS,webOS, or QNX are using ×86 processors and by 2015 DisplaySearch estimates lessthan 12.8 million tablets will be using 86 processors. Additionally, Microsoft is look-ing to make Windows 8 available on ARMand ×86 processors, and while Google isworking on an Android OS version for the×86 microarchitecture, it is in the early stagesof development. This all makes ×86 chip-making-giant Intel nervous. There is clearly a hole in the market where ×86 is not yet

tapping into the key needs of consumers(instant-on computing, all-day battery life,and extremely portable form factors). Toaddress this market, Intel is promoting theUltrabook.

While the rise in the popularity of tabletspoints to the rise in convenience computing, at the same time, convenience-oriented computing platforms are adding higher levelsof performance capability. For example, current tablets already have dual core proces-sors, and upcoming tablets are expected tooffer multiple cores. The tablet platform isevolving to incorporate more performancecapabilities and, similarly, the notebook plat-form is adopting more-convenience-orientedcharacteristics. The resulting computing platform that lies at the intersection of conve-nience and performance computing is theUltrabook.

The Ultrabook PushThe role of ringleader among Ultrabook backers in large part belongs to Intel. ThoughApple’s MacBook Air can arguably bepointed out as the first notebook to fit theUltrabook description, Intel has been workingto define the category and to lower it from

premium status to make it available to themainstream market. Intel went as far asobtaining a trademark for the term Ultrabookso it can control who can use the term as wellas benefit from the chip maker’s Ultrabookmarketing campaign. Being under the halo ofIntel’s marketing is very helpful, as Intel typically invests hundreds of millions of dollars in brands such as Centrino. However,fitting under the definition can be tough.

The Ultrabook experience is meant toenhance performance, response, security,form factor, and battery life compared to conventional notebooks, all at a price withinreach of mainstream PC buyers. This is a tallorder that will take time to be completely fulfilled. The Ultrabook definition isexpected to evolve with several stages. Thestages are dependent on price and the availability of key technologies. In manyinstances, the components needed are expen-sive, which will make it difficult to produce aproduct that is affordable to mainstream consumers.

For example, solid-state drives (SSDs)enhance the notebook experience on severallevels, making them ideal for use in Ultrabooks,but there is a hefty price premium that putsthem out of the realm of affordability for the mainstream market. As a result, the Ultrabook definition currently recommendsSSDs but also allows for thin hard drives.Intel has announced that it will invest $300million in various areas of the supply chain inwhich it can drive economies of scale to lowerthe price of premium components for use inUltrabooks.

According to Intel’s specifications, the current retail price point for Ultrabooks (notebooks using Intel’s “Sandy Bridge” CPU, with more than 5 hours of battery life, a +Z height of less than 21 mm for units withscreens larger than 14 in. and less than 18 mmfor units with screens smaller than 14 in.) isless than $1000. In 2012, the price pointshould become lower – less than $700 fornotebooks using Intel’s “Ivy Bridge” CPU,having more than 8 hours of battery life, USB3.0/Thunderbolt ports, and a Z height of lessthan 21 mm for units with screens larger than14 in. and less than 18 mm for units withscreens smaller than 14 in. By 2013, the pricepoint becomes lower, less than $600, for note-books using Intel’s “Haswell” CPU, havingmore than 8 hours of battery life, USB 3.0/Thunderbolt ports, and a Z height of less than

Information Display 2&3/12 13

Fig. 2: Shipments of tablets with ARM processors will far exceed shipments of tablets with ×86-based processors at least through 2015. Source: DisplaySearch.

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

02010 2011 2014 2015

×86 ShipmentsARM Shipments

2012 2013

21 mm for notebooks with screens larger than14 in. and less than 18 mm for notebooks withscreens smaller than 14 in. (Table 1).

Next to price, the challenge for Ultrabookmakers is getting to the right Z-height require-ment. As has always been the case in thenotebook world, thinness and portability havemass appeal. Ultraportables, sub-notebooks,and even mini-notes/netbooks were appealingto consumers mainly because they were slimand lightweight.

For Ultrabooks, two methods of enablingthe required thinness focus on the notebooklid. There are limits to how thin the base of anotebook can get, given the heights of portssuch as VGA and Ethernet that are typicallyincluded in notebooks. By reducing the Z height of the lid, manufacturers and brands can get significantly closer to Intel’srequirements.

One method of getting to thinner notebooklids involves using 0.4 mm or thinner glasspanels. Currently, the demand for thin panelsis relatively modest, and handling such thinpanels requires sensitive equipment that canproperly manage thin glass without breakingit. This has limited thin-panel production, butsuch production is on the rise. Currently, themajor panel makers are committing on theorder of single-digit percentages of overallproduction for thin notebook panels. How-ever, consumer trends are increasingly point-ing to a preference for thinner design, so weexpect to see thin-panel production to rise,although wide availability for notebooks is notexpected until 2015.

The other method to enable thinner note-book lids is LG Display’s Shuriken solution.

This method essentially streamlines theassembly process, eliminating the need forsecondary front and bottom covers, not onlyreducing the thickness but removing somecost from the build of materials. Instead ofthe panel maker simply sending the devicemaker a finished panel to be added to thenotebook production process, the panel makerand the device maker are more aware of eachother’s production plans. The panel makersends the device maker a panel specificallyfor a notebook model. This helps to cut backthe need for secondary front and bottom panelcovers for use in the notebook lid. Thismethod has its risks; in particular, singlesourcing since LG Display is the only panelmaker offering it. As far as incorporatingnon-mainstream display technologies to createthinner, more-cost-effective Ultrabooks, current plans do not exist for it because newscreen technologies would add to the build ofmaterials.

Reducing cost will be a central theme inUltrabooks for the next couple of years andthe reason is simple: notebooks over $1000appeal to less than 15% of the addressablemarket. Currently, Apple owns the rarified airof price points above $1000, accounting formore than 50% of notebook shipments. How-ever, that upper price echelon does not trans-late to high shipment volumes, which is whatIntel is aiming for with Ultrabooks. Intel hasstated a goal of 40% of premium consumernotebooks shipped at the end of 2012 to beUltrabooks (Table 2).

The DisplaySearch forecast for Ultrabookshipments highlights the benefits of a devicethat offers the convenience of a tablet and the

performance capabilities of a notebook. In theshort term, the potential for Ultrabooks isgoing to be helped in late 2012 by theexpected launch of Windows 8 and Intel’s IvyBridge processor, but will be slowed by nothaving a full year of availability of either andby premium pricing of components, leading tohigh price points for the category. In 2013,Ultrabooks will be helped along by a full yearof availability of Windows 8 and the expectedmid-year release of Haswell. In 2014, weexpect the Ultrabook platform to essentiallybe at full strength with Windows 8, theHaswell processor, and more opportunity todrive down costs and price points.

The Ultrabook represents the intersection oftwo competing computing platforms currentlyin the market; convenience versus perfor-mance computing. Devices representing thetwo platforms, tablets for convenience andnotebooks for performance, are taking on thedifferentiating characteristics of the other. Itis logical for the evolution of these platformsto cross because it is clear, based on the sizeof the market for each, that consumers wantthe best of both worlds. In the short term, thecost and price of the Ultrabook will test theappeal of the device, but if consumers can beconvinced that the Ultrabook represents thebest of both worlds, it will enter the main-stream market. �

14 Information Display 2&3/12

display marketplace

Table 1: Ultrabooks, as defined by Intel, will become thinner and less expen-sive each year through 2013. Source: DisplaySearch QMPC Q4 ’11 Shipment

and Forecast Report.

2011 2012 2013

CPU Sandy Bridge Ivy Bridge Haswell

Z-Height <21 mm for >14 in. <21 mm for >14 in. <21 mm for >14 in. notebooks notebooks notebooks<18 mm for <14 in. <18 mm for <14 in. <18 mm for <14 in.notebooks notebooks notebooks

Battery life >5 hours >8 hours >12 hours

I/O USB 3.0/Thunderbolt USB 3.0/Thunderbolt

Retail price <$1000 <$700 <$600

Table 2: Ultrabook shipments areforecasted to increase aggressively

through 2014. Source: DisplaySearchQMPC Q4 ’11 Shipment

and Forecast Report.

2011 2012 2013 2014

Ultrabook I 3,413 16,842 34,911 57,101

SUBMIT YOUR NEWS RELEASESPlease send all press releases and newproduct announcements to:

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New York, NY 10003Fax: 212.460.5460

e-mail: jdonelan@pcm411.com

ONE walk around the show floor at thisyear’s CES would have been enough to con-vince even the uninitiated that the center ofconsumer electronics (and any device) is with-out question the display. Billions of pixelsfrom millions of displays flooded the showfrom every direction, and everywhere youlooked a display was the primary device – the“what you are looking at” technology that isoften the difference between product successand failure. Even model numbers are nowbased around display sizes.

At the show, the display du jour seemed tobe the new AMOLED displays from the likesof Samsung, which dominates the smallOLED display space, as well as from othersuppliers such as LG. Also present were thetried-and-true LCD and plasma panels, alongwith new advances in alternative displayssuch as E Ink Holding’s Triton color panels,Pixel Qi’s unique transflective panel, andQualcomm’s iMOD-based mirasol display.

Real OLED TVs Finally AppearOne cannot talk about this year’s CES withoutstarting with active-matrix organic LED(AMOLED) displays. Top Korean TV makersLG and Samsung delivered in abundance atthe show, and not only with stunning 55-in.TVs with knock-your-socks-off color, con-trast, and resolution. These first-ever setscame in “ready-for-prime-time” packaging,complete with model numbers, pricing (sort

of), and delivery dates measured in months,not years.

If the press reaction to the new TV technol-ogy, which had been promised many timesover the last decade, was any indication ofpent-up consumer demand, then OLED TVsare sure to be an instant hit in the marketplace.But it’s delivering on technology, in a sustain-able manufacturing process, and producingacceptable (efficient) yields, color uniformity,and the kinds of lifetimes that consumers havecome to expect, that will determine the truesuccess of these products.

If one company was the belle of the ball, it was Samsung. Its booth (Fig. 1) was mesmerizing,with an untold number of displays and tens of billions of pixels from those many types of dis-plays flooding the booth and surrounding area.

The centerpiece of the booth was a dozen ormore of its 55-in. AMOLED panels on displayat the entrance for all to see. The sets’ extremelyvivid colors came packaged in an almostinvisible black bezel that melted into the picture when a black image came on the display (Fig. 2). Its thin packaging and 55-in.-diagonal screen size created a com-pelling image of the future of television, butunfortunately prices and technical specifica-tions were not released as of this publicationdate. After the show, the company did releasea new model number for the AMOLED TV:KN55ES9000.

Samsung also carried away a host ofawards from Popular Science (Best of CES),Stuff Magazine (Hot Stuff), and G4 TV (Bestof the Best), plus the coveted Best of CES

CES 2012 Display Highlights

Displays large and small played a dominant role in the products exhibited at the most recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

by Steve Sechrist

Steve Sechrist is a business and display technology writer and Contributing Editor toInformation Display magazine. He can be reached at sechrist@ucla.edu.

16 Information Display 2&3/120362-0972/03/2012-016$1.00 + .00 © SID 2012

show review

Fig. 1: Samsung’s CES booth was a sea of humanity, with everyone trying to get a closer lookat the award-winning products.

Innovations Award from the Consumer Electronics Association (sponsor of the show).

According to OLED-Display.net, Samsunghas developed a way of extending the LTPSmanufacturing process to the 55-in.-classOLED TV from a new manufacturing methodcreated at its Gen 5.5 plant. That fab uses a1300 × 1500 mm motherglass substrate.OLED-Display.net also reported that Samsunghas discovered how to keep from cutting theglass substrate during production in order tocreate larger panels with sizes up to 65 in. onthe diagonal using the LTPS process. Thismethod was ramped up at the Tangjeong A3Production line. Samsung will thus extendproduction from its current Gen 5.5 size toGen 8 (2200 × 2500 mm) to produce the next-generation TV sets it says will be deliveredlater in 2012. Samsung dominates the currentOLED panel market, with some estimates ashigh as plus 90% of market share, delivering2–7-in. panels mostly in the mobile-displayspace. It has adopted both a conventionalRGB and the unique PenTile pixel-structuretechnology. The company uses both in producing smaller AMOLED panels for themobile market.

LG Display started off early on CES pressday, revealing its 55-in. white OLED displaycomplete with a price ($4K–$8K dependingon whom you ask) and a forecasted ship dateof mid-2012. Most remarkably, at 16.5pounds, it is 4 mm thin (just a few credit cardsthick) and clocks in at a whopping 0.1-µsecrefresh rate (Fig. 3).

The product is built based on the Kodakapproach to white OLEDs, and it took the“CNET Best of CES” award from the CNETeditors in attendance there. (CNET Best ofCES represents the cream of the crop as

judged by the group sent by CNET to coverthe show.)

LG Display (LGD) first licensed (then laterbought) its OLED technology from Kodak.This technology uses white OLED emittersunderneath a color filter at each subpixel tomake the RGBW matrix of each full pixel,rather than RGB-colored OLED material likethat used in Samsung’s panel. By taking thisapproach, iSuppli says that LG gains the bene-fit of eliminating the fine metal mask in pro-duction of the panel that leads to “…improvedefficiencies and increasing the ease of makingfiner pitch pixels on the panel,” according toiSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal, in an IHSiSuppli reference document on the displays.At the show, both Samsung and LG OLEDdisplays looked spectacular, with colors andblacks unrivaled. A side-by-side comparisonwill be very interesting.

LG plans to move directly to a Gen 8.5 production line that leverages the existingTFT-LCD manufacturing process but substi-tutes oxide silicon for a-Si. True to OLEDAssociation President Barry Young’s predic-

tion, the approach should offer a significantsavings in capital investment in the process.In fact, according to Jakhanwal, using anexisting LCD production fab “…will requirealmost 50% less investment than a new LTPS-LCD fab.”

Moving directly to a Gen 8.5 fab processallows the creation of three 55-in. AMOLEDpanels from a single substrate, which will helpboost manufacturing efficiencies with thepotential to offer quick price reductions asadoption moves forward.

LG’s UD 3-D TVs Hit 3480 × 2160 Pixels LG also showed off its UD-resolution TVs in60-, 72-, and 84-in. sizes and a picture qualityvery close to 4K resolution (Fig. 4). The lineincludes 2-D to 3-D real-time conversion thatuses a depth dial (control) to adjust the 3-Dexperience. All feature a 1-mm bezel and 28-mm thin design, and while the 3-D imagewas shown using conventional LG passiveglasses, there was no word on the specificapproach the company was using to generatethe 3-D image.

Information Display 2&3/12 17

Fig. 2: Samsung’s new OLED panels in 55-in. sizes are due to ship in 2012.

Fig. 3: Look closely to see just how thin the new LG OLED TV is (4.0 mm).

The company is bullish on 3-D even if themarket does not seem to be. At its press con-ference, LG claimed up to 30% market sharefor its passive 3-D approach, which offerslighter and (more importantly) much cheaper3-D glasses. The technology even works withthe RealD glasses moviegoers sometimesbring home from the theater.

Improv Electronics Introduces the Ripe-WriterImprov Electronics, based in Kent, Ohio, the computer products subsidiary of Kent Displays, was at CES with its line of BoogieBoard e-Writers. The company was createdfrom Kent University and Kent Displays in 1993 and makes use of the university-developed electrophoretic bistable technology.Improv has leveraged the low-power write/erase/write again display into a nifty “e-Writer”the company hopes creates as big a market asthe e-Book reader with display sizes thatrange from 8.5 to 10.5 in. on the diagonal.

The Rip e-Writer includes internal memoryfor 200 typical images; a high-resolution vec-tor PDF format with nearly infinite scalabilitythat is editable in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop,and most other popular illustration and image-editing programs; a 9.5-in. writing surface(measured diagonally); and rechargeable batteries with one week between chargesunder “typical use,” a term that is a bit nebulousas there really is no “typical” established usefor this new product category – yet. The company claims that in sleep mode, the Rip e-Writer will last up to 100 days betweencharges.

At CES, the company used a professionalcaricature artist to entertain booth visitors andshow off the precision drawing capabilities ofthe tablet (Fig. 5).

Key benefits of the e-Writer include lightweight, ease of use, ultra-low power, and longbattery life, plus daylight readability. Theemphasis, according to the Rip e-Writer mar-keting folks, is on visual communication andinstant data capture in a digital domain. Thisincludes digital notetaking that replaces bulkyand expensive (by comparison) notebooks oreven tablets. The new category device canhelp one migrate even farther away from thewasteful use of paper. Think of it as a note-taking replacement you take along anywhere,now with the ability to port the saved contentfor later printing, study, and archiving.

Samsung Mobile’s Tablet Samsung Mobile is consistently morphing itstablet strategy, looking for that niche marketto get a toe-hold against the iPad’s domi-nance. In its latest effort, the companyshowed its newest Galaxy Note LTE, with aneye-catching 5.3-in. Super (with bonded panelplus digitizer stack) AMOLED display in HDresolution (1280 × 800) and a sizeable 285 ppi,making the device close to Retina class inpixel density. The unit features the latest PenTile pixel matrix using RGBG layout in aunique subpixel structure that Samsung says isoptimized for the human visual system.

Clearly, the company is looking to offer aunique size of tablet that stands out from thedominant iPad market with features like beingable to be held in one hand and a precisionpressure-sensitive pen stylus/touch input thatallows it to be used as an artist’s sketch pad.Like Improv Electronics, the company hadartists showing off their stuff in the booth atCES to demonstrate just how well thesedevices can perform as sketch pads (Fig. 6).

Other specs for the new pen tablet include a1.5-GHz dual core processor, 16 GB ofonboard memory, and front- and rear-facingcameras. Samsung said its Galaxy Note will be available in the U.S. in Q1 ’12 forUS$299.99 with a 2-year wireless agreementfrom AT&T.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7-in. AMOLEDDisplayThe other breakthrough device from SamsungMobile is its 7.7-in. Galaxy Tab with a SuperAMOLED Plus display. It features the samehigh-resolution 1280 × 800 pixel display asthe Galaxy Note, but is laid out using a moreconventional RGB pixel structure (not PenTile)as well as an optically bonded panel/touch

stack . Other features include Android 3.2Honeycomb, a front-facing 2-Mpixel camerafor video chat, and 16 GB of on-board storage

Color mirasol Panel in New ChineseTablet At the Qualcomm booth at CES was a newdevice from China’s largest e-Book readerand tablet maker, Hanvon. Qualcomm’s mirasol display team proudly showed off itslatest OEM, the Hanvon C18. mirasol usesinterferometric modulation (iMOD), a micro-electromechanical technology, to generatecolor from ambient reflected light. The tech-nology is also low power and offers daylightreadability. For more about iMOD technol-ogy, see previous articles in Information Display, including “Enhancing Mobilitythrough Display Innovation” in the October2009 issue.

The C18 Hanvon tablet was first shown atthe Qualcomm keynote address given by CEOPaul Jacobs on the opening day of the show.Unique features include a color touch displaythat works even in sunlight that is based on amirasol 5.7-in. XGA that delivers 223 ppi andQualcomm’s 1.0-GHz Snapdragon (S2 class)processor running the Android 2.3 vintageO/S.

Hanvon also includes its version of hand-writing recognition. This feature is beginningto surface more on displays that offer pen/touch input. The company is the number oneelectronic-book-reader (EBR) maker in China,and number three globally.

18 Information Display 2&3/12

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Fig. 4: LG’s 84-in. ultra-definition TV usesthe passive-glasses approach to 3-D.

Fig. 5: A caricature artist shows off the capabilities of the Rip e-Writer at CES.

The first mirasol display tablet, the KyoboeReader (not Canada’s Kobo product) shippedin South Korea just before Christmas 2011.That Android OS device uses a 5.7-in. XGA(1024 × 768) display at 223 ppi and includes atouch screen. With 30 minutes of reading aday, the Kyobo offers up to a week of readingon a single charge of the battery. The devicesells for around US$300 in Korea.

Two-for-One 3-DIn the Samsung booth, the company showedoff a new use for 3-D in what the companycalls Dual-View and Dual-Sound technology(Fig. 7). Simply put, it allows two viewers to watch the same screen using 3-D active-shutter glasses by displaying completely different video images, filtered by the 3-Dglasses, with the audio to match. This worksby using 3-D glasses to place a 2-D image onthe left eye channel, then showing that single2-D image to both eyes simultaneously. Asecond program can be shown using the righteye channel, again displaying the unique 2-Dimage to both eyes with audio synced up tothe second program. So, while the 3-D set isstill shuttering between two channels, ratherthan show a left- and right-eye perspective ofa single image that is synced to left- and right-eye glasses, the clever engineers at Samsungshutter two completely different programs in2-D to two pairs of eyes wearing 3-D glasses.Sound is sent to the audio headset added tothe 3-D glasses. The right channel of the setmight be playing a Western while the left isshowing American Idol. I tried it out and thesystem worked flawlessly. So much for thesocial aspects of watching TV together.

New OEM partners for Pixel QiNo CES would be complete without a visit toPixel Qi. On hand in the Pixel Qi meetingroom far in the back of the hall was a new 7-in. display sporting a 1024 × 600 pixel image that was daylight readable with a transflective design that uses high ambient light to its advan-tage. Outdoors, it rivals the EBR-class panels,but inside, with its backlight switch engaged,the display shows full-color images. ChineseOEM Sunbook Notebook PC integrated the technology, which was produced on a modified Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) LCD line.Pixel Qi CEO Mary Lou Jepsen has beenspending lots of time in Taiwan these days, aplace with lots of unused fab capacity and apenchant for fabless display designs (Fig. 8).

Information Display 2&3/12 19

Fig. 6: The Samsung Galaxy Note tablet uses a Super AMOLED HD display with a 285-ppidensity and a precision (pressure) pen input, useful for drawing images.

Fig. 7: Samsung’s new dual-view and dual-sound technology uses 3-D to allow two views toexperience different content on the same set at the same time.

E Ink Triton Color Display e-Book At a special event at CES, E Ink Holdings VPof Marketing Sriram Peruvemba was showingoff the company’s latest Triton color electro-phoretic display (EPH) in the newest OEMEctaco’s jetBook Color eReader. The productwas announced in December with a 9.7-in.800 × 600-pixel display and renders 4096 colors. Peruvemba said the display maintainsthe E Ink display tradition of high ambientreadability (including outdoor viewing) com-bined with very low power consumption. Thenew EBR is designed with the student in mindand comes complete with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, as well as touch and stylus support for marking up text and notetaking.Peruvemba also told us the jetBook is alreadydeployed in schools in Russia, and the com-pany expects to gain great traction in the edu-cation sector. (For more about e-textbooks,see “Dual-Pigment Electrophoretic Displaysfor Reading Textbooks” in this issue.) E Inkwas at CES to announce the worldwide launchof the jetBook. The product received a CESInnovation award in Las Vegas.

Nokia Windows Phones and IntelUltrabooksOn the cell phone front, Tiger (Windows)based cell phones finally made their debut, ina Nokia iteration with the new Lumia 900Windows phone (and Qualcomm Snapdragonprocessor) that launched with a 4.3-in.WVGA (800 × 480) pixel AMOLED display.According to a June 2011 report from Koreanews service iNews24, LGD supplies theAMOLED displays to Nokia.

Windows and Nokia, a past market leaderin the cell-phone category, have a bit of anuphill climb to win market share back fromthe smartphone dominance of both Android

and iOS devices that collectively command90% market share in the smartphone spaceoverall.

Intel also made a splash at CES with itsUltrabook launch (see this issue’s DisplayMarketplace article, “Tablets Impact the Notebook Market: Enter the Ultrabook”). The company also cast an eye toward smart-phones. Intel disclosed that the newestLenovo K800 smartphone is running a versionof its Medfield SoC processor (currently onAndroid) with a long-term plan to get theWin-Tel duo (windows software running onIntel chips) back into the game. The K800made it to the stage with Intel President PaulOtellini during his keynote address at CES, inwhich he said the product will launch first inChina with carrier Unicom and promised U.S.delivery before the end of the year.

CES Wrap-upEven though it was just the second week inJanuary, some analysts at CES were begin-

ning to call 2012 the year of the AMOLEDdisplay. At the early morning LG launch onCES Press Day, excitement over the just-announced 55-in.-class AMOLED sets was sohigh that there was a rush to the stage by thepress that overwhelmed company security.They could only stand by as the hoard ofreporters, camera crews, and videographers“occupied” the LG stage.

But while it was clear that AMOLED displays were the “belle of the ball” at CES,the show included a diversity of new paneltechnology, now being used to develop newmarket areas. Suffice it to say that consumer-electronic companies will continue to differ-entiate products using the display, and displaypanel makers will continue to innovate tobring the next big (or small) thing that makeslife just a little more productive, interesting,and even fun. Ultimately, isn’t that what it’sall about? �

20 Information Display 2&3/12

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Fig. 8: The Pixel Qi displays are sunlightreadable.

Display Week 2012SID International Symposium, Seminar & Exhibition

June 3–8, 2012

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

www.sid.org

First Look

Visit www.DisplayWeek.org

Society for Information DisplaySID INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM,

SEMINAR, AND EXHIBITION

DISPLAY WEEK 2012June 3–8, 2012

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

3D Solid-State Lighting Green TechnologyFlexible Electronics & Printed Displays

Touch & Interactive Displays

Join us at Display Week 2012to celebrate the 50th Anniversary

of the Society for Information Display1962–2012

Announcing Special Topics of Interest on

22

The Evolution of DisplaysElectronic information displays touch nearly all aspects ofmodern life. Display Week’s 2012 Keynote addresses will providea vision of how the evolution of display technology will changethe shape of displays of the future.

Keynote SpeakersDr. Byung Chul Ahn, Senior Vice-President and Head of theOLED Development Center, LG Display Co., Ltd.“Recent Breakthroughs for Larger-Sized OLED Displays andTheir Application to OLED TV”

This year will mark the first year of the launch oflarger-sized OLED TVs. This talk will highlightrecent advances made in OLED technology and revealthe manufacturing breakthrough that led to the pro-duction of larger-sized OLED panels. Dr. Ahn willalso describe the core technologies behind this break-through. Dr. Ahn led the development of the massproduction of the first 5-in. OLED TV in 2009. Inaddition, he recently has been involved in the com-

mercialization of LG’s 55-in. Full-High-Definition (FHD) OLED TV.

Dr. Sung Tae Shin, Senior Vice-President, LCD R&D Center,LCD Business, Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd.“Display Transformation for Continuous Growth of the DisplayIndustry”

Three waves of display evolution have been responsi-ble for the continuous growth of the LCD market –notebook PCs in 2001, monitors in 2005, and LCDTVs in 2008. However, during the past few years, thedisplay industry has become saturated due to stagna-tion in market growth, low panel price as a result ofoversupply, and stagnant investment after Gen 8 pro-duction even though new applications, such as 3D,smart TVs, and tablets, have entered the market-

place. This talk will describe the next wave of display evolution – DisplayTransformation – that will stimulate healthy growth in the display industry.Here, Display Transformation means the multi-purpose use of displays,such as in smart windows, smart e-Boards, and digital art displays, thatwill deliver various online content and services for the “Smart Society.”The talk will also describe what types of future technologies will beneeded for this display transformation and the prospects of the displayindustry of the future. Finally, Samsung’s vision and strategy of the nextdisplay world will be introduced.

Dr. Ramash Raskar, Associate Professor of Media Arts andSciences, and Co-Director, Center for Future Storytelling,MIT Media LabComputational Displays: New Optimization for InteractiveLighting-Sensitive 3D Displays

Dr. Raskar will focus on the development of noveldisplays by the Camera Culture Group at the MITMedia Lab that (1) respond to ambient illumination(lighting-sensitive displays), (2) support intuitivemulti-touch and gestural interaction (interactivedisplays), and eliminate the need for 3D glasses(automultiscopic 3D displays). At their core, thesearchitectures exploit both the design of opticalelements (e.g., lenslet arrays and layered light-attenu-

ating masks) and the development of the associated light-field encoding/decoding algorithms. Some of the novel displays to be described includethe High-Rank 3D (HR3D) display, which contains a stacked pair of LCDpanels rather than heuristically defined parallax barriers, the Bidirectional(BiDi) screen, an example of a new type of I/O device that possesses theability to both capture images and display them, and a 6D optical system,which responds to changes in viewpoint as well as changes in back-littransmitted illumination.

2012 SID Technical Program toInclude Special Technology Tracks

The Society for Information Display’s annual Symposium at DisplayWeek offers a wide selection of presentations on display technologythat simply cannot be found anywhere else. This year’s programconsists of 73 technical sessions with a total of 256 oral presentationsand an additional 138 papers to be presented at the Thursday after-noon Poster Session. Please join us in Boston (Tuesday, June 5 –Friday, June 8) to share the latest research and development discover-ies of the display industry and to join in the celebration of the 50thAnniversary of the Society for Information Display (1962–2012).This year’s special areas of focus are 3D, Green Technologies, Solid-State Lighting, Flexible Electronics and Printed Displays, and Touchand Interactivity. Here is just a sampling of those topics and otherinnovations you can expect to find at this year’s symposium.

3DPossibly the biggest commercial story in displays in recent years is thearrival of 3D-ready TVs. Now that they have arrived, the story is far fromover. Researchers continue to pursue the different approaches of active-shutter vs. passive glasses technology, and glasses-free viewing is a majorchallenge that many experts believe must be met in order to make 3Ddisplays truly successful. This year’s presentations also cover topics suchas autostereoscopic 3D displays, 3D comfort and perception, volumetricand holographic displays, and stereoscopic and display applications.The Symposium includes the following sessions:

• Oxide TFTs• Oxide-TFT Manufacturing• e-Paper I & II• Oxide AMOLED Displays• Flexible TFTs• Printed Displays and Electronics I, II, & III• Flexible Processes

Green TechnologiesDisplay technology continually advances to provide more resolution,larger size, and better performance – all at a lower cost. At the same time,environmental, social, and legislative forces are combining to ensure thatmanufacturers use the greenest-possible processes to create the mostenergy-efficient displays. What are the anticipated production andend-of-life issues for the display industry and how can they be addressed?The Symposium includes the following sessions:

• Driving Methods for Low-Power Displays• Low-Power Displays and Materials• Green Optics for Display Systems• Display Manufacturing: Novel Devices & Green Technology

Solid-State LightingSolid-State lighting has begun to fulfill its promise with regard to savingenergy and providing design flexibility. However, LEDs have made morecommercial inroads in this area than OLEDs, which are currently avail-able only in high-end architectural applications. OLED papers thereforeform the bulk of this year’s solid-state-lighting sessions, as the industrypushes to develop higher-efficiency, higher-performing OLED panels.Other solid-state-lighting papers will focus on trends in LED illumination.The Symposium includes the following sessions:

• Solid-State-Lighting Applications• Solid-State Lighting I–IV• Lighting Devices• Fabrication Processes and Solid-State Lighting

Flexible Electronics and Printed DisplaysRecent advances in the area of flexible electronics and printed displays havecreated the potential for lightweight, low-cost, and flexible devices basedon technologies such as oxide TFT, organic light-emitting diode (OLED),and organic photovoltaics (OPV). This is the first year that SID has dedi-cated sessions to flexible electronics and printed displays; among the ex-citing work that will be described at the Symposium are the printing oforganic TFTs and a new way to use high-temperature processes on low-temperature substrates. The Symposium includes the following sessions:

• Oxide TFTs• Oxide-TFT Manufacturing• e-Paper I & II• Oxide AMOLED Displays• Flexible TFTs• Printed Displays and Electronics I, II, & III• Flexible Processes

Touch and InteractivitySince the launch of touch-enabled mobile devices several years ago, touchhas become an increasingly crucial component for numerous displayproducts. Yet, the industry has not found the ideal touch-technologysolution. Touch is in an evolutionary phase now, and this year’s papersreflect the diversity of approaches: projective-capacitive, optical, andmany more. Which touch technologies hold the most promise and whatis the next application or technology on the horizon? The Symposiumincludes the following sessions:

• Optical Touch Panels• Enabling Technologies for Touch• Projected-Capacitive Touch Panels

The topics described above are only a portion of the wealth ofinformation you will discover at this year’s Symposium. Visit

www.displayweek.org to view the Preliminary Program. No one involvedin the display industry can afford to miss this event. Please join us thisJune to engage, learn, and discover what you need to know about the

innovations occurring right now in the display industry.

Market Focus ConferencesAfter a very successful debut in 2010, the Market Focus Conferences,now in their third year, will once again be held in conjunction withDisplay Week. They will cover the following two topics:

• The LED Lighting Evolution (Wednesday, June 6, 2012)• The Future of Touch & Interactivity (Thursday, June 7, 2012)

Each Market Focus Conference will concentrate on the critical marketdevelopment issues facing each of these technologies. Developed incollaboration with IMS Research, the conference will feature presentationsand panel sessions with executives throughout the display supply chain.Conference fees include a continental breakfast, lunch, refreshments,access to the Exhibit Hall and Symposium Keynote Session on Tuesdaymorning, and electronic copies of the presentation material. Market FocusConference registration does not require a current SID membership.The LED Lighting Evolution – From Sapphire to Lumens: The LEDLighting Evolution conference will take place on Wednesday, June 6.The goal of this event is to allow global-industry leaders throughout thesupply chain to explore the cutting-edge innovations that will shape thefuture of lighting and backlighting. This conference will feature keynotesand presentations from industry leaders, panel sessions, and ample timefor networking.The Future of Touch & Interactivity: The Future of Touch & Interactivityconference is the premiere event for display-industry professionals to learnabout the latest in human–machine-interface technologies. The event willtake place on Thursday, June 7, and cover how touch and interactivesolutions are shaping the display industry. The Future of Touch &Interactivity will feature keynotes and presentations from industry leaders,panel sessions, and ample time for networking.For further updates visit www.imsconferences.com/sidfti/html

SID Business Enterprise(Business Conference and Investors Conference)Business Conference: The Business Conference will take place onMonday, June 4. The event will feature some of the leading minds fromboth Wall Street and the display industry and address the opportunitiesand challenges we are facing in this highly volatile economic environment.The Business Conference will feature keynotes and presentations fromindustry leaders, lively panel sessions, and ample time for networking.

For further updates visit www.imsconferences.com/sidbc.html.

Investors Conference: Co-sponsored by Cowen & Co., LLC, a securitiesand investment banking firm, this Conference, to be held on Tuesday,June 5, will feature company presentations from leading public andprivate display companies, intended to appeal primarily to securitiesanalysts, portfolio managers, investors, M&A specialists, and displaycompany executives.

For further updates visit www.cowen.com

2012 SID Seminar SeriesSunday Short CoursesThe Society for Information Display presents four 4-hour short courses ondiverse topics related to information display on Sunday, June 3. The tuto-rials are characterized by technical depth and small class size. The classeswill cover the fundamentals of electronic information displays and will beheld on the morning and afternoon of the Sunday preceding the Sympo-sium. Full-color tutorial notes will be distributed to all participants and

are included in the fee. Ample time will be provided for questions fromthe audience. The speakers are leaders in their respective fields and bringan international perspective to information display.

S-1: Fundamentals of Solid-State Lighting and Manufacturing TechnologiesS-2: Fundamentals of Flexible-Display TechnologyS-3: Fundamentals of Touch Technologies and ApplicationsS-4: Fundamentals of Active-Matrix Devices and Applications

Monday Technology/Applications SeminarsThe SID Technology Seminars present lectures on diverse topics related toelectronic information displays. These seminars are tutorial in nature, andan attempt is made to provide information at three levels. First and fore-most, the technical foundations of the topic are treated in detail. Next,recent technical advances are discussed, and, finally, the current state ofthe art and the projection of future trends are analyzed. The ApplicationsSeminars focus on the application and evaluation of information displays.These seminars benefit both newcomers and experienced professionals.Engineers new to assignments in information display find them especiallyhelpful in getting up to speed quickly. Experienced professionals attend tokeep up with recent developments in fields closely related to their special-ties. Managers attending the seminars obtain a broad perspective of thedisplay field and a sense of its recent dynamics. Attendees will receive anexcellent set of full-color notes, consisting of the instructor’s presentationslides replete with references and illustrations. Ample time is provided forquestions from the audience in each session. The speakers are leaders intheir fields who bring an international perspective to information display.Track 1: Liquid-Crystal Technology

• M-1: Photo-Alignment of LCDs and Polymer Films by Side-ChainPhotopolymers

• M-6: Microsecond-Response-Time Blue-Phase LCDsTrack 2: Flexible Displays

• M-2: Flexible-Display Technologies• M-7: Flexible Display Types and Applications

Track 3: Touch and Interactivity• M-3: Capacitive Touch• M-8: The Leading Edge of Touch

Track 4: 3D Technology• M-4: Signal Processing for Stereoscopic 3D Displays• M-9: Non-Glasses 3D Technology

Track 5: Nanotechnology and Mobile Displays• M-5: Nanotechnology for Displays: A Potential Breakthrough for

OLED Displays and LCDs• M-10: Mobile Multimedia Displays

Track 6: OLED Technology• M-11: OLED Lighting• M-16: AMOLED-Based Displays for Future TV Markets

Track 7: e-Paper• M-12: A Critical Review of the Present and Future Prospects for e-Paper• M-17: Displays for eReaders: Selection Criteria and Technologies

Track 8: Pico-Projectors• M-13: Introduction to Pico-Projectors• M-18: Pico-Projector Applications

Track 9: Large-Area Displays• M-14: The Future of Out-of-Home Displays• M-19: Flexible Film Display Media for Signage

Track 10: Emerging Display Applications• M-15: The Next Big Thing• M-20: New Application Trends

For further details visit www.sid2011.org.

23

Boston’s Museum of Science — Sponsored by Corning Incorporated

Come join us on this special event to Boston’s Museum of Science and celebratethe 50th Anniversary of SID courtesy of Corning Incorporated on Wednesdayevening, June 6. Attendees will dine amid high-tech devices, mingle among Meso-zoic creatures, and experience a journey to the stars. The Museum offers filmpresentations in digital 3D using their state-of-the-art 3D digital projection systemthat incorporates polarized light instead of the traditional red/blue lens filters.Truly one of the region’s most unique settings, the Museum offers novel surround-ings and out-of-the-ordinary experiences that promise to intrigue and entertain.Buses will leave the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center between 6:30 and6:45 pm on Wednesday evening to take attendees to the museum for the 7:00start time. Buses will return after the event ends at 10:00 and drop off guests ateach of the SID-blocked hotels (Westin and Seaport).Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased at the SID Registration Deskduring Display Week.

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Analysis

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Plasma-Display Technology

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e-Paper I

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Oxide AMOLED Displays

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Blue-Phase Liquid Crystal 2

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Polarization-Based 3D

Displays

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Liquid Crystal)

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Advances in 3D Display

Characterization

(Joint with 3D)

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CaMgO Protective Layer for

Low-Power Plasma Displays

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e-Paper II2:00 – 3:20

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AMOLED Displays

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Solid-State Lighting

Applications

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OLED Displays I

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Novel and Emerging

Display Applications

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Devices)

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Flexible Display

Manufacturing

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Enabling Technologies for

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Printed Displays and

Electronics I

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12:00

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3:30 – 4:5033

OLED Devices I

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Ferroelectric and

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35

3D Lightfield Imaging and

Displays

(Joint with Systems)

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Image-Quality

Enhancement

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Projected-Capacitive Touch

Panels

38

Printed Displays and

Electronics II

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3:30 – 4:50

5:00 – 6:00 5:00 – 6:00

9:00 – 10:2039

OLED Devices II

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Cholesteric LCDs

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Solid-State Lighting I

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Intra-Panel Interface

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Power Displays

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Display Manufacturing:

Flexible Processes

(Joint with Flexible)

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10:40 –

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Solid-State Lighting II

(Joint with Lighting)

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Novel Non-Emissive

Displays

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3D and Multiview

Projection

(Joint with Projection)

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Display Driving

Techniques

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Low-Power Displays and

Materials

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Display Manufacturing:

Lamination & Testing

10:40 –

12:00

1:30 – 2:50

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Solid-State Lighting III

(Joint with Lighting)

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Electrophoretic Displays

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Lens Design for 3D

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Oxide TFTs

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Devices)

1:30 – 2:50

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Solid-State Lighting IV

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High-Resolution TVs

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Volumetric, Lightfield, and

Holographic Displays

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Image Quality and Viewing

Experience

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Cool Lasers for Projection

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Display Manufacturing:

Novel Devices and Green

Technology

(Joint with Green)

3:10 – 4:30

4:30 – 5:30 4:30 – 5:30

5:00 – 8:00 5:00 – 8:00

9:00 – 10:2063

FED and Emissive Devices

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High-Performance Mobile

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3D Comfort

(Joint with Applied Vision)

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Novel Backlights

(Joint with Lighting)

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Optical Components for

Projection

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Display Manufacturing:

Fabrication Processes and

Solid State Lighting

(Joint with Lighting)

9:00 – 10:20

10:40 –

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Lighting Devices

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Novel Display Devices

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3D Perception

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Projection Display Systems

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Display Manufacturing:

Substrates

10:40 –

12:00

12:00 – 1:00 12:00 – 1:00

3-D Active-Matrix Devices Applications Applied Vision Electronics Emissive

Flexible Green Lighting Liquid Crystal Manufacturing Measurement

OLEDs Projection Systems TouchPrinted Displays and Electronics

Author Interviews (Exhibit Hall)

TECHNOLOGY TRACKS KEY

Wed

nesd

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Designated Exhibit Time (Exhibit Hall)

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2012 SID Display Week Symposium at a Glance – Boston Convention and Exhibition Center

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DDisplay Week 2012 Symposium at a Glance

THE BENEFITS of today’s eReaders arewell-known. They are easy on the eye, providing a reading experience similar to thatof paper. They can be read in bright sunlight,making it possible to read an “e-Bestseller” on the beach. They can store thousands ofbooks, enabling a reader to carry a year’sworth of reading or more in a purse or brief-case. At the same time, they offer instantgratification in the form of downloadablereading matter that is available 24/7.

Many of these qualities make eReadersespecially suitable as e-Textbooks (Fig. 1).Electronic-textbook content, as a percentageof total textbooks sold in North America, isgrowing rapidly. While the overall textbookmarket is fairly flat, e-Textbook content isexhibiting double-digit growth rates according to various industry surveys.Xplana’s research1 estimates that digital textbook content will comprise almost 50% of the entire Higher and Career Educationmarket by 2017. The content is currently consumed via dedicated eReaders and multi-purpose devices such as laptops and tablets.

The Most Successful InformationDisplay to DateInformation display to most of us in the indus-try means an electronic display. To many ofus it means specifically a liquid-crystal dis-play (LCD), since that technology comprisesover 90% of the roughly $100 billion electronic-display industry. And we would be wrong.The most widely used information display isprinted paper – yes, the kind you get by chopping down trees.

Human beings love printed paper, and thepublishing industry alone is four times aslarge as the entire electronic-display industry.Printed paper is a 500-year-old technologythat is used everywhere. It’s proven, rugged,and inexpensive relative to its competition; itjust works. This information display is veryreadable, but its contents cannot be changed.

The $100 billion electronic-display industrycomprises technologies including LCD, CRT(yes there are still some CRTs around),plasma, vacuum fluorescent, electrolumines-cent, LED, organic EL/OLED, electro-phoretic, electrochromic, and emerging technologies such as MEMS, electrowetting,electrofluidic, laser, nanocrystal/quantum dot,and others still in the lab, together with projection displays and electro-mechanicaldisplays. All offer one major advantage overprinted paper – their content is changeable.

With the ability to change content, as wellas other advantages to be discussed later,

electronic displays have been gradually dis-placing printed paper in applications rangingfrom large signage to small phone books.However, printed paper, a tough competitor,continues to hold its own in performance andcost. This is why we still have printed-papersigns indoors and out – and in the author’stown the printed phonebook is still delivered.Printed paper continues to hold more than a90% share of the publishing world.

Rock, Paper, e-PaperOne of the strongest bastions of printed paperis in the area of reading media – books, magazines, and newspapers. Until recently,electronic displays could not come close toproviding the reading pleasure offered byprinted paper. However, this category iswhere electronic paper was first able to com-pete, in the form of widely popular eReaders.The first technology for eReaders that wentfrom “emerging” status to mainstream waselectrophoretic technology. Other displaytechnologies labeled as e-paper that are alsoaiming to displace printed paper in readingapplications include MEMS, electrowetting,and variations of conventional LCD technolo-gies, including cholesteric, transflective, polymer-dispersed liquid crystals, and others.

What Is Reading? It may sound odd that printed paper reignssupreme when it comes to “reading.” How

Dual-Pigment Electrophoretic Displays for Reading Textbooks

In recent years, electronic paper has been hugely successful in augmenting traditional paper in the area of “leisure reading.” Now its developers are aiming at academic textbooks.

by Sriram K. Peruvemba

Sriram K. Peruvemba is Chief MarketingOfficer for E Ink Holdings. With 25 years ofexperience in the electronics industry, heleads worldwide marketing for e-paper andLCD products at E Ink. He can be reached atsperuvemba@eink.com.

26 Information Display 2&3/120362-0972/03/2012-026$1.00 + .00 © SID 2012

enabling technology

can this be true when most of us spend theentire day in front of our laptops, watch TVfor hours, converse on mobile phones until thebattery drains, and sit through innumerableslide presentations shown via electronic projectors on a screen? Surely, the hoursspent in front of electronic displays add up tofar more than those spent reading from printedpaper. And this may be true when it comes toconsuming information, but “reading” issomething else.

Reading is the process of recognizing textor words and converting an image of a wordinto audio, either aloud or silently. Once thisimage is converted, reading leads to compre-hension, fluency, deeper understanding,acquisition of knowledge, improvement ofvocabulary, and enjoyment. There is morethan one form of reading, and there is muchongoing research about the different forms, aswell as research about our reading habits withboth electronic media and conventionalprinted paper.a For the sake of simplicity,reading can be divided into two broad cate-gories: short-form and long-form reading.

Short-form reading involves reading a letter, a note, a brochure, headlines, bill-boards, or menus. With short-form reading,

we are skimming, trying to gather a lot ofinformation quickly, and this type of readinghas become even more important in the lastdecade. With printed paper’s inability to provide vast and up-to-date content instanta-neously, electronic displays have made greatinroads and are increasingly preferred forshort-form reading. We read e-mails on ourlaptop LCD, track sports scores on our plasmaTV, read a text message on an OLED screenof our mobile phone, and browse the Interneton our fringe-field-switching (FFS) LCDtablet.

Long-form reading refers to an entire novel,a physics textbook, a company’s annualreport, a religious text, or a lengthy book prescribed by your CEO that you are obli-gated to read. With long-form reading, onereads more than a few minutes at a time. Onemay read many pages or spend many minutesper page going through a chart or table. Oneattempts to gain a deeper understanding of thesubject, is immersed in the subject, or is “lost”in the book. More than 90% of all long-formreading is still performed on printed paper.Only 4 years ago, nearly 100% of long-formreading was via printed paper, but e-paper, inparticular dual-pigment electrophoretic-based

e-paper, has now taken significant share. Useof electrophoretic displays in eReaders forlong-form reading has been tripling in volumesince 2006. In that year, there were roughly100,000 dual-pigment electrophoretic displaysshipped to eReader applications. That numberis projected to exceed 25 million units in2011.

Electrophoretic BasicsElectrophoretic displays are based on the principle of electrophoresis, which explainsthe motion of charged particles in a fluidunder the influence of an electric field. Theprincipal component of a dual-pigment electro-phoretic display is a microcapsule with adiameter about the size of a human hair, andeach display contains millions of micro-capsules. Each microcapsule contains a mix-ture of very tiny, positively charged black particles and negatively charged white parti-cles suspended in a fluid. When a positive ornegative electric field is applied, correspond-ing particles move to the top of the micro-capsule where they become visible to the user.This makes the surface appear white or blackat that spot.

To form a dual-pigment electrophoretic display, the microcapsules are suspended in aliquid “carrier medium,” which allows themto be coated onto a sheet of plastic film that islaminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitryforms a pattern of pixels that can then be con-trolled by a display driver. The final laminatecan be applied onto virtually any surface,including glass, plastic, fabric, or even paper.Figure 2 shows a large-scale example of dual-pigment display film.

Where eReaders Excel Dual-pigment electrophoretic displays looklike printed paper – and are as pleasant to readas printed paper – because they utilize thesame pigments used in the printed-paperindustry. With resolutions up to 300 dpi, theyrender a smooth image with gray tones thatmimic the book or newspaper reading experi-ence. They are reflective and therefore sun-light readable and do not cause eyestrainb

and/or battery-weight strain, as is commonlyassociated with displays used in computermonitors and laptops. Because they lack abacklight and require no power to maintain animage on-screen (using a small amount ofpower only when changing the image), theyare low-power devices that can perform for

Information Display 2&3/12 27

Fig. 1: eReaders are being used in an increasing number of schools and universities to displaytextbook content. Image courtesy E Ink.

approximately 2 months on a single batterycharge (Fig. 3).

Better TextbooksAs mentioned earlier, many of the eReader’squalities make these devices especially suit-able as textbooks. These qualities include:

Interactivity: An eReader can help theinteraction between teacher and student movebeyond the classroom. A teacher can easilytell what areas of the subject matter posegreater challenges to the students based oninteraction between the students’ e-Textbookdevice and the teacher’s e-Textbook. Theteacher can then focus on those specific areas.Tests can be graded almost instantly. Whileresearching, students can search the

e-Textbook to locate remembered passagesthat support an argument for a paper (a process that can be laborious with a conven-tional textbook).

Cost Savings for Students: The cost-saving potential for electronic content istremendous. In the near term, students canborrow books via their eReader devices,2

as libraries have already begun lending electronic textbooks. In the long run, the publishing industry will benefit due to the costsavings from not having to print on paper.Today, all books are created in electronicform and then printed on dead trees (the truecost of printed paper is very high; see theYFY Group disclosure below). In the future,the printing step can be eliminated.

Viewing Angle and Glare: Just likeprinted paper and unlike many other displaytechnologies, dual-pigment electrophoreticdisplays have a very wide, almost 180° view-ing angle. That makes it easy for studentsusing an e-Textbook application to shareinformation from the same device. Most ofthe e-paper displays used in eReaders todayhave an anti-glare, anti-fingerprint/anti-smudge coating that reduces glare and makesthe display look clean compared to a glossytablet device with a lot of fingerprints.

Controllable Font Size: Changing fontsize to match individual needs, and especiallyincreasing the font size while reading on e-paper, has been shown to be very beneficialfor people with less-than-perfect eyesight.Increased font sizes reduce “crowding” ofwords, leading to better reading rates for thetypical reader. This is even more beneficialfor the dyslexic reader, as concluded byWilliam DeLamater in an EReadia articledated April 29, 2010.3

Less Distraction: Single-purpose eReaderdevices can be configured so they do not support non-school video or web browsing,therefore reducing distractions for youngerstudents. The content is typically teacher-selected, allows for interaction with theteacher’s e-Textbook device, and enablesnote-taking and annotation. The risk of

28 Information Display 2&3/12

enabling technology

Fig. 2: E Ink’s dual-pigment electrophoretic display is made in a roll-to-roll processing plantin Massachusetts. In this picture, the latest generation of E Ink’s display film, Pearl, is unrolledalongside the Charles River near Boston. Source: E Ink.

Fig. 3: The Nook dual-pigment eReader byBarnes & Noble can be read for 2 months ona single battery charge. Photo courtesyBarnes & Noble.

accidentally downloading viruses onto thedevice is minimized.

Library in Every Backpack: Today’sschool backpacks filled with printed bookscan weigh about a quarter of a student’s bodyweight, causing back pain. According to theAmerican Chiropractic Association, youngchildren are experiencing back pain soonerthan previous generations and overweightbackpacks are a contributing factor.4 e-paper-based devices replacing textbooks allow students to carry all of their textbooks, mostof their reference materials, all of their notes,and all of the instructions from the teacher, intheir backpacks. A typical device can carry afew thousand books, about the size of a smalllibrary for about the weight of one book (Fig 4). (In a lighter vein, The New YorkTimes, quoting Dr. J. Kubiatowicz, says thatthousands of eBooks actually have someweight, about one atogram or 10–18 grams,but unmeasurable by the most sensitive scale.5

The Future of e-TextbooksIn the relatively near future, electronic-textbook devices will continue to evolve,more content will be available via these

devices, the cost of content will reduce drasti-cally, and there will also be greater access tocontent. Recently introduced flexible electro-phoretic displays allow designers to envision products that can take the everyday rough-and-tumble experienced by pulp-based books and newspapers. These displays are extremely thin and will not easily dent; there is also no polar-izer to scratch or glass to shatter. Designers do not have to “cushion” the display like they would with a glass-based display. Such a display can sustain bumps and vibration and withstand drop tests easily. It might finally be “student proof.”

Future e-paper displays will show animatedcontent, stimulate faster interaction with theteacher, enable quicker feedback on tests,eliminate library late fees, and stop the problem of out-of-stock books – all of whichgives students more time to learn. An e-Textbook device is interactive, intuitive,able to convert text to voice, and provides aubiquitous learning medium. The greatestbarriers to the adoption of e-Textbook appli-cations appear to be non-hardware related andinclude cost of content, access to content, andavailability of content.

Printed paper is the toughest of all displaycompetitors because everyone loves it. Butconsider that if one person decides to changehis or her behavior by reading all of theirbooks, magazines, and newspapers on an eReader, that one person alone can save atleast 20 trees in the next 2 years. And in thefield of education, electronic displays, espe-cially flexible ones, can make for a better textbook. We are talking about putting anentire library in a child’s backpack. Our chil-dren are already researching primarily on theInternet and are less and less dependent on the traditional library. Imagine the BostonPublic Library open to students in Baghdad,Bangalore, Beijing, and Budapest with nobooks lost, no additional printing or trans-portation costs, no late fees, and no out-of-stock books. This is not an evolution but arevolution in education and it has alreadystarted, though without much fanfare.

What does this mean to the electronic-display industry? It is a multi-billion dollarmarket opportunity that could compare withsmart phones and TVs in volume. Its targetaudience (students) demands display rugged-ness along the same lines as the military. Andit is an opportunity for a huge ecosystem surrounding the display to develop and delivera smart electronic device – a better textbook.

AcknowledgmentsaBenjamin Paletsky, Product Marketing Manager, E Ink Holdings, for sharing hisinsight on this subject.bSteve Battista, Jen Barlow, and Ana Lopesfor their inputs.

References 1W. E. Lamater, M. Ed., “How Larger FontSize Impacts Reading and the Implications forEducational Use of Digital Text Readers,”eReadia (2010).2C. C. Ray, “The Weight of Memory,” TheNew York Times (Oct. 24, 2011).3R. Reynolds, Xplana Whitepaper (2011).4”Back to School with Rentable Textbooks,”Information Display 27, No. 9, 3 (IndustryNews) (September 2011).5http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=65

DisclosureE Ink’s parent company, the YFY Group, hasa large paper and pulp business. �

Information Display 2&3/12 29

Fig. 4: This Jetbook eReader from Ectacodisplays a page from a biology textbook. Likeall eReaders, this device can hold the contentsof the stack of books behind it and much more.Image courtesy Ectaco.

Don’t remember this issue?Log onto

informationdisplay.organd click “ID Archive.”

MOBILE DISPLAYS ISSUE

Official Monthly Publication of the Society for Information Display • www.informationdisplay.orgOctober 2009

Vol. 25, No. 10

WITH MORE THAN 500 million people using smartphones and tablets equipped with projected-capacitive touch technology, ade facto standard has arisen for what usersexpect on any touch-capable mobile device –including eReaders. The key requirements ofthis standard include the following:

• Extremely light touch• Fast response• High accuracy for selection• Multi-touch for zoom (with images

stored at higher resolution)• Flush bezel for a high-tech look.

The touch usage model of eReaders addsanother requirement: annotation capability.At the minimum, this means high-resolutiondigital ink for good readability; ideally, itincludes handwriting recognition for automat-ically converting ink annotations into text.

The primary characteristic that differenti-ates a dedicated eReader from a tablet is theuse of an electrophoretic display, oftenreferred to as an “electronic-paper display”(EPD). EPDs are reflective displays, so thelight that produces the image seen by the usermust travel twice through whatever layers areon top of the display. This puts a premium on

touch screens with very high transmissivity.Low reflectivity of the touch screen is alsovery important, since reflected light reducesthe image contrast.

Additional system-level requirements for touch screens in eReaders include the following:

• Very low power consumption (like thatfor EPDs)

• Light weight, ideally achieved with noadded glass layer

• Durable surface for annotations.

Four Current Touch TechnologiesThere are four touch technologies currentlyused in eReaders (see Fig. 1), as follows inorder of decreasing popularity:

• Analog resistive (e.g., in the Sony PRS-600 and many others)

• Scanned infrared (e.g., in the KindleTouch, the Nook Simple Touch, the SonyPRS-950, and a number of others)

• Electromagnetic pen digitizer (e.g., inthe Onyx Boox M90, the Hanlin V90, theHanvon WISEreader E920, which addsfinger touch, and several others)

• Projected capacitive (e.g., in the PixelarMReaders, the Hanlin V60T/V61T/A6/A9, the Kogan Reader, and a few others)

Analog Resistive: While resistive is com-monly used in touch eReaders because of itslow cost, it is actually the worst choice.Transmissivity is typically in the 80–90%range, which means that up to 40% of thelight can be lost during its two trips throughthe touch screen. Because there are fourreflective surfaces in a resistive touch screen,

reducing surface reflectivity is very expen-sive. Resistive requires a relatively heavytouch, but works well with a passive stylus –except that the lack of palm rejection makesannotation difficult. Resistive as used ineReaders today provides single-touch only.Resistive is available in an “almost-flushbezel” form in which the touch-screen’s plastic cover sheet is extended to cover theentire top surface of the product.

Scanned Infrared: Infrared (sometimescalled “optical”) touch technology has not historically been used in mobile products.However, one company (Neonode in Sweden)has made significant progress in miniaturizinginfrared touch components over the past half-dozen years, with the result that it is currentlythe only supplier of infrared touch in eReaders.(Neonode’s patent portfolio provides a signifi-cant barrier to entry for other suppliers.)Infrared’s major advantage in an eReader isthe lack of need for a substrate. This is idealfor use with a reflective EPD, since no light islost. On the other hand, sensing touch withinfrared requires breaking a matrix of lightbeams that are present above the surface ofthe display, so a flush bezel is not possible.Conventional infrared is relatively low resolu-tion, so annotation with a stylus typically isnot very satisfying, and multi-touch is gener-ally limited to two not-very-robust touches.Infrared is susceptible to unintended touchesfrom contaminants (or if the user forgets toturn off the device before putting it in a brief-case) and from ambient IR radiation.

Electromagnetic Pen Digitizer: Pen digi-tizers have been used in mobile products for

Touch Technology for eReaders

Four touch technologies are currently used in eReaders: analog resistive, electromagnetic pen digitizer, scanned infrared, and projected capacitive. None of these meet 100% of theuser and system requirements for optimum touch in eReaders.

by Geoff Walker

Geoff Walker is the Owner & Principal Consultant at Walker Mobile, LLC, and Principal Analyst for Touch at IMS Research.He has been Information Display’s Guest Editor for Touch since 2007 and is a recognized touch-industry expert. He can be reached at 408/945-1221 or geoff@walkermobile.com.

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over 20 years, so it is not surprising that theyare used in some eReaders. Like infrared, thistechnology’s major advantage is its lack of aneed for a substrate (the digitizer’s sensorgoes behind the EPD, so no light is lost).Since there is no touch-screen substrate, thepossibility of a flush bezel depends on thedesign and construction of the EPD. Pen digitizers are typically very high resolution(often as high as 1000 dpi) with inherent palmrejection, which makes them very well-suitedfor annotation. However, with the exceptionof Hanvon’s “Dual-Touch” technology (whichsupports both pen and single-touch finger),pen digitizers are pen-only.

Projected Capacitive: “Pro-cap,” as it isoften called, is the touch technology used inmost smartphones and tablets today. How-ever, it is relatively expensive (a 9-in. pro-captouch screen is typically 3× the cost of resis-tive), so it is less frequently used in eReaders.Pro-cap’s advantages are its very light touch,multi-touch, and flush-bezel capability – all ofwhich are characteristics of the de facto stan-dard, so usage is likely to increase despite thecost. Currently, it is finger-only, so annota-tion is not possible (although some pro-captouch-screen suppliers will start supportingboth active and passive styli during 2012).When stylus support arrives, pro-cap is capa-ble of providing good palm rejection, so theuser’s annotation experience can be almost asgood as with a pen digitizer. Light loss is not

a major issue with pro-cap, since transmissiv-ity is in the 95–98% range. However, limitingthe reflectivity of the touch screen’s top surface adds even more cost. Two of the threesample eReader suppliers listed under pro-capon the previous page use the SiPix/AUO EPD;this form of pro-cap uses two patterned-electrode films laminated on top of the EPDduring manufacturing and is covered with ahard coat (i.e., no glass). While the cost ofthis form is relatively low, future stylus support seems unlikely.

Power ConsumptionPower consumption in an eReader is domi-nated by page-turns; i.e., by changing theimage on the EPD. The power consumptionof all four of the touch technologies describedin this article is orders of magnitude less than that of the EPD. While some power-consumption differences do exist between thetechnologies, experience has shown that thequality of the power-management algorithmsused to control the touch screen is actuallymuch more significant than the differencesbetween technologies.

Emerging and Future SolutionsAs noted earlier, none of the four touch tech-nologies described here meet 100% of theuser and system requirements listed in thebeginning of this article. Of the four, the onethat is the closest to meeting all the require-

ments is Hanvon’s Dual Touch pen digitizer.Hanvon achieves finger touch by adding somelow-cost components to the digitizer sensorbehind the EPD; if Hanvon can meet its goalof supporting touch with multiple fingers, theonly remaining negative will be the electronic(but batteryless) stylus.

Another technology that has a good chanceof meeting all the requirements is waveguideinfrared. Created by RPO in Australia andbranded “Digital Waveguide Touch” (DWT),it is essentially a lower-cost and higher-performance version of scanned infrared.Unfortunately, RPO shut down due to lack offunding during 2011 and its extensive patentportfolio is currently for sale. It is possiblethat the technology (which was very close tomass production) may be purchased and madeavailable by another touch supplier.

There is one additional touch technologythat has at least some chance of meeting allthe requirements once it becomes moremature. The technology is TE Connectivity’s(Elo TouchSystems’) Acoustic Pulse Recogni-tion (APR). APR is capable of pen and fingertouch with nothing added in front of the display. E Ink has done some prototyping of APR integrated into its EPD, but it is tooearly to determine the potential. �

Information Display 2&3/12 31

Fig. 1: Four 6-in. eReaders are shown, one with each touch technology (left to right): Sony’s PRS-600 (resistive), Amazon’s Kindle Touch(infrared), Hanvon’s N618 (electromagnetic pen digitizer), and Jinke’s Hanlin A6 (projected capacitive). Most eReader manufacturers offer onlyone or two touch technologies; Jinke in China is the only one that offers all four. Source: Manufacturers.

LET US START WITH a statementabout displays: “It is all about the viewer.”Understanding human physiology and how weperceive depth should lead display technologytoward a flawless and thus successful 3-D system. What is true for the consumer marketis even more relevant for special applicationssuch as medical imaging, remote training, orintelligence analysis. In these fields, the 3-Dimage can incorporate elements or data fromdifferent instruments or sensors, making thefused information complex to analyze. But acomplex image does not, and should not, bedifficult to interpret. In areas where informa-tion interpretation is critical, the display oughtto be perfectly adapted to the decision maker.

Several cues are used by the brain to determine absolute and relative distances1:occlusion, relative size of objects, atmosphericscattering, texture, and shading are alreadyexploited in the case of 2-D displays. Indeed,we did not wait for the introduction of stereo-scopic theater or television to understand relative positions of elements in a scene.When an explosion happens in the back-ground in a 2-D movie, we understand whythe hero remains unharmed. A film directorcan exploit these cues (and the absence of others) to make objects appear closer or farther away than they are in reality. The useof a telephoto lens is such an example becauseit normalizes the size and distance differencebetween near and far objects. However, these

artistic touches can be misleading in caseswhere the display is used for critical analysis.You do not want a surgeon to think the arteryis farther away than it is in reality; you do notwant the intelligence analyst to think thestructure or building is smaller than it is onthe field. Discrimination in these cases can beimproved when more cues are provided, thusthe focus on integrating stereopsis, vergence,and accommodation into the display environment.

Stereopsis, Vergence, and AccommodationStereopsis and vergence are phenomenaresulting from binocular vision. Differentimages are perceived by the left and right eyedue to their lateral separation, and theseimages are interpreted by the brain to deducedistance. Stereopsis is a consequence of thebinocular disparity (mostly the parallax shift),while vergence is the rotation of the eyes inopposite directions around their vertical axisto fixate on the same point of an image [seeFigs. 1(a) and 1(b)].

Stereoscopic displays use those cues toreproduce 3-D by employing a technique thatwas introduced in 1838 by Sir Charles Wheat-stone. In a variety of implementations – suchas color filters (anaglyph), polarizers, or shut-ters – stereoscopic displays present a differentimage to the left and the right eye and preventcrosstalk by using some sort of eyewear.2

Stereoscopy has many advantages: it isrobust, quite easy to implement, and effectiveto a certain extent. It only requires a pair ofimages to be recorded and does not dramati-cally change the image-capture techniques(side-by-side cameras). In the case of polar-ization and active-shutter technologies, the

display refresh rate only needs to be doubledto 60 or 120 Hz – reasonable frequencies forthe current technology in both cinema andtelevision. This convenience is the main reason for stereoscopy’s recent commercialsuccess, in theaters at least. Nonetheless,there are a few issues with this approach, oneof which is that almost every stereoscopictechnique today requires some sort of eye-wear. The public has been fairly accepting ofthis eyewear tradeoff when it comes to experi-encing immersive 3-D, as theater attendancehas shown over the last couple of years. Like-wise, millions of people wear prescriptionglasses without complaint – because the bene-fits far outweigh the discomfort.

Another limitation with stereoscopy is thatit does not reproduce motion parallax: Whenthe viewer moves in front of the display, theviewpoint does not change. You cannot lookaround an object as in real life. For a station-ary audience such as one in a theater, this isnot an issue at all. Motion parallax can alsobe addressed by a head-tracking system thatdetermines the position of the viewer and calculates the viewpoint in real time.3

However, head tracking can be implementedfor one and only one viewer at any givenmoment. For a multi-viewer audience, therewould be one master directing the display,resulting in awkward sensations for the otherviewers.

While the mandatory eyewear and the lackof motion parallax are mild concerns withstereoscopic approaches, the most seriousproblem is the accommodation-vergence conflict. Indeed, even if the vergence cue iscorrectly reproduced by a stereoscopic

Toward the Ultimate 3-D Display

Holographic stereography and a new photorefractive material may help create a 3-D display that reproduces all human visual cues.

by Pierre-Alexandre Blanche

Pierre-Alexandre Blanche is with the College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. He can be reached atpablanche@optics.arizona.edu.

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system, the accommodation is not. This infor-mation conflict inside the brain leads toasthenopia, i.e., visual fatigue, includingheadache, nausea, and motion sickness.4,5

Vergence is the rotation of both eyes alongtheir vertical axis to fix on a common point ina scene. It is shown in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b)how the eyes rotate so images are formed nearthe fova spot, which is responsible for sharpcentral vision. The brain interprets the tensionon the eye muscles (media and lateral rectus)to aid in determining the object’s distance. Ifthat object is in the forefront of the scene, theeyes rotate inward, causing the lines of sightto cross near the viewer. If the object is farther away, the eyes rotate outward to makethe lines of sights more parallel. One can seewhy this cue is correctly reproduced by stere-oscopy, since the basis of this technique is laterally shearing the left and right image elements according to depth.

But the eye is also a single-lens optical system in which the image plane is fixed: the

image must form on the retina. For such asystem, a sharp image is obtained for only oneposition of the object. When the object posi-tion changes, the image position changesaccordingly unless the focal length of the lensis adjusted, exactly describing what happensin the eye. The eye lens is not rigid and canbe deformed by the ciliary muscles to changeits optical power. This is the basis of theaccommodation cue: the adjustment of the eyelens to focus on objects at various distances[see Figs. 1(c) and 1(d)]. Accommodation isnot related to stereoscopic vision, since youstill need to accommodate when viewing with a single eye. It should be clear by now why no stereoscopic technique correctly reproduces the accommodation required by a true 3-D scene:when looking at the display, your eyes accom-modate to the position of the emitter plane(the screen), and this position, or distancefrom observer to image, remains constant.

As shown in Fig. 2, with stereoscopy thebrain receives conflicting information. The

vergence changes and is correctly reproduced,but the accommodation is fixed and thusincorrect. This conflict can lead to eye fatigueand related physiological effects such asheadache, dizziness, and nausea. However,there is a certain degree of mismatch that thebrain can tolerate, especially when the screenis far away, as in a theater. At large distances,accommodation is not used, and the eye lensstays at rest. This is why the vast majority ofpeople can appreciate a 3-hour movie in astereoscopic theater. But for displays that arelocated much closer to the viewer, such as atelevision or a workstation, the conflictbecomes more pronounced and the effects canbe intolerable.5 This is especially the case inprofessional environments where workersspend most of their time looking at the display, or for young children, whose visualsystems are still in development.6 This is thefundamental reason why better techniques areneeded to reproduce 3-D. That brings us toholography.

HolographyHolography is the reproduction of both theamplitude and the phase of a scene by adiffractive pattern. We are familiar with systems that display amplitude, or intensity.From a photograph to an LCD TV, every display reproduces the light intensity. Thephase, or wavefront of a light field, is lesscommon and describes how the light wave isparticularly curved at each given point of ascene. For a 2-D image, the wavefront is flatbecause each emission point is at the samedistance from the viewer (the Huygens–Fresnel principle) but for a real scene, objectsat the forefront have a more convex wave pattern than elements in the background. Thisis precisely why the eye needs to accommo-date. It is now obvious why holography is theultimate technique to display 3-D: it recon-structs the correct light field, and in doing soall of the optical cues are reproduced.

There is a catch. The reason why we stilldo not have holographic television or theater,even though holography was discovered in1947, is due to the last two terms of theabove-mentioned holographic definition: the“diffractive pattern.” To diffract light, thepattern (you can read pixel) needs to be of thescale of the wavelength. For visible light, thisis around 500 nm. Now, if you want a reason-able screen size – let’s say 0.5 × 0.5 m with areasonable field of view (50°) – you need to

Information Display 2&3/12 33

Vergence Accommodation

c)a)

b) d)

Far

Near

Fig. 1: Accommodation and vergence cues differ for a far or near object.

control 1 × 10 pixels. At video rate (60 Hz),three colors and 8 bits per color, this multi-plies to 5 × 1016 bits/sec, a bandwidth that isnot easily accessible. To put these numbersinto perspective, you would have to tile a1080p/1080i HDTV with about 2 × 106 pixels,500,000 times, then shrink it to the size of a15-in. monitor. Despite the sheer size of theproblem, or maybe because of it, researchersaround the world are working on solutions,and excellent works have been published byvarious groups.7

If holography is the ultimate solution toreproduce the light field, it might also beover-kill for human vision. Indeed, hologra-phy achieves nanometer resolution that cannotbe resolved by the eye. Since the resolutionof stereoscopy is not enough with 3 × 106

pixels, and holography is way too much with1 × 1012 pixels, could we achieve a trade offand find a technique in between these twoextremes that will reproduce all the visualcues, but with limited bandwidth and a reasonable number of pixels? The answer tothat question is stereography.

StereographyBased on the work done by Gabriel Lippmannon integral photography in the early 1900s, astereographic display projects different rays oflight in different directions from each of itspixels. This is why this technique is alsocalled multiple-viewpoint rendering. Toexplain it, think of the display as a framethrough which the viewer looks to see a scenein the background. This principle is sketchedin Fig. 3(a). If you trace all the rays of lightcoming from one point of the scene and pass-ing through the frame, you will find they allhave different angles. Those are the rays thedisplay has to reproduce, for each and everypoint of the scene. Though this analogy witha frame and a background scene is useful forexplanation, stereography can also reproduceobjects in front of the screen (the frame in theexample), where the ray-tracing method isidentical [Fig. 3(b)].

How many rays a stereographic displayshould generate to reproduce all of the visualcues depends on the depth of field, as well as

34 Information Display 2&3/12

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Screen

Apparent Image

Acc

omm

odat

ion

Ver

genc

e

Viewer positions

Viewer positions

Front screen

Directional pixel

Directional pixel

Front image

Back image

Emitter plane

Fig. 2: The accommodation-vergence conflict occurs in stereoscopic displays because the eyesaccommodate to the screen but rotate to fix the apparent image.

Fig. 3: According to the principles of stereo-graphy, the pixels emit directional rays: (a) object in the back of the emitter plane,(b) object in front of the emitter plane.

(a)

(b)

12

geometrical factors such as the viewer pupilsize, its distance from the screen, and the fieldof view of the display.8 But considering ahigh-definition display that has 2 × 106 pixels(HDTV), and a depth of field about the screendiagonal, this would translate to about 2 × 109

rays.The technique of angular reorientation of

the light rays from the display is used inautostereoscopic (glasses-free) 3-D television.9

In such a device, a lenslet array is laid over a2-D screen. As shown in Fig. 4, each lensletcovers several pixels and redirects their beamsin different directions, creating different viewzones. When the viewer is correctly posi-tioned, his left and right eyes intercept twodifferent zones and a stereoscopic effect iscreated (note that this is stereoscopic and notstereographic). However, the accommodationcue is not reproduced with those televisions.This is because at least two view zones need toenter each eye to approximate the wave curva-ture. Compared to glasses-free 3-D television,many more view zones need to be projected ina stereographic system.

To obtain more view zones, one can imag-ine packing more pixels under each lenslet,but this means drastically reducing the pixelsize (down to 0.001 mm), which is not techni-cally possible yet. On the other hand, if youincrease the size of the lenslet itself to covermore pixels, the lateral resolution of the display suffers.10

Different approaches have been proposed torealize stereographic 3-D displays by repro-ducing accommodation: optical demagnifica-tion of the pixels by a telescope,11 and the useof acousto-optic modulators to reorient lasersbeams and sweep the view zone.12 But upuntil now, it seems that there is no display yetcapable of providing a large autostereoscopic3-D image without some sort of artifact. Thiscan be understood by the sheer numbers pre-sented above. It is not easy to move from asystem driving 2 × 106 pixels to one that willmanage 2 × 109, a factor of 1000 larger.

Hogels and Stereographic Still ImageryWhile we wait for a dynamic stereographicdisplay to emerge from research labs, stereo-graphic still pictures can currently be made,thanks to holography. These images are com-posed of pixels, but each of those pixels is ahologram. They are named “hogels,” for thecontraction of both words. These hogels arerecorded when two laser beams interfere in a

holographic recording material. The firstbeam is called a reference beam and does notcontain any information. The second beam ismodulated by an LCD and focused by a lensinto one spot. That means all the pixels fromthe LCD screen are compressed together bythe lens into one single hogel. The holo-graphic recording technique actually achieveswhat is shown in Fig. 3(a): The back image isshrunken into one pixel.

When this kind of hologram is replayed, thehogels reproduce a structured cone of light, sothat each angle emits a different ray. That isthe actual principle of stereography just dis-cussed. What is important to notice here isthe compelling beauty of these images, whichare realistically reproducing vibrant colorsand depth of field. The images are attractivefrom an artistic point of view, but they arealso useful in technical areas such as medicalimaging, architecture, and industrial design.13

Recently, a study was conducted with regard

to the performance of U.S. Army military personnel when using regular 2-D topographicmaps (on which soldiers had been trained and were used to) and stereographic 3-D holographic maps.14 The results revealed improvements inplanning and execution on every single taskwhen the soldiers were using the holographicmaps. It is exciting to imagine what effectsuch a technology, if a display is made possi-ble, could have in the civilian world.

Material ResourcesOne of the reasons holographic stereographyhas not yet been implemented into a 3-Ddynamic display is because of the recordingmaterial. Indeed, holographic recording mate-rials such as photopolymers, silver-halideemulsions, or dichromated gelatin are perma-nent. They are exposed to the laser beamsonce, then chemically processed to reveal thehologram, but cannot be refreshed. Withthese materials, holographic cinema can and

Information Display 2&3/12 35

Lens array

View zones

Pixels

Fig. 4: The principle of autostereoscopic 3-D television is shown above: A lens array overlaysa regular 2-D screen. Each lens redirects the light emitted from individual pixels, creating different view zones. When the viewer’s eyes intercept two different view zones, the stereo-scopic effect is achieved.

has been demonstrated, but a display withdynamic imaging is not possible.

A new type of material, called photo-refractive polymers, was discovered in theearly nineties. These polymers can berecorded, erased, and refreshed without anyfatigue. They do not need any post-process-ing for the hologram to be revealed; it appearsby itself after the exposure due to electroniccharges re-localization.16 The properties ofthis class of material have been extensivelystudied and improved in recent years toachieve very high figures of merit such asdiffraction efficiency, sensitivity, speed, andreliability. Since the materials are in a poly-meric form, they can be cast into a largescreen and could be an ideal material todevelop a dynamic stereographic 3-D display.That is the pathway the author’s group at theUniversity of Arizona, College of Optical Sciences, has followed to demonstrate a 3-Ddisplay with a screen size up to 17 in. (seeFig. 5), and a refresh rate of few seconds.17

Using the principle of holographic stereog-raphy, and with the photorefractive material atthe heart of the system, a telepresence experi-ment has also been demonstrated that recordsimages of a person in one location and printsthe hologram in another, using the Internet tosend the data. Figure 6 shows photographs ofone of such holographic stereogram taken atdifferent angles to demonstrate the parallax.The image can be erased and refreshed at willwithout any material fatigue. The photo-refractive polymer might be to 3-D displaywhat phosphor has been to 2-D CRT screens.

In its present state, this display is still anexperimental setup that needs further develop-

ment to achieve video rate and a compact system. However, this is a new directiontoward a 3-D display that respects humanvision by providing all the cues: accommoda-tion, vergence, and parallax.

So, while the challenges of stereographic 3-D displays are numerous in quantity andlarge in magnitude, we can expect that rapidprogress will continue to be made on differentfronts. Humans are meant to see in 3-D, andour quest for the ultimate display will con-tinue until a system reproduces each andevery visual cue, flawlessly.

References1Perceiving in Depth, Vol. 1: Basic Mecha-nisms, Ian P. Howard, ed. (Oxford UniversityPress, 2012).2A. Woods, “3-D Displays in the Home,”Information Display 25, No. 7 (July 2009).3See, for example, http://www.cs.unc.edu/~maimone/KinectPaper/kinect.html.4M. Lambooij, W. Ijsselsteijn, M. Fortuin, and I. Heynderickx, “Visual Discomfort andVisual Fatigue of Stereoscopic Displays: A Review,” J. Imag. Sci. Tech. 53(3),030201–030201-14 (2009).5M. S. Banks, K. Akeley, D. M. Hoffman, andA. R. Girshick, “Consequences of IncorrectFocus Cues in Stereo Displays,” InformationDisplay 24, No. 7 (July 2008).6S. K. Rushton and P. M. Riddell, “Develop-ing Visual Systems and Exposure to VirtualReality and Stereo Displays: Some Concernsand Speculations about the Demands onAccommodation and Vergence,” AppliedErgonomics 30, 69–78 (1999).7H. Stolle and R. Häussler, “A New Approachto Electro-Holography: Can This MoveHolography into the Mainstream?,” Informa-tion Display 24, No. 7 (July 2008).

C. Slinger, C. Cameron, and M. Stanley,“Computer-Generated Holography as aGeneric Display Technology,” Computer,IEEE, 0018-9162/05 (2005); P. St.-Hilaire,“Scalable Optical Architectures for ElectronicHolography,” Ph.D. Thesis, Program in MediaArts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (September 1994); Y. Ichihashi,N. Masuda, M. Tsuge, H. Nakayama, A. Shiraki, T. Shimobaba, and T. Ito, “One-unit system to reconstruct a 3-D movie at avideo-rate via electroholography,” OpticsExpress 17, Issue 22, 19691-19697 (2009).8Y. Takaki, K. Tanaka, and J. Nakamura,“Super multi-view display with a lower reso-lution flat-panel display,” Optics Express 19,No. 5, 412928 (February 2011).9M. Salmimaa and T. Järvenpää, “Characteriz-ing Autostereoscopic 3-D Displays,” Information Display 25, No. 1 (January 2009). 10P. J. Bos and A. K. Bhowmik, “Liquid-Crystal Technology Advances toward Future‘True’ 3-D Flat-Panel Displays,” InformationDisplay 27, No. 9 (September 2011).11Y. Takaki, “High-Density Directional Display for Generating Natural Three-Dimen-sional Images,” Proc. IEEE 94, No. 3 (March2006).12T. Balogh et al., “The Holovizio System:New Opportunity Offered by 3D Displays,”Proc. TMCE (2008).13Rabbit Holes: http://www.rabbitholes.com/;Geola: http://www.geola.lt/; Zebra Imaging:http://www.zebraimaging.com/14J.. Martin and M. Holzbach, “Evaluation ofHolographic Technology in Close Air SupportMission Planning and Execution,” Air ForceResearch Laboratory Human EffectivenessDirectorate, Warfighter Readiness ResearchDivision, Technical Report approved for public release via www.dtic.mil website, id:

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Fig. 6: A photograph of the holographic stereogram at different angles shows the parallax.

Fig. 5: The author holds a 17-in.-diagonalphotorefractive polymer sheet.

15

8

AFRL-RH-AZ-TR-2008-0025, accessionnumber ADA486177 (2008).15E. N. Leith, D. B. Brumm, and S. S. H.Hsiao, “Holographic Cinematography,”Applied Optics 11, No. 9 (September 1972).16O. Ostroverkhova and W. E. Moerner,“Organic Photorefractives: Mechanisms,Materials and Applications,” ChemicalReviews 104 (7), 3267-3314 (2004).17S. Tay and N. Peyghambarian, “RefreshableHolographic 3-D Displays,” Information Display 24, No. 07 (July 2008); P.-A. Blancheet al., “Holographic three-dimensional tele-presence using large-area photorefractive polymer,” Nature 468, No. 4 (November2010). �

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Boston, MA, USAwww.sid.org

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THERE are basically three different sets ofprovisions for the America Invents Act (AIA).The first set became effective immediatelyupon enactment, and thus are effective now.A second set becomes effective 1 year afterenactment (September 16, 2012), and a thirdset becomes effective 18 months after enact-ment (March 16, 2013).

This article will focus mainly on key litiga-tion-related provisions in the first set, whichare effective now. One key provision in thethird set, effective March 16, 2013, has been

the most heavily discussed provision of thelegislation in mainstream media; namely, thechangeover in the U.S. patent system from a“first to invent” to a “first to file” system (see sidebar “First to File”).

Provisions of the AIA that are effectiveimmediately include a prior-use defense,tougher standards for asserting a “false marking” claim, and new joinder rules thatseverely limit the ability of a plaintiff to suemultiple defendants in a single patent lawsuit.

One provision of the AIA that becomeseffective in September 2012 relates to newrules regarding advice of counsel presump-tions in litigation. This provision is also discussed below because its impact may be

relevant now, due to the typical delay timebetween preemptive opinion work and the filing of a patent lawsuit.

Prior User DefensePrior to enactment of the AIA, a company thatwas commercially using an unpatented inven-tion in secret, such as by treating the inventionas a trade secret or simply practicing theinvention in a manner that did not reveal howit worked, could be liable for patent infringe-ment if another party subsequently inventedthe same invention without deriving theinvention from the company and obtained apatent. Thus, the patent rights of the secondinventor in time trumped the “prior use” rights

Part I: What Companies Need to Know aboutthe Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA)Patent Reform Legislation

The America Invents Act, the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, was signed into law on September 16, 2011. This series of articles will focus on selected provisions of the AIA that are likely to be the most relevant to companies in the display industry. Part I of this series of articles will focus mainly on key litigation-related provisions that are effective now.

by Clark A. Jablon

Clark Jablon is a Partner and RegisteredPatent Attorney at Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP (PSB&N) in Philadel-phia, PA. His practice involves the prepara-tion and prosecution of patent applications,enforcement, and litigation of patents, andopinion work on patent validity, infringement,and patentability. He is a degreed electricalengineer and has worked as a patent practi-tioner for more than 28 years. He can bereached at cjablon@panitchlaw.com. Theopinions expressed herein are those of theauthor and not necessarily those of PSB&N.

38 Information Display 2&3/120362-0972/03/2012-038$1.00 + .00 © SID 2012

patent legislation

The America Invents Act, the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, was signed into law on September 16, 2011.

“”

of the first inventor. (If the company’s use ofthe invention was not secret and revealed howit worked, then the second inventor’s patentwould be invalid and unenforceable.) Prior toenactment of the AIA, there was a limitedexception to this rule for business methodpatents, wherein a company charged withpatent infringement of a business methodpatent was entitled to assert a defense to theinfringement by showing that it commerciallyused the invention in secret more than 1 yearprior to the filing date of the business methodpatent. Very few technology companies wereable to rely upon this provision since the vastmajority of patent infringement lawsuits donot involve business method patents.

The AIA now expands the “prior userdefense” to all technology areas. This provi-sion is welcome relief for companies that wishto rely upon trade-secret protection for theirinventions, as opposed to seeking patent pro-tection for their inventions. There are limita-tions to this defense that must be consideredbefore a company makes a deliberate decisionnot to seek patent protection on an invention,and to instead rely upon the prior-user defenseif the company is sued for patent infringement.

For example, to rely upon this defense, theaccused infringer must provide “clear and

convincing evidence” of the prior commercialuse. Difficulties may arise in collecting andpresenting the necessary proof to a court orjury. Also, if the accused infringer is found tohave asserted the defense without a reasonablebasis, and is found to be an infringer, the caseshall be declared “exceptional,” which meansthat the accused infringer will likely have to pay the legal fees incurred by the patent holder.

The prior-user defense has certain limita-tions that may prevent its use. For example,the prior commercial use must have occurred“continuously” during the infringementperiod. The defense also cannot be assignedor licensed to third parties, unless there is asale of the business that uses the patentedinvention. There are also limitations that may

prevent a company from expanding its use ofthe patented invention. Also, the defense isnot available if the infringed patent was devel-oped under a federally funded agreement orby universities without the use of privatefunds. Furthermore, the defense only appliesto patents issued on or after the effective dateof the AIA, namely, September 16, 2011.

“False Marking” Claims and the New“Virtual Marking” ProvisionPrior to enactment of the AIA, any entity wasallowed to file a lawsuit accusing a companyof violating the patent marking statute, and ifsuccessful, collect 50% of the damages, withthe remaining 50% collected by the U.S. government. The entity bringing the lawsuitdid not have to prove that it was personallyharmed in any manner by the false marking.There are many ways that a company couldinadvertently violate the patent markingstatute, such as by failing to remove a patentnumber from a marked product when itexpired, or by inadvertently continuing tomark products with patents that no longercover the product. In recent years, hundredsof such lawsuits have been filed by dozens ofopportunistic law firms. Companies wouldoften settle such lawsuits for nuisance valueamounts.

The AIA changed the law so that a false-marking lawsuit may only be filed by the U.S.government or by a competitor who can provethat it suffered a “competitive injury.” Furthermore, it is no longer a violation tomark a product with an expired patent numberthat formerly covered the product.

This provision of the AIA was not onlymade effective upon enactment, but was madeeffective to all pending false-marking law-suits. The U.S. Courts are currently in theprocess of dismissing virtually all of the pend-ing false-marking lawsuits since the vastmajority of such suits were not filed by the

Information Display 2&3/12 39

First to File

Presently, and until March 15, 2013, two different sets of inventive entities (inventors) whofile a patent application for the same invention can become subject to an interference proceed-ing wherein the patent will be awarded to the inventor who can prove through documentsand other evidence that they invented the invention first in time, regardless of which inventorfiled the application first.

On March 16, 2013, the patent will be awarded to the inventor who filed the applicationfirst in time, regardless of when the inventor actually invented the invention. The only excep-tion to this new “bright-line” rule is if the second-to-file inventor presents evidence that thefirst-to-file inventor derived the invention from the second-to file-inventor, such as by stealingit. In this case, the U. S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) will conduct a “derivationproceeding” to ensure that the first inventor to file the application is actually an “originalinventor” and that the application was not derived from the second inventor. (Only “originalinventors” are entitled to obtain a valid, enforceable patent.)

The last article in this series will discuss the changeover from a “first to invent” to a “first tofile” system in more detail since there are many complex subtleties surrounding this provision.Despite the significant amount of press devoted to this provision, it is not likely to negativelyaffect a company’s ability to patent its inventions for at least the following two reasons:

1. True simultaneous invention scenarios are extremely rare.2. Under the existing law, the first-to-file inventor is usually determined to be the first to

invent in interference proceedings.

The ‘prior user defense’ is welcome relief forcompanies that wish to rely upon trade-secret protection for their inventions, as opposed to seeking patent protection for their inventions.

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U.S. government or by a competitor of theasserted falsely marked product. While thislaw change is a welcome relief to companies,product marking should still be carefully monitored for accuracy because competitorscan still file such lawsuits. Also, the failure toproperly mark a product covered by a patentwill prevent the patent owner from collectingdamages for any infringements that occurredprior to the filing of a patent infringementlawsuit.

Also, new rules were provided to allow for“virtual marking” so that a product can bemarked with a web site address that provides alisting of covered patent(s), thereby making itmuch easier for a company to manage theproduct marking process (e.g., Patents:www.rim.net/patents).

New Joinder RulesPrior to enactment of the AIA, a patent ownercould file a single lawsuit against multipledefendants who are alleged to infringe thesame patent, even if the infringing activity of the multiple defendants was completely different. For example, if a patent covering asmartphone power-saving feature is believedto be infringed by a Blackberry® and aniPhone®, the patent owner could file one law-suit against both Research in Motion, Ltd.,and Apple, Inc., even if completely differentchipsets are used to implement the power-savings feature.

The AIA changed the law to prevent apatent owner from suing multiple defendantsin a single lawsuit if the only justification forthe joinder is that all defendants are alleged tohave infringed the same patent. Furthermore,a court can no longer consolidate multiplepatent lawsuits related to the same patentunless the defendants agree to allow for theconsolidation. In the example above, thepatent owner would have to file two separatelawsuits, one against Research in Motion,Ltd., and another against Apple, Inc. Depend-ing upon jurisdiction and venue issues, thelawsuits may even have to be filed in differentcourts.

This provision increases the litigation costsof non-practicing entities (NPEs) who assertthat their patents are being infringed by alarge number of companies. The companiesthat lobbied for passage of this provision arehoping that it will reduce the number of suchlitigations by raising the costs. It remains tobe seen whether this goal will be achieved.

This provision may also have the effect ofraising litigation costs on the accusedinfringers because it will be more difficult forthe accused infringers to enter into jointdefense agreements to share litigation costsnow that lawsuits must be separately filed.

New Rules Regarding Treatment of“Advice of Counsel” in Patent LitigationFor any patent litigation filed on or afterSeptember 16, 2012, the following provisionof the AIA applies:

The failure of an infringer to obtain theadvice of counsel with respect to anyallegedly infringed patent, or the failureof the infringer to present such advice tothe court or jury, may not be used toprove that the accused infringer willfullyinfringed the patent or that the infringerintended to induce infringement of thepatent.

Stated simply, the patent owner will nolonger be able to attempt to sway a court orjury’s views of the case by pointing out thatthe accused defendant did not obtain an opin-ion of non-infringement or that the defendantobtained an opinion but has decided not topresent it as a defense to the charges ofinfringement. This provision may make itharder for a patent owner to prove that theinfringement was “willfulness,” which mayresult in enhanced damages and/or awardingof legal fees to the patent owner.

In view of this provision, can companiesnow forego the time and expense of obtainingopinions regarding whether their products orservices infringe any patents since the failureto do so can no longer be used against them ina patent litigation?

The short answer is “no,” since such opin-ions have many benefits that may far out-

weigh the costs. For example, a companymay use the results of the opinion process toavoid infringing an identified troublesomepatent by not proceeding with a proposedproduct or service, or to figure out how toinvent around the identified troublesomepatent, thereby potentially avoiding a lawsuitin the first place. A company may also beable to use the opinion to thwart an attempt bythe patent owner to prove that the infringe-ment was willful, thereby avoiding the possi-bility of having to pay enhanced damagesand/or legal fees of the patent owner if thecompany ultimately loses the lawsuit.

Upcoming ArticlesPart II of this series of articles will focus onkey provisions of the AIA that are effectivenow and that relate to United States Patentand Trademark Office (USPTO) and patentexamination provisions, including a new prioritized examination process, fee surcharges,and a new “micro entity” designation forpatent applications that allow for significantlyreduced government fees. Part II will alsofocus on new USPTO validity review pro-ceedings, including a new post-grant reviewprocess (opposition proceeding). Part III willfocus more thoroughly on the changeover inthe U.S. patent system from a “first to invent”to a “first to file” system.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office(USPTO) has an information web pageregarding the AIA at: http://www.uspto.gov/ aia_implementation/index.jsp that provideslinks to specific details of the AIA. �

40 Information Display 2&3/12

patent legislation

The U.S. Courts are currently in the process ofdismissing virtually all of the pending false-markinglawsuits since the vast majority of such suits were notfiled by the U.S. Government or by a competitor of theasserted falsely marked product.

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Contributed Papers

Applied Vision Science

87–93 Effects of text/background color combination, ambi-ent illuminance, and display type on discriminatingperformance for young and elderly usersAn-Hsiang Wang and Hui-Tzu Kuo, National ChungCheng University, Taiwan, ROC; Su-Lun Hwang, Chang Gung University of Science andTechnology, Taiwan, ROC

94–102 Subjective evaluation of visual fatigue due to mis-alignment of motion and still images in a stereoscop-ic displayShoji Yamamoto, Mitomo Maeda, Norimichi Tsumura,Toshiya Nakaguchi, Ryutaro Okamoto, Yoichi Miyake, and Ichiro Shimoyama, TokyoMetropolitan College of Industrial Technology, Tokyo, Japan

Electrophoretic Displays

103–108 A controller design for micro-cup active-matrix elec-trophoretic displaysChi-Ming Lu and Chin-Long Wey, National CentralUniversity, Taiwan

Plasma-Display Panels

109–117 Discharge diagnosis of high-Xe concentration andhigh-g protective layer in PDPsD. Zhu and X. Zhang, Southeast University, China;T.Izumi, T. Akiyama, and H. Kajiyama, Advanced PDP Development Center, Japan

3-D Displays and Systems

118–122 Simple method of characterizing the spatial lumi-nance distribution at the user position for autostereo-scopic 3-D displayHyungKi Hong , National University of Science andTechnology, Korea

Special Section on Papers Based on Presentations

from the 2011 SID Symposium (Part II)123 Introduction

Applied Vision Science124–132 Visual methods for determining ambient illumination

conditions when viewing medical images in mobile display devicesFahad Zafar, University of Maryland, USA; Mina Choi, Joel Wang, Peter Liu, and Aldo Badano,Food and Drug Administration, USA

Display Backlighting133–142 A directional backlight with narrow angular luminance

distribution for widening the viewing angle for an LCD with a front-surface light-scattering filmKälil Käläntär, Global Optical Solutions, Japan

Electrophoretic Displays143–147 Flexible electrophoretic display driven by solution-

processed organic thin-film transistorsNobuhide Yoneya, Hideki Ono, Yui Ishii, Kazuo Himori,Nobukazu Hirai, Hironobu Abe, Akira Yumoto, Norihito Kobayashi, and Kazumasa Nomoto, Sony Corp., Japan

Liquid-Crystal Technology148–155 An analytical model for instant design of an LCD cell

with photospacers under gravity and local loadingLing-Yi Ding, Pei-Zen Chang, and Wen-Pin Shih, National Taiwan University, Taiwan; Mao-Hsing Lin, Chimei Innolux Corp., Taiwan; Yuh-Chung Hu, National Ilan University, Taiwan

Organic Light-Emitting Diodes and Displays (OLEDs)156–161 Oxide-TFT technologies for next-generation AMOLED

displaysToshiaki Arai, Sony Corp., Japan

3-D Displays and Systems162–168 A pixel structure for simultaneous programming and

emission method for shutter-glasses-type stereoscop-ic 3-D AMOLED displaysHong-Sik Park, Kyong-Hwan Oh, Hai-Jung In, and Oh-Kyong Kwon, Hanyang University, Korea

169–174 Contrast-enhanced wide-angle high-speed polarizationmodulator for active-retarder 3-D displaysJesper Osterman, LC-Tec Displays AB, Sweden; Terry Scheffer, Motif, Inc., USA

SOCIETY FOR

INFORMATION

DISPLAY

SIDSOCIETY FOR INFORMATION DISPLAY

Journal of the

The following papers appear in the February 2012 (Vol. 20/2) issue of JSID.

For a preview of the papers go to sid.org/jsid.html.

The following papers appear in the March 2012 (Vol. 20/3) issue of JSID.

For a preview of the papers go to sid.org/jsid.html.

Symposium First Looks

Printed Displays and Electronics

This year SID introduces a promising newspecial focus session track specifically forprinted displays and electronics. Among theexciting work that will be described at the2012 Symposium are the printing of organicTFTs and a new way to use high-temperatureprocesses with low-temperature substrates.

by Jenny Donelan

Recent advances in the area of printed displays and electronics have created the potential forlightweight, low-cost, and flexible devicesbased on technologies such as TFT, organiclight-emitting diode (OLED), and organicphotovoltaic (OPV). RFID tags are probablythe most talked-about printed-electronicsapplication, with entire conferences focusingon RFIDs and related applications. Printeddisplays, according to SID 2012 ProgramChair Norbert Fruehauf, have not received asmuch attention, which is partly why they havebeen added to this year’s Special Focus lineupfor the symposium. “We wanted to address a part of the spectrum that is not typically covered,” says Fruehauf, a professor at theUniversity of Stuttgart in Germany. “This ispotentially a sizeable new market for dis-plays,” he says. And if some of the futureapplications, such as ultra-low-cost displaysfor packaging, are simple, determining how tomanufacture them cost effectively is not.

Two symposium sessions will be devoted toPrinted Displays and Electronics this year.While the featured papers cover a broad rangeof topics, a recurring theme is that of printingorganic TFTs, according to ITRI’s JanglinChen, Chair of the Printed Displays and Elec-tronics Special Focus group. Organic TFTs(OTFTs) are a particularly strong candidatefor flexible displays because they can be pro-duced on plastic substrates through printingtechnologies. Two papers on this topic are “Printing Technologies for Organic TFTArray for Electronic Paper” by Ryohei Matsubara of Toppan Printing Company and “Printable Organic Thin-Film-TransistorBackplanes for Mass Produced Displays” byMark James from Merck Chemicals, Ltd.

Another presentation of note includes theinvited paper, “Broad Implications Arisingfrom Novel Sintering Process and Conductive

Inks for Printed Electronics” from StanFarnsworth of NovaCentrix, which offers photonic sintering as a solution to the problemwith high-temperature curing processes thatneed to be employed with low-temperaturesubstrates. “Photonic curing has been shownto be effective in heating inks and functionalfilms to very high temperatures, in excess of500°C, on low-temperature substrates such aspolymers and paper,” writes the author. Thispaper also reviews the basic principles of thetechnology as well as the implications withregard to applications, materials, cost, andperformance.

Another paper of note is titled “Color filterson a flexible glass substrate fabricated in roll-to-roll processes” by Takayoshi Nirengi fromDai Nippon Printing. The key aspect of thisinnovation involves process innovations thatkeep the thin flexible glass substrate materialfrom cracking or breaking while being con-veyed through the rollers. The results mayseem evolutionary rather than revolutionary,but this is yet another very important step inthe process to reach commercialization offlexible-display manufacturing.

According to Fruehauf, companies in both Europe and the U.S. are working onprinted-display applications ranging fromelectrochromic materials on a substrate toprintable OLEDs to product labels that areactually displays. While printed displays arenot yet on the market, “It is obvious thatthey’re coming,” says Fruehauf. The PrintedDisplays and Electronics sessions at DisplayWeek will offer a unique look ahead at thatfuture market.

SID Debuts Innovation Zone forCutting-Edge Display Technologies

At Display Week 2012, the Society for Infor-mation Display is providing a new forum forlive demonstrations of emerging information-display technologies and related areas. Thisnew exhibit platform is called the “InnovationZone” (I-Zone) and will take place in the mainExhibit Hall, under the sponsorship of E InkHoldings, on June 5 and 6 at the Boston Con-vention and Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

“Display Week has always been the bestplace for companies to exhibit their displayproducts,” says Jerzy Kanicki, Chairman ofSID’s I-Zone Committee. “The missing piece

has been a platform concentrated in one areafor small companies, labs, institutes, and otherresearch entities with limited funding toexhibit the very newest display technology.”The I-Zone will allow researchers to demon-strate their prototypes or other hardware demounits for two days free of charge at the pre-mier display exhibition in North America.This new platform will also enable attendeesto view best-in-class emerging information-display technologies in a dedicated area on theshow floor. Access to free exhibition spaceencourages participation by small companies,startups, universities, government labs, andindependent research labs. The I-Zone willmake Display Week an even more excitingand relevant show, says Kanicki, noting “Some of this year’s exhibits will showcasecutting-edge demos and prototypes that willpower the products of tomorrow.”

Proposals to demonstrate new displays,input technologies, and innovations in relatedfields such as solid-state lighting, flexibleorganic electronics, and bio-inspired electronicsare currently being solicited by the I-Zoneselection committee. Technologies should bein the pre-product stage, and demos that arebeing shown for the first time in a publicforum are particularly encouraged.

The I-Zone selection committee will evaluate submissions and select the strongestproposals to receive free space within the I-Zone. Submissions are due by Monday,April 2, 2012, and anyone interested shouldvisit http://www.sid.org/AboutSID/Awards.aspx for more details. To submit a proposalplease visit http://www.cloznet.com/pcm/sidi3d/sidi3d.cfm

As an added incentive, at Display Week2012, the I-Zone committee will select andannounce a winner of the “Best Prototype atDisplay Week.” The winning technology willalso be featured in ID magazine. �

42 Information Display 2&3/12

NEWSSOCIETY FORINFORMATION

DISPLAY

Submit Your News ReleasesPlease send all press releases and newproduct announcements to:

Jenny DonelanInformation Display Magazine411 Lafayette Street, Suite 201

New York, NY 10003Fax: 212.460.5460

e-mail: jdonelan@pcm411.com

Boston is a city with a rich history of innovation and progress.It serves as the perfect host for the 2012 SID InternationalSymposium, Seminar & Exhibition. Display Week will be

held June 3–8 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Theexhibition will be open from June 5 to 7.

Display Week is the once-a-year, can’t-miss event for the

electronic-information-display industry. The exhibition

is the premier showcase for global information-display

companies and researchers to unveil cutting-edge develop-

ments in display technology. More display innovations are

introduced year after year at Display Week than at any other

display event in the world. Display Week is where the world

got its first look at technologies that have shaped the display

industry into what it is today; that is, liquid-crystal-display

(LCD) technology, plasma-display-panel (PDP) technology,

organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) technology, and high-

definition TV, just to name a few. Display Week is also where

emerging industry trends such as 3-D, touch and interactivity,

flexible and e-paper displays, solid-state lighting, digital

signage, and plastic electronics are brought to the forefront of

the display industry. First looks such as these are why over

6500 attendees will flock to Boston for Display Week 2012.

HHiissttoorryy iinn tthhee MMaakkiinngg

Display Week 2012June 3–8, 2012

Boston Convention & Exhibition CenterBoston, Massachusetts, USA

Meanwhile, although portable displays arestill rigid, this has not stopped consumersfrom buying a lot of them in the past year.DisplaySearch estimates that over 64 milliontablets were sold in 2011, and the marketcould exceed 250 million units by 2015. Theproblem is that consumers give up certain features when they buy a tablet – like thisgreat old-fashioned keyboard I am typing on –and some manufacturers are missing out onthe party because tablets and notebook PCscome from radically different family trees.The traditional PC makers, encouraged byIntel, are pushing a new segment of portablecomputer dubbed the “Ultrabook,” which weunderstand were highlighted at the ConsumerElectronics Show (CES) in January. I knowall this because of our Display Marketplacefeature this month written by Richard Shimfrom DisplaySearch, titled “Tablets Impactthe Notebook Market: Enter the Ultrabook.”Richard does a great job breaking down thekey elements of the designs, the processorroadmaps, the economics for consumers, andthe impact on displays. I’ll let you read thearticle and draw your own conclusions, but Ibelieve this is another new segment that has abright future.

Speaking of CES, as always, ID was wellrepresented in Las Vegas in January by SteveSechrist, and we are pleased to have his CESshow report on all the display news in thisissue. As most of you have probably alreadyheard, among the billions (or was it trillions)of pixels on display were the much-heraldedand long overdue organic light-emitting-diode(OLED) TV panels from Samsung and LG.This is the event we have been anticipating fora couple of years now, and it appears that theindustry may have finally given birth to mass-producible large-area OLED TV panels! Iheard their performance was great and eventhe cynical electronics industry press wasimpressed. Cigars for everyone and now let’ssee how fast these kids can grow and mature.

As I said earlier, one of the things we werelooking for were new applications for the current field of personal devices, and the subjectof textbooks came up. While eReaders havebecome popular for general reading applica-tions, they have been slower to find use inschools and other academic settings as part offormal education. Clearly, the advantage ofputting a textbook on an eReader can be appre-ciated, if for no other reason than just reducingthe weight on a student’s back. However, the

usage model for a textbook is different fromthat of a novel. Textbooks require more fre-quent searching and less linear reading. Digitalreaders themselves do not always offer the bestmethod for exploring textbooks and they haveother drawbacks when widely deployed inclassrooms. In his Enabling Technology featuretitled “Dual-Pigment Electrophoretic Displaysfor Reading Textbooks,” author and E-InkHoldings VP Sriram Peruvemba explains theadvantages of e-Textbooks. Encouraged bySri’s article, I actually downloaded a new text-book to my Kindle recently and I’m evaluatingfor myself how well the experience works. Isaved about $40 on a $200 book – not an over-whelming incentive, but I would argue that Ijust helped the environment and defrayed thepurchase price of my Kindle by 25%. We’ll seeif this option gets more financially compellingin the future.

One common feature in every smartphoneand tablet today is a touch screen. Whilemany eReaders also have touch screens, somedo not, and the application demands on aneReader touch screen are greater than those onother devices because of the need for annota-tion and hence digital ink. In our secondFrontline Technology feature this month,“Touch Technology for eReaders,” authorGeoff Walker explains why putting a touchscreen in an eReader can be difficult, andwhat the limitations and advantages of eachtechnology candidate are. Geoff drills downto very specific details of the touch screens oneach of the currently available readingdevices, summing up their strengths andweaknesses. I always enjoy Geoff’s insightfulanalysis. As he and I have said many times,there is no single touch solution that meets100% of the user’s demands for this or mostother applications.

One thing users have been demandingrecently are realistic 3-D displays without theneed for glasses – virtual displays that gobeyond current autostereoscopic modes andtruly re-create the natural world. At a recentimaging-technology conference I attended, Iwas privileged to hear Dr. Pierre-AlexandreBlanche from the University of Arizona talkabout his vision for a real-time holographicdisplay. I was impressed with his conciseanalysis of the human-vision issues associatedwith current stereoscopic displays, and also byhis very innovative approach to holographicstereography that uses a new photorefractivematerial that may help create a 3-D display

that reproduces all human visual cues. At myinvitation, Dr. Blanche agreed to contributehis article titled “Toward the Ultimate 3-DDisplay” and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Another subject that we like to keep our eyeon is intellectural property issues and this howthey affect those of you who invent new prod-ucts and technologies. This month we beginthe first of a three-part series analyzing thesweeping changes to the U.S. patent processbrought about by the passage of the “AmericaInvents Act” (AIA) patent reform legislation.You may remember author Clark Jablon, Part-ner and Registered Patent Attorney at PanitchSchwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP (PSB&N) inPhiladelphia, PA, for a series on intellectualproperty strategies he authored for ID a cou-ple years ago. Clark has graciously agreed toreturn and help us all understand this newtwist on the U.S. patent process. Thismonth’s installment, titled “What CompaniesNeed to Know About the Leahy-Smith Amer-ica Invents Act (AIA) Patent Reform Legisla-tion: Part I” focuses on key litigation provi-sions that are taking effect right now. Stayinginformed on strategies and practices in thefield of intellectual-property protection is acrucial part of running any successful technol-ogy business. I cannot thank Clark Jablonenough for offering his time and energy toeducate the readers of ID on this critical topic.

With that, it’s a “full lid,” as they say in theWhite House press corps. I hope you enjoythis February/March issue of Information Dis-play, and, as always, I look forward to yourfeedback. To send us comments or sugges-tions, you can reach us by e-mail at press@sid.org and on the web at www.information display.org. When you visit our Web site, besure to help out our advertising partners byclicking their links and learning more abouttheir valuable products and services. ID is here to serve the display industry, andthe industry supports ID through its generousadvertising support. �

44 Information Display 2&3/12

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VISIT INFORMATION

DISPLAY ON-LINEwww.informationdisplay.org

Information Display 2&3/12 45

and transflective modes, is designed to enable the creation of displays with bright,colorful images and reduced power consumption.

Since the acquisition, there has not beenmuch news about Liquavista, so InformationDisplay caught up with Liquavista CEO JohanFeenstra to see what has been happening. Forone, Liquavista is now Samsung LCD Nether-lands R&D Center (SNRC). The financialbacking of Samsung has been great for thecompany, notes Feenstra, saying, “Samsunglooks at this business more strategically thanventure capitalists would. So we’re focusingmuch more on R&D now. Since the acquisi-tion, that has accelerated significantly.” Thefocus of current R&D is primarily on LCalternatives with a view to eReader and tabletapplications. So while there isn’t a lot ofproduct news at the moment, there will besome at some point. “We’re making goodprogress and are quite happy to be part ofSamsung,” says Feenstra.

Large OLED TVs Show Up (As Promised) at CESAmong the most-anticipated exhibits at the2012 Consumer Electronics Show in LasVegas in January were the 55-in. OLED TVsfrom LG and Samsung. The TVs lived up totheir reputation, judging from the many posi-tive accounts to be found online. The nexttwo questions on everybody’s mind are: “How much?” and “When can I buy one?”The answers are still to come, but you canlearn more from Steve Sechrist, who hasreported on those OLED TVs and much more from CES in this issue of InformationDisplay.

– Jenny Donelan

I would like to thank ID magazine for theopportunity to serve as guest editor and tointeract with these incredible authors andcompanies. I have been involved in SID forover a decade now, dating back to my earlydays developing inorganic EL displays. Personally, I plan to stay active in tablets/eReaders for years to come because from aresearch perspective many of the technologychallenges are not yet solved even in a labora-tory setting. We hope many of you enjoy thisissue, especially by accessing the on-line version on your portable device.

Jason Heikenfeld is Associate Professor andDirector for the Novel Devices Laboratory atthe School of Electronic and Computing Systems at the University of Cincinnati. Hecan be reached at heikenjc@ucmail.uc.edu. �

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Display Week 2012SID International

Symposium,Seminar & Exhibition

June 3–8, 2012

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

www.sid.org

Submit Your News ReleasesPlease send all press releases and newproduct announcements to:

Jenny DonelanInformation Display Magazine411 Lafayette Street, Suite 201

New York, NY 10003Fax: 212.460.5460

e-mail: jdonelan@pcm411.com

Advantech US, Inc.Applied Concepts, Inc.Astra Products, Inc.AU Optronics Corp.

CDT, Ltd.Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp.Corning IncorporatedCyantek Corp.

Dawar Technologies, Inc.Dontech, Inc.

eMagin Corp.Epoxy TechnologyEternal Chemical Co., Ltd.

Hanwang Technology Co., Ltd.Henkel (China) Investment Co.,

Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd.

IGNIS Innovation, Inc.Industrial Electronic Engineers,

Inc. (IEE)Instrument Systems GmbH

Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc.NANOSYSNEC Corp.Nippon Seiki Co., Ltd.Noritake Itron Corp.Novaled AG

OcularOptical Filters, Ltd.

Panasonic Corp.Parker Chomerics/Silver CloudPhoto Research, Inc.Planar Systems, Inc.

Radiant Imaging, Inc.Reflexite Display OpticsROLIC Technologies, Ltd.

Sartomer USA LLCSharp Corp.SLENCIL Co.

Tannas ElectronicsTatsuta Electric Wire & Cable

Co., Ltd.TE ConnectivityTeijin DuPont Films Japan, Ltd.TFD, Inc.TLC InternationalToshiba America Electronic

Components, Inc.Trillion Science, Inc.

Universal Display Corp.US Micro Products

Vestal Electronics A.S.

Westar Display Technologies,Inc.

Abrisa Technologies ...............11

AIXTRON............................C3

Cree .........................................5

Display Taiwan......................11

Display Week 2012................43

ELDIM S.A...........................C2

EuropTec...............................37

Henkel ..................................C4

IMS Research.........................48

Ocular....................................45

Thin Film Device (TFD) .......15

Sales Office – Asia

Dr. Jia-Ming LiuIndustrial Technology Research InstituteBuilding 77 Chungsing Road, Sec. 4Chutung, Hsinchu 310 Taiwan+886-3-591-6939fax: +886-3-582-0217jiamingliu@itri.org.tw

Sales Office – Europe

George Isaacs12 Park View CourtThe Paddock, Eaton FordSt. Neots, CambridgeshirePE19 7SD U.K.+44-(0)-1480-218400george@gandg.demon.co.uk

Sales Office – Taiwan

Jie Tsai, Project ManagerACE Forum, Inc.10F-1, No. 180, Sec. 4Nanjing E. Rd.Taipei 105, Taiwan+886-2-2570-6960 x302fax: +886-2-2570-2305jie@aceforum.com.tw

Sales Office – U.S.A.

Christine von Steiger, Sales ManagerPalisades Convention Management411 Lafayette Street, Suite 201New York, NY 10003413/783-0473fax: 413/783-0474cvonsteiger@pcm411.com

48 Information Display 2&3/12

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AIXTRON SE · Kaiserstr. 98 · 52134 Herzogenrath, Germanyinfo@aixtron.com · www.aixtron.com

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OVPD® technology has been exclusively licensed to AIXTRON from Universal DisplayCorporation (UDC), Ewing, N.J. USA for equipment manufacture. OVPD® technology is based on an invention by Professor Stephen R. Forrest et al. at Princeton University, USA, which was exclusively licensed to UDC. AIXTRON and UDC have jointly developed and qualified OVPD® pre-production equipment.

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