Last week the The Society of Information Display’s (SID) show took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Previous years of this show have seen some very exciting technology on display. This year lacked some of the pizazz of previous shows, but there were interesting things to see. Samsung had the biggest showing bringing quite a few new ideas to show off along with their 2012 LCD panels.
Samsung brought the VA I and VA II to the show, both of which are LCD displays. The sets each boast better viewing angles, faster response times and better energy efficiency through higher light transmission. The VA I is a 2012 set and the VA II will be out in 2013. Neither of these sets are particularly surprising from Samsung but it will be nice to see better viewing angles on LCD sets moving forward.
Samsung wasn't just showing off a newer or bigger LCD panel, they were showing off new ways to cram higher resolution into their sets. The UD 70″ LED LCD panel on display makes use of a oxide semiconductor thin film transistor (TFT) to get a resolution of 3840 x 2160 in the 70" display. To recap, that's a huge screen, new technology, and an industry first resolution.
Samsung also displayed their color sequential backlight unit at the show. This technology creates the full color spectrum by using red, blue, green and white LEDs instead of the color filters on subpixels that are current used in flat panel displays. Samsung hasn't discussed commercializing this technology, but if they did it would result in every pixel representing all colors, effectively eliminating subpixels and driving the price of flat panel displays down.
3D wasn't neglected either, with Samsung bringing a new display technology as well as Real D coming to SID 2011 with Universal 3D glasses. For these set,s Samsung paired with Real D to bring an Active 3D Panel technology to computer monitors and television. The technology allows 3D to be achieved with passive glasses (like the ones movie theaters give out). What's unique is the display will have full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). Samsung showed this technology last September but announced that computer monitors and a 55" HDTV that incorporate the technology will ship this year.
Also shipping this year are Real D's Universal Active 3D glasses which use a unique chip to allow them to automatically sync to any infra-red or RF sync set. Real D didn't announce a price or specific release date but they did say the glasses will ship later this year at major retailers. It would be nice to see these come in around or under $50.
Samsung's final showing was probably the coolest technology wise but at the same time the least interesting on a consumer scale. The company showed a see through LCD screen integrated into a refrigerator door. I suppose the idea here is you could have the football game running in every room in your house and not miss a play to grab a cold beverage. Unless you're a big shot it seems ridiculous to even consider putting this in an actual home, but it would make a very interesting billboard system in liquor stores or even grocery stores. Ads could easily be displayed on this type of door while the consumer could still see what products are available, nice and cold, inside the case.
Samsung brought a nice mix of products, with some nearly ready for release and some technologies a few years out. It'll be interesting to see when the 70" Oxide Semiconductor set actually comes to the consumer market and at what price. The future of ad enabled refrigerators and other uses of that particular technology will also be fascinating to track in the coming months and years.
