Funai develops TFT-, backlight-free display

Japanese electronics company Funai's research and development arm, the Funai Electric Advanced Applied Technology Research Institute, has developed a reflective display without a backlight, unlike conventional LCD displays. The company, which makes Sylvania-, Symphonic- and Emerson-branded LCDs, says the new display uses just one percent of the electricity per square centimeter needed by conventional LCDs. In place of the backlight, the display uses dyes that change color when exposes to an electric current. Fittingly, Funai says the clarity can be compared to that of characters printed on a piece of paper.

The benefits get even greater, as Funai claims their new screen type has 80 percent reflectivity, making it more easily seen in sunlight. That is a 30 percent improvement over LCDs. Costs are also about two-thirds lower than those of existing LCDs because the Funai displays do not require thin-film transistors (TFTs) in their production.

Apart from a plan to bring the new type of display to market sometime in 2009 initially in 7- to 14-inch sizes, there is no other information about the new Funai displays. [via CrunchGear]

Filed under: industry, digital imaging
Other story tags: Funai, Sylvania, Emerson, Symphonic