Sony might jump to its one-time partner Samsung to leap into OLED TVs. Purported insiders claimed Tuesday to Digitimes that Sony, having unsuccessfully tried a partnership with AU Optronics on large-size OLEDs, was going with Samsung-made OLED panels for some Bravia TVs due in 2013. AUO wouldn't have large-enough organic displays until late 2012, or too late for Sony to use them, according to the tip.
Apple's rumored 7.85-inch iPad was claimed late Thursday to be going into production in late spring. Part suppliers talking to Digitimes believed Apple was staggering the introduction of a second model, launching the iPad 3 towards March but shipping its miniature counterpart before the fall, leaving the summer as the likely target. Previously alluded production plans would see both AU Optronics and LG Display making the new screens.
Display maker AU Optronics has demonstrated two extremes in transparent AMOLED screen technology at the recent Yokohana Exhibition in Japan. The company showed off a large 65-inch transparent touchscreen display fitted over a vending machine to theoretically be used for buying from the machine's glass, leaving more room to show the products themselves. AUO also demonstrated a six-inch transparent AMOLED display.
A rumored small iPad might have manifested itself if a purported leak is accurate. Both AU Optronics and LG Display were said by Taiwan's Economic Daily News to be sending Apple samples of a 7.85-inch touchscreen with the same 1024x768 resolution as the current, 9.7-inch iPad. Broadcom would supply the touchscreen's controller chipset, while Kinsus would make the substrate.
AU Optronics (AUO) today revealed that it will show a potentially record-setting 71-inch 3D LCD at the upcoming FPD International 2010 trade show. The company claims the screen is the largest 3D LCD widescreen panel available today. The panel uses passive polarization to achieve the 3D effect, which requires viewers to wear polarized glasses. It has a cinema-like aspect ratio of 21:9, which the company says makes it suitable for high-end home theater systems.
Signs that Apple is claimed to be coming onboard to handle the workload. The AUO sub-label has reportedly been asked to make some of the touch input layers for the iPad starting from either this month or October. Digitimes understands that its new 4.5th-generation factory can cut as many as 1,000,000 iPad touch sensors a month; most of the factory would be dedicated to the Apple deal.
AU Optronics today at the SID Display expo showcased a number of advances it believes should advance LCDs for handhelds. The highlight is the world's first curved LCD, according to the company: a new thinning technique allows the company to produce a screen with a 100mm (3.9in) radius that not only arcs but which has even backlighting across the entire display. The invention could mean a generation of devices with LCDs where they were previously difficult or impractical, such as wristwatches or instrumentation built directly in-dash for cars. AUO doesn't say when it expects the technology to reach shipping products.
Two panel makers are evenly splitting orders for new LCDs to be used in upcoming consumer MacBooks, according to a story in Taiwan's Commercial Times. The newspaper claims that two of the island's more prominent display makers, AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics, are being tapped by Apple to produce the screens for mainstream systems that will be launched sometime during the summer. The Times doesn't mention screen sizes or other characteristics of the LCDs.
Taiwan display maker AU Optronics today revealed what it says is the world's first truly wide-aspect, full HD 24-inch flat-panel display. The LCD adopts the same 16:9 ratio of many HDTVs and is capable of a native 1080p resolution. While shorter than the 1920x1200 resolution of existing 24-inch computer screens, the wider display makes it better-suited to widescreen movies with the image filling more of the available space. The new design is also half as thick as the taller displays: where a conventional display would measure 1.38 inches deep, the new implementation is just 0.55 inches. Combined with a narrow bezel, this allows a same-size display in a much smaller space.
