The performance impact of core component outsourcing: insights from the LCD TV industry

Firms in technology markets often outsource the manufacture of core components—components that are central to product performance and comprise a substantial portion of product costs. Despite the strategic importance of core-component outsourcing, there is little empirical evidence (and many conflicting opinions) about its impact on consumer demand. The authors address this gap with an examination of panel data from the flat panel TV industry, across key regions globally. Results from their estimation indicate that core-component outsourcing reduces the firm’s ability to be on the technological frontier; this hurts demand, because the authors’ estimates suggest that consumers care about firms being on the frontier. However, such outsourcing also reduces costs. Finally, the authors find that outsourcing increases the intensity of competition in the marketplace. They assess these (often opposing) effects and conduct thought experiments to quantify the performance impact of core-component outsourcing

JTEC panel on display technologies in Japan

This report is one in a series of reports that describes research and development efforts in Japan in the area of display technologies. The following are included in this report: flat panel displays (technical findings, liquid crystal display development and production, large flat panel displays (FPD's), electroluminescent displays and plasma panels, infrastructure in Japan's FPD industry, market and projected sales, and new a-Si active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) factory); materials for flat panel displays (liquid crystal materials, and light-emissive display materials); manufacturing and infrastructure of active matrix liquid crystal displays (manufacturing logistics and equipment); passive matrix liquid crystal displays (LCD basics, twisted nematics LCD's, supertwisted nematic LCD's, ferroelectric LCD's, and a comparison of passive matrix LCD technology); active matrix technology (basic active matrix technology, investment environment, amorphous silicon, polysilicon, and commercial products and prototypes); and projection displays (comparison of Japanese and U.S. display research, and technical evaluation of work)

Flat Panel Displays in an Automotive Environment

A study was made of the field of flat panel displays, and their potential application in an automotive environment. Using contemporary display technology, semiconductors and software, a model was developed to fit an existing automotive instrumentation application. The resulting model was critically assessed in respect to the demands of such an application in respect to existing instrumentation methods. The viability and suitability of implementing such a design are discussed as well as its ability to be intrinsically portable and adaptable

Functional requirements for the man-vehicle systems research facility

The NASA Ames Research Center proposed a man-vehicle systems research facility to support flight simulation studies which are needed for identifying and correcting the sources of human error associated with current and future air carrier operations. The organization of research facility is reviewed and functional requirements and related priorities for the facility are recommended based on a review of potentially critical operational scenarios. Requirements are included for the experimenter's simulation control and data acquisition functions, as well as for the visual field, motion, sound, computation, crew station, and intercommunications subsystems. The related issues of functional fidelity and level of simulation are addressed, and specific criteria for quantitative assessment of various aspects of fidelity are offered. Recommendations for facility integration, checkout, and staffing are included

OLEDs AND E-PAPER. Disruptive Potential for the European Display Industry

DG ENTR and JRC/IPTS of the European Commission have launched a series of studies to analyse prospects of success for European ICT industries with respect to emerging technologies. This report concerns display technologies (Organic Light Emitting Diodes and Electronic Paper - or OLEDs and e-paper for short). It assesses whether these technologies could be disruptive, and how well placed EU firms would be to take advantage of this disruption In general, displays are an increasingly important segment of the ICT sector. Since the 1990s and following the introduction of flat panel displays (FPDs), the global display industry has grown dramatically. The market is now (2009) worth about ¿ 100 billion. Geo-politically, the industry is dominated by Asian suppliers, with European companies relegated to a few vertical niches and parts of the value chain (e.g. research, supply of material and equipment). However, a number of new technologies are entering the market, e.g. OLEDs and electronic paper. Such emerging technologies may provide an opportunity for European enterprises to (re-)enter or strengthen their competitive position. OLEDs are composed of polymers that emit light when a current is passed through them. E-paper, on the other hand, is a portable, reusable storage and display medium, typically thin and flexible. Both OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt the existing displays market, but it is still too soon to say with certainty whether this will occur and when. Success for OLEDs depends on two key technical advances: first, the operating lifetime, and second, the production process. E-paper has a highly disruptive potential since it opens the door to new applications, largely text-based, not just in ICTs but also in consumer goods, pictures and advertising that could use its key properties. It could also displace display technologies that offer text-reading functions in ICT terminals such as tablet notebooks. There are three discrete segments in the OLED value chain where any discontinuity could offer EU firms the opportunity to play a more significant part in the displays sector: (1) original R&D and IPR for devices and for the manufacturing process and material supply/verification; (2) bulk materials for manufacture and glass; and (3) process equipment:. For the e-paper value chain, we can see that the entry of EU suppliers is perhaps possible across more value chain segments than for OLEDs. Apart from the ones mentioned for OLEDs, there are opportunities to enter into complete devices and content provision. In terms of vertical segments, the point of entry in OLED FPDs for Europe is most likely to be in the mass production of smaller FPDs for mobile handsets. In conclusion, OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt current displays market and in so doing they may enable EU companies to enter at selected points in the value chain to compete with the Asian ICT industry.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Hardware/software interaction in graphical display systems

A review of the principles and applications of display systems is given. A state-of-the-art survey is made of the various types of display devices and their disadvantages. A study is made of the problems associated with two particular display devices and solutions found by the use of hardware and software techniques. A communications line is occupied for an excessive amount of time when drawing graphs on a standard incremental plotter from a remote computer. This time was significantly reduced for low cost by using a satellite computer and trying various alternative coding techniques.A low cost interactive raster scan graphics system was developed that used a magnetic disc to refresh television monitors. This system was used to determine the best method for overcoming the crossing vector erasure problem. A system using the improvements to both the display devices is proposed as a further development.<p

A novel RGBW pixel for LED displays

In this work, a novel pixel configuration RGBW, consisting of red (R), green (G), blue (B), and white (W) LEDs, is employed and investigated for color generation. Energy consumption and various hues of new pixels are compared to standard pixels consisting of RGB LEDs. Human perception experiments are conducted in order to study the perceptual difference between the two architectures when the same colors are generated using RGBW vs. RGB. Power measurements for an 8x8 pixel LED display has demonstrated up to 49% power savings for gray scale, over 30% power savings for low saturated colors, and up to 12% for high saturated colors using RGBW as an alternative. Furthermore, human perception studies has shown that vast majority of test subjects could not distinguish between most colors displayed using RGB and RGBW showing that RGBW is an excellent substitute for RGB. Statistics has shown that 44% of test subjects found the colors in gray scale to be the same, whereas 82% and 95% of test subject found low saturated colors and high saturated colors, respectively, to be identical

Technical evolution of liquid crystal displays

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have evolved rapidly as a result of fierce competition among the various LCD technologies, and now occupy the largest proportion of the entire display market. The evolution of LCDs continues, with new technologies and new materials in development to replace current devices. This review summarizes the key technologies used in commercially successful LCD products, focusing on the requirements for high-end displays and the benefits of the in-plane switching and multi-domain vertical alignment modes. As in past advances, the development of new materials will play an important role in the continued technical evolution of LCDs.open252