NOVEMBER 11, 2016
Düsseldorf, Germany, November 11th, 2016
TIANMA Micro-electronics China and TIANMA NLT EUROPE were attending “electronica” in München from November 8 -11, 2016.
Electronica is the leading exhibition in Europe for electronic components, displays and embedded systems. At the booth area of 100 m2 about 40 different displays have been shown, covering the field of industrial and automotive displays as well as displays utilizing new technologies.
Wide viewing angle and high resolution
Displays with wide viewing angle and high resolution have always been one of the strong points from NLT and TIANMA.
TFTs with SFT technology reaching from 5“ HD (720 x 1280) to the slim frame 15.6“ FHD (1920 x 1080) and up to the new 18.5“ FHD were shown. All FHD panels have an embedded display port (15.6” and 18.5” are also available with LVDS interface).
Due to their large color gamut (72{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} NTSC color space) and high resolution their typical applications are in industrial market and medical diagnostics.
Outdoor readability with transflective/reflective and high luminance displays
The display shown here allow readability even under strong sunlight. From Tianma brand a 10.1” WXGA high luminance panel using SFT technology with 1000 cd/m2 was shown, the highlight from NLT brand was the new 15.0” XGA TN panel with the amazing luminance of 1600 cd/m2..
Large attraction was gathered by new transflective (4.0”) and reflective (4.4”) displays. The 4.4” reflective display achieves a reflectance of 25{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} and a color gamut of 22{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} (NTSC color space).
Touch displays
TIANMA NLT supports a wide range of touch technologies, including PCAP, on-cell and in-cell touch. Touch displays in sizes from 7” to 15” were presented. The major attraction points at the booth were:
10.1” WXGA (1280 x 800) On-cell touch from Tianma
Most on-cell touch panels are focusing on 7“ or smaller. Tianma is showing a display with a size of 10.1” and on-cell touch. It’s possible due to usage of optimized pattern design. It allows 10 touch points and it’s also working with water drops on the surface or if it’s operated wearing thin gloves.
5.15” FHD (1920 x 1080) with TED (Touch Embedded Display) Force touch
This is one of the absolute highlights at the booth.
It’s based on a display with in-cell touch from Tianma. Pressure sensing is integrated into a single chip. This chip includes now display driver IC, touch driver IC, pressure sensing. It can distinguish between soft and strong pressure (“z-axis” sensitivity added).
According to the strength of pressure different functions can be started.
Pressure sensing was first used in smart phones and is expected to find new applications in professional display market
PCAP under “wet & glove” operation
NLT’s new generation of PCAP touch displays allows touch recognition even if the surface is wet or when the operator is wearing gloves up to a thickness of 6 mm. Two displays, 12.1” XGA, optimized for operation with gloves respectively under wet surface conditions, have attracted the attention of many visitors.
Tactile feedback
NLT’s technology study shows a 10.4” touch panel which is able to provide tactile feedback at any position of the display surface. The touch perception can be generated at a fixed positon or can move across the surface. The perception is ether “smooth” or “rough”. One can “feel buttons” – or the surface of a Turtle armor.
Free form and transparent displays
4” free form display with on-cell touch
For certain applications displays with free form are desired. Cutting of round TFTs is much more difficult that cutting of rectangular products due to the need to cut the backlight structure design and proper alignment of TFT lines. Tianma could achieve contour cutting with an accuracy of 0.1mm, resulting in a smooth appearance of the final product. The 4” demo sample has a resolution of 960 x 960 pixels, wide viewing angle (SFT) and on-cell touch. Typical applications are smart home and, for smaller sizes, as wearable devices.
10.4” VGA (640 x 480) transparent display
In the section “new technologies” Tianma was showing a transparent display. Having a luminance of 450 cd/m2 and a transmittance of 9.5{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} it allows very good readability of the data/picture in the TFT plane and, at the same time, to see the space “behind” the display. The color gamut covers 40{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} of NTSC color space. Typical applications are seen in the area of white goods
AM-OLED
The major application of AM OLED displays is still within consumer market. Tianma was showing two samples with their astonishing properties:
5.46” HD (720 x 1280) flexible AM-OLED
At the exhibition shown with a product thickness of 0.3mm and bending radius of 20mm. It was one of major attraction points. It is expected that the bending radius can be reduced to 5mm or even below. 2 mm are technically reached in laboratory already.
Typical applications are tablet/smart phone with edge or wearable watch.
5.5” HD (720 x 1280) on-cell AM-OLED
With a module thickness of only 1.4mm this is one of the thinnest touch displays in the market. The color gamut is 100{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} (NTSC color space) and the contrast ration 10000:1. It’s already in mass production and produced in large quantities for a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer.
Other highlights
19.5” 4k2k (3840 x 2160) display with SFT2 technology
For the first time shown in Europe was the 4k2k demo-model from NLT. Due to its new pixel structure (SFT2) it can achieve transmissivity levels 180{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} higher than TFTs with conventional SFT technology. It has a luminance of 1000 cd/m2 and achieves a color gamut of 80{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4} (NTSC color space), Typical applications are seen in medical imaging, graphic design and broadcasting.
Virtual Reality (VR)
VR display technology is emerging in computer graphics, as a human-machine interface, human-computer interface, in artificial intelligence and many other frontier technologies.
In combination with 3D sound experience, smells, etc. it can create a complete virtual world around us.
Tianma showed two products for VR applications, each one using 5.5” displays.
One demonstrator had a LTPS display in combination with a PC, the other one was just a mobile phone with Tianma AM-OLED.
The advantages of AM-OLED technology are short response time (less than 2ms), high luminance (1000 cd/m2), high contrast ratio (10000:1) and product thickness of less than 1 mm (without mobile phone).
The strong points from LTPS are the high resolution (about 850 ppi), longer lifetime and better yield in production.
Holographic display
A 21.3” display with high resolution (1600 x 1200) was used as image source. By reflection from a large semi-transparent glass prism the impression of 3D image was created, allowing text and figures to move and rotate free in space. The target market is exhibition industry. At our booth it has been one of major attraction points.
Automotive displays
Since Tianma has moved into the global automotive display market, it has developed many custom specific high quality panels. Some of the most remarkable new products were shown at the booth:
12.3” curved with 1.3” touch control knobs
This display has a curved surface with capacitive multi finger touch. All components – LED backlight, TFT LCD and touch sensor – have curved surface. The touch sensor is optically bonded to the TFT. The TFT has wide viewing angle (SFT). The display allows new designs in the car and provides a many options for new functions.
1.8“ Head-up display
The exhibit, having an aspect ratio of 2:1 and made in LTPS technology, provides a resolution of 300 dpi and a high contrast ratio of 1200:1. The transmission is higher than 6{4d5cb383d6a84e14da1e3e2dc94c94a8967ddf15367cb6f606ed0843e4e3f5e4}.
14.1“ 2k resolution
Another highlight of the automotive area was the 14.1” CID (center information display), allowing a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixel, equivalent to 208 ppi. It has a luminance of 600 cd/m2.
Many visitors were coming to the booth and many customer meetings were taking place. The electronica has been a very successful exhibition.
