Chapter 358: Full Color Dawn
It is basically impossible to use a 9-inch screen on a TV or a big-butt computer.
Because the smallest TVs in Japan are now over 14 inches, compared to them, 9 inches is too small.
Moreover, the current STN screen cannot achieve full color, and this palette-like block pseudo-color is far from achieving the visual viewing effect.
But even so, 9 inches is about 22 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide.
It can still be used in the notebook computers, handheld microcomputers, Japanese and English typewriters, graphic processors, electronic translators and other office and communication equipment that are about to be released.
These electronic devices commonly used in daily life also represent a very large market when added together.
Some industrial equipment also requires a large number of electronic display screens.
At this time, the value of STN screen appears. It is cheap, highly sensitive, and colorful. It will definitely be welcomed by these equipment manufacturers.
"Professor Shirakawa, please develop the production process of STN screens as soon as possible. We must launch it on the market after the new year."
Shirakawa Electric's LCD factory has been in operation for a long time. Most of the STN processes are the same as TN, so the production line is not a problem.
When Shirakawa Hideki heard Shirakawa Feng's request, he nodded seriously and said, "Understood!"
He also knows that the sooner a new technology is brought to market, the better the advantage it will gain.
Moreover, it is not only SIC that is developing the next generation of LCD technology. Sharp and others are also moving quickly. This matter should be done sooner rather than later.
"By the way, is it possible for STN to be transformed into full-color technology in the future?" Baichuan Feng is still obsessed with his full-color screen.
"Technically, yes, as long as the three primary colors scattered by the color film are re-blended, full color can be presented in theory.
However, this requires a more powerful driver IC, because in addition to circuit driving, it is also responsible for the calculation of color pixels. "
Baichuan Feng understood what he meant. Driver chips with more powerful computing power needed to be developed separately.
And there is no doubt that the STN with this chip will cost more.
"But compared to the full-color STN, we envision a completely new screen technology."
Obviously, Hideki Shirakawa also knew that his boss preferred color displays, so he never stopped researching in this area.
"New screen technology?" Upon hearing the words "new technology", Baichuan Feng felt inexplicably happy.
This most likely means that SIC will bring some unexpected surprises to itself.
“Strictly speaking, it still belongs to the category of LCD display, but its working principle is very different from TN and STN.
Thanks to Mr. Shirakawa, we discovered this when we tried to actively interfere with the twist angle of the liquid crystal.
If you rearrange the liquid crystal molecules and try to control a pixel individually, you can greatly improve its response time.”
As he spoke, Hideki Shirakawa took a drawing board and started writing and drawing on it, presenting this new idea in a more intuitive way.
"Please look, Mr. Shirakawa," Shirakawa Hideki showed him the drawing board, "All you need to do is set up a special light source on the back of the LCD, and then use large-area ultraviolet etching technology.
Transistors are directly drawn on the screen in large areas corresponding to each sub-pixel, and the voltage of each sub-pixel is precisely controlled by the driver chip, thereby changing the amount of light passing through them. "
"Like this," Shirakawa Hideki drew an arrow on it to represent light, "because the pixels are controlled individually, the screen's response speed can reach 40 to 80ms.
Moreover, the active matrix makes the liquid crystal molecules have memory, and they will not be restored immediately when the electric field disappears.
Although the final effect will return to the original angle, there is a delay process.
This allows multiple colors to be blended and presented simultaneously, and the final effect is what we usually call true color or full color."
Through Professor Shirakawa's detailed explanation, Shirakawa Feng has figured out the principles of this new display technology.
However, compared to those professional terms, he only remembered two points.
40-80ms delay, and full color!
What does a 40ms delay mean? 1/0.04=25, which means it can present 25 frames per second.
What is the concept of 25 frames ? 25 frames is the picture format of current televisions and movies.
This means that this new technology has reached the specifications required in daily life.
Plus, it’s in full color!
"What is this LCD screen called?" Baichuan Feng's eyes sparkled.
"We call it TFT-LCD, which stands for thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display."
"Are there any experimental samples now?" Baichuan Feng couldn't wait to experience this new technology.
"Yes, but it's not perfect yet." Shirakawa Hideki didn't waste any words and immediately took out a carefully protected pocket display screen.
The difference between it and the STN screen mentioned above is that there are densely packed light beads arranged neatly in a certain pattern behind the back of the display.
In addition, unlike the light-colored substrate background of STN and TN screens, the panel of the TFT screen appears black.
Baichuan Feng's eyes lit up, which reminded him of the fact that in his previous life, many screens were black when there was no power.
Could it be that...
The fact was exactly as he thought. After connecting the power, the colors on the screen blinded his titanium eyes.
This is absolutely authentic color, just like the color on TV.
At this moment, a picture of Tokyo street scene was playing on the screen. The colorful billboards were no different from real photos.
Of course, due to the low pixel count, the clarity cannot be compared with photos.
But it's only the early 1980s, this is a huge improvement, Baichuan Feng is a little excited. To be able to achieve this level is already quite amazing.
However, the only drawback is that it is too small. It is smaller than the LCD screen of a handheld game console and only slightly larger than the screen of a digital watch.
Even with such shortcomings, he still found a sense of familiarity in his memory.
"Because there is no specially customized driver chip and the structure inside the screen is not optimized enough, it can only be this big for now."
The current ones can only be considered semi-finished products, not even laboratory prototypes.
There are still obvious flaws in some details, for example, it can only play pictures but not display dynamic images.
Baichuan Feng also feels that the current product is not stable enough, and the screen flickers in just a short while.
"If we continue with the design idea, what level of perfection can the TFT screen achieve?"
It doesn't matter if there are flaws; what matters is the future potential.
“It is envisioned that it could completely replace CTR displays in the future.
Because each pixel is controlled individually by the light source and driver IC, there is no delay effect of STN screen that is transmitted from the periphery to the center.
As long as there are enough light sources and a driver chip with strong enough computing power, then in theory every pixel can move at the same time."
The previous STN controlled the light source of the entire area, so the pixels in this area could only execute one command at a time.
However, TFT is equivalent to providing a separate light source for each pixel, so everyone can execute different commands at the same time.
To put it simply, the control is more refined, and it is because of this that the low latency characteristics of the entire screen can be guaranteed.
“What is the problem we need to solve now?”
If there are defects, it means there is room for improvement. Baichuan Feng is more concerned about how to solve the problem.
“There is a driver chip with better performance. The current IC can only control a screen this large.
The packaging and etching processes of the liquid crystal substrate also need to be improved, because they require fine control of the pixels.”
Hearing his question, Shirakawa Hideki immediately stated the two main issues without hesitation.
"The driver chip is handed over to the chip R&D department, and the packaging and etching process can only be entrusted to Professor Shirakawa."
"Understood. We are already working on resolving this issue."
"According to the professor's estimate, when will TFT be officially commercialized?"
This technology is even more powerful than STN, which means it will bring greater benefits and influence.
Seeing that there was a mountain of treasure in front of him but he couldn't eat it, Baichuan Feng was of course anxious.
Shirakawa Hideki could understand Shirakawa Kaede's eagerness, but since his skills could not be faked, he could only tell the truth.
"According to the most optimistic scenario, it would be a great achievement if the current size can be put into commercial use next year.
As the problems are solved, the commercial size will gradually increase.
But what rules will it follow, or when can it replace the current CTR display and be used in TVs?
This may take several years or even more than ten years to explore.”
Hearing Professor Shirakawa's answer, Baichuan Feng felt a little disappointed.
But he quickly realized that he was too impatient.
Come to think of it, LCD displays only began to be widely used after the millennium.
After some calculation, the time span is exactly ten years.
But at that time, it was used on a large scale for commercial purposes as an affordable commodity that entered the homes of ordinary people.
Now, although it is a little small, it does not mean that it has no commercial value.
Can the monitoring displays of some digital cameras or video recorders be used? There will also be such requirements in the professional field of multimedia.
Although the market may be limited, bringing it to the masses makes people aware of the technology and creates a desire for it.
This also has positive significance for the development of TFT.
"Professor Shirakawa, taking the current screen as an example, how much is its estimated cost?"
Since it will be officially commercialized next year, we should have a rough estimate of the cost by now.
“It’s because of the driver IC, as well as changes in screen technology and light sources.
Even if the relatively low-priced CCFL (compact energy-saving lamp) is used as the backlight source, the cost of TFT is at least three times that of STN. "
Three times? Shirakawa Feng calculated secretly that a liquid crystal display the size of a digital watch would cost nearly 2,000 yen.
If it is made into a complete product, the price will be higher.
Think about the large-screen LCD displays in the future. The cost difference between the two will be more than an order of magnitude.
It is indeed a money-burning job, and most people cannot afford such continuous investment.
But now that SIC has come this far, there is no reason to stop.
All registered patents are registered once, including the original patents of the US RCA company.
However, SIC still has its own legal benefits from the extended patent on this technology.
In the future, maybe relying on these alone, Baichuan Feng can live out his retirement in comfort.
“Professor Shirakawa, the next stage of the LCD R&D department’s goal is to commercialize STN as soon as possible.
After that, we continued to invest resources in TFT screens and continued to tackle tough problems.”
"Hai!"
The future development path of LCD is basically clear. What needs to be done now is to continue to move forward step by step over the years.
After checking out what's going on here, I might as well go upstairs to check out the progress of chip development.
