Philips 3D, Sharp, SmartDisplayer Technology, Samsung, Dai Nippon Printing, and 3M Win 2005 Display of the Year Awards

2005 Society for Information Display (SID)/ Information Display Magazine Display of the Year Awards were announced and presented as part of the SID 2006 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, which is took place June 4-9 in San Francisco, California, USA.

The six winners-ranging from well-known display companies such as Philips 3D, Samsung, Sharp and 3M to lesser-known but equally innovative companies such as SmartDisplayer Technology and Dai Nippon Printing-emerged from the most comprehensive process in the awards' 11-year-history. Below are the list and brief descriptions of the award winners. For a more comprehensive description of the award winners, pick up a copy of the May 2006 issue of Information Display magazine.

Display of the Year: These awards are granted for displays with novel and outstanding features such as new physical or chemical effects, or a new addressing method.

Gold Award: Philips 3D Solutions for its 42-in. 3D Intelligent Display
The Philips 3D Solutions' 42-in. 3D Intelligent Display is tailored to professional markets including digital signage, a growing area of interest for 3D displays, which can attract more attention than traditional 2D signs. The 42-in. LCD with slanted multi-view lenticular lens technology is based on Philips WOWvx technologies, and provides autostereoscopic 3D images with full brightness (460 cd/m2), full contrast (1000:1) and true color representation. The display is based on 1920x1080 high-definition (HD) panel, enabling great picture quality in both 2D and 3D mode.

Silver Award: Sharp Corp. and Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd. for its Two-Way Viewing Angle LCD
Sharp's innovative Two-Way Viewing Angle LCD is the world's first mass-produced display capable of showing different information simultaneously to two different users. It initially rolled out in July 2005 as a 7-in. w-VGA LCD based on Sharp's parallax barrier 3D technology. A parallax barrier is superimposed on a thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD, causing light from the backlight to separate into right and left directions. This allows the two images to be separated by a wide angle, with each viewing position enjoying considerable viewing freedom and minimal cross talk (or image mixing). The product was initially targeted for the automotive market, allowing the driver to view a GPS screen or safety information while the passenger can watch a DVD or, eventually, digital TV. Sharp believes the market for this technology extends beyond the car, and says it can be applied to any display technology, including emissive displays, and for any screen size, from the smallest mobile phone display to a 65-in. screen

Display Applications of the Year: These awards are granted for novel and outstanding applications of display, where the display itself is not necessarily a new device.

Gold Award: SmartDisplayer Technology Co. Ltd. for its Smart Card with Embedded Electronic Paper Display
A flexible, 0.25mm thin, ultra-low-power bistable display using SiPix Imaging Inc.'s Microcup? Electronic Paper distinguishes this smart card, allowing for increased security, control and personalization. This is the first flexible display panel to be embedded into an ISO compliant payment card. The DisplayCard was developed by Innovative Card Technologies and authentication expert nCryptone. Due to the challenging requirements for the DisplayCard, Innovative Card Technologies/nCryptone chose SmartDisplayer's flexible display for several reasons: flexibility, low power consumption, impact-resistiveness, and extreme thinness. SiPix Microcup? Electronic Paper met all these requirements, with the added benefit of display-image retention even with the power removed.

Silver Award: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for its Pocket Imager (SP-P300ME)
Samsung's Pocket Imager is the first market-launched projector with a light-emitting-diode (LED) light source in the world, offering unparalleled brightness (25 ANSI lumens) and contrast ratio (1000:1) when compared to other similar-sized projectors. The Pocket Imager measures 12.7 cm x 9.3 cm x 5 7m and weighs 700 grams. The unit features a digital light projector (DLP) light engine with a novel LED light source. The display is a .55-in. digital micromirror device (DMD). A special cooling system reduces the heat coming out from many points with only one fan, which helps this product attain low audible noise (under 25dB) during operation. It can project images at various screen sizes, ranging from 12 in. to 63 in., without affecting contrast at a resolution of 800x600 pixels. The adaptable focus range is .4m to 3m.

Display Components of the Year: These awards are granted for novel components that significantly enhanced the performance of a display.

Gold Award: Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. for its Crystal Illusion Screen
The new Crystal Illusion Screen from Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. (DNP) is a transparent optical front-projection screen on which bright, crisp images can be reproduced in a bright room. The reproduction of sharp, large-sized images floating in mid-air makes it possible to open a new projection display market. High-contrast pictures can be displayed even in bright rooms because the new screen uses cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs). With a peak gain of 2.0 and 50% transparency, the Crystal Illusion Screen is available in sizes of up to 75 inches in a 16:9 format.

Silver Award: 3M Optical Systems Division for its Vikuiti™ LCOS Optical Core
The 3M Vikuiti™ LCOS Optical Core (the "Optical Core"), which is lead- and cadmium-free in compliance with EU RoHS regulations, enables a high quality television image with the lowest possible Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) projection light-engine cost and reduced light-engine component count. The key enabling technology in the Optical Core is Multilayer Optical Film ("MOF") Polarizing Beam Splitter ("PBS") film.