Advances in new display technology (Panel Session)

PANEL A D V A N C E S IN NEW D I S P L A Y T E C H N O L O G Y CHAIR: PANELISTS: Sol Sherr, W e s t l a n d E l e c t r o n i c s Ifay Chang, IBM C o r p o r a t i o n Thomas Maloney, P a n e l V i s i o n Peter Pleshko, IBM C o r p o r a t i o n Elliot Schlam, E r a d c o m Peter Seats, Thomas E l e c t r o n i c s C H A I R M A N ' S INTRODUCTION: Conference. He has c o n t r i b u t e d many artic l e s to various p u b l i c a t i o n s , including the seminal one with P. M. Alt on "Scanning L i m i t a t i o n s of Liquid Crystal Displays". Both he and Dr. Chang are Fellows of SID. New display t e c h n o l o g y has made some significant strides forward in the last few years. A l t h o u g h the CRT remains the most p r e v a l e n t d i s p l a y device, a c c o u n t i n g for over 85% of all installations, f l a t - p a n e l m a t r i x d i s p l a y s are becoming an increasingly s i g n i f i c a n t factor in this area. The most important advances have been in thin film e l e c t r o l u m i n e s c e n c e , gas d i s c h a r g e panels, and liquid c r y s t a l displays. In addition, light emitting diodes have shown improvements in light output and efficiency, and some recent work in e l e c t r o p h o r e t i c s give some promise that this t e c h n o l o g y will lead to viable d i s p l a y devices. Also, older t e c h n o l o g i e s such as incandescent, v a c u u m flourescent, and e l e c t r o m e c h a n i c a l are still with us, and c o n t i n u e to be useful in many applications, the first where very high luminance is required, the second in such applications as a u t o m o b i l e dashboards, and the third in various outdoor and large board installations. Finally, the CRT, not to be outdone by its rivals, has come up with improvements in performance, and with the flat tube v e r s i o n s in form factors that compete with those offered by the matrix displays. All of these a d v a n c e s will be d i s c u s s e d by the members of this panel. Thomas M a l o n e y is P r e s i d e n t of P a n e l v i sion, a c o m p a n y that is in the forefront of d e v e l o p m e n t s in liquid c r y s t a l d i s p l a y s using t h i n - f i l m t r a n s i s t o r s for switching matrices. Prior to his joining P a n e l v i sion, he was a s s o c i a t e d with the B u r r o u g h s C o r p o r a t i o n for many years, and was intim a t e l y involved with the d e v e l o p m e n t and p r o d u c t i o n of S e l f S c a n and other d i s p l a y p r o d u c t s of that company. He is a F e l l o w of SID, and has been actively involved in that society at both the local and n a t i o n a l level, as well as being cochairman of the Biennial D i s p l a y Conference. Peter Seats is P r e s i d e n t of T h o m a s Electronics, one of the few remaining m a n u f a c turers of CRT's left in the U.S. He has been active in CRT d e s i g n and m a n u f a c t u r e for many years and has lectured extensively on the subject at seminars and other forums. He is one of the o u t s t a n d ing a u t h o r i t i e s in the world on CRT's and is intimately familiar with all advances in that technology. The p a r t i c i p a n t s in this panel are all e m i n e n t l y q u a l i f i e d to deal with the various technologies. Dr. Peter P l e s h k o of IBM is in c h a r g e of their p l a s m a panel activity, which has taken on added importance with the recent a n n o u n c e m e n t s that IBM is o f f e r i n g both the panel and terminals using the panel on an OEM basis. Dr. Ifay Chang, who is a staff member at the IBM Y o r k t o w n Laboratories, has been active in the d i s p l a y field for many years, and has c o n t r i b u t e d numerous articles and papers on a d v a n c e s in d i s p l a y t e c h n o l o g y to various publications. He is Vice P r e s i d e n t of the Society for I n f o r m a t i o n Display, (SID) and has been Guest Editor for several issues of the P r o c e e d i n g s of the SID. Dr. P l e s h k o has also been a Guest Editor of the Proceedings, is a R e g i o n a l D i r e c t o r of SID, and has been a c o - C h a i r m a n of the B i e n n i a l D i s p l a y Dr. E l l i o t S c h l a m is C h i e f of the D i s p l a y Devices Branch at Eradcom, a F e l l o w of SID, and has been Guest Editor of the SID Proceedings. In addition, he has c o n t r i buted important a r t i c l e s on e l e c t r o l u m i n e s c e n t d i s p l a y devices to the IEEE P r o c e e d i n g s and other publications. He has a l s o been an Editor of the Transactions on E l e c t r o n Devices, and most r e c e n t l y has been c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d with the latest advances in t h i n - f i l m e l e c t r o luminescence. Finally, Sol, Sherr, the C h a i r m a n of this panel, is P r e s i d e n t of W e s t l a n d E l e c t r o n ics, Ltd., a c o n s u l t i n g firm that specializes in c o m p u t e r g r a p h i c s and d i s p l a y technology. He is a charter M e m b e r and F e l l o w of SID, has w r i t t e n three books on d i s p l a y devices, e q u i p m e n t and systems as SS well as numerous articles, of the SID Proceedings. and is Editor Peter Pleshko, AC Plasma Technology is emerging as the leading flat panel technology for large screens. Its inherent memory and fast pixel update time allow the screen to be updated fast and the image to be displayed without flicker, regardless of size. Monochromatic resolutions of up to 125 lines per inch have been demonstrated, which, practically speaking, eliminate "staircasing". Colour has also been shown feasible using dc plasma as a source of either ultra-violet radiation or for electrons to excite phosphors. Sherr, Sol, "Video and Digital Electronic Displays - a User's Guide", John Wiley, N.Y. 1982. Sherr, Sol, Wiley, N.Y. "Electronic Displays", 1979. John Kmetz, A.R. and F. K. willisen, Eds., "Non-Emissive Electroopt ic Displays", num Press, N. Y. 1976. Ple- Kazan, B. Ed., "Advances in Image Pickup and Display", Academic Press, N.Y. Pleshko, P., "AC Plasma Flat Panel Displays", Computer Graphics World, No.7, July 1982, pp.47-48. Cakir, A., et al, "Visual Display Terminals", John Wiley, N. Y., 1980. Cornsweet, T.N., "Visual Perception", Academic Press, N.Y., 1970. Biberman, L.M., Ed., "Perception of Displayed Information", Plenum Press, N.Y., 1973. Elliot Schlam, Eradcom Thin film electroluminescent display technology offers the advantages of high definition computer graphics and fast response gray scale, making it television compatible. These capabilities, coupled with very low power consumption, small package size and light weight, create exciting potential for this technology. A brief description of operating principles and a live demonstration will be presented. Biberman, L.M., and S. Nudelman, Eds., "Photoelectric Imaging Devices", Plenum Press, N.Y., 1971. SID Symposia Digests, for Information all issues. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, selected issues. Biennial Display Conference Record, issues. PANELISTS' Vol.5, Criscimanga, T.N., and P. Pleshko, "The AC Plasma Display", Chapter 3 of Voi.40, Topics in Applied Physics, Springer-Velag, Berlin, 1980, J.I. Pankove, Editor. (A comprehensive, detailed treatment of both the processing technology and electrooptic characterization and behavior of the ac plasma display.) Morell, A.M., "Color Television Picture Tubes", B. Kazan Ed., Advances in Image Pickup and Display, Supplement i, Academic, N.Y., 1974. Proceedings of the Society display, all issues. IBM all Peter Seats, Thomas Electronics A review of CRT developments will be presented with emphasis on monochrome and color displays for use with portable computers. The progress of flat CRT techniques will also be discussed. CRT's are also being developed for high resolution (4000 x 4000) color slide recording, and their special capabilities will be described. If time permits, CRT developments for improved graphics displays, based on three-color voltage penetration screens and color wheel techniques will also be reviewed. ABSTRACTS Dr. I. F. Chang, IBM Evolutionary advances have always been made in various display technologies including CRT and several flat panel displays. However, advancements are expected to be accelerated due to the tremendous demand from exploding computer applications. The main thrust in display technology development today is to achieve good quality display from existing mature technology with emphasis on high resolution, ergonomics, portability and color capability. Thus, electronic integration, power, volume and weight reductions and ergonomic design are being pursued along with effort in achieving high resolution and color capability at a reasonable cost. Advances made in these areas for CRT and several competing display technologies will be the main discussion. 64