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Sharp wants a 'Japan alliance' to boost OLED TV competition
Sharp wants to gain a foothold in the OLED market by teaming up with rival company Japan Display. Sharp's chief executive, Tai Jeng-wu, told reporters at the Tokyo Stock Exchange that he wants to form a "Japan alliance" to better compete with the South Korean makers that are dominating the industry.
One of Apple's display suppliers is in dire financial trouble
Japan Display's reluctance to embrace OLED manufacturing has cost it dearly. The firm took a net loss of ¥31.5 billion ($287,185,500) from April to June. "We have decided to make a strategic change as we would have no future in the smartphone business without OLED," CEO Nobuhiro Higasgiiriki (above) said. The iPhone screen supplier has shed 30 percent of its employees (3,700 people according to Phys.org) and is reorganizing for what it says is the last time.
Japan Display battles Samsung's OLED with curved LCD screens
One of Apple's main screen suppliers, Japan Display Inc. (JDI), has revealed a 5.5-inch LCD smartphone screen that can be bent like OLED displays from Samsung and LG. While not quite as flexible and thin as OLED, the "Full Active Flex" 1080p screen could be used in phones with curved screens like the Galaxy S7 Edge, the company told the Wall Street Journal. LCD is a lot cheaper than OLED, so you could see a lot more curved phone designs when it starts manufacturing the panels in 2018.
Pixel-rich VR display eliminates the 'screen door' effect
The problem with using smartphones to power VR headsets is simply that their screens weren't made for displaying virtual reality. Smartphone displays, although often high-resolution, just don't have the refresh rate that VR demands, leading to "screen-door effect," where you can make out the lines between pixels.
Bloomberg: An OLED iPhone is coming next year
OLEDs make for better displays because they draw less power and provide much nicer color reproduction. The only thing stopping them from being on every smartphone in the world is that they're a hassle to make. It's one of the reasons that an OLED iPhone remains as much-rumored as Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Bloomberg, however, believes that we'll see the device hit store shelves in limited quantities by next year. At least, that's what Apple is planning, but like the sapphire crystal display that never was, these things can always change.
Japan Display reignites rumors of an OLED iPhone
OLED displays are better than their LCD counterparts, thanks to their lower power draw and much greater picture quality. Despite this, Apple is one of the few companies that's remained staunchly in the LCD camp, but that may change in the near future. One of the firm's suppliers, Japan Display, has told Reuters that it'll begin mass-producing OLED panels by 2018. That dovetails nicely with rumors saying that Apple will abandon LCDs in the same year. It makes plenty of sense, especially if the company maintains its two-year device refresh cycle, with a spec bump model released in between. That would make an OLED screen the headline feature of the iPhone 8, should all of these theoretical notions become reality in time.
These 8K displays may end up on your next tablet
Most of us have barely touched 4K content, but the keen folks in Japan are already showing off some 8K displays, and we're not just talking about those of conventional TV sizes. At CEATEC, NHK brought along three upcoming 8K panels that may end up on future tablets, laptops and monitors. These include JDI's 17.3-inch LCD that was just announced last week, as well as Ortus' insanely sharp 9.6-inch LCD (that's a whopping 915 dpi!) from May, and Sharp/SEL's 13.3-inch OLED display. Even though the OLED panel was unveiled back in June last year, it's still by far the best 8K display out of the three; it's as if you're looking into another world, thanks to the combination of high contrast, strong vibrancy plus insanely sharp resolution. Alas, there's no launch date for any of these just yet, but a spokesperson from NHK hopes to see these come out before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be broadcast in 8K.
Japan Display crammed 8K into a 17-inch LCD
In 2015, we want our displays to be sharper, brighter and even wrapped around the edges of our smartphones (maybe). Now, Japan Display has pushed the limits of screen resolution yet again by announcing a 17.3-inch 8K LCD module capable of running at a smooth frame rate of 120Hz. If you're trying to get your head around how many pixels that involves, JD is way ahead of you: it's 510 pixels per inch. The manufacturer says that the high resolution will offer an element of depth to images, and that it could be ideal for video-editing, medical displays and even as gaming screens. Unfortunately, that's all we know for now, but the LCD will be at CEATEC 2015 with all its millions of pixels on show.
Japan Display promises 4K tablet screens that won't kill your battery
If we draw an almost totally arbitrary line in the sand and call it "500 pixels per inch," then smartphones now stand proudly on one side of it, while tablets still languish on the other. Japan Display is gently nudging the market forward, however, with the 4K 12-inch tablet panel we saw last year (which offered 365 ppi) and now with a 4K 10-inch prototype that delivers a much higher pixel density of 438 ppi. That's good news for Chuck Yeagers who reckon they can spot the difference, but Japan Display is promising something even more important: It claims its 4K (3,840 x 2,160) screens have just the same appetite for energy as the regular 2,560 x 1,600 panels found in many tablets today. That means 4K slates could arrive at no cost to battery life, relative to current technology, leaving us with just the pesky financial and computational overheads to deal with instead.
Japan Display joins the Quad HD phone screen party with two new LCDs
LG clearly doesn't have a monopoly on Quad HD smartphone screens -- Japan Display has unveiled two low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCDs that offer the extra-sharp 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The headlining 5.4-inch panel is ever so slightly denser than its Korean equivalent, at 543ppi; there's also a 6.2-inch (473ppi) model for giant devices. Both LCDs have "dead-bands" that are just 1mm thick, which should lead to extra-slim bezels on finished products. Japan Display hasn't said which companies will use the Quad HD screens, but it's easy to see one of the joint venture's partners (Hitachi, Sony or Toshiba) calling first dibs.
4K 12-inch tablets are going to be a thing and Japan Display can prove it
If the iPad mini's new Retina Display didn't quite hit the spot, maybe 4K tablet displays from Japan Display will. Panasonic's already managed to slather its hulking 20-inch tablet in the same resolution, which was a feat in itself. But let's consider something a little more handheld friendly -- something that's not going to smash through our glass coffee table. The unified forces behind Japan Display (including Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi) have announced that they've squeezed 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160) into a 12.1-inch TFT module, creating a screen with a retina-piercing 365 pixels per inch. Revealed to display obsessives at the FPD International 2013 exhibition in Japan this week, the press release adds that the new screen module remains power-efficient and suitably thin too -- possibly the perfect business complement to the company's incoming White Magic 1080p smartphone screens. All the full technical details can be found at the source link below -- remember bring your Japanese dictionary.
Japan Display now making 1080p WhiteMagic LCDs, hints at high-end phones with bright screens
It's been hard to appreciate the brightness of WhiteMagic LCDs when they've been limited to lower-end smartphones like the Sony Xperia P. That shouldn't be a problem from now on, as Japan Display has started mass-producing its first 1080p WhiteMagic screen. Like its ancestors, the new 5-inch panel uses white subpixels to reach outdoor-friendly luminosity (840 cd/m2) without excessive power use; it can also match typical LCD brightness levels using less energy. Japan Display hasn't said just which phone makers are using the 1080p screen, but we wouldn't be shocked if company partners like Sony get first dibs.
KDDI unveils HTC J Butterfly (HTL21), the first phone with 5-inch 1080p display
We've been hearing about a certain 5-inch HTC phablet for Verizon since July, but it looks like its Japanese counterpart may actually hit the market first. Unveiled by KDDI as the HTC J Butterfly (HTL21), this Android 4.1 device is the first announced phone to feature a 5-inch, 440ppi full-HD "Super LCD 3" panel, and it's fittingly complemented by a 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 underneath, making this the latest member in the small family of Snapdragon S4 Pro phones. There's an eight-megapixel camera that naturally handles 1080p video at the back, accompanied by a 2.1-megapixel front-facing imager. Other details include 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, microSDHC expansion, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 (LE), NFC, LTE and CDMA/GSM/UMTS/GPRS radios -- that's right, it's a global device. Not bad for a 140g package, and it's waterproof as well, rated at IPX5. But the question is how well will the 2,020mAh battery last under that super dense LCD and high-end processor? Only time will tell -- even KDDI has yet to finalize this part of the specs. Folks on the KDDI network can grab hold of this powerful phone in early December, with a choice of red, white or black. Update: HTC confirmed to us that this phablet will use panels supplied by Sharp and JDI.
Xiaomi Phone 2 now official: 4.3-inch 720p IPS, quad core and Jelly Bean for just $310
At last, no more secrets. Announced in Beijing just now is the Xiaomi Phone 2, and with the exception of the appearance, most of the specs match the many leaks we've come across: 4.3-inch 720p IPS display by Sharp and JDI, Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core chip, 2GB RAM and 16GB memory. To power this beast, Xiaomi's throwing in a 2,000mAh cell, but you can also purchase a 3,000mAh version if you don't mind the extra 2mm thickness on the phone. As for photography, you get a 28mm two-megapixel imager at the front along with a 27mm F2.0 eight-megapixel BSI camera on the back -- we saw some stunning untouched shots from the latter at the launch event. The good news doesn't stop there. On the software front Xiaomi's decided to jump straight to Android Jelly Bean for the phone's MIUI ROM, which itself packs several new features as well. Just to name a few: enhanced security, phone finder, Chinese voice assistant (apparently with 85 percent comprehension accuracy), more interactive themes and 5GB of cloud storage service with online client. As you can already see, all of this will cost just ¥1,999 (about $310) -- the same as the original Xiaomi Phone announced this time last year -- when it launches in October, and local carriers China Unicom plus China Telecom will also be offering the DC-HSPA+ handset at subsidized prices. Interestingly, Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun even admitted on the stage that the phone's raw cost is ¥2,350 ($370) per unit, so hopefully it'll go down sooner than later for his sake. But if ¥1,999 is still too much, there's also the ¥1,499 ($235) Xiaomi Phone 1S which, as we've already seen, is very much just the original Xiaomi but bumped up from 1.5GHz to 1.7GHz, along with a front-facing camera. Until we get hold of the phones to play with, here are some photos from the event. Update: Now we have some photos from our very brief hands-on -- each person was only given 90 seconds with the beta units! That said, the Xiaomi Phone 2s already felt pretty solid and the UI animation was slick, so we look forward to the more refined engineering samples next month. Update 2: Forgot to mention that both devices support WCDMA 850、1900 and 2100MHz. So yes, it'll work just fine on AT&T! %Gallery-162591% %Gallery-162598% %Gallery-162599%
JDI debuts 2.3-inch display with a 1,280 x 800 resolution, 651ppi
Well, it looks like LG's Retina-beating 5-inch display with a 1080p resolution isn't the only screen setting some new pixel density records at the SID conference this week. Japan Display Inc. has now also announced a new 1,280 x 800 display with an amazing pixel density of 651ppi. If you're able to do the math, though, you'll realize that means the display itself measures just 2.3 inches. While it's not clear exactly what sort of devices JDI has in mind for the screen, the company says it's able to produce photographic-level images and text that is perceptibly sharper than even today's highest-resolution displays -- hopefully we'll be able to judge that for ourselves sooner rather than later.
Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi joint venture Japan Display fires up operations
The joint venture that is Japan Display agreed on its formalities back in November, and has now finally started operating. While Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi all have a 10 percent stake in the business, the main investment comes from the government-backed INCJ. The collaboration hopes to champion the middle- and small-sized display sector, and has around 6,200 employees, and ¥230 billion (about $2.8 billion) of capital to help it on its way. Now that the wheels are finally in motion, an announcement of its operational divisions, which include "Mobile Business" and "Automotive" hint at what we might expect from the business going forward. Assuming no one sells up that is.
Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi make joint venture official, form Japan Display Inc.
Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi officially joined forces today, cementing a government-backed joint venture that's been in the works for a few months, now. Together with the government-funded firm Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), the three manufacturers will now form an entity known as Japan Display Inc., slated to launch during the Spring of 2012. INCJ is providing the lion's share of the funding (approximately $2.6 billion), giving it a 70 percent stake in the newly formed venture. The other three, meanwhile, will each control ten percent of the company, which will encompass their respective small-display subsidiaries. The stakeholders are hoping that today's announcement will help revive their sagging display sales, with some extra help from Panasonic, which also announced that it's selling one of its biggest domestic factories to the freshly minted Japan Display, for an unnamed sum. Find more details in the full PR after the break.
Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi confirm plans for government-backed LCD joint venture
We had a pretty clear indication that some official word was coming soon, and Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi have now confirmed that they intend to pool their LCD manufacturing efforts and form a new joint venture (expected to be completed by the spring of 2012). That effort is getting a $2.6 billion shot in the arm courtesy of a Japanese government-backed investment fund, which itself will own 70 percent of the new company -- to be dubbed Japan Display -- while Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi will each get a 10 percent share.
