The Society for Information Display (SID) announced the winners of the 2009 Display of the Year Awards, which are
considered the display industry's most prestigious honor for commercial innovations of display technology.
The awards are presented annually to products deemed to offer the greatest degree of technical innovation, commercial significance and potential for positive social impact.
To be considered for a 2009 Display of the Year Award, a product must have been available for purchase during the 2008 calendar year. The six will be honored at a luncheon on June 3, 2009, during Display Week - the SID International Symposium, Seminar & Exhibition - at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, May 31-June 5, in San Antonio, Texas.
Display Device of the Year Gold Award: Samsung 240Hz LCD-TV Panel
Samsung's 40-in., 46-in., and 52-in. diagonal, full high-definition (FHD, 1920 x 1080) 240Hz LCD panels provide exceptional motion-image performance for LCD-TVs. While advances in LCD resolution, luminance, contrast ratio, viewing angle, color gamut and color depth have greatly enhanced LCD-TV picture quality, motion-image performance has been the "final frontier" for delivering the ultimate viewing experience. Samsung has answered this call, integrating an innovative pixel cell structure and driving architecture to enable true 240Hz. In
Samsung's 240Hz panels, a motion-estimation, motion-compensation (ME/MC) engine creates three interpolated frames for every one incoming frame. The three interpolated frames are inserted between every two incoming frames. Unlike other panels that use hybrid techniques, the new Samsung panels actually update pixel data 240 times per second. The result is that these panels overcome hold-type driving limitations inherent in LCDs and other matrix-addressed displays, delivering the best Motion Picture Response Time (MPRT) performance ever achieved in mass-produced LCD panels.
Vice President of Driving Technology at Samsung LCD, Nam-Deog Kim, noted, "Samsung is honored to accept this prestigious award from SID. Samsung's 240Hz technology enables true-to-life reproduction of motion images by addressing various challenges related to picture quality, such as motion blur, which had persisted as a limiting factor for LCDs. Samsung Electronics will continue to stand at the forefront of the industry as a display technology leader through continuous research and development."
Display Application of the Year Gold Award: Amazon Kindle
The Kindle platform for electronic books (e-books) is revolutionizing Americans' reading habits. The Kindle hardware device uses an electronic paper display, and users can download content from Amazon over its fee-free Whispenet in the proprietary Kindle format (AZW), as well as load unprotected Mobipocket (PRC, MOBI) or plain text (TXT) content. Reading material can be purchased directly through the Kindle or through a computer at the Amazon site's Kindle Store. The device comes with electronic editions of its owner's manual and the New Oxford American Dictionary. Currently, more than 275,000 books, plus newspapers, magazines and blogs, are available for the Kindle.
Texas Instruments' DLP Pico chipset, Corning Jade Glass for Advanced Displays as well as the iZ3D 3D Gaming Monitor will also receive awards.
Texas Instruments' DLP Pico technology allows users to project enlarged images, video, and Web browsing onto almost any nearby surface. The reflective nature of the mirrors on the DLP chip allows more light to reach the viewing surface, resulting in an amazing picture no longer bound by a screen at all. The combination of power-efficient LED illumination, coupled with DLP technology, elevates picture quality and reduces battery consumption.
The 22-in.-wide iZ3D monitor is designed for work in 2D and for single- and multiple-player gaming in 3D. It consists of a 2D/3D switchable display bundle that includes passive 3D glasses and stereoscopic 3D display drivers. Watching 3D movies and videos is also supported with the addition of a software stereo player. The LCD panels feature a 16:9 aspect ratio with 1680 x 1050 resolution, 300nits luminosity, and 5ms response time.
Corning Incorporated's breakthrough Jade glass for advanced displays was specifically designed to address the high-end, feature-rich mobile device market. The fusion-formed glass with high thermal stability works with two key display technologies: low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Unlike conventional glass substrates, Jade needs no secondary heat treatment or polishing to meet the demanding surface and thermal stability requirements associated with LTPS and OLEDs. By permitting the tighter design rules needed for increased integration of electronic functionality onto the glass, Jade delivers key benefits to device makers - lower cost and increased design flexibility - and consumers - more compact devices with brighter displays, higher resolution, and longer battery life.