Sony and Samsung said Friday that their joint venture, S-LCD Corp., will begin mass producing the world's most advanced eighth-generation liquid-crystal-display panels in autumn next year.
The companies signed the final contract for constructing an 8th generation amorphous TFT-LCD panel manufacturing line at their joint venture, S-LCD Corporation.
The initial aggreement was published in April 2006, and today the companies have reached the final contract stage.
S-LCD plans to establish an 8th generation amorphous TFT-LCD panel production line (glass substrate size: approximately 2,200mm?2,500mm), in addition to the current 7th generation amorphous TFT-LCD panel production line, at S-LCD (Tangjeong, ChungCheongNam-Do, Korea).
The investment cost, estimated at $1.9 billion, will be shared evenly by the Japanese and South Korean companies so that S-LCD can produce 50,000 units per month, the two companies said.
Together with the current 7th generation line, the 8th generation line will enable both companies to expand production of large screen LCD panels for 50 inch class LCD TVs, of which demand is expected see a significant increase.
The 7th generation line (1,870mm?2,200mm) is currently able to offer 6 panels for 46 inch TV, 8 panels for 40 inch TV, 12 panels for 32 inch TV from a single glass substrate. The upgrade to the new 8th generation line (approx. 2,200mm?2,500mm) will be able to produce 6 panels for 50 inch class TV and 8 panels for 46 inch TV.