Electronics today switched on an enhanced design process that enables it to manufacture TFT and LCD displays that can be viewed at angles of up to 160-degrees.

Potential uses for Samsung's new 160-degree angle viewable screens include watching movies via digital multimedia broadcasting at an airport, viewing a game stored in a mobile handset's memory, or conducting a video conference in poor lighting or at a less than optimal viewing angle.

The electronics giant said the improved manufacturing technique allows it to manufacture mobile displays 10in or smaller that offer ultra-sharp LCD images in a variety of low or high ambient lighting conditions.

The advance centres on adapting the company's proprietary PVA technology, which until now has been used to improve off-axis viewing characteristics for large LCDs, to develop small and medium-sized LCDs.

When combined with a transflective mobile display mode, the new mobile Super Wide View+ will enable a new generation of rotational, mobile multimedia displays, Samsung said.

According to the firm, conventional transmissive LCDs are difficult to view in high ambient light conditions, even with a backlight.

To solve this problem it has created a high-contrast, low-power, wide-angle mobile display that can be viewed with backlighting for indoor applications, or without a backlight by reflecting natural sunlight in outdoor environments.

Predicted uses for the screens include watching movies via digital multimedia broadcasting at an airport, viewing a game stored in a mobile handset's memory, or conducting a video conference in poor lighting or at a less than optimal viewing angle.

Samsung will begin mass production of the technology for high-end handsets in 2006. Later uses may include medium-sized audiovideo products, such as personal media players and car navigation systems.

From Newsfactor Technology News