Remember all that happy fuss over Samsung’s Super AMOLED display, and its newer Super AMOLED Plus ? Well now Toshiba Mobile Display has jealously stepped into the hoop with its own answer to the area’s demand for thinner, lighter and no more reflective LCDs. Its as-yet-unnamed technology seeks improvement in a roughly similar solution to Super AMOLED, by fusing the capacitive touch layer and LCD . In so doing, Toshiba claims it may produce an integrated panel just 1mm thick, which it says is not up to half the thickness of a traditional LCD touchscreen. Weight is likewise halved and surface reflection is reduced by 10 percent. Alas, Toshiba’s press release doesn’t provide the stats we actually want — a head-to-head comparison with Samsung’s best efforts or, say, the Synaptics ClearPad 3250 which also melds touch layer and LCD. And maybe to prevent confrontation within the mobile arena, Toshiba emphasizes the usage of its technology in “vehicle-mounted” and “industrial” applications. Seems we can should wait until the screen is exhibited in LA next month before we all know if it is really up for a fight.
- Features capacitive multi-touch input function integrated within the liquid crystal cell -
Toshiba Mobile Display Co., Ltd. (President: Makoto Kubo) has developed a 7.0-inch low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistor (TFT) lcd (LCD) for vehicle-mounted and industrial uses that allows multi-touch input at the screen without the will for added installation of a dash panel as an illustration of its new touch panel technology.
The technology enables an integrated touch panel function by forming the display pixel electrodes and TFT in the LCD panel using LTPS TFT technology and making a detecting circuit for electrostatic capacitance changes between the electrodes and the peripheral object. In comparison with conventional LCDs with an external touch panel, the thickness is reduced by 57 percent to approximately 1 millimeter, the load is reduced by 48 percent to 225 grams and the skin reflection ratio is reduced by 10 percent. Its smaller size enables the design of more compact products for mobile applications, reduces the impact at the environment by saving resources and tool, provides crisp and clear images with minimal reflection of natural light even in a bright environment, and contours intuitive multi-touch input.
Recently, a growing number of smartphones, cellular phones, in-vehicle car navigation systems, tablet-type PCs and other equipment for mobile applications were designed around a capacitive-type touch panel1 integrated LCD, thereby facilitating the rapid spread of goods that feature a low-profile and reduced-weight design, and intuitive, easy and straightforward touch input. TMD has developed this technology in line with the increasing demand for in-cell touch panel2 LCDs with the touch panel function integrated within the LCD panel for further reduction of thickness, weight and environmental impact.
The capacitive-type touch panel is designed to form transparent electrodes at the touch panel and detect changes in electrostatic capacitance between the electrodes and the user’s fingers with high accuracy, thereby enabling the screen panel to reply easily to light finger touches. To integrate this selection within the LCD panel this is necessary to suppress possible interference with various signals within the LCD panel. To handle the matter, TMD has developed a proprietary sensor circuit, profiting from LTPS TFT technology. Specifically, an amplifier circuit is shaped within the pixels to amplify the signals, which can be then detected by the sensor for output, providing a configuration to exactly transmit sensor signals to the exterior of LCD panel. This helps achieve consistent and fast-responding touch panel operation.
This technology would be exhibited inside the Toshiba booth #1119 at SID 2011 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition to be held from May 17 to May 19, 2011 in L. a., Calif., USA.
Product specifications
Screen size (diagonal) – 17.8 cm (7.0-inch)
Selection of pixels – 1,024 ( x RGB) x 600
Display – Transmissive LCD
Touch panel – In-cell design, allowing multi-touch input
Notes
1. “Capacitive-type touch panel” a marginally panel detecting system which determines the placement of the input touch according to the change in electrostatic capacitance between the user’s finger and the touch panel’s conductive layer. Because the user’s finger approaches the touch panel, electrostatic coupling between the finger and the conductive layer changes, allowing detection of the position of the input touch. Existing LCD panels with a built-involved panel have an independent touch panel mounted at the surface layer of the LCD panel as an independent separate component.
2. “In-cell touch panel” The “in-cell touch panel” refers back to the configuration with the touch panel function integrated into the LCD panel. It’s miles commercially available in numerous designs, including one that incorporates an optical sensor to detect the finger images through an external or an internal light source, and another which detects electrical changes attributable to pressing and deforming both (2) glass substrates of the LCD panel. This newly developed product relies on TMD’s proprietary design that permits detection of changes in electrostatic capacitance because of a bit of the finger without additional installation of any light source for optical sensor or such larger pressing forces which deflect the LCD panel.
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