Samsung’s 7-inch LCD panel

Samsung Electronics announced that it has developed the industry’s first amorphous silicon (a-Si) seven-inch, single-chip TFT-LCD panel that reproduces colours in high resolution (WVGA-level, 800×480 pixels). The seven-inch LCDs are mostly used in mobile devices including DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting), PMP (portable multimedia players) and CNS (car navigation systems), and normally require 4 to 7 drive ICs(integrated circuit). Also, on a conventional seven-inch LCD panel, the T-con (time controller that drives the screen), power platform and other components typically are attached to a circuit board on the exterior of the LCD. The complexity of this integration point has been a major obstacle to slimming the package profile of mobile LCD devices. The new single-chip design, with a contrast ratio of 400:1 and a brightness level of 450 nits, uses Samsung’s unique ASG (amorphous silicon gate) technology. The ASG incorporates the Gate-driver IC function directly on the surface of the glass panel, while simultaneously integrating the T-con function within the Drive-IC. In the single-chip design, the surface area of the drive circuit and the number of components that it contains are each one-third less than that used in existing WVGA panel designs.