OPTOLINK Q3, 2010

CourtesyȈőŊŅł 5

OptoLink International Edition (OLIE)

is a quarterly magazine published
by the Photonics Industry and
Contents
Technology Development
Association (PIDA).
Industry News
4 What is the Next Killer Application in FPD Industry?
5F., No. 9, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 2.,
Taipei, Taiwan, 10093.
7 E-paper Evolution: A Long Journey
www.pida.org.tw
Tel.: +886-2-2396-7780
13 3D New Era
Fax: +886-2-2341-4559 17 AMOLED Supply Shortage Surfaces with Display Demands

19 LED Shines for Large-area Display Backlighting

Publisher:
Frank Ma, CEO of PIDA 25 Energy Efficient Display for Mobile Devices

Editorial Team: 29 Panel Lawsuit Reflecting the Heated Competition

Angel Chiou, Dan Guo,
Murphy Lin, Stephy Chen,
Karen Ho, Deaphne Kuo,
Exhibition Watch
Jason Lu, Delux Chen , Photonics Festival in Taiwan 2010 Boasting the Largest Scale of Photonics
Emily Hu 32 Exposition in Taiwan to Date

Art Designer: 35 Exhibitors Demonstrating Various Technologies in Photonics Festival

Foung-Jean Guo
39 The 15th IOA Meeting Targets on Green Actions
Director of Market &
Bussiness Division: 42 2010 Outstanding Photonics Product Award Winners
Ryan Chung
45 2010 FPD Green Product Competition Winners
Sales Contact:
Ginger Chen, Pamela Hsiao,
Cathy Zhang, Ben Tsai,
Company Profiles
Henry Nieh, Allen Lee, Jerry Lee
49 Advanced Research Park— the New Focus of Central Taiwan Science Park
Advertising: Southern Taiwan Science Park— the Pivotal PV Manufacturing Base in
Vanessa Hou 51 Taiwan
ad@mail.pida.org.tw
53 Elan— More Competitive, Better Solutions
Subscriptions:
Simon Huang
simon@mail.pida.org.tw

Editorial Submissions:
Angel Chiou
(angelchiou@mail.pida.org.tw)
 What is the Next Killer Application
in FPD Industry ?
Recovering from those desperate days in 2009, everyone is looking forward to the resergence of flat panel
display (FPD) industry, and most importantly the new “killer application” that will stimulate demand as
netbook did in 2008. After the miracle created by netbook, what to expect next ?
By Melinda Ming
T aiwanese Flat Panel Display (FPD)
industry has been through its worst
year in 2009. The annual sales was 16
percent YoY declined to about US$37,130.3
(NT$1,225,300, 1:33) million, of which, the
golden product TFT-LCD panels shipment
downed to US$24,539.39 (NT$ 809,800)
million.
Despite so, local suppliers still are
optimistic of forecasting FPD shipment
a positive growth rate in 2010. It is
believed the hottest line-up in Taiwan
Optoelectronics industry, measured 73
percent of the annual output, reached
US$975.75 (NT$ 32,200, 1:33) million; the
first quarter of 2010 increased 72 percent
over the same period in 2009, according to
a report from IEK ITRI.
3 D, E-paper, Touch Dominate the
Future Market
The concept of Taiwanese made FPD
has turned into environment-friendly
in recent years. Large-sized and high-
resolution displays no longer the only focus
in the mainstream. Instead, 3D, e-paper,
and flexible display so-called “go green”
products, featuring light-weighted, thin,
and power-saving, now dominates among
the suppliers’ R&D labs.
Coverage from Taiwanese newspaper
Economic Daily News in June 2010 says
that applications in e-paper, 3D display, and
touch panel would bring up the FPD sales
4 !!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!
up to 100 percent of growth rate, reaching
one million US dollar, before 2012.
Applications of Taiwanese made e-paper
focuse on both consumer electronics
and industrial applications. E-books or
e-readers, for instance, are applied for the
former, as e-shelf-label and e-signage are
seen the best for mass-producers.
Major Taiwan Suppliers
In terms of supplier base, the industry in
the island is structured by a small number
of large enterprises that dominate the
market.
E-paper, for instance, only three
suppliers in the island seen active and
mass-producers; they are Prime View
International Co Ltd (PVI), AU Optronics
Cor (AUO), and Delta Electronics Inc
(Delta Electronics).
3D display, on the other hand, attracts
Taiwanese suppliers more attention, leading
companies like Chunghwa Picture Tube
Ltd (CPT), Chimei Innolux Corporation
(CMI), AUO, and Delta Electronics. Most
of them started as panel manufacturers;
except of Delta Electronics, a power supply
provider.
Supplier number of touch panel,
however, is uncountable, since the entry
barrier of small sized panels is relatively
lower than e-paper and 3D.
AUO
AUO, a Taiwan-based global leader
of TFT-LCD panels, is probably the
most active player with full range of
optoelectronic products from 3D display,
e-paper, to flexible display in Taiwan. The
company unveils in Q2 2010 the earliest
release of transparent AMOLED in-
cell touch panel and the largest in size of
projected capacitive multi-touch LCD
display. Besides, the supplier also has a
gigantic 65-inch HD LCD panel, with high
brightness at 650 nits and eight viewpoints,
glasses-free features and ready for all 3D
and simular 3D contents.
Meanwhile, the supplier exposed several
types of e-paper using SiPix Microcup
technology for applications including
e-shelf-label, e-book, and built-in touch
e-books. It also has 20-inch e-paper display
module for e-signage, foldable e-book
and flexible e-paper modules. Of the new
releases, a prototype of 2.4-inch transparent
multi-touch display is the one that catches
eyeballs, and is apparently suitable for
handhelds such as mobile phones, GPS
devices, portable data assistant, etc.
PVI
Newly changed name to E Ink Holdings
Inc., PVI is believed the earliest panel
supplier since 1992. While PVI acquired
E Ink in 2009 for about US$450 million,
many investors and analysts doubted
about the deal. After these months, the Fig.1ȁ3D panel launched by AUO
supplier recently disclosed that its gross net
eventually doubled since Amazon’s Kindle
was exposed in marketplace.
At the present, PVI is believed the main
player in e-paper marketplace by supplying
over 20 million electronic paper display
in the filed. PVI’s E Ink branded e-paper
displays take more than 90 percent of
market share, mainly for clients of e-reader;
Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s e-Reader, for
instances, in full range of electronic
readers, such as e-books, e-newspapers,
e-textbooks, wristwatches, smart cards,
e-labels, mobile phones, e-signage, etc.
PVI believes that the new product
launch time supposedly scheduled in Q3
2010, when is peak season for e-readers
shipment. As of the interview, the supplier Courtesy: PIDA, 2010ʝ6
spends almost 3 percent of annual revenue
on new products, while some of its
counterparts may make an effort by only a Fig.2ȁPVI’s Color E-paper exhibited in Display Taiwan 2010
department of workforce on e-paper R&D.
Regarding to flexible/foldable panels, the
supplier has the modules technically ready.
However, the commercialized products will
have to wait until the price approachable,
accordingly.

SolLink
Despite of E-Ink based Vizplx imaging
technology had taken the majority of
e-readers shipment, new comers still in
plan to reach the market. SolLink is the
instance, planed to make threats on market
share of PVI’s E-Ink.
A joint venture company of Taiwanese
Foxlink Group and US-based Qualcomm
MEMS Technologies (a subsidiary of
Qualcomm Inc,), SolLink Inc. (SolLink)
opened its fabrication plant since 2009,
and announced in Q2 2010 to start mass- Courtesy: PIDA, 2010ʝ6

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 5

 production for e-paper.
With its Mirasol display technology,
SolLink provides e-paper featuring color
and touch-screen functions, which in
the marketplace rarely has been seen.
Meanwhile, Mirasol-based displays
compatible with video conferencing
function, which helps to take over
educational market and attract advertisers
for flooding ads.
Delta
As one of key players in Taiwan e-paper
development, Delta Electronics is different
from other rivals to apply Liquid Powder
Display (LPD) technology for its e-paper.
The supplier eventually developed a
13.3-inch color e-paper prototype in the
technology after all, featuring higher
quality of 4,096 colors and faster reaction
rate of 0.2ms, compared to its rivals.
Despite the advanced offer, the supplier
has no plans to develop its own branded
e-readers at all. Their R&D focus is to
develop displays with features of larger size,
higher reaction rate, and more colors, as
the company believes large-sized e-paper
is the promising for management level of
customers, a niche market the supplier
keen on for better profit margin rate.
In fact, Delta Electronics could not wait
to show off its latest color e-reader in Q2
2010, even though the new product launch
is scheduled in December same year. The
new e-reader emphasizes size, colors, and
weight; based on Bridgestone’s e-paper
technology. It has a 13-inch color display,
but weighs only half of Apple’s iPad.
Other than e-paper, Delta Electronics is
also active in 3D marketplace. The supplier
cooperated with the largest Telecom
carrier in the island: Chunghwa Telecom
6 !!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!
(CHT), to provide Taiwanese audiences
five World Cup games in 3D image. The
project involved a 300-inch screen and
projector that is featured of 25,000 lumens
of brightness and 3-chip DLP technology.
CMI
CMI, a very low-profile company located
in southern Taiwan, provided 16 million of
pieces of touch screens in 2009, occupying
ab out 2.6 p ercent of market share
worldwide. Of the shipment, 3 million
piece were high-ends based on capacitive
technology.
Despite the company has no comments
on its future plan of R&D and shipment, it
is believed in marketplace that its output
supposedly will break up 500 million pieces
in 2010. It is observed that most of the
company’s clients from telecommunication
industry, like mobile phone producers.
Most of its products applied for iPhone,
3/3.5/4G mobile phones, and so on.
Companies of Mid-to-small-sized
Panels
Other than star players in marketplace,
there are still a number of middle and small
sized companies struggling in competition.
Some of them publicly listed in Taiwan
stock market and involved in touch panels/
screens, in particular for small sized
devices, like smart phones, media centric
tablet PC, and iPad. Wintek Corporation
and Cando Corp. are two examples. Both of
them are mass-producers. As a subsidiary
of AUO, Cando received support from
its mother company to create the mostly
massive production lines for touch screens,
expected a monthly output of 50 thousand
pieces in 2012.
The Next Killer Application?
In conclusion, it is believed by Taiwanese
suppliers that flexible color e-paper and
3D display will be the main focus in the
coming years, since devices connected
to consumer entertainment gadgets (i.e.
3D TVs, cars, etc) for real time access to
Internet content like movies are seen the
trend for the next decade. Traditional
portable navigation devices and handheld
games are losing market share of the touch
screen as smart phones and other touch-
enabled mobiles gear more functional.
Go down to the details, it is best applied
through the consumer electronics (i.e. LCD
TV, digital readers, portable media players,
high-end mobile phones, etc.) and in-car
accessories (i.e. back-seat monitors, rear-
view mirror monitors, GPS navigators,
etc.). Providers of total solution and niche
products will be beneficial most and
growing in sales.
Even though FPD future looks
promising, there is still no general
agreement what killer applications would
be applied by the Internet connectivity
between home appliance control and net
surfing. Thus, none of the above-mentioned
suppliers plan to promote own brand for
now, neither in the near future, as of the
interview.
E-paper Evolution: A Long Journey
Since 2008, e-paper industry has entered the emerging stage with double-digit growth with e-book reader as
the target market. This year, e-paper still enjoys a steady growth when facing the threat of iPad-like products.
However, can it survive from the poverty of color richness?

By Tiffany Yeh

A ccording to the statistics from

Photonics Industry and Technology
Development Association (PIDA), the
production value of Taiwan e-paper
industry jumped from USD 100 million
in 2008 to 403 million in 2009 with a
triple revenue growth, as figure 1 shows.
PIDA predicts e-paper will continue
its robust annual growth from 2010 to
2013. The product value is projected to
reach USD 940 million this year with a
strong growth rate at 133%, and continue
to reach USD 1,500 million in 2011. In
2013, the production value is forecasted
to an amount that surpasses USD 3,000
million, around 37 percent of increase in
comparison with the figure of USD 2,180
million in 2012.
International Data Corporation (IDC)
also has a rosy outlook toward the e-paper
industry. The statistics shows that the
e-paper industry is forecasted to have a
two- or three-digit growth rate in shipment
volume throughout 2009 to 2013. The
research firm indicated that the volume
had reached 2.8 million units in 2008,
outlook toward e-paper industry. The
research firm forecasts that the global
e-paper display market will grow to 1.8
In worldwide market scale, the e-paper
industry is forecasted to go into the growth
stage since 2011 with the help of technology
billion units and $9.6 billion in revenues improvement in high color saturation and
in 2018, from 22 million units and full color features. Color flexible e-paper
$431 million in revenues in 2009, for a technology is seen as killer technology in
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the following years. That is to say—if the
41%for revenues and 64% for units. technology evolution does succeed.
Fig.1ȁE-paper Production Value by Applications
UnitȈmillion USD
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2008 2009 2010(e) 2011(f) 2012(f) 2013(f)

and 8.6 million units in 2009, presenting Other 0.3 29.0 63.9 82.5 98.1 120.0
a 207 percent of growth rate. The volume Smart card 2.3 12.1 30.1 49.5 82.8 126.0
is predicted to amount to 19.8 million in
E-tag 4.7 20.2 49.8 96.0 154.8 270.0
2010, to 41 million units in 2011, to 76
Mobile device &
million units in 2012, and to 130 million public display 15.8 107.2 232.2 357.0 536.3 744.0
units in 2013—a definite rising trend. E-reader 76.9 234.5 564.0 915.0 1,308.0 1,740.0
Another market intelligence firm,
DisplaySearch, also posted an optimistic Courtesy: PIDA, 2010ʝ6

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 7

 Fig. 2ȁFour Major E-paper Technologies Comparison

Micro-capsule

Drive AM

Contrast Ratio ~15:1

Reflectance > 40%

Response Time 200~260 ms

Supplier E-Ink
EIH, NEC, Chi Lin, LG, Plastic
Manufacturer
Logic, Poly Vision
Micro-cup

Drive AM

Contrast Ratio ~10:1

Reflectance 40%

Response Time ~275 ms

Supplier SiPix

Manufacturer AUO

QR-LPD

Drive AM & PM

Contrast Ratio ~10:1

Reflectance ~30%

Response Time 0.2 ms

Supplier Bridgestone

Manufacturer Hitachi

Ch-LCD

Drive AM & PM

Contrast Ratio ~10:1

Reflectance > 25%

Response Time ~300 ms

Supplier KDI, Fujitsu, FronTech, ITRI

Manufacturer Cinaflex

Courtesy: E-Ink, SiPix, Bridgestoneʝedited by PIDA

8 !!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!

Technology Competition
Speaking of technologies, four major
technologies are involved in competition as
figure 2 shows— Cholesteric liquid crystal,
Quick Response Liquid Power Display
(QR-LPD) and Electrophoretic which is
composed of Micro-capsule and Micro-
cup.
Among all, Micro-capsule technology
has the most supporters in module supply
because of its mass production capability,
and dominates 90 percent of the worldwide
share of e-paper industry. Its supporters
include E Ink Holdings Inc. (EIH), NEC,
Plastic Logic, LG Display and Polymer
Vision.
At present, EIH, previous Prime View
International Corporation Limited (PVI),
is the largest supplier of e-paper modules
in the world. EIH is leading in both
production volume and technology, and
is the solely e-paper module supplier for
Amazon Kindle and Sony’s e-Reader.
Regarding other technologies, Micro-cup
and QR-LPD are emerging technologies
owing to low cost and fast response
advantages. AUO and SiPix use Micro-cup
technology, and Delta and Hitachi utilize
QR-LPD technology. Kent Display, Fujitsu
and ITRI are engaged in cholesterol liquid
crystal technology instead.
Since the market is dominated by EPD
technology, new entrants have to possess
new technology or new business models
to maintain competitiveness in the e-paper
industry.
Advanced Technologies Bring New
Hopes
Electro-wetting Display (EWD) is one
emerging technology that features simple
structure and fast response time. The
technology requires no backlight, liquid
crystal, or color filter to make color images.
Also, the technology uses water and
harmless oil dye to fit for green design and
low cost requirement.
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (CPT),
Taiwan’s third largest LCD panel maker,
is developing e-paper panels with EWD
technology. The company develops a 6-inch
e-paper display with capacitive touchscreen
(TSP) functionality, and offers a series of
transmissive, transflective and reflective LC
displays for other e-reading solutions.
ITRI also sees EWD technology as a
promising technology and believes this
technology gives a chance for transparent
display development by using water. Today,
ITRI is capable of offering a 6-inch EWD
display with self-developed Ink-jet printing
technologies.
The other technolog y that brings
new possibility is Mirasol technology,
which works by reflecting light and thus
wavelengths interfere with each others to
reach color images. It is sunlight readable
and low power consumption. Mirasol
technology is backed up by Qualcomm
Panel Manufacturing Ltd. and SolLink Inc.
Niche Applications Utilizing E-paper
So far, Taiwan is the major supply
center for e-paper display modules.
Taiwan contributed around 90 percent
of worldwide shipment. The e-book is
the major driving forces of the e-paper
industry. According to IDC statistics,
e-book application took up 52 percent of
e-paper module shipment value in 2009,
and handheld devices and public display
applications accounted for 26 percent.
Based on DisplaySearch’s reports, the
number of e-book/e-textbooks (5-inch to
10-inch) models went from one model in
2003 and 2004 to twenty models in 2009.
The worldwide e-paper display market for
e-books and e-textbooks (5-inch to 10-
inch) will have a notable growth from 1
million units in 2008 to 77 million units in
2018. Taiwan makers can offer dot-matrix
and segment e-paer displays. Dot-matrix
solutions consist of active matrix and
passive matrix models.
The other driving forces were e-tag
and smart card, taking up 10 percent
and 2 percent of the shipment value
accordingly. It is a trend to enter new and
niche applications, such as wristwatch,
cell phone, digital schoolbooks and digital
photo frames.
The design trend is expected to move
toward larger-sized applications like
e-newspaper, e-paper magazines, e-posters,
outdoor billboards and information
banners.
Mainstream E-paper Commodities
When it comes to market trends,
color, flexible, larger-sized and touch-
screen solutions are four latest and hot
R&D directions to Taiwan suppliers.
Nevertheless, the color e-paper market
is in its infant stage. It is believed that
color e-books will not reach high volumes
before 2011 on account of its high price
and technical challenges, even though
colorization and saturation are key
factors to drive future growth. At present,
e-paper is still of low color saturation, with
monochrome and 4,096 color solutions.
Suppliers are moving toward high-
saturation solutions with 26,000 colors or
full color.
Referring to production process, it
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 9
 is a trend to move toward roll-to-roll
(R2R) process due to its fast and low-
cost production, and enable long display
length, available to 3 meters. ITRI has been
working on Cholesteric LCD (ChLCD)
technology with R2R process for electronic
books and signage. ITRI indicated that
the flexibility in length can offer a rollable
display bigger than the device itself. ITRI
announced a 10.4 inch QVGA color Ch-
LCD with a single-layer design that is much
thinner than traditional 3-layer designs.
AUO released e-book solutions based
on SiPix micro-cup EPD technology
10!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!
The other production process that
enables flexibility is EPLaR, which is
adopted by EIH. EIH offers active matrix
(AM) flexible EPDs with its proprietary
MagicMirror reflective technology together
and with the EPLaR process. The model is
co-developed with Philips Research. The
MagicMirror technology enables reflective
TFT backplane manufacturing, and the
EPLaR process leverage EIH’s a-Si TFT and
module processes to manufacture flexible
e-paper displays.
Chi Lin allies with E Ink to offer monochrome
and color e-paper solutions
E-paper stands out among others by
its characteristics, including sunlight
readability, bi-stable image, lower power
consumption, flexibility and lightweight.
In compare with LCD technologies,
e-paper display, without backlight, is a
better technology for long-time reading,
lightweight design and energy-saving
solution.
CPT exhibits its 6-inch color EPD
at Display Taiwan 2010 show
CourtesyȈPIDA
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 11
12!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!
3D New Era
People rush into movie theaters to put on their 3D glasses. Paramount, Dreamworks, and Warner Brothers
ascertained that they will no longer produce 2D films. The proliferating 3D entertainment has changed
people’s viewing experience. What to expect next?

By Tiffany Yeh

3D Feast Starts from PC Industry

E ncouraged by the recent success of 3D
cinema, the market for 3D displays is
forecasted to take off in 2010, providing a
The fabless graphic processing unit
(GPU) designer, nVidia, is a strong
a proprietary 3D Vision Technology
which adopts shutter glasses stereoscopic
technique to generate three-dimensional
welcome boost to the consumer electronics promoter of 3D technology in PC industry. visual effect.
industry. 3D computers, displays, digital GPU accelerates the speed of 3D game Stereoscopic and autostereoscopic
cameras/camcorders, projectors, Blu-ray and 3D film production. Jen-Hsun Huang, (naked-eye) are two major domains of 3D
disc players and more commodities are the CEO of nVidia, is highly optimistic technology. To wear glasses or not is the
being introduced to the market. of future 3D development in PC world, main difference between the two. Various
DisplaySearch, a research firm engaged especially in gaming community. The techniques are used to create 3D imaging
in display industry, forecasts that the total US-based IC design firm even developed effect. Shutter glasses and polarization
stereoscopic 3D display market will grow
from 0.7 million units and $902 million
in revenues in 2008, to 196 million units Fig.1ȁ3D Display Forecast
and $22 billion in revenues in 2018. The
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is Unit: million units/ billion dollars
75% in unit and 38% in revenue.
250 $ 25
DisplaySearch also points out that Units Revenues
3D-ready TVs will grow from 0.2 million
units in 2009, to 64 million units in 2018. 200 $ 20
The 3D TV segment will be the largest
application among all 3D products,
generating $17 billion revenue in 2018 (see 150 $ 15
figure 1).
Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display
Technologies at DisplaySearch explained, 100 $ 10
“A number of manufacturers of consumer
electronics devices, including T Vs,
monitors, notebooks, Blu-ray disc players, 50 $5
and digital cameras/camcorders/photo
frames have aggressively promoted 3D in
the home. In addition to consumer use of 0 $0
3D displays, the technology has also been 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

used for many professional applications

and advertisement/public displays.” Courtesy : DisplaySearch ( 2010/01 )

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 13

 glasses are dominating in stereoscopic field,
while barrier and lenticular multiplexed
2D are main methods to deliver
autostereoscopic 3D images.
Shutter glasses are also called active
glasses. The front-end system will require a
signal emitter to response simultaneously
with the computing unit. The glasses
usually bundled with emitter, and the
additional system may cost around $200.
Polarizer glasses are passive structure and
are cheaper. Both technologies are used in
today’s 3D movie theaters.
In this year’s Computex Taipei, 3D
concept has emerged as the prominent
must-have. As mainstream 3D films and
3D games are stereoscopic, the mature
ecosystem makes the technology became
the first to be commercialized.
Major Taiwanese computer brand
makers, including Acer and Asus, have
Table 1ȁ3D Technologies
With Glasses (Stereoscopic)
Without Glasses
(Autostereoscopic)
Multiplexed 2D
Courtesy : Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. ( 2010/03 )
14!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!
released 3D notebooks and desktop
systems that require glasses. These
computers present ultimate 3D visual
experience to fulfill the desire of game
enthusiastic and Blu-ray 3D home theater
consumers. Polarizer-type systems are
labeled as economic 3D systems. Shutter-
type systems, on the other hand, are priced
as premium line.
Asus G51 3D is the world’s first gaming
notebook with full support for shutter
glasses 3D technology, and with special
software that converts 2D to 3D for the
best overall 3D results. G51 3D sets the
standard for 3D excitement in the home
and on the move. This laptop’s outstanding
performance and unique features has
bestowed Asus the highest honor of Best
Choice Award in Computex.
Projector makers also strive to be
the early announcers of 3D projectors.
Shutter glasses (Active)
Polarization glasses (Passive)
Anaglyph (Passive)
Head mount displays
Holographic
Volumetric
Barrier
Lenticular
Depth
BenQ has launched the MP776ST and
MP772ST projectors which are capable
of displaying images and videos in
3D. Likewise, Optoma and ViewSonic
respectively have introduced their 3D
projectors. Due to short of 3D content for
home entertainment, most stereoscopic 3D
products aim at high-end and premium
segment. PC gamers are expected to be
early adopters for these fancy gadgets.
Panel Manufacturers Invest on Four
Major Technologies
Being an important production center
for display panels, Taiwan may be the
most enthusiastic group in 3D panel
development and manufacturing. AU
Optronics (AUO), Chi Mei Innolux (CMI)
and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) all
have demonstrated their 3D displays to the
audience. Both AUO and CMI are capable
to produce major types of stereo and auto-
stereo 3D panels to meet commercial and
consumer needs.
In panel perspective, each type of
3D technologies may have different
requirement. Panel used for shutter glasses,
for example, will need high frame rate
panel that provides flickering above 120Hz.
Notable TV brands such as Samsung, Sony
and Panasonic have shipment of 240Hz
panels. Polarizer glasses 3D will take
pattern retarder panels instead.
Today, the top-seller 3D TVs are mostly
shutter-glasses stereoscopic technology.
Despite the fact that polarizer-type 3D
is popular in cinema, the passive glasses
technology is hard to penetrate in home
entertainment because large-sized pattern
retarder LCD panels are very expensive.
Naked-eye 3D panels, meanwhile, are
difficult to produce and more costly. The
principle of auto-stereo is actually making
panels to “wear” glasses. Various lens and
barriers will be added in the modules.
Auto-stereo panels are often aiming at
commercial applications such as public
information boards.
Lenticular lenses have array
independently separates images into a
variety of angles. Each eye sees a different
image, and the images then merge in the
brain to create a 3D effect. Compared to
barrier-type 3D displays, lenticular lenses
provide higher brightness levels and a more
uniform image.
AUO exhibited a series of 3D display
technologies, including glasses-free barrier,
lenticular lens types, and pattern retarder
3D panels to be viewed with special glasses,
panels ranging from 8 to 65 inches.
Of the exhibits, the 65-inch pattern
retarder full HD 3D panel is the largest
commercialized 3D TV panel available
in the market and will go into mass
production in the second half of 2010.
Audience must wear a pair of polarized 3D
glasses. The glasses weigh only 10 grams
and come at a reasonable price, averaging
US$2~3 per pair. For those who already
own glasses, one must merely clip polarized
lenses onto the regular frame for a 3D
visual feast. This 3D panel is especially
targeting at large-sized three-dimensional
displays in home theaters.
Watching 3D without Glasses
Although stereoscopic technology is
believed to dominant the consumer market
at present, glass-free 3D is considered to
be the ultimate product that more close to
people’s viewing behavior.
On technology point of view, naked-
eye 3D is practical in production. The
array of 3D displays from digital frames, bottlenecks for today’s naked-eye 3D.
computer monitors, televisions to larger- High definition, multi viewing angles,
sized commercial digital signage are being wide viewing distance and smooth motion
commoditized. Nevertheless, glass-free picture performance are other critical
3D display is too expensive for average elements for the comfort of naked-eye
consumers. As a result, naked-eye 3D is viewing. Industry researchers admit that it
confined in advertisement market. Public takes at least 5 years for naked-eye 3D to
information displays (PID), Kiosk, and walk into home market. Digital signage will
digital signage are targeted applications. be the main application for glass-free 3D
Besides its high cost, limited viewing displays.
angle and eye fatigue are the main technical Digital signage market is expected to
Table 2ȁTechnology Features
Technology Feature
* Active glasses
* High frame rate panel
Shutter glasses
* Full resolution
* Low light efficiency
Stereo (glasses)
* Passive glasses
* 1/2 resolution
Polarizer glasses
* Viewing angle limitation
* High light efficiency
* Easy to manufacture
Barrier * Good 3D effect
* Low light efficiency
Auto-stereo
(glasses-free)
* Difficult to manufacture
Lenticular * Excellent 3D effect
* High light efficiency
Courtesy : AUO
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 15
 have 41% compound annual growth rate
throughout 2009 to 2011. The estimated
shipment number will hit 1,720,000 units
in 2010. 3D digital signage is expected to
reach 3,700 units installment, accounted
less than 1% of the overall digital signage
market.
Cost-down is the primary mission for
3D digital signage at this stage. Average
selling price would drop from 3000 USD
per unit in 2009, to 1000 USD per unit in
2014.
Next Step: Standardization
Now the situation is like this: you have
the 3D TV with a pair of proprietary
Fig.2ȁ3D Digital Signage
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
2008 2009 2010
Courtesy : Insight Media ( 2009/01 )ȇIEK ( 2010/02 )
16!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!
glasses.
You may also need to prepare extra
glasses for guests you invited. More than
that, without a compatible Blu-ray 3D disc
players and the adequate 3D content, your
3D home cinema party can never work out.
Diversified standards are obstacles for
3D penetration. This is possible the main
reason that 3D is still regarded as personal
entertainment for PC gamers. Currently,
organizations are enthusiastic of 3D
content format standardization.
The Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (SMPTE) said it will
define a single mastering standard for
viewing on TVs, PCs and mobile phones
UnitȈPieces
2011 2012 2013 2014
stereo 3-D content that could come from
optical disks, broadcast networks or the
Internet.
“It’s probably somewhere around 2012
that there will be an interoperable standard
available in consumer systems to handle
all the delivery mechanisms for 3DTV,”
said Wendy Aylsworth, vice president
of engineering for SMPTE and a chief
technologist for Warner Brothers studios.
In terms of standardization, content
interoperability is more urgent than
hardware uniformity. However, safety
concerns like fatigue and dizziness are the
same important.
International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) and International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) are
two major organizations in finalizing 3D
regulations. The standards focus on refining
the measurement of optical characteristics,
optical image quality, as well as the safety of
videos.
AMOLED Supply Shortage Surfaces
with Display Demands
By Tiffany Yeh
I t was not something big enough to
catch a glimpse of high-level display
until Taiwan-based mobile phone maker
HTC Corporation posted its second-
quarter profit that beat estimates. While
the market is bullish on HTC’s growth,
the issue of component shortage became a
major focus.
The component in short supply here
refers to AMOLED (active-matrix organic
light-emitting diode) display, consisting
of OLED pixels that have been deposited
or integrated onto a thin film transistor
(TFT) array to form a matrix of pixels that
generate light upon electrical activation,
which functions as a series of switches to
control the current flowing to each of the
pixels.
Samsung SDI, a subsidiary of Samsung
Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate,
was one of the most aggressive companies
in the industry to develop and manufacture
AMOLED displays, which has turned itself
to be the most dominant AMOLED vendor
in the world over the past few years.
In early 2005, Samsung SDI showcased
Table 1ȁAMOLED Suppliers’ market share (%)
Supplier Q1'09
Samsung 97.2
Chimei Innolux 1.7
LG Display 1.2
Sony 0.0
Courtesy : DisplaySearch Q4’ 09 Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report
the world’s largest OLED TV featuring
the highest resolution of 2.3 million
pixels at the time as well as the AM-based
technology for low power consumption;
In 2007, SDI started from September mass
production of the world’s first AMOLED
panel; In April 2009, Samsung released its
first phone using the AMOLED display in
the United States for mobile phone carrier
AT&T.
As of the end of June in 2010, for
technolog y, Samsung SDI holds the
position as world's number one patents
owner of AMOLED technology. For
dominance, Samsung poises the world’s
largest AMOLED vendor almost taking up
99% of the whole market as shown below.
The other fractions were split by domestic
competitor LG Display and Taiwan-
based Chimei Innolux Corporation, the
new entity to be formed between Chi Mei
Optoelectronics (CMO), TPO Displays
Corp and Innolux Display in March.
For capacity, as of the end of June in
2010, Samsung SDI has reportedly invested
US$1.3 billion in the existing AMOLED
Q2'09
97.8
1.8
0.4
0.0
lines which have monthly output capacity
of 70,000 sheets (1,300 × 1,500 mm). The
South Korea giant plans to invest around
US$2.2 billion in new 5.5 generation
AMOLED production facility that is due to
go online in July 2011, with a hope to help
mass-scale production of large AMOLED
displays, including TV and PC monitors, at
a lower cost than is currently possible.
Although Samsung SDI claimed with
confidence a while ago that the steps
they’ve taken to extirpate this AMOLED
shortage issue are adequate to fuel
production next year, the secured capacity
seems to the analyst not enough for the
short term, according to DisplaySearch, a
market research and consulting firm.
DisplaySearch indicated in its latest
Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast
Report that revenues of OLED in 2009
reached US$826 million, up 35% on year,
mostly on account of strong AMOLED
demand for handset display. Notably,
AMOLED achieved an annual revenue of
US$537 million while PMOLED (passive
matrix OLED) totaled US$291 million,
Q3'09 Q4'09
98.1 99.1
1.8 1.0
0.1 0.1
0.0 0.0
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 17
 registering an overturn for the first time.
With the mobile phone design trends
continually shifting to smart phones,
the institute believes AMOLED revenue
growth not only to remain strong in 2010,
but the problem of shortage could last for
years until 2014 onward.
The inspiring expectation also catalyzes
much smaller players to deploy into the
market in great demand. LG Display, the
world’s second-largest panel manufacturer,
bought Eastman Kodak’s, a manufacturer
of printing and imaging products, OLED
business in a US$100 million deal by the
end of last year, also aiming to establish a
5.5 generation product line of AMOLED
that starts run in the first half of 2011.
For Taiwanese rivals, since Chimei
Innolux officially announced the
completion of its merger on March 18, it
has approached to be among the world’s
top three players with the ability to leverage
its core technolog y and production
capacity to ser ve needs of different
customers worldwide. The company boasts
of its cutting-edge manufacturing process
of LPTS technology with two existing
3.5 generation product lines and one 5.5
generation product line in preparation for
AMOLED.
In addition, AU Optronics Corp, the
world’s fourth largest LCD maker, made a
come back in the market in March after it
agreed to purchase Singapore-based AFPD
Pte., Ltd., a joint venture between Toshiba
and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.,
to secure capacity for AMOLED. In June,
F.C. Luo, the company’s chief technology
officer, claimed that it will kick off mass
production and shipment of AMOLED
18!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!
panels for cellphone applications late this
year.
On the other hand, DisplaySearch said
the PMOLED technology needs to be
developed for new applications such as
automotive and consumer electronics that
are currently adopting PMLCD so as to
turn back the difficult position. However,
since the world’s largest flat panel makers
Samsung, LG Electronics, AUO and
Chimei Innolux have shifted facilities and
materials from PMOLEDs to AMOLEDs,
the market for PMOLEDs might be still
limited to small-sized (typically up to 3
inch) low-end product.
As data shown, AMOLED screens
have a great deal of edges over other
categories of display screens. Compared
to Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens,
AMOLED ones need no backlight since
they luminance themselves, a big incentive
for smart phones vendors to adopt in their
product because of a fifty percent of power
consumption as well as a thinner and
lighter body.
Besides, AMOLED screens are
theoretically cheaper than LCD ones
because they need fewer layers and can
be made flexible when used on plastic or
thin metal foils. For example, Samsung is
managing to integrate the touchscreen into
the AMOLED screen in a single panel.
Further, AMOLED screens are at the
higher contrast ratio over brightness due
to, again, the lack of a back light and the
fact they can produce much “deeper” black
pixels and therefore offer clear images and
readability in any environment. Also, they
can be transparent, allowing them to be
used for certain specialist applications,
eBook for example.
Some of the other remarkable advantages
of AMOLED screens are the incomparable
color reproduction and brightness that
surpass LCD and Plasma screens. Their
wider viewing angles are ascribed to the
self emitting light of the diodes. Improved
refresh rates of AMOLED screens is a
positive element to be mentioned. These
screens do not develop motion lag because
of the faster response rate provided.
Characterized by a handful of attractions,
AMOLED screens are lighting up a great
demand among branded 3C makers, smart
phones in particular. However, the reason
that they merely have a small share (about
2-3% of shipments) of the total mobile
phone main display market lies in low
yield rate, approximately 50 percent, which
drives AMOLED screens’ price to mark up
by 50 percent than mainstream TFT-LCD
(thin film transistor liquid crystal display)
product.
Nevertheless, with increasingly more
and more upscale smart phone models
are turning to adopt AMOLED for their
advantages of lightweight, higher image
quality, and faster response time, plus a
wave of high-speed expansion of major
players’ AMOLED lines, analysts from
several market researches tend to anticipate
that the penetration and the yield rate will
raise rapidly starting 2010.
LED Shines for Large-area Display
Backlighting
By Tiffany Yeh

T oday, cold cathode fluorescent lamp

(CCFL) and light emitting diode
(LED) continue to be the mainstream
success in LED displays for notebook,
LJ Chen. Besides, AUO’s notebook panels
Taiwan’s LED industry is ambitious to take
will be 100% LED-backlit by 2011, Chen
up larger-sized displays as well.
added.
lighting sources for LCD backlight In Q3 2009, HannStar Display first
Currently, panel makers and display
modules. However, taking the advantages revealed its optimism towards LED
brands are working together to rejuvenate
of slim design, low power consumption, backlight. The panel maker expects all its
LED backlight using in large-area LCD
mercury-free, and eco-friendly, LED monitor panel shipments will come with
displays. Display makers are adopting LED
backlight has rapidly emerged in LCD LED backlights in 2010. HannStar’s goal is
backlights in mainstream monitor sizes
industry. The narrowing price gap between in line with its fellow LCD panel makers,
ranging from 18.5-inch wide to 24-inch
the two technologies further boosted the that LED-backlit will soon take presence
wide. Although LED backlight penetration
adoption rate of LED backlight units. in large-sized LCD applications such as
in monitor panels was only 1.4% in Q3
monitors and TVs. 2009, production plans of panel makers
Large-area LED backlight take off in In late February this year, AU Optronics
indicate that the penetration could reach
2010 Corp. (AUO), Taiwan’s largest panel maker,
22% in Q3 2010.
According to PIDA, LED penetration also stated to aggressively march into
According to DisplaySearch’s latest
rate for notebook PC backlight is estimated large-sized LED backlight production. The
report, InnoLux was the leading supplier of
to reach 53% in 2009, and 88% in 2010, company expects that LED-backlights will
LED backlit monitor displays in Q3 2009,
as shown in figure 1. In mini-notebook, be featured in 80% of its LCD monitor
with 34.4% of market share in shipment
or netbook, sector, LED display has 100% panels and 65% of its TV panels in 2012,
volume. Other display brand makers such
adoption rate. With the respect of Taiwan’s said by the company’s president and CEO,
as Acer, AOC, BenQ, and Vizio are also
entrenching into this
Fig.1ȁLED Backlight Unit Penetration Rate in Large-sized TFT LCDs market.
As DisplaySearch
UnitsȈthousand / % r e ported in 1Q
200,000 2010, the research
100%
LED TV
firm forecasted that
180,000 LED MNT 90%
LED backlight units
160,000 LED NB 80% will surpass CCFL
LED TV
140,000 Penetration Rate 70% backlights in large-
120,000 LED MNT 60% area TFT LCD panels
Penetration Rate
100,000 LED NB in 2011, and achieve
50%
Penetration Rate 74% penetration in
80,000 40%
2013. Large-area LED
60,000 30% backlights demand for
40,000 20% all applications will
20,000 10% grow from 114 million
0 units in 2009 to 770
0%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010(E) 2011(F) million units in 2015.
In LED TV sector,
Courtesy : PIDA Korean brand makers

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 19

 have been taking the lead. The high usage and to stable management, players in FPD
TVs, about 575 pieces of LEDs are used. It
for LEDs in TV panels has transformed the industry is active in vertical integration.
is 12.8 times of the consumption of LED
worlds’ LED market pie, making Korean The merger between CMO and Innolux
notebook display. For 55-inch models,
LED overall market share in value hugely is an example for such consolidation. On
about 744 pieces of LEDs, approximate to
jumped from 9% to 15%. Enormous November 14th 2009, CMO and Innolux
16.5 times of chips are used in notebook
consumption of LED modules has pushed displays. DigiTimes Research furtherannounced the merger of two companies
Taiwanese backlight module vendors through the exchange of common shares.
predicts that LED chips consumed by TV
to escalate sales ratio catered to Korean The new corporate, renamed “Chimei
panels would reach 10,470 million pieces in
companies. 2010. Innolux Corp.”, also strengthened its
Vi e w i ng g re at m ar ke t p ote nt i a l, vertical integration with this merger.
worldwide TV makers are enthusiastic of Taiwan: comprehensive supply chain Chimei has subsidiary companies to
LED TV production. Taiwan’s largest TV for LED backlighting provide panel key components such as
brand, Vizio Inc., targets to ship 3 million LED backlight is undoubtedly the driver IC, polarizer, backlight module,
units of LED TVs this year. Other famous eye-catching centerpiece in this year’s CCFL module, LED packaging, as well as
TV vendors also have production plans display industry. In addition to notebook various film filters. Meanwhile, Innolux has
targeting 2 to 3 million units. DigiTimes application, TVs and monitors using LED in-house capability in color filter, backlit
Research, a local research institute, backlights are positioned as slim and green and touchscreen. Both parties may look out
estimates that LED TV shipment could hit home electronics, which soon become the for a smooth technical transfer inside the
21 million units globally. Upstream LED hot sellers. new company.
chip makers and packaging designers are Taiwan is a major production base for As the leading panel maker, AUO also
delighted with the industry evolution. In flat panel display (FPD) and LEDs. The persists on consolidating its supply chain.
average, notebook LED backlight utilizes complete vertical market accommodates at AUO holds a certain level of stock of its
38 to 40 pieces of LEDs. Monitors under least 200 suppliers. The long supply chain component suppliers, and endeavors to
20-inch may take up 70 to 80 pieces of includes LED chip makers, LED packaging build up mergers and acquisitions among
LEDs, and models beyond 24-inch will take designers, LED module makers, backlight these vendors. During the past six months,
150 LEDs. unit vendors, panel makers and T V AUO made two important mergers:
The larger the panel size is, the more assemblers, as figure 2 shows. Lextar Electronics merged with Light
LEDs must be consumed. For 40-inch LED In order to shorten the supplier chain House Technology (LHTC) to strengthen
t h e c o r p o r a t i o n’s
Fig.2ȁTaiwan LED Backlight TV Supply Chain upstream LED
packaging capability;
Products Manufacturers
Forhouse Corporation
LED chip Epistar, OptoTech, Huga, Forepi, Tyntek, Tekcore, Arima a n d Ta i w a n Na n o
E l e c t r o - O p t i c a l ’s
LED package Everlight, Lite-on, Unity, LHTC, Kingbright, Harvatek, Bright LED, AOT,Edison, Wellypower
merger enhanced
LED module TSMT, APCB, Flexium t h e p a n e l g i a n t ’s
competency in LED
BLU Radiant, CoreTronics, Forhouse, K-Bridge, Nano-OP, Kenmos, Forward
backlight unit.
Panel AUO, Chimei Innolux Smaller scale of
technical integrations
TV TPV, AmTRAN (Vizio), Wistron, Compal, Foxconn
happens in respective
Courtesy : Companies, PIDA (2010/03) companies as well.

20!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!

Fig.3ȁLED Adoption for LCD Backlight

Large
Items Small
Notebook PC Desktop TV

*Thin *Thin *Thin

*Light Weighting *Low Power Consumption *Low Power Consumption
Merit of LED Backlit *Thin *Low Power Consumption *High Color Rendering *High Color Rendering
*High Color Rendering

Method Side-Edge Side-Edge Side-Edge Side-Edge / Direct Light

Structure of WLED Blue LED + Yellow Phos Blue LED + Yellow Phos Blue LED + Yellow Phos Blue LED + R.G Phos
High-end High-end Direct Light
*Ultra-Thin *Thin *Thin *Thin
*High Efficiency
*High Efficiency *High Efficiency *High Efficiency *Lower Power Consumption
*Longer Lifetime *Hight Contrast
Characteristics Mainstream Mainstream Edge Light
*Replacement CCFL *Replacement CCFL *Thin
[Side Emitting Type] *Low Price *Low Price *Light Weighting
*Few WLED
[Side Emitting Type] [Side Emitting Type]

Courtesy : PIDA

Take backlight module for instance,
Radiant Opto-Electronics and Taiwan
Nano Electro-Optical both have in house
capability to design and manufacture
light guide plate. The critical component
in backlight unit can largely cut-down
production cost by reducing usage of LED
diodes.
WLED, direct type LED TV taking leads
in technology
According to PIDA analysis, the merits
of LED adoption for large-area LCD
displays center on thinness, light weight,
low power consumption and high color
rendering, as figure 3 shows. LED chips
used for backlight include RGB LEDs, Blue
LED + yellow phosphors, and Blue LED
+ R/G phosphors. In order to reach better
brightness uniformity, most of them are
white LEDs, as shown in figure 4.
In backlighting methods, side-edge
emitting type and direct light type are
the most common. Type of LED TV
backlighting technology adopted is closely
connected to the respective panel supply.
According to WitsView, a renowned LCD
research institution, slim and energy-
saving edge type TVS are still mainstreams.
Top-tier Japanese and Korean brands
chose direct type TVs for better image
performance. The cost of LED backlight
module for TV mainly comes from the

Fig.4ȁStructure of WLED and characteristic

Efficiency Color Rendering
Structure Spectrum Data Color Mix Control Circuit Cost Application
(lm/W) (NTSC)

30 ʂġ45 ȳ100% Difficult Complicated High

R.G.B TV Lighting
ɖ X X X
400 500 600 700 800

Portable Device
90 ʂġ100 40 ʂġ70% Simple Simple Low
Blue LED + Yellow Phos phos. Notebook PC
ɖ ɒ ɒ ɖ
Monitor
LED 400 500 600 700 800

70 ʂġ80 80 ʂġ95% Simple Simple Middle TV

Blue LED + R.G Phos
ɒ ɒįįįį ɒ ɒ ɒ Monitor
400 500 600 700 800

Courtesy : PIDA

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 21

 light source itself. Generally speaking, for
TVs with the same size, an LED backlit TV
cost 2 to 4 times that of a CCFL model.
High price becomes major bottleneck
LED backlight still faces technical
challenges and high price tag bottleneck.
Nevertheless, the ideology to pursuit green
life and government energy regulation
worldwide will keep accelerating the
industry’s development.
Samsung has been lowering its average
selling prices of the LED TVs. It seems
price become the major indicator of
acceptance in consumer market. The
primar y mission for LED backlight
now, therefore, is to enable cost-down
production.
Due to lack of strong TV brand, Taiwan
LED supply chain has close relationship
with China TV makers. Skyworth, TCL
and Hisense all had great promotion in
LED TV sector during 2010 Chinese
New Year. Chinese LED TVs are roughly
cheaper than foreign brands by 30 to 40%,
which situation could stimulate LED TV
Fig.5ȁLED Backlight Module Lightbar Design
Application 2009 structure
Monitor
TV
Courtesy : Wits View
22!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
sales in China region.
Although most TV makers have high
targets towards 2010 LED TV shipment,
the objective must be meet if the upstream
LED supply chain could have smooth and
sufficient supply. More importantly, the
entire supply chain must try every means
to reduce production cost.
Optimizing LED backlight cost structure
A consumer survey from Consumer
Electronics Association implies people’s
i nte re s t s i n L E D T V s . T h e s u r ve y
mentioned 89% of these interviewees care
about energy efficiency, 73% of them tend
to have thinner-shaped television, and 41%
of them desire for elegant design. Since
Samsung’s success proved that consumers
do like LED TVs, the promising product
could satisfy people’s requirements for
future TV sets. How to improve backlight
design and optimize cost structure become
critical issues for robust growth.
WitsView states that changing light
bar configuration and LED light design
could be possible R&D directions. In order
2010 new design
to maintain uniformity of brightness,
extensive LEDs are used in the backlight
module for TVs. The high usage of LEDs
has been the main reason for LED TV’s
high cost. Benefiting from the continued
improvement in light guide plates and the
luminous efficacy of LEDs, the 2010 LED
TV backlight module will probably adopt
a 4-lightbar, dual-side design. Instead of
the original 6-lightbar, 4-side design, new
design would save 1/3 of the cost in light
source, as shown in figure 5.
WitsView analyst Eric Chiou indicated
that light source accounts for over 50%
of the cost of the LED TV backlight
module, hence, this breakthrough design
is estimated to bring about 20% cost
reduction in backlight modules. Korean
makers would initiate such new design.
Starting from this year, Taiwanese panel
makers will follow the same design concept
to squeeze production cost.
Inevitable margin erosion for LED
components
Wi t h m a n u f a c t u r e r s’ e f f o r t s t o
commoditize large-sized LED displays,
LED business may soon experience another
industry blossom. Constant price reduction
of LED TV is likely to induce consumer’s
buying willingness, and further magnify
LED consumption.
Industry assumption towards LED
TV is to have the same proliferation
trend that happened in notebook display
sector. Upstream LED chip and packing
supply is foreseeable to have full load
capacity throughout 2010. In order to
achieve a higher penetration rate of LED
backlighting, margin erosion of LED
makers and related component makers is
inevitable.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 23
24!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
Energy Efficient Displays for
Mobile Devices
The electronics industry has embraced the concepts and processes of “green” and “sustainability” to enhance
their products, driven by corporate environmental programs, government regulation, and customer
demand. The electronics industry in general and the mobile device sector in particular have been very active
in making improvements to their products and processes.

Report commissioned by Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc.

Bob Boggio / Industry Analyst
Clint Wheelock / Managing Director

E very step in a green and sustainable

process has environmental impacts,
and the impact of product performance
is the most important because it has
such a strong influence on the customer
experience. However, the number of
processes required to make a green
and sustainable product and the cross-
boundary interactions of these processes
are extremely complex. Green and
sustainable processes for component
suppliers such as display manufacturers
include the following key elements:
Ȇ A foundation in Design for the
Environment (DfE) and ISO 9000 and
14000 registration.
Ȇ A complete lifecycle analysis (LCA),
which includes the environmental impacts
of raw materials extraction, manufacturing
& assembly, product performance, ancillary
equipment & packaging, followed by
shipping methods and distance to an OEM
assembly site.
Ȇ Once a baseline degree of green
and sustainability is established, all of the
consumption characteristics of transmissive
(LCD) and reflective displays (IMOD) with
diagonal dimensions of 2.4 to 2.8 inches
using typical daily usage models.
Displays with demonstrable energy
efficiencies offer the following advantages:
Ȇġ Increased energy efficiency during
operation extends the time between battery
recharges for customers reducing idle time.
Ȇ Fewer recharge cycles are required,
which results in a reduction to the energy
grid when applied to the four billion
subscribers worldwide.
Ȇ In addition, the reduced number
of recharging cycles can extend the life
of the device beyond the typical two
year exchange cycle as well as reduce the
number of devices sent to landfill disposal.
Displays can be categorized into one of
three major types: emissive / transmissive,
matrix Liquid Crystal Display (LCDs).
OLED (Organic Electro-Luminescent
or Light Emitting Diode) Displays are
emissive displays, emitting red, green
and blue visible light from individual
LED structures formed at each pixel. An
inherent issue with both emissive (OLED)
and transmissive (LCD) displays on mobile
devices is that the viewing experience
in bright daylight is difficult because the
generated light intensity is less than the
ambient light intensity of the sun.
ɓȁReflective

processes must go through periodic cycles
of continuous improvement.
Display Technology Analysis
In the following we’ll compare the power
reflective, and transflective.
ɓȁEmissive/Transmissive
The dominant display technology
used in mobile devices today is an active
Electrophoretic displays are bi-stable
reflective displays which consist of charged
particles encapsulated in a microcapsule
suspended in a fluid. A voltage applied
across the particles will cause the spheres to

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 25

 Table 1 Estimated Energy Consumed by Chargers Left Plugged-in
Courtesy: Pike Research
move toward
their opposite
c h a r g e .
Ambient light
entering the
display and
hitting the
spheres that
comprise a pixel will either be absorbed or
reflected. An interferometric modulator
display (IMOD) is also bi-stable. A
flexible thin-film mirror is fabricated on
a transparent substrate with an air gap of
a few hundred nanometers between the
thin film and the substrate. When ambient
light enters this cavity and reflects off the
mirrors, it constructively interferes. This
26!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!
process selects a particular color that is
reflected back to the viewer, depending on
the height of the cavity, which matches the
wavelength of red, green, or blue light.
ɓȁTransflective
Transflective displays represent a
combination of the transmissive and
reflective technologies. Transflective
displays are a compromise, and the
resulting image quality can be suboptimal
to either enabling technology. Their
strength is in applications where the
lighting conditions vary over a wide range.
Display Operating Characteristics
While power consumption is a primary
c ons t r ai nt , t h e c omp e t i ng d i s pl ay
technologies all have pluses and minuses
in the marketplace. It is Pike Research’s
opinion that OEMs will embrace reflective
technologies because they offer better
power value than traditional LCDs.
The reflective technologies also provide
enhanced viewing capability in bright
sunlight.
The two recurring complaints from
customers when evaluating their mobile
device performance are battery life and the
viewing experience of the display. Battery
life is a function of the type and duration
of activity being completed by the user
and remains limited by the capacity of the
battery that conforms to the device’s form
factor constraints. An unknown percentage
of users might, however, be willing to
sacrifice form factor (ever thinner, lighter,
and smaller) to get a device with a second
battery or opt for a higher capacity battery
if offered by the OEMs.
The other
frustration is
the viewing
experience
of an LCD
or OLED
in bright
 sunlight,
which Pike
Research
estimated at
10% of the
active time.
The ambient
b r i g ht n e s s
of sunlight is sufficient to overwhelm the
LCD backlight and the OLEDs, resulting
in “washout”. Thus, the images or text on
the screen can barely be seen. Devices with
transflective displays were developed to
help resolve this issue in LCDs operating in
bright sunlight. Meanwhile, manufacturing
modifications have helped make OLEDs
more readable. Since the light source for
LCDs and OLEDs is internal to the device,
there are no significant issues viewing these
displays in the dark.
Reflective displays are the opposite; they
are very good in bright sunlight but need
the help of a frontlight while operating in
darkness, also estimated by Pike Research
at 10% of the active time.
In our analysis, 80% of the daily
operating time is assumed to be in an office
environment.
The Impact of Energy Efficient
Displays
The primary beneficiaries of more energy
efficient reflective displays are the OEMs.
By reducing the power consumption of a
display when active, the power budget can
provide more battery capacity for enhanced
features or extend the time between
recharge cycles. In addition, customers
benefit from an increase in battery life with
the same functionality.
A mobile device is dependent on battery
life, and battery life is strongly influenced
by display power consumption. Power
consumed is replaced by a charger that
is typically plugged into line power (an
electrical
outlet) full
time. The
industr y is
beginning
to react to
t h e i mp a c t
of so-called
“vampire” power consumed before and
after a device is recharged. New standards
for a universal charger and increasing
intelligence within a charger, which will
significantly reduce if not eliminate the
power consumed by an idle charger, will
significantly reduce the carbon footprint
of the mobile device categor y. The
environmental impact of leaving a device
charger plugged in to the wall full time is
significant.
An IMOD equipped device will require
about 58 fewer recharge cycles per year,
which will allow such a device to recharge
to 100% capacity for an additional 1.25
years. This is an important attribute of
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 27
 energy efficient displays because of its
impact while in use and the reduction in
devices thrown away in a given year.
A lithium battery typically lasts about
400 full recharge cycles, which is what
was assumed in this simple comparison.
In practice the battery recharge cycles are
cumulative and the battery will likely last
longer since each recharge cycle is less than
a full recharge.
The Young Adult, Typical and Business
usage models, along with average active
time minutes using a 950 mAh battery
and data for days between recharges (2.15
for LCD and 3.25 for IMOD), were used
to estimate these effects. A 33% efficiency
loss converting 120 volts AC into DC was
28!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!
included to calculate the energy consumed.
An estimate of 175 mW was used for the
power drain of a charger plugged-in full
time, When all chargers consume less than
or equal to 30 mW, which is the European
Commission’s most efficient energy
standard for chargers, there is the potential
for an 83% reduction in energy drain from
chargers plugged in full time. Table 1 shows
the estimated energy consumes by chargers
left plugged-in.
A power consuming attribute of some
LCD devices is the display remains
powered up after a recharge cycle is
complete. If a typical user begins a recharge
cycle at bedtime and the recharge cycle
only takes 2-3 hours the energy grid is
impacted.
Market Projections
Worldwide consumer demand continues
to be strong for mobile devices with more
features and longer battery life. Sales in
this sector are projected to increase at
an 8.5% compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) through 2013, when an estimated
1.6 billion units will be produced. The
percentage of smartphones is expected
to rise more quickly than other mobile
devices. Indeed, the market may reach a
point where finding a simple, standalone
cell phone is difficult, if not impossible.
There were approximately 4 billion
mobile subscribers worldwide in 2008
with a penetration rate estimated at 63%.
Subscriptions in developed countries
are approaching 100%, indicating that
an increasing percentage of high-end
subscribers have multiple accounts. In
developing countries, subscriptions have
reached a penetration rate of greater than
50% with a CAGR approaching 33% over
the last 6 years. Significant additional
potential for growth still exists in countries
such as India and China due to their large
populations. Opportunities also abound in
other developing regions, such as Africa,
South America, and additional parts of
Asia. Moreover, a spike in demand may
occur when the current global economic
crisis eases in 2011.
Strong Panel Demands Heighten Competitions
By PIDA
S ince early 2010, strong demand for
panels has been expected to rebound
with a five percent CAGR and revenues of
$93.3 billion for the whole year. The high-
generation production lines continue
to c om e on l i n e arou n d t he wor l d,
from Japanese, South Korean through
Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers.
Major players in the space have accelerated
their deployment to seize the market as
the global economic situation is poised to
take off.
Among others, the TV, ebook reader
and mobile phone applications are the
spur for the industry, helping to improve
inventory control and visibility across their
operations. According to DisplaySearch,
a leading industry analyst firm, total TV
shipment will eventually reach more than
243 million units in 2010, a 16% increase
over the year before, attributed to the
fast-growing the TV replacement cycle in
emerging countries such China and India.
For ebook reader, the worldwide
shipment was concluded to triple that of
2009, increasing to over 14 million units
in 2010. The enormous leap has been on
the way to achieve by the hot sale of Apple
Inc.’s killer application iPad starting late
April. In the third quarter, Apple sold 4.19
million iPads, taking a dominant market
share of more than 70% over the rest
competitors.
Tou c h s c re e ns p an e l s are a l s o a
strong contingent in terms of worldwide
shipment. Analysts expected the market
to reach 531 million or so, up 41% year on
year. The use of touch screens in medium-
sized devices, notebook, and large-
sized, all-in-one PCs, as well as the other
applications is increasing rapidly.
To catch up the boom, major panel
makers promptly expand in an effort to
take advantage of the growth spurt in this
segment. With Samsung Electronics and
LG Display as the leaders, they heavily
invested in manufacturing facilities
and research and development despite
the changeable and uncertain economy
environment. According to Samsung,
the total amount hit US$23 billion,
representing its largest annual investment
outlay ever.
Fo r Ta i w a n e s e c a mp s i n c l u d i n g
AU Optronics and Chimei Innolux
C or p orat ion, t he y als o made huge
investment plans, particularly in China,
to ease high-tech controls on its formerly
bitter rivals as well as to grow sustainably
in profitability. China, which will likely
surpass the U.S. to be the world’s largest
TV and PC markets soon, embraces
major LCD panel technology providers
to forge an alliance so as to strengthen its
competitiveness.
In mid 2009, AUO formed its first
LCD module joint venture with China’s
TV maker Sichuan Changhong Electric,
followed by the other LCD TV module
joint venture with Haier Group earlier this
year, and another TV joint venture with
TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings.
AUO hopes to save logistic costs, raises
awareness and gets much more high-
profile attention in China through the
strategic approaches.
Ho w e v e r, t h e u n e x p e c t e d w e a k
market condition resulted from China’s
slowing economic growth and worries of
double-dip recession stirs up troubles for
panel makers. Among all, the allegedly
participation in a conspiracy to fix prices
of panels hurt the most, worsened by an
indictment filed by a grand jury in U.S.
District Court in San Francisco against
AUO in mid 2010.
The lawsuit is not an individual matter
and can be traced to 2006 when South
Korea-based LG.Philips LCD revealed
that it had been subpoenaed by regulators
in the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. The
other few more big vendors then said
they had been contacted by investigators,
which turned an investigation into
possible anticompetitive behavior in the
flat-panel display market widened.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s No. 1
flat panel manufacturer, said it had been
served with subpoenas by regulators in
the U.S., South Korea and Japan, while
Japan-headquartered Sharp and AUO
were contacted by the Japan Fair Trade
Commission and the U.S. Department of
Justice. Taiwan’s Chi Mei Optoelectronics
(CMO) said a subsidiary in the U.S. was
also contacted by the Justice Department.
The probe focused on TFT-LCDs,
and the companies under investigation
were among the largest manufacturers of
such displays. To be more specific, all the
defendants were based in Asia accounting
for 90% of the annual shipment. A while
after, the European Commission opened
an investigation seeking to “ascertain
whether there is evidence of an agreement
and related practices concerning price
fixing”.
Representatives and spokespeople from
the defendants asserted that they were
surprised to have received the summons.
Sharp argued that the company has a
policy of fair and ethical management
while Samsung said that it is strongly
committed to fair competition and ethical
practices and forbids anti-competitive
behavior.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 29
 In 2008, Taiwan panel manufacturers
AOU and CMO, allying with Japan and
the United States, filed a dispute against
the European Union over LCD flat-screen
panel tariffs, arguing that the European
Union violated a 1994 information
technology agreement that exempts tariffs
on certain items, local media said. It had
charged a 14 percent tariff. They also
contested EU tariffs on multi-functional
printers and television set-up boxes.
With roughly two years since then,
a WTO dispute settlement body ruled
in mid July that the EU could not levy
tariffs on panels bigger than 19 inches and
with high-definition interface terminals.
According to an official, Taiwan firms will
save US$162-US$609 million per year on
tariffs when the deal takes effect by Dec.
25, barring an appeal by the EU, adding
that this is a huge help to the island’s flat-
30!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!
panel screen manufacturers, because
Taiwan’s shipments are so numerous.
One recnet shot was Chimei Innolux’s
(formerly CMO) patent-infringement
lawsuit against Japan giant Sony Corp,
taking place around the same time in the
U.S. District Court,as well as in China.
According to a statement filed by Chimei
Innolux, the patents that Sony infringes on
relate to LCD televisions, digital cameras
and digital photo frames.
In the statement, Chimei Innolux
General Counsel Peterson Tien said the
company is committed to protecting its
valuable intellectual property, its industry
partners, and most importantly its
customers. Chimei Innolux hopes to halt
the sale of a wide range of Sony products
and demand compensation for the alleged
infringement of its patents, and it also asks
for compensatory damages.
The central Taiwan-based company
was established March 18, after
Innolux Display Corp. acquired Chi
Mei Optoelectronics Corp. and TPO
Displays Corp., supplying panels and
partially assembled screens for use in
TVs, computer monitors and electronics
products. Sony earlier this year alleged
Innolux and Hong Kong-based TPV
Technology Ltd. violated its intellectual
property rights and asked a U.S. trade
agency to block imports of its products.
Some industry insiders noted that
Chimei Innolux’s countercharge against
Sony might be an attempt to force Sony to
cut the licensing fee for some of its patents
and even raise its orders for Chimei
Innolux, indicating that mutual charge
for patent infringement between suppliers
and clients mostly ended with settlement
and mutual licensing.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 31
27
 Photonics Festival in Taiwan 2010 Boasting
the Largest Scale of Photonics Exposition in
Taiwan to Date
By PIDA
PIDA-hosted Photonics Festival in
Taiwan (PFT) and concurrent exposition
Display Taiwan had successfully brought
new vitality to Taiwan photonics industry.
The two shows attracted 39,328 domestic
and international visitors with a growth
rate of 11% compared to the 2009 event. In
response to the call for energy saving and
carbon reduction, the theme of the show
this year was centered around the green
technologies featuring energy efficiency,
low pollution, low carbon dioxide and
renewable energy, and demonstrating the
interaction between green photonics and
human life. This grand event was presided
by Vice President Vincent Siew.
Fig.1ȁTaiwan Vice President Vincent Siew (third from left) attended the opening
ceremony, with Dr. Peter Shih (second from left) and other guests
Courtesy: PIDA
32!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!
According to Siew, it was his honor
to be with the elites from the industry,
government, academia and research
institutions in PFT 2010. The large scale
of the photonics reflects the booming
photonics industr y. In the opening
ceremony, Siew recalled when he was the
Minster of Economic Affairs 20 years ago;
Dr. Peter T.C. Shih, current Chairman
of Photonics Industry and Technology
Development Association (PIDA) visited
him to tout the photonics technology
and said that photonics industry would
become the mainstream industry of Taiwan
in the future. The fact that the photonics
industry in Taiwan started from nothing
to reach such a tremendous size in a very
short time is very impressive, plus that so
many manufacturers exhibiting the show
revealed the importance of this industry
for the country. He also paid tribute to
all the people who were involved in the
development of the photonics industry for
their efforts and contributions to make it a
great success in a very short period. .
He was pleased to learn that the contents
of the show corresponded to the idea of
“energy saving and carbon reduction” and
the “green energy” industry- one of the
Six Major Emerging Industries- promoted
by the government. To help the industry
seize the huge business opportunities of
the global green trend, the government
would give the first priority to develop
the mainstream industries such as the so-
called two pillars photonics (photovoltaic
and LED lighting) for development in the
direction of low carbon and high values
to make Taiwan one of the leaders in new
energy technologies.
Vice President Siew also encouraged the
guests in the opening ceremony to consider
the transformation of Taiwan’s technology
industries in the future when enjoying
the success of the photonics industry.
How will Taiwan increase its share in
the global photonics market through
further upgrading the industry, uplifting
technological level, increasing added-values
of products and improving competitiveness
and so on has been a major issue for the
photonics industry in Taiwan. Currently
the IT industry and traditional industry
FIG.2ȁTaiwan Vice President Vincent Siew, Dr. Peter Shih and AUO vice chairman H.B. Chen saw the 3D
demonstration by AUO
Courtesy: PIDA
in Taiwan mainly take the forms of OEM
and ODM, lacking self-owned brands; it
is imperative for the industry to get rid
of this OEM model and to seek upgrade
through both technologies and brands
for creating higher added values to make
breakthroughs.
Sean C. Chen, Vice Premier of the
Executive Yuan, also came to the show to
show his interest in the development of
the green energy industry. During the tour
guided by Dr. Peter Shih, Vice Premier
Chen listened to the briefing on the
photonic industry learned about the market
and development status in the areas of
LED, photovoltaic, flat panel display and so
on. He also showed interest in the award-
winning photonics products exhibited in
the theme pavilion.
Echoing President Ma, Ying-jeou’s call
for the citizens to be alert when facing
the global climate change and make
contributions to energy saving and carbon
reduction, Vice Premier Chen pointed out
that for the industry, the government was
concerned about how the efforts made in
response to the climate change could be
developed into a new industry. In other
words, the seemingly passive actions of
energy saving and carbon reduction could
generate very positive results. For example,
the development of PV was a great help to
the industry.
Dr. Shih concluded by quoting the
remark by President Ma that energy saving
and carbon reduction was neither a slogan
nor a fashion but a new way of life. He
affirmed the enactment of laws by the
government to encourage development of
renewable energies such as solar power,
biomass and wind power. Embracing the
wave of low carbon living, the green power
will start a new era of application.
Buyers Have Positive Responses
towards PFT/Display Taiwan
2010
This year international buyers gather
up in the two expositions in order to
explore future business with Taiwan-
based photonics players. The world’s
leading companies such as Soltec and
Flamagas from Spain, Sony and Hitachi
from Japan, Hyundai Telecom from Korea,
ADEO Groupe from France and so forth
participated in procurement meetings held
onsite. Companies from emerging market
also joined this event, including Halil Avci
from Turkey, NLC, and Micrsol from Saudi
Arabia, Silk Ventures Group, Neio-Succeed
from China, and BBM Bommidala, Kwality
Photonics, Hard Chen from India. Other
companies include Electronic Resources
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 33
 Fig.3ȁDr. Peter Shih making presentation to Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan Sean C. Chen

Courtesy: PIDA

NZ, Display and Design from Germany,
Century Italia from Italy, Jimway from the
US, and Prolicht from Austria.
In total, over 250 procurement meetings
had been held for over 30 international
buyers and are estimated to bring a
strong demand for Taiwan-manufactured
products.
Lighting Africa Seeking the Light
in Taiwan
Invited by the organizer of Photonics
Fe s t iv a l i n Taiw an , L e o Bly t h , t he
technical consultant of the Lighting Africa
initiative delivered in speech in the 2010
International Conference in LED Lighting.
According to Blyth, Lighting Africa is a
World Bank Group (WBG) initiative which
supports the private sector to develop,
accelerate, and sustain the market for
modern off-grid lighting technologies
tailored to the needs of 500 million African
consumers.Lighting Africa works closely
with a range of key manufacturers along
the supply chain and beyond and fathers
successful market formation.
During his trip to Taiwan, Blyth also
visited booths of Taiwan’s leading LED
manufacturers such as LiteOn, Everlight,
and Delta to exchange ideas for off-
grid lighting applications. The show
host PIDA said it is possible for the LED
manufacturers in Taiwan to gains orders
such PV-powered LED lamps through this
visit.

Fig.4ȁThe three-day-run Photonics Festival in Taiwan and Fig.5ȁBlyth Promoting theɆLighting Africaɇ Initiative
Display Taiwan drew over 30 buyers from overseas
to explore business opportunities with Taiwan-based
photonics players

Courtesy: PIDA Courtesy: PIDA

34!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!

Exhibitors Demonstrating Various
Technologies in Photonics Festival
By PIDA

The PFT Theme Pavilion: A Retrospective of Taiwan Photonics Industry Fig.1ȁPIDA’s theme pavilion is
For decades, the Photonics Festival in Taiwan has been keenly welcomed and supported packed with crowd
by the domestic and foreign photonics manufacturers, making it one of the most important
photonics exhibitions in the Asia Pacific region. This year, in celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the invention of Laser, the organizer PIDA paid tribute to Laser at the theme
pavilion, in which posters showing the development trends and a picture showing Theodore
Maiman, the invention of Ruby laser, visiting Taiwan were displayed. The theme pavilion
let visitors recall Taiwan’s photonics industry in its early stage of and those who contributed
to the establishment of the industry. Furthermore, the winning products from this year’s
Outstanding Photonics Products Award along with various PIDA-compiled statistics about
the photonics industry were also exhibited to reflect the present development here in Taiwan.

Fig.2ȁEverlight aiming at energy saving products Everlight to demonstrate a new

generation LED lamps
Everlight rolled out a new generation of
LED lamps to replace the traditional lamps.
The company stressed the capabilities of
these LED lamps to directly take the place of
incandescent lamps without modifying the
external power or inverters. Now users only
have to buy LED lamps from Everlight and
enjoy the benefit of 80% power reduction to
save their electricity bills right away.

LiteOn Technology strode ahead with LED products Fig.3ȁLiteOn Technology presented the
LiteOn Technology turned the exhibition pavilion into an education center best of LED pavilion
with technological, futuristic and green environmental features. The portable
mobile lamps, smiling lamps with touch control for image changes and color
lamps with automatic color switch feature were available in the pavilion. These
innovations changed the stereotype of traditional light bulbs. Now, the light
bulbs are not just light bulbs. A large LED assembly model was provided to
entertain and educate visitors with their hands-on experience for assembling it.
A large LED word map experience area was established to help visitors realize
that LED technology was not only the future epoch-making light source but
also a green solution for carbon reduction.

Fig.4ȁVice President Vincent Siew visited Delta Electronics to Exhibit LED Lamp Certified by TÜV
Delta’s booth Delta Electronics presented its LED lamps, which were the first to be
certified by TÜV Rheinland Taiwan Ltd. in Taiwan. As the leading power
supply provider, Delta Electronics is dedicated to develop solutions both
environmental friendly and energy saving. The company cooperates with
Epistar to roll out ultra high efficiency LED (HV LED) lamps for LED lighting
applications. Delta’s LED street lamps have been verified by ITRI to have the
highest lighting efficiency in Taiwan and been the first to receive certifications
from TÜV Rheinland Taiwan, which awarded Delta with its TÜV certificate
during the exhibition.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 35
 Future Lighting Solutions and Philips Lumileds seeing the future of Fig.5ȁFuture Lighting Solutions to
LED applications provide its LED ideas
Future Lighting Solutions is a leading provider of LED lighting components and
support services for solid-state lighting products and installations, including lighting
engineering expertise, concept development, system solutions and online tools that
accelerate quality application development. The company has teamed up with Philips
Lumileds to provide world-class LUXEON LEDs and the engineering, support and
services that make it easier for companies to develop solid-state lighting solutions and
get to market more quickly. In addition to enabling customers with LUXEON power
LEDs and the optics, electronics and thermal solutions that every SSL solution needs,
Future Lighting Solutions has developed unique and powerful tools such as the Usable
Light Tool, Lifetime Reliability Tool and QLED thermal software each of which allow
customers to more easily select the appropriate LED and design an effective solution.

Fig.6ȁITRI to show advanced display products ITRI to Show Advanced Display Technologies
At the 2010 Taiwan Photonics Festival, Industrial Technology Research Institute
(ITRI) presented many of its latest innovative optoelectronic technologies, such as
its 3D Image Display Technology, its portable Flexible Panels, and its Light Guiding
Plate and Diffuser with Self-Scattering Effect, which allow LED light sources to be
evenly dispersed. In the 3D field, ITRI has developed 3D software which converts
images from 2D to 3D, and enables wireless transmission of real-time 3D images.
This function allows images from a remote 3D monitor to be transmitted wirelessly
to the family television and enjoyed in real time in 3-D form. For portable electronic
devices, ITRI has developed Rollable AMOLED, using the most advanced plastic
backplane peeling technology together with Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
(OLED) to offer superb flexibility, high image resolution, and high reaction speed.

AUO to Exhibit Innovative Display Applications at Display Taiwan 2010 Fig.7ȁVisitor sflooding into AUO’s
AU Optronics Corp. participated in Display Taiwan 2010 to showcase its full lineup of display exhibition booths
products. The exhibits include 3D display technologies with panels ranging from 8 to 65 inches,
the range of 46 to 65-inch power-saving LED backlit TV panels, LED backlit IT displays from
10.1 to 24 inches employing multi-touch or MVA technologies, and small and medium-sized
e-paper display applications, in addition to advanced TV display technologies such as the 58”
CinemaScope HDTV and AMVA5. The world’s largest (*) 32” projected capacitive multi-touch
LCD display and the world’s first(*) 2.4” transparent AMOLED in-cell touch panel will also be
shown. The wide array of innovative applications will for certain be the highlight of the event.
AUO’s theme for the show this year is “Innovating Life.” The aim is to offer dazzling viewing
experiences through technological innovations to create an amazing and enriched digital life.

Fig.8ȁCPT showcased its 3D and Touch applications
CPT displaying 3D and touch panels
Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) demonstrated it technology in five major
fields: including 3D, Touch, Eco-friendly, E-reading, and smart phone
sections. In recent years, CPT has been aggressively developing 3D displays,
such as the Multi-view multi viewing-angle 3D autostereoscopic technology,
and lenticular lens target at 3D applications. Furthermore, CPT also provides
projective capacitive touch panels with their sizes between 3.2” to 21.5” and
enhances these touch panel with the advantages of high transmissive rate,
low color difference, high precision, and real multi-point touch capabilities,
thereby giving customers products with the highest quality.

36!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 37
38!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
 The 15th IOA Meeting Targets on
Green Actions
By Angel Chiou

th

T he 15 Annual Meeting of the

International Optoelectronics
Association was successfully held in
th th
Taiwan during June 9 to 11 by Photonics
Industry & Technology Development
Association (PIDA). Ten international
optoelectronic organizations gathered up
to discuss the photonic market, production
trends, and hot topics, as well as to update
the participant organizations’ activities.
The two-day meeting began after the
joint open ceremony of the “Photonics
Festival in Taiwan 2010”and “Display
Taiwan” and the tour of the stalls.
Representatives from various organizations
briefed on the development of photonics
industry and technology in their respective
areas. The first speaker, Dr. Sadiq Hasnain
from Canada introduced the photonics
industry cluster in the country. He was
followed by Dr. Tom Pearsall of the
European Photonics Industry Consortium
(EPIC) talked about the activities of
the organization and the energy saving
and carbon reduction programs in EU.
According to his estimation, revenue of
photonic industry in Europe 2009 reached
52 billion euros, and in 2010 will continue
growing to up 60 billion euros.
Dr. Daniel L au f rom Hong Kong
provided insights into many photonic
organization and industrial base in
China. Dr. Kyu-zong Cho of the Korean
Association for Photonics Industr y
Development (KAPID) expected LED
lighting to set off a new trend very soon
in Korea. Dr. Dirk Kalinowski, CEO
of OpTech, spoke of Germany’s strong
photonics industry and analyzed the
application of the photonics technologies
with future market potentials, such
as All-optical-lighting, Visible Light
Communication, and Nanophotonics.
On the second day, new president of
Optoelectronics Industry Development

Fig.1ȁKey members of international optoelectronic associations meet up in Taiwan for the 15th IOA Meeting
hosted by PIDA

Front row left to right—Dr. Kyu-zong Cho (KAPID), Dr. Michael Lebby (OIDA), Dr. Peter T.C. Shih (PIDA), Dr. Daniel Lau
(HKOEA), Dr. Christoph Harder (SLN)
Back row left to right—Dr. Sadiq Hasnain (NRC-CNRC), Chris Gracie (SOA), Fred Quan (OIDA), Dr. Thomas Pearsall
(EPIC), Dr. Dirk Kalinowski (OpTech-Net), Dr. Kenji Murata (OITDA), Yasuhisa Odani (OITDA), Murphy Lin (PIDA)

Courtesy: PIDA
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 39
 Association (OIDA)— Fred Fig.2ȁThe IOA members
Quan— talked about global
photonic technolog y and Canada National Research Council Canada— NRC
market trend, including Europe European Photonics Industry Consortium–EPIC
the integration of photonic Hong Kong Hong Kong Optoelectronics Association–HKOEA
technologies, and showed Korea Korea Association for Photonics Industry Development–KAPID
OIDA’s roadmaps of LED, Germany OpTech-Net
OLED, las er, and opt ical Japan Optoelectronic Industry and Technology Development Association–OITDA
c o m mu n i c at i o n . O I T DA USA Optoelectronics Industry Development Association–OIDA
analyzed that the main region Taiwan Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association–PIDA
of photonic industr y has Scotland Scottish Optoelectronics Association–SOA
shifted into Asia-pacific area, Swiss Swiss Laser Network–SLN
and market in China is getting Courtesy: PIDA
more and more important in
the near future. Fig.3ȁDr. Shih presented the Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Michael Lebby
Ya s u h i s a O d a n i f r o m
Optoelectronic Industry and
Technolog y Development
Association (OITDA) gave
a detailed analysis on Japan
photonics industry. Data from
OIDA and OITDA has been
important reference for Taiwan
developing photonic industry.
In addition to route report of
activities, Chris Gracie from
S cott i s h O pto e l e c t roni c s
A s s o c i a t i o n ( S OA ) a l s o
introduced EU’s participation
in developing green energy.
The meeting ended in reports
from Dr. Christoph Harder
(Swiss Laser Network) and Dr.
Peter T.C. Shih (PIDA).
As the Chairman of the 15th
IOA Conference, Dr. Peter Shih Courtesy: PIDA
presented the Distinguished
Service Award to Dr. Michael tenure (see figure 3). The next IOA conference the IOA, an international photonics cooperation
Lebby, former president of will be organized by SwissNet in Geneva 2011, network.
OIDA for his outstanding Switzerland and more photonics organizations In response to the “GO GREEN” theme in the
service and contribution to from different parts of the world will be invited show, key members of IOA meeting also attended
the organization during his to participate for furtherance of the influence of the International Green Photonics Forum with

40!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!

 the topic “From Green Photonics to Low
Carbon Society” addresses issues on
how photonics technologies are used to
improve the sustainability of environment
worldwide. Speakers of the forum are key
persons from OITDA, OIDA, EPIC, SOA,
and OpTech-Net to share their experiences
in promoting green photonic technologies.
As PIDA founder as well as forum
host, Dr. Peter Shih pointed that while the
world is evolving into a future of energy
efficiency and green industry, photonics
would carry a significant role in the society.
Non pollution, low CO2 emission, energy
efficiency will be highly valued. Among
various photonic technologies, LED and
photovoltaic are the most potential ones to
contribute to this global green movement.
Echoing to Dr. Shih’s perspective, Mr.
Odani from OITDA pointed that lighting,
internet communication, and displays
respectively take 15%, 5%, and 1.5% power
consumption in Japan. He believes by
photonic technology would help improve
power efficiency. It is estimated that by
2015 light bulb will be phased out in the
market and 90% market be replaced by
Fig.5ȁKey IOA members shared experiences in CO2 reduction through photonic technology in respective
countries.
From left to right— Dr. Peter T.C. Shih (PIDA), Dirk Kalinowski (OpTech-Net), Chris Gracie (SOA), Thomas Pearsall (EPIC),
Fred Quan (OIDA), Yasuhisa Odani (OITDA)
Courtesy: PIDA
Courtesy: PIDA
2025. Mr. Quan from OIDA, on the other
hand, considers photonic technology as
part of human life since it is highly involved
with lighting, communication, and medical
behaviors. “Though photonic technologies
help reduce CO 2 emission, what makes
things change is our life style—to turn
thing off!” he added.
The participant organizations all agree
that the photonic industry is quite potential
in the following years. Dr. Pearsall from
EPIC analyzed that renewable energy
only takes 4% in the whole world, and is
highly potential in growing in the future.
He took power consumption in Europe
for instance, pointing that 59% of power
used in Europe are clean energy, among
which PV takes 19%. Since 50% revenue
of European photonics industry is invested
in development of green photonics, he
believes LED, sensing in wind energy, and
PV would have bight prospects.
Dr. Dirk Kalinowski from Optech-Net
introduced the current development of
green photonics in Germany. Germany
as one of the most ambitious countries in
environmental protection aims to double
its energy production in 2020 comparing
with that in 1990. Till then, 30% of
Germany’s power would be renewable
energy. Germany also attempts to reduce
its CO2 emission to 60% amount in 1990.
Dr. Shih concluded by quoting the
remark by President Ma that energy saving
and carbon reduction was neither a slogan
nor a fashion but a new way of life. He
affirmed the enactment of laws by the
government to encourage development of
renewable energies such as solar power,
biomass and wind power. Riding the wave
of low carbon living, the green power will
start a new era of application.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 41
2010 Outstanding Photonics
Product Award Winners
Edited by Angel Chiou

I n order to encourage innovation/creation and to promote photonics products’ market

potentials, Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA) calls for
a group of experts and scholars to select the most innovative/creative products of the year as
the winners of “Outstanding Photonics Products Award.” The award-winning products not
only show the high quality, but the great design of Taiwan photonics products as well. These
products provide future directions for Taiwan photonics industry, as well as represent the
competitive strength of Taiwan photonics industry.

Arima Lasers Corp.

Millennium Communication
Co., Ltd.
Solar LED
ɓ The first case combing high efficiency
III-V solar chip and LED chip, and packing
in one component.
ɓ By utilizing its shape to concentrate, the
conversion efficiency of solar cell is raised
up and the power is transferred from
sunlight to supply LED.
ɓ Small sizeȃsimple structureȃhigh
conversion efficiencyȃhigh illumination
and flexible application.
ɓ Use epoxy potting as package method
which is adopted by LED packing with
global top lens.
ɓ Overcome the die-bond difficulty while
placing LED on the center of solar cell.
ɓ Applied in products with properties of
energy generation, energy efficiency and
practicality, such as outdoor billboard,
traffic sign, mobile design, phototransistor
coupler for circuit protection, directional
lighting source in 3C products and
landscape architecture.
ELAN Microelectronics Corp.
Windows 7 Smart-
TouchscreenTM with eStylusTM
ɓ MS certified Windows 7 compatible
multi-touch technology.
ɓ High transparency: Glass substrate.
ɓ Ghost free : Special algorithm for
eliminating multi-touch ghost coordinates.
ɓ Palm rejection: Distinguish false signal
induced by accidental palm-contact on
the screen.
ɓ Large size : Eliminated signal decay
common to large-size touch screen
ɓ Palm rejection: Distinguish false palm-
contact signal.
ɓ Capacitive pen : ELAN fine-tip eStylusTM
provides user with an alternative input
method.
ɓ With ELAN patented Multi-Finger
technology.
High power 635nm/4W
Conduction Cooled Package
(CCP) Laser Array
ɓ Window diffusion process to avoid
COD(Catastrophic Optical Damage)
ɓ Low temperature ECR film coating
process
ɓ Au/Sn eutectic die bonding process to
enhance product reliability
ɓ Fast Axis Collimator Array Lens attaching
technology
ɓ In-house developed high power
automatic testing system
ɓ Easy for optical integration
ɓ Automatic production

42!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!!

Sun Well Solar Corporation
Semi-transparent thin-film
solar panel
Sun Well Solar’s see-through photovoltaic
panels adopt a comprehensive art of semi-
transparent. The photovoltaic panels
allow the specific wavelengths of light
passing through, blocking harmful
ultraviolet light to pass through but
allowing the penetration of red light to
help the photosynthesis of plants.
While the rooftop of photovoltaic
panels can generate electricity and result
in high energy conversion efficiency, the
plants below the panels can also grow
well through the large area of sun light.
As to agricultural development, there
is a gradual tendency toward indoor,
organic, and high quality agricultural
industry. To integrate solar energy into
sophisticated agricultural applications
will be able to create more benefits for the
dual use of land value per unit area.
Chimei Innolux Corporation
42” Best Integration of
120Hz+MEMC in LCD TV Display
CMI has developed 42” Full HD (1,920 *
1,080) with high resolution & 120Hz high
frame rate panel display technology. This
product not only succeeds in upgrading
the frame rate from traditional 60Hz to
120Hz, but also declares the coming of No-
Dynamic Blur LCD display technology.
ɓ High-bandwidth (120Hz) of the TFT
writing technology
ɓ High efficiency, low distortion of the
LCD pixel design
ɓ High-speed response time, high reliability
of the liquid crystal material
ɓ The new generation of LCD manufacturing
technology
ɓ Advanced LCD over drive technology
ɓ MEMC (motion estimation / motion
compensation) frame interpolation
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3
VisEra Technologies Company
Ltd.
Wafer-Level Camera Module
Wafer level technology is used to
build thousands of lenses on a wafer
at the same time. Wafer-level camera
module can be mounted directly onto
the phone board by using the same
reflowable process with multi-mega pixel
resolutions.
Comparing with conventional CCM
technology, wafer-level camera module
has succeeded in ultra-small dimensions,
reflowable, economy scalibility and low-
cost solution.
ɓ Low cost solution
ɓ Economy of scale production
ɓ Reflowable
43
 ALViS Technologies
Inc.
Novel Laser Scanning
Head-Up Display
ALViS’ Laser Scanning HUD
system is capable of projecting
sharp streaming video
imaging on any transparent
medium. Critical constraint
such as the viewing angle has
been successfully addressed.
Most importantly, projecting
key information directly on
the windshield within his/her
field of vision allows the driver
to maintain an uninterrupted
focus on the road and yet be
instantly alerted of happenings
in and around the vehicle.
ɓ Limitations of conventional
HUDs in transparenc y,
viewing angle, ease of
installation, and energy
consumption are resolved.
Absolutely laser speckle
ɓ free.
The only HUD system
ɓ capable of projecting clear
moving images such as
n av i g at i on d i re c t i on s ,
night vision, and rear view
camera onto the vehicle
windshield. Coupled with
t h e e l i m i n at i on of t he
viewing angle constraint,
it meets the requirements
o f O E M a n d A M au t o
markets.
44!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!
Himax Technologies,
Inc.
Himax Display HX7309
Himax Display HX7309 is
an active matrix liquid crystal
display with resolutions of
640X360. Horizontal digital
data drivers and vertical
scan drivers are integrated
with pixel device to meet
the performance demands
of high-speed and high–
resolution display applications.
HX7309 received 8-bits x
1 dot of digital display data
per positive clock edge and
8-bits x 1 dot of digital display
data per negative clock edge
from external, and generates
corresponding voltage output
of 256-level gray scale. Besides,
HX7309 added thermal sensor
and heater to improve the
performance while operating
in a cold environment.
Hi m a x D i s p l ay L C O S
team is equipped with
semiconductor process, LCD
driving and LCD optical
technologies. The supreme and
solid technical background
enable Himax Display to
microminiaturize image pixels
and design microdisplays with
a size of only 0.22” such as
HX7309 while maintain high
reflectivity and contrast.
Fur t her more, HX7309
is with fast liquid cr ystal
response time and embedded
frame buffer to offer high
color quality and performance
while keep low system power
consumption. Therefore,
Himax HX7309 is ideal for
pico-projectors.
Epistar Corporation
Ultra high efficiency
high-voltage LED for
warm white light
This new product uses
an u lt r a h i g h - e f f i c i e n c y
red LED to replace the red
phosphor and introduce a
design enabling high-voltage
operation. It configured in
an LED bulb, achieved a
system efficacy of 110 lm/W,
dramatically decreasing the
difference in efficacy between
warm and cool white light,
while also performing at a CRI
(color rendering index) of 90
Ra.
ɓ Best performance for a red Kwo Ger Metal
LED with an efficacy of over
120 lm/W. Technologies, Inc.
ɓ Pioneering red LED
operable under high voltage LED lighting module
additionally providing an
improved efficacy less 30W/2700 lm
sensitive to temperature
differentials. The LED lighting module
A blue LED having better KG has an easy plug-in & off
current distribution and an design. By only 4 steps LED
ɓ
improved textured light module can be installed
surface structure round in the light fixture or the heat
out the technical features sink. The emitters are fully
contributing to the covered by plastic injection so
excellent performance of it’s excellent in anti-static and
the final product. dust & water resistance.
ɓ anti-static up to 40KV or
more ( general standard
4KV).
ɓ Patented easy plug-in & off
design
ɓ passed IP68 test , ling life
illumination under water
without protection cover.
ɓ High luminous efficiency
over 90% of the lens design
and optical design shape
can be diverse.
2010 FPD Green Product
Compeon Winners
Edited by Angel Chiou
F lat panel display (FPD) is one of the priority industries promoted by Taiwan
government. In order to encourage corporations adopting green technology to
improve product value, “FPD Green Product Competition” is organized to facilitate the
goal of sustainability.
CPT Ltd.
Product: 31.5-inched TFT-
LCD Module (LED TV)
Features :
1. Mercur y f ree (LED Light S ource)
(unit: ppm) 1,000ppm → 0
2. Integration of S-PWB/ G-PWB/ COB
: easy disassembly
3. MDL thickness decreasing ftom 30.8mm
to 9.3mm.
4. Weight reduction (unit: Kg) 7.5→4.1
(100%→55%)
5. 98% recycling rate for plastic material
and steel in this product
AU Optronics Corp.
Product: 32-inched TFT-LCD
TV
Features :
1. Certified by SGS as the first LCD TV set
worldwide to have gained PAS 2050:2008
Carbon Footprint Verification.
2. 30% less power consumption.
3. Substantially decreasing mercury levels
by 82%.
4. The product conforms to EuP regulations
as well as Energy Star in the US.
5. The CCFLs are diminished from 16 straight
tubes to 4 u-shape tubes.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3
Chimei Innolux Corp.
Product: 18.5-inched LCD
Module
Features :
1. Replacement of four-lamp structure to
new two-lamp structure brings power
consumption down from 26.3W to
13.3W, cutting power consumption by
more than 50% while also reducing
toxic mercury content by half.
2. The improved circuit design and smaller
size PCB cut down about 20% raw
material used.
3. 60% less use of iron frame raw material,
reducing metallic waste
4. Achieving over 92% utilization due to
the highly-economic cutting capabilities
of its G5.5 fab.
5. Using eco-friendly “molded paper”
made from recycled pulp instead of
conventional “paper + EPE” packaging
to reduce carbon dioxide emission.
45
46!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 47
48!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
Advanced Research Park-
The New Focus of Central
Taiwan Science Park
Find the balance between technology advancing and historical site preservation, CTSP rediscovering the
splendor of Jhongsing Village

By PIDA

I n just seven year, the Central Taiwan

Science Park (CTSP) has emerged
to b e t he te chnolog y de velopment
Technology Research Institute to open
their innovation and incubation centers
in the planned zone in Jhongxing New
Village, Nantou County. Tenants are
expected to move in as early as the end
of this year. For example, the new center
center for central Taiwan and played
an important role in industry upgrade. Fig.1ȁAdvanced research park is going to be the focus of Taiwan high
For another seven years to come, CTSP tech industry
already has a bold plan to further enhance
the local industry to leap forward. The CTSP - Houli Science Park
CTSP - Cising Science Park
establishment of Advanced Research Park
is CTSP’s answer to sustainability and
incentive for investments.
Taiwan’s Executive Yuan is moving
ahead with a plan to open a new
technology research center to serve as Taichung
New City Hall
the country’s industrial innovation and Chang-hua Coastal
Industrial Park
research base. The plan was approved in
last November to promote innovations in
Taiwan’s industries through cooperation CTSP -
among industry, academics and research Erlin Science Park
institutes. Advanced Research Park
In doing so, the CTSP has started (Jhongsing Village)
this year to establish the research and
development park in central Taiwan
to spur development of the innovation
industry. It plans to invest NT$3.6 billion
in constructing the park.
CTSP - Huwei Science Park
CTSP will invite domestic research
institutes, such as the Institute for
Information Industry and the Industrial

Courtesy: CTSP

OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 49

 Fig.2ȁDirector General Wen-Ke Yang to lead CTSP to a new era

will be commissioned to develop green

intelligence mobile technologies through
cloud computing.
Ac c o r d i n g t o C T S P, t h e s p e c i a l
innovation park will help industries with
technology upgrades and innovations in
central Taiwan. Aside from the innovation
park, a market intelligence technology
research center will also be opened
in Jhongxing Village. By providing a
comprehensive infrastructure for the
industr y, CTSP expects at least 250 Courtesy: CTSP
companies to move in or open incubation
centers in the innovation park after its Research Park is able to provide values to Taiwan’s economy. However,
completion, with R&D investment totaled knowledge-intensive activities and in the future, it is necessary for Taiwan
5 billion NT dollars each year. With this the communication platform between to set up advanced research park to
amount of investments in the park and the universities, research institutes and local spur the development of technologies
research center, it is expected to generate a industry. Most of all, Advanced Research and to maintain its lead in the high tech
production value of NT$30 billion a year. Park is going to be the translation industries. Therefore, the establishment
CTSP said that from the beginning, it platform between fundamental research of Advanced Research Park should serve
planned to preserve the urban fabrice of and industry application to help the the purpose of enhancing technology
Jhongsing Village, that is, to preserve the companies conduct field test before development and providing the
public facilities/historic points as many as commercializing their products. information exchanging platform for the
possible for history/culture study and to Taiwan is renowned for it success industry.
promote sustainability. Therefore, CTSP in creating science parks, which have
tries to make Jhongsing Village a place contributed tremendous production
with higher quality of living, suitable
resident density, and excellent investment Fig.3ȁReserved construction site for ITRI
environment combining global vision.
The plan is to preserve the environment,
to achieve the best utilization rate for the
resident at the same time, and to interact
with the neighboring areas.

Advanced Research Park to be

the bridge between fundamental
research and industrial application
CTSP is going to make it the first time
in Taiwan to establish a R&D based top-
of-the-line research zone by providing
enough incentives to encourage/attract
R7D activities in this park. Advanced Courtesy : CTSP

50!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!

Southern Taiwan Science
Park – The Pivotal PV
Manufacturing Base in Taiwan
By PIDA
T aiwan has seen its PV Industry
quickly revive when the global
economy again goes steady along with the
Auria Solar, Chi Mei Energy, Kenmos
Photovoltaic, Everphoton, Tai-photovoltaic,
Nano-Win Tech, Delta, and Green Energy
extension of solar subsidies worldwide. ForTechnology (GET); there are also those
example, as to PV cells production, PIDA including Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy, Genesis
forecasts an optimistic 22%growth from 1.9 Photonics, EPILEDs from LED industry
billion US dollars in 2009 to 2.3 US billion
engaged in “energy conservation”. Based
this year. And, among all the PV clusters on the comprehensive industry supply
in Taiwan, PV industry in Southern chain, STSP has moved on to pursue more
Taiwan Science Park (STSP) contributes a aggressive goals, such as establishing the
significant part, which is 40%, to the total
largest HCPV industry cluster in Taiwan.
production, shown in Table.1. For example, Motech rises along with
After years of development, Southern the development of STSP. Being the first
Taiwan Science Park (STSP) has become a manufacturer to provide silicone-base solar
key green energy (which includes “energy cells in Taiwan, now Motech is the largest
generation” and “energy conservation”) solar cell manufacturer in Taiwan and one
industr y manufacturing base in the of the top ten manufacturers worldwide in
Southern Taiwan region. STSP has had a terms of production capacity and output.
high-tech supply chain, which integrates In addition, Motech is also Taiwan’s leading
academia, industries and R&D resources provider of photovoltaic systems and
and encourages industrial upgrade. In photovoltaic inverters.
the regard of “energy generation”, tenant Though affected by the global economic
enterprises include leading companies downturn, Motech still achieved a total
such as MJC PROBE, Motech, Gloria Solar, production of 360MW in 2009. Various
acquisitions and
Table 1ȁSouther n Taiwan Science Park ’ s par t nerships wit h
Contribution to Taiwan ’ s Energy leading companies
Photonics Production Value such as GE, TSMC
Unit: Million USD and Itogumi
Region LED(Epi) PV Cell Total C onstruction C o.,
Southern Taiwan Science Park 393 925 1,318 Ltd. have placed
Other Regions in Taiwan 596 1,386 1,982 Motech ahe ad of
Total in Taiwan 988 2,311 3,300 the competitions
Courtesy : PIDA in the global PV
market. Besides, eyeing the advantages
of the PV infrastructure and the
comprehensive industry chain of STSP,
Motech has announced plans to expand
their manufacturing base in STSP with a
total investment reaching 11 million US
dollars. Motech is going to strengthen its
leading role through its expertise and R&D
development to deliver its product with the
best quality.
STSP has gained the reputation of
being the leading science park to provide
a comprehensive PV industry chain and
attracted many more companies to set up
their manufacturing sites there. Among all,
GET is one of them and has been granted
to be in the science park in the first half of
2010.
G r e e n E n e r g y Te c h n o l o g y w a s
established in 2004 supported by one of
the largest groups in Taiwan TATUNG.
GET currently produce two types of high
quality solar wafers: High Efficiency Wafer
and Super Wafer with conversion efficiency
16.2%~16.4% and 17% respectively. GET
have a proven track record of rapid capacity
expansion and have achieved scalable
manufacturing operations. GET began
producing ingots and solar wafers with an
initial annual production capacity of 25
MW in 2005, and have expanded annual
production capacity to the current level
of 360 MW. The company plans to further
expand our annual production capacity to
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 51

Courtesy : PIDA
600 MW in 2nd quarter of 2010.
Targeting the silicon wafer market,
GET hopes to act as a stable silicon wafer
source for the solar cell manufacturers in
STSP. Besides, the company wishes to work
with local equipment provider to improve
the solar cell manufacturing process and
to reduce the ownership cost by having
equipment built locally.
To promote the PV industry, the STSP
Administration has allotted land for the
establishment of a green energy special
zone to facilitate the development of solar
cell, fuel cell, renewable energy switching
equipment, solar energy systems, and other
green industries. Furthermore, the STSP
Administration also drafted a plan that also
includes recruiting green energy process
equipment supplier in order to shorten the
lead time in the supply chain and reduce
overall production costs for our potential
green energy enterprises.
For example, the STSP Administration
helps the INER (Institute of Nuclear
Energy Research) establish the HCPV
(High C oncentration Photovoltaic)
52!!OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3!!!
Qualification & Development Center of
at Kaohsiung Science Park (KSP) with the
construction of HCPV power generation
module certification system in compliance
with international regulations. The STSP
Administration will utilize technology
transfer and collaboration plan to exploit
industry talent and attract venture capital.
This will promote the development of solar
energy systems in southern Taiwan, and
aid in the creation and sustainability of a
comprehensive value chain.
According to INER, who has developed
the high concentration photovoltaic
(HCPV) since 2003, the main reasons
of developing HCPV are based on its
high efficiency and high concentration
characteristics of the system. Therefore,
HCPV gets the highest potential to reduce
the cost for power generation amongst all
PV systems.
So far INER has many achievements,
the efficiency of solar cell, fabricated by
INER cooperating with domestic epitaxy
suppliers has reached up to 37.1%, and is
expected to be improved to more than 40%
in 2010. The concentration module with
476 times geometric concentrating ratio
has also been developed, and the highest
module efficiency is 27.2%, while that of
the conventional silicon-based module is
approximately 13~15%. Additionally, INER
has successfully build One MW HCPV
demonstration system which includes 21
sets of 5 kW and 120 sets of 7.5 kW HCPV
system nearby Kaohsiung Science Park.
This is the biggest HCPV demonstration
system in Asia.
Through the HCPV qualification
center at Kaohsiung Science Park, INER
will execute technology promoting and
provide module qualification service,
which effectively help the related supplier
of the HCPV field develop the technology,
and acquire the certification to compete
internationally.
The Southern Part of Taiwan is well
known for its competitive advantages
in Photonics, metal processing, Energy,
Electronics, which are all related to
the PV industry. Combined with the
comprehensive industry supply chain
with the R&D power of INER, STSP has
now grown from the PV manufacturing
base for PV cell/chip/module/system to
expand it reach into the HCPV field. The
STSP Administration will continue to help
establish an internationally compliant
HCPV module evaluation system, cultivate
industry talents through technology
transfer and industry cooperation program,
attract more investments in the HCPV
field, and work with local university/
research institutes to promote the HCPV
development in Taiwan.
Elan— More Competitive, Better Solutions
By PIDA
“T he multi-touch is taking the
leading role in the Smart
Human Interface technology where we are
outstanding in this category,” said Dennis
Liu, Director of Investment Relations
Division of Taiwan-based chip designer
Elan Microelectronics Corporation in an
exclusive interview with Photonics Industry
and Technology Development Association
(PIDA).
Furthermore, Mr. Liu said the new
meticulously developed large-sized
smart touch-screen module— Smart-
Touchscreen™— was conferred with the
Outstanding Photonics Product Award
in the 3-day “Display Taiwan 2010”
tradeshow which begins on the 9th of June.
The achievement reaffirms ELAN’s effort in
capacitive touch products development is
heading toward the right direction, gaining
outstanding recognitions, and earning
itself more prospects who are interested in
expanding a possible relationship in the
future.
Touch— the Promising Market
According to DisplaySearch, a market
research and consulting firm, in its recently
released 2010 Touch Panel Market Analysis,
the total touch screen market revenue will
grow from US$4.3 billion in 2009 to nearly
All photos courtesy of Elan
US$14 billion by 2016, a compound annual
growth rate of 18% due to the fast-growing
portable devices such as mobile phones,
media players and navigation units.
As the multi-touch technologies are
aimed to be brought to desktop systems by
global branded 3C vendors, “over the next
several years, touch screens will undergo
strong growth in large-sized applications
such as all-in-one PCs, mini-note/slate
PCs, education/training, and kiosks for
point of information and self-check in,” Elan’s Competitive Edge
noted Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Mr. Liu boasted that Elan is an expert in
Display Technologies at DisplaySearch, providing Smart Human Interface solutions
adding that the touch screen industry is with products covering from Transparent
already a multi-billion dollar industry, and Touchpad used in many portable consumer
still has great growth momentum. devices to Smart-Pad™ and Pointing Stick
Elan’s financial report bolsters the for computing devices and also includes
statement. The relatively smaller Taiwanese Optical Sensor for remote controls. “We
IC design house reported its revenue for are striving to offer the best solutions for
June 2010 had reached US$ 18.3 million, ever increasing demand from the computer
showing an increase of 1.11% from the and consumer sectors,” said Mr. Dennis
previous month. For July and August Liu. The touch-screen becomes the basic
revenues, the controller IC vendor sees requirement for a device to reach the end-
to increase 5% and 10% on month, users with full potential of success.
respectively, on strong demand from Mr. Liu placed an emphasis on Elan’s
several applications for touch panels such impregnable patent barrier. He said the
as mobile phones, portable navigation company provides total solutions for
devices and handheld games. Clients are touchscreens with skill and ease, ranging
allegedly HTC, Fujitsu, notebook and game
console makers.
With the expected fresh orders from
new clients, Elan expects the third quarter
of 2010 to be a peak season, and the second
half to bring in revenue of two-digit growth
compared to last year. “Some branded
notebook PCs such as Lenovo, Acer and
Samsung to name a few were involved
in design-in activities, integrated ELAN
Smart Pad to their entry-level notebook
models that vastly improved value and
functionality.” said Mr. Liu.
OPTOLINK International Edition 2010 Q3 53
 from small to large size touch pad with
variety of choices from low-cost to high
performance with strong patent protection,
indicating its clients can be used their
products immediately without concerns
over patent dispute.
“We assure to our first-tier clients
that they can select any Elan touch-pad
item such as eFinger® and Smart-Pad™,
integrates on their devices with absolute
confidence,” said Mr. Liu. Furthermore, Mr.
Liu pointed out that the company began
designing better touch-enabled items after
Microsoft Windows introduced in later
part of 2009, and its own unique Capacitive
(ITO) Multi-Finger Smart-Touchscreen™
(left insert) successfully attained Windows
Logo Verification as of last January.
Mr. Liu is confident that although rival
companies announced and released similar
touch items, they still can not match Elan’s
touch products because even though one
company can make touch screen, but
without IC chipset, the product is not
an all-in-one package, and thus is less
competitive compared to Elan’s product in
terms of cost.
Patent Battles
By taking a look back in Elan’s history
to look at some of the most crucial battles
with some heavyweights in IT industry that
are famous for being hard to deal with, it’s
easier to understand how iron-willed and
unbending the company is.
O n D e c e mb e r 2 0 , 2 0 0 4 , Ag i l e nt
Technologies Semiconductor Products
Group filed suit against Elan in U.S.
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federal district court in San Jose, claiming
that Elan’s OM01 and OM02 optical
sensor products infringed Agilent’s U.S.
Patents 6,433,780 and 5,786,804 (“the ‘804
patent”). The issuer has long claimed that
its portfolio of patents, on optical mouse
technology covered all optical mice, and
has been very aggressive in asserting its
patents against competitors. In 2008, Judge
James Ware granted Elan’s motion for
summary judgment that the ‘804 patent
was invalid as anticipated by a patent
owned by Xerox.
Then on May 1, 2009, a jury in the
United States District Court in Northern
District of California returned a unanimous
verdict, finding the accused Elan optical
mouse sensor products do not infringe a
U.S. patent asserted against Elan by Avago
Technologies (Agilent created Avago
after spinning off its optical business in
2005). “We were pleased with the outcome
because it is a complete vindication for the
company and affirmation of our policy
regarding intellectual property rights,” said
Mr. Liu.
The other case is Elantech Devices’, then
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elan, suit
against Synaptics in U.S. federal court in
San Francisco inMarch 2006. By that time,
Elan claimed that Synaptics touchpads
infringed on Elan’s patent. Synaptics
responded by counter suing, claiming Elan
infringed on four of its patents. The court
decided some of Synaptics’ touchpads
infringed on Elan’s patent and stopped
Synaptics from selling those products in
the U.S. Later in October, both agreed to
settle the dispute, dismissed both pending
patent lawsuits, and asked the U.S. Court of
Appeals to dismiss the court order.
Ye t E l a n’s m o s t r e c e n t p a t e n t -
infringement that claims in April 2009
against Apple Inc over touch-screen devices
is the most eye-catching headline. Elan
sued Apple that the touchscreen technology
used in Apple’s MacBook, iPhone and iPod
touch infringe on Elan’s finger-detecting
technology. The US International Trade
Commission (ITC) in Washington is
investigating into the complaint filed.
“Our goal is to protect our technology
and to stop sales of those products in
the US,” said Mr. Liu. He explained that
Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook,
Magic Mouse and iPad use technology
infringes Elan’s “352” patent for detecting
the simultaneous presence of two or more
fingers.
“We have taken the step of filing the ITC
complaint as a continuation of our efforts
to enforce our patent rights against Apple’s
ongoing infringement,” said Mr. Liu, “A
proceeding in the ITC offers a quick and
effective way for Elan to enforce its patent.”
According to Mr. Liu, since ELAN is
determined to continue to work with new
customers especially from IT hardware
integrators, Elan has to take initiatives at
the beginning to remove scruples from
their mind so it will steadily achieve the
goal of two-digit growth in the future. For
newly targeted customers, Mr. Liu said
the company is pitching those from Japan,
Korea and the US where many devices are
in progress and Elan’s eFinger® & Smart-
Pad™ will be of assistance.

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