AU Optronics (AUO) is the largest LCD manufacturer in Taiwan and one of the largest in the world but even the largest cannot go unaffected by a global decline in demand for LCD goods. AUO will be reducing its worldwide workforce by 2% or 700 employees starting in January 2009. AUO employs about 38,000 workers on a global basis. The company stressed that workforce adjustments are conducted annually. I am sure the workforce reduction is a direct result of the expected anouncement of poor results for Q4’08.

Other Taiwan-based companies such as Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and Wintek have reduced their workforce as well. CMO recently received urgent orders for LCD TV panels that will give a much-needed boost to its LCD fab utilization rates, which were just 20% – 30% in November and December. The urgent order will bring utilization rates close to 50%. With inventory drying up any large bump in expected demand will result in emergency LCD panel orders.

With LCD fab utilizations at just 60% in Q4’08 and entering into a seasonally weak first half, AUO as well as other LCD manufacturers are in for a bumpy ride.

Source: DigiTimes

[tags]AU Optronics, AUO, LCD Manufacturer, Display Manufacturer, Chi Mei Optoelectronics, CMO, Wintek[/tags]

Although Q4’08 was extremely difficult for LCD manufacturers in Taiwan, tidy profits from the first three quarters will lead major Taiwan-based LCD manufacturers to report profits for 2008. Here are some estimates:

AU Optronics (AUO): NT$30 billion in profits for 2008
AUO reported NT$48.2 billion in net income for the first three quarters in 2008. AUO’s losses in Q4’08 are estimated to be about NT$18 billion with a net profit for the entire year in 2008 of around NT$30 billion.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO): NT$4.8 to $9.8 billion in profits for 2008
CMO reported NT$24.8 billion in net income for the first three quarters in 2008. CMO’s losses in Q4’08 are estimated to be about NT$15 – 20 billion with a net profit for the entire year in 2008 of around NT$4.8 to 9.8 billion.

It is not surprising that Taiwan’s two largest LCD manufacturers will post profits for the entire year in 2008. However losses in Q4’08 huge and losses, though smaller, will most likely continue through the first half of 2009. Innolux Display, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display after the break. (more…)

Westinghouse Digital TX-55F350Z Specifications

Display: 55″ TFT LCD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Pixel Format: 1920 x 1080
Frequency: 120Hz with MEMC (Motion Estimation Motion Compensation)
Contrast Ratio: 5000:1
Brightness: 500 cd/m2
Response Time: 6.5ms
Tuners: ATSC, NTSC, QAM
Connectivity: HDMI (3), Component (2), Composite (2), VGA, SPDIF
Availability: May 2009
Price: TBD

Westinghouse Digital showcased its LCD TVs, LCD monitors and solutions for digital signage at the Stirling Club in Vegas. I met up with Rey Roque, Vice President of Marketing, and received a tour of the latest from Westinghouse Digital. The company introduced its TX Series of LCD TVs that incorporate a 120Hz frequency and MEMC (Motion Estimation Motion Compensation) to redce motion blur. There are three models: TX-37F510Z (37″), TX-42F970Z (42″), TX-55F350Z (55″). I’ll be concentrating on the largest, the TX-55F350Z. The TX-55F350z is huge at 55″ and sports a 120Hz frequency to reduce motion blur. Contrast ratio is 5000:1, brightness 500 cd/m2 and the response time is 6.5ms. The built-in tuner incorporates ATSC, NTSC and QAM. There are three HDMI ports. The TX-55F350Z looks quite handsome and there is a soft LED light underneath the logo. It will be available in May 2009 and the price is yet to be determined.

[tags]Westinghouse Digital, Westinghouse Digital TX-55F350Z, TX-55F350Z, Westinghouse Digital 55″ LCD TV, 55″ LCD TV, 120Hz, 1920 x 1080, 1080p[/tags]

Samsung P2370L Specifications

Display: 23″ TFT LCD with LED Backlight
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Pixel Format: 1920 x 1080
Contrast Ratio: 2,000,000:1 (dynamic)
Response Time: 2ms (Gray to Gray)
Connectivity: DVI-I
Other: Touch of Color (ToC) Design
Dimensions: 0.65″ (16.5mm) thick
Price: US$399 

Samsung‘s P2370L is a 23″ LCD monitor that features a LED backlight instead of the regular CCFL backlight. The LED backlight is most likely side-lit making it very thin at just 0.65″ or 16.5mm. The P2370L also sports Samsung’s Touch of Color (ToC) design theme but I can’t seem to find the slight touch of color in the picture: it might be a touch of black.

The 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio sounds outrageous considering that the LED backlight is probably not paired with a local dimming technology. I would like to see this P2370L out contrast a KURO or a XEL-1. My money is on the KURO and the XEL-1. The XEL-1, by the way, has a contrast ratio of only 1,000,000:1. (more…)

During CES 2009, I met up wih Greg Davis, General Manager of Total Immersion to get an update after I spoke with CEO Bruno Uzzan several months ago during NVIDIA’s VISION conference in San Jose. Total Immersion is a software solutions provider that uses a technology called “Augmented Reality” that integrates 3D objects into live video. When I first read that description I had no clue and needed to actually see it. When Bruno gave me a demo at a Starbucks near the San Jose Convention Center I was blown away. Click on the video above and check out what augmented reality is and you’ll see that Total Immersion is up to something quite interesting.

[tags]Total Immersion, Augmented Reality, Nissan Cube, Pokemon[/tags]

Palm Pre Specifications

Display: 3.1″ Capacitive Touch TFT LCD
Pixel Format: 480 x 320 (landscape) 
Webcam: 3MP with LED Flash
Memory: 8GB (about 7.4GB usable), USB Mass Storage Support
Connectivity: 3.5mm headphone, MicroUSB, A-GPS, WiFi BG with WPA/WPA2, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and A2DP, Bluetooth Tethering
Sensors: Ambient Light, Proximity, Accelerometer
OS: webOS (Linux-based)
Email: Microsoft Outlook (Microsoft Direct Push Technology), POP3 and IMAP (Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, etc.)
Messaging: Integrated IM, SMS, MMS
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV
Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264
Image: GIF, Animated GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP
Availability: Sprint (EV-DO Rev. A and WiFi BG) and 3G GSM 
Weight: 135g (4.76oz) 

Palm unveiled its Palm Pre smartphone at CES 2009. The external design of the Pre is quite simple and is elegant in its own slighty cute way with slightly more rounded edges compared to the iPhone. What quickly differentiates the Pre from an iPhone is the existence of a QWERTY keyboard–a physical one that slides out, toward the bottom. That means you’ll be typing with the physical keyboard in portrait mode only. A lot more information after the break. (more…)

I was roaming through CES and came across a ‘booth’ that looked quite interesting. I put the word booth in quotes because it was quite different and unique in how the space was designed. There were three or so stations for three separate tasks. One station looked a like a photo booth with a Nikon DSLR on a tripod. Another station had a guy work on the pictures that were taken and then transform them into different animals. There was a guy who came in a bit too early and clearly was destined to be transformed into a zombie. The third portion was a guy who was doing stop-motion video and looked like he was having a great time. Both computing stations had HP gear but clearly these guys were focusing on getting some creative juices flowing.

Pete Conolly gave me a ‘tour’ of the booth, which you can watch in the video. I also took a photograph but didn’t have time to come back and get my animalized photo. Pete was involved in the MTV show “Engine Room” where a sixteen folks from four regions (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America) were invited to compete in 6 creative challenges for $400,000 and HP gear. You can watch the show at mtvengineroom.com. Some of the HP gear that was showcased: dv5z, Blackbird 002, DreamColor LP2480zx, IPAQ 910, xw6600 Workstation and Photosmart C810.

[tags]HP, MTV, Engine Room, Pete Conolly[/tags]

Kodak OLED Digital Photo Frame Specifications

I had the pleasure of speaking to Pat who is the Product Manager for Kodak‘s OLED Digital Photo Frame at CES 2009. The digital photo frame is very thin but the most amazing thing about it is the OLED display that makes most LCD TVs and plasma TVs look pale in comparison. The price came down the very next day after I spoke with Pat from $999 to $858.99 at Amazon.com. Although the price is extremely high the OLED display is stunning.

Dell‘s Adamo, a sub-brand like Inspiron, has been garnering quite a bit of interest. Up until just a few days ago, nobody had any idea what it looked like. Dell was showing off its Adamo gear at the Fantasy Suites, Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Well, we have here a picture of a white Adamo. There’s also a black one (after the jump). Most of the ports are on the back: Ethernet, USB (2), HDMI, one port I can’t identify and then the power connection. The Adamo is THINNER than Apple‘s ultra-thin MacBook Air. (more…)

LG X120 Specifications

Display: 10″ TFT LCD
Pixel Format: 1024 x 600
CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom
RAM: 1GB
HDD: 160GB
OS: Windows XP
Other: LG Smart On (Splashtop-powered Instant On) 

LG doesn’t export its lovely notebook PCs or netbooks to the US. But maybe LG will since one of its most potent rival (that would be Samsung) has just started exporting to the largest market for portable computing, the US of A. LG was showcasing its X120 at CES 2009 and is a 10″ netbook. The 10″ LCD sports a 1024 x 600 pixel format, like most if not all other netbooks of this size. Intel’s Atom running at 1.6GHz powers the X120. A cool feature is the LG Smart On, a Splashtop-powered instant on feature that is always welcome. I hope full-featured notebook PCs as well as desktop PCs adorn this must-have feature in the near future. Not that many specs but hopefully LG will decide not only to share all of the details but to share in the goodness and bring these cool gadgets across the Pacific.

Source: Engadget

[/tags]LG, LG X120, X120, LG Netbook, LG 10″ Netbook, 10″ Netbook, X120 Netbook, 1024 x 600, 10″[/tags]

DisplayBlog is written and produced by Jin Kim. Subscribe via RSS.