Are Cheaper Flat-Panel TVs On The Way?

A Canadian display technology company is near to commercializing a flat-panel TV technology that will provide TVs with pictures comparable in quality to those of LCD TVs, but at a lower cost, the company said in a recent interview.

Toronto-based iFire Technology plans prototype panel production with the new technology by October 2005, and wants TVs using the panels to be on sale internationally in 2006, according to Koichi Wani, director of advanced engineering at iFire, in a interview in Tokyo.

Thinner Profile, Lower Cost

The company says its thick-film dielectric electroluminescent technology can be applied to many panel sizes from 10-inch to 40-inch or even 50-inch displays, but the company wants to make panels in the 30-inch range initially.

"The mid-30s is the hot zone and the biggest growing market, we believe," he said.

TDEL technology consists of a series of flat layers that includes a phosphor layer and a dielectric film sandwiched between two layers of electrodes. The construction makes for a very slim panel, and the production process is between 30 percent and 50 percent less expensive than that used to make LCD panels, according to Wani.

Providing data for a 37-inch panel, iFire says TDEL technology will enable manufacturers to produce TVs with a panel that is 2 centimeters thick showing a picture that has a 170-degree viewing angle, a peak brightness of 500 candelas per square meter and a contrast ratio of more than 500:1. The target power budget is under 200 watts and lifetime is projected to be more than 40,000 hours.

By comparison, Sharp's latest 37-inch Aquos brand LCD TV has a peak brightness of 450 candelas per square meter, a 170-degree viewing angle, a contrast of 800:1 and uses 160 watts, according to company spokesman Masaki Takeda. The TV is about 10 centimeters thick, he said.

Industry Interest

At least two major Japanese companies have shown interest in the technology, and one of them is helping produce prototypes, he said.

In July 2002, Sanyo Electric began technology collaboration to help commercialize TDEL technology. Major Japanese printing technology company Dai Nippon Printing has invested $10 million to help iFire set up a pilot plant in Toronto.

Construction of that plant began in October. DNP will supply electrodes and dielectric films for the Toronto plant, according to Wani.

Sanyo, which sells both plasma and LCD TVs with panels made by companies it does not disclose, was impressed with iFire's technology, said Sanyo spokesman Ryan Watson. That hasn't translated into a commitment to make TVs using the technology, he said.

"We started a technical development agreement, but no investment was made. We've recognized that iFire has good technology and we are impressed by (TDEL's) simple structure. Today, it's one of the candidate technologies for flat panel televisions, but nothing has been decided (by Sanyo) at this point," Watson said.

The pilot plant will make several hundreds of 34-inch panels to prove that the technology is ready for volume production, said Wani. The company is now looking for investors to build a manufacturing plant, the location of which could be anywhere, he said.

Coming Soon?

"We are talking to almost all the electronics companies in Japan, Korea, and Europe, and TV makers in China. Our target is to make a first fab with a capacity of 200,000 to 250,000 panels a year, which will need about $150 million," Wani said.

The aim of the first factory is to enable TV makers to produce 34-inch TVs that cost between 15 percent and 20 percent less than LCD TVs of the same size. Later, the factory could make different sizes in the 30-inch range, he said.

The company is also considering trying to raise $600 million to build a second fab that could produce between 2 and 3 million panels a year. If the larger factory is built, TVs could be produced more cheaply than at the initial plant, he said.

"TDEL is for TV makers that want to produce flat panels but don't want to spend too much money on plants. In two or three years, TDEL will be in the stores, and I say to buyers, don't think about the technology, just look at the picture and the price," Wani said.

In May this year, iFire demonstrated a 34-inch prototype display at the Society for Information Display conference held in Seattle, Washington.