TPO achieves leading 0.95mm Thickness, Exceeding Requirements for Telecom, PDA and DSC Applications

Chunan, Taiwan, July 4, 2007 – TPO Displays Corp. (TPO) today introduced the world’s thinnest 2.0-inch QVGA day light readable module utilizing LTPS technology. Deploying ultra-thin capacitors to achieve a leading 0.95mm thickness, TPO is able to deliver superior performance where the design footprint is a major consideration.

As consumer trends dictate ever smaller and thinner handheld applications, mobile device manufacturers are coming under increased pressure to deliver cutting-edge solutions. The ultra-thin applications place constraints on the form factor design, limiting the range of components available.

To meet this demand, TPO’s 2.0-inch QVGA features advances in lowering the thickness of glass, light guides, and capacitors. TPO’s 2.0-inch QVGA display is the first day light readable module to achieve a 0.95mm thickness with component, and offers the best y dimension.

In reducing glass thickness, TPO has leveraged a cutting-edge chemical etching process, which allows both bipanes to be thinned to 0.2mm. And TPO even sees possibilities to further reduce glass thickness.

Further size reductions were achieved by using 0.25mm ultra-thin lightguides, achieving a minimum 50 percent savings in space over current lightguides, The LED’s are positioned extremely close to the active area ensuring a compact module.

TPO additionally applies ultra-thin capacitors on the display module to lower the overall thickness of the display module. Moreover, TPO uses a proprietary gate driver circuit to remove the gate driver capacitors from the glass and place them directly on the flexible printed circuit board. Placing the capacitors under the contact ledge reduces dead area on the glass.

“Thin is a trend in mobile handset industry over the past years. Consumers are demanding less dead area of the LCD to have more design freedom” said Bart-Jeroen van der Bent, TPO Displays Product Marketing director. “TPO has responded to these consumer demands by developing the world’s thinnest 2.0-inch QVGA day light readable module by exceeding market requirements with form factor reductions on the X, Y and Z dimensions.”

TPO has taken the additional step to lower both X and Y dimensions of the form factor, enabling a small display border of only 1.42mm. The QVGA display is the first transflective module to achieve a 0.95mm thickness and offers ultra thin thickness and minimizing the Y-dimension of the module using COF concept.

On LTPS

TPO ' s 2.0-inch QVGA module leverages the benefits of low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) production to provide better product performance. The LTPS production process utilizes the advantages created after amorphous silicon has been heated up and allowed to cool down, crystallizing into more stable and higher performing polysilicon. The polysilicon materials, when applied in display modules, generally offer a brighter display with lower power consumption on a smaller footprint, with a more robust product performance over lifetime.

Availability

Engineering samples of TPO’s 2.0-inch QVGA module are currently available, with full Chip-on-Glass (COG) and Chip-On-Flex / Foil (COF) modules in 0.2mm glass sizes available in early August. 0.1 mm glass is currently under development and expected to be in mass production in 2008