LG Display LCD Panel Factory - Paju, South Korea

The first thing to understand about such factories is they are huge. This particular facility currently has two panel factories: One is a “Gen 7″ factory capable of creating “motherglass” that is 1,950 by 2,250 mm, and the other is a “Gen 8″ factory, which can create glass that is 2,200 by 2,500 mm. The Gen 7 factory turns can turn its glass into eight 42-inch LCD TV panels or six 47-inch LCD TV panels; the Gen 8 factory can do 8 47-inch LCD TV panels, 6 55-inch LCD TV panels, or 18 32-inch LCD panels from each piece of mother-glass.

LG Display Gen 8 LCD Factory

Overview of LCD Panel and Mother-Glass

The current LCD process works by sandwiching liquid crystals between two pieces of large, specially treated sheets of mother glass. Huge machines take the first of these layers and build a “thin film transistor” layer on top of it. This transistor layer creates what is known as “active matrix LCD,” the kind used in notebooks, monitors, and TVs.

The other glass layer typically contains a color filter and a polarizing film. By detecting changes in voltage, the transistors control the amount of light being let through at any place in the display, and the liquid crystals let the light through for each of the sub-pixels: the red, green, and blue as defined on the color filter. This very complex process creates what is known as the LCD panel itself.

LG Display uses a technology called “In-Plane Switching” (or IPS, as per Panasonic LCD display technology – IPS), which aligns the liquid crystal cells in a horizontal direction, as opposed to “Vertical Alignment,” which some other makers use. LG believes this gives their displays a better viewing angle and says it consumes less power. But the panel is only part of a modern display. Another facility at the site takes the panels and turns them into LCD modules, which means adding various other layers, such as controllers to direct the TFT display, diffusers and prisms, light guides, and perhaps most obviously, the backlighting unit. The vast majority of TVs today use fluorescent backlighting, though LED backlighting is now common in notebook displays, and LED or edge-lighting is now entering the high-end TV market.

Automated LCD Panel Inspection Test

Once the module is created, it then typically gets sent to another site (and another company), which adds the tuner and other electronics and the case it needs to become a TV. At the Paju facility, the LCD panel factories are as tall as a 20-story building, though they only actually have 4 floors of manufacturing. That’s because the machines that move the glass and etch the lines that make the transistors are enormous.

The module building is smaller, about 6 stories tall–though actually a lot more people work in that building (as the panel process is so automated.) LG Display has about 7,800 workers at the plant; and the whole enterprise (including a nearly facility that makes chemicals and the glass) employs about 15,000 people. The facility even has a dormitory for 5,700 of the workers.

The facility is located in Paju, which is northwest of Seoul, within site of the DMZ. And the facility has space for three more panel factories, though the company has not yet announced any specific plans.

The facility has a showroom for showing off the company’s technology–from viewing angles of current TVs to the company’s 240-Hz panels (done by scanning the backlight) to technology for 3D TVs.

LG Display LCD TV Show Room with 240Hz TV

Samsung LED LCD TV

In recent years, Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese makers of liquid-crystal display panels have fought hard to establish dominance in the key tech market. And for most of 2007 and 2008 there was plenty of business to go around. Today, though, the economic crisis is slashing demand for the panels, used in flat-panel TVs, computer monitors, and cell-phone screens. While that’s likely to hurt everyone in the battle, the Koreans expect the downturn to play out to their advantage. “This challenging period will give us a good opportunity to widen our lead,” says Lee Bang Soo, a vice-president at LG Display, the world’s second-largest LCD panel maker after its compatriot Samsung Electronics.The Koreans are already gaining. Manufacturing costs today exceed what producers can charge for the panels, so Taiwan’s four biggest makers have slashed output by half or more. AU Optronics (AUO), the leader in Taiwan and the global No. 3, saw its market share for panels bigger than 10 inches plunge to 11% in November, from 19.2% in January, while share for Taiwan’s Chi Mei Optoelectronics fell to 9%, from 12%, says market researcher DisplaySearch. Samsung, meanwhile, increased its share in the segment by 8.5 percentage points, to 32.5%, during the period, and LG jumped 3.1 points, to 23.5%.

One big advantage the Koreans enjoy is their strong ties with TV vendors. Samsung runs an LCD-panel joint venture with Japan’s Sony (SNE), giving it a direct pipeline to the world’s two hottest TV brands. Samsung and Sony together had 42% of the market for LCD TVs in the third quarter of 2008, DisplaySearch estimates. LG Display is the primary supplier for two of the three other top TV brands: its parent, LG Electronics, and Philips, which has a 13.7% stake in LG Display. (Japan’s Sharp, the remaining major player in LCD TVs, makes its own panels.) “Vertical integration with major set makers is vital for us,” says Samsung Vice-President Kwon Gye Hyun.

As a result, Taiwanese LCD-panel makers have been relegated to selling to smaller brands and playing a backup role for the bigger brands. That means their orders get canceled first when markets shrink. LCD TVs account for well over half of all LCD consumption and represent a rare area of potential growth in the consumer electronics industry in the near future. Researcher iSuppli forecasts the global LCD TV market will rise to $101 billion in 2012, from $61 billion in 2007.

While the Taiwanese acknowledge the Koreans are extending their lead, they say the battle is far from over. They’re counting on their relatively strong position in emerging markets and say they will continue to invest in initiatives that will make their operations more efficient. “AU is taking this opportunity to sharpen its core competence,” Andy Yang, a finance vice-president at AU Optronics, wrote in an e-mail. “In addition, our R&D [department] is actively continuing the development of new technologies.”

Still, the Taiwanese have to contend with a weak Korean currency that continues to help Samsung and LG. While Taiwan’s currency was nearly flat against the U.S. dollar in 2008, the Korean won plummeted almost 26% against the greenback, making Korean exports far cheaper. “If the Korean won stays weak, the Taiwanese won’t have any chance to win back their share,” reckons Henry Wang, general manager at Taipei-based researcher WitsView, which specializes in display devices.

A potentially bigger problem is a delay in investing in next-generation production technology. Samsung and LG are the only ones planning to launch new plants this year capable of churning out panels bigger than 52 inches, used for big-screen TVs. Taiwan Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said on Dec. 25 his government would help the island’s LCD industry weather the global recession. Yet analysts say any bailouts won’t allow troubled Taiwanese companies to build new plants costing at least $3 billion each. “They can’t afford to plan for anything else but their survival now,” says Lee Hak Moo, display analyst at brokerage Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul. “The Koreans are poised to increase their lead.”

Source: BusinessWeek

LG Display - TrueMotion 480Hz

The scanning backlight from LG Display is a technology that enables a backlight to be repeatedly turned on and off to reduce motion blur. When combined with the company’s 240Hz technology, the display can refresh 480 images per second.

The display is claimed to have a 4ms response time, and uses a “scanning backlight” technology to leverage the company’s 240Hz Trumotion technology into an effective 480 images per second. Important details information like screen size and resolution not available at this moment. Due to no detail information, it might be kind of interpolation effects technology.
The Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV panel is to be launched in the second half of 2009.

Adamo By Dell

According to DigiTimes, Dell has recently placed orders for 3.5mm LCD panels from LG Display (LPL) and Samsung. It is believed that these ultra-thin 3.5mm LCD panels are for Dell’s new uber-notebook program called Adamo (ultra-thin notebook like Apple MacBook Air). The 13.x” LCD will sport a 16:10 aspect ratio and be targeted to the enterprise market, or the CEOs of those enterprises.

Dell has recently registered the trademarks of both “Adamo” and “Adamo by Dell”. It is no surprise that Samsung will continue to lead in LCD panels market, especially LCD monitor segment. Below is specifications for Adamo LCD panel (probable), source from LG Display, model – LP133WX2:

Display: 13.3″ 6-bit TFT LCD
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Thickness: 3.5mm
Pixel Format: 1280 x 800
Number of Colors: 262,144 (6-bit)
Brightness: 275 cd/m2
Color Gamut: 45% NTSC
Number of Colors: 262,144
Contrast Ratio: 400:1
Viewing Angles: 90/50
Response Time: 16ms
Weight: 270g

Note: LCD panel for laptop/notebook using LVDS port interface to connect to motherboard / mainboard.

Funai Brand Logo

May be you don’t know the brand of Funai, but you should know Wal-Mart. Funai is the main supplier of LCD TV and DVD players to Wal-Mart stores, under the Wal-Mart’s house brand – Durabrand. News source from Digitimes.com, start from year 2009, Funai will source all their LCD TV panels from Korea-based LG Display, Taiwan-based Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT).

Durabrand Logo

Earlier this year, Funai signed a five year deal with Philips to license the Philips and Magnavox brands in the North America TV market. Indirectly, the future Philips and Magnavox brands LCD TV will manufacture by Funai, with panels from LG Display, Chi Mei Optoelectronics and Chunghwa Picture Tubes.

Funai has now settled its TV panel procurement plan for 2009, with CMO, CPT, and LG Display sharing the LCD TV panel orders. LG Display will mainly supply panels for 37-inch and larger segment, while CMO will supply panels for the 32-inch segment and possibility the 37-inch or larger segments, according to the sources. CPT will provide medium-size panels such as 19-inch or 22-inch panels. The market sources estimate that Funai will purchase about two million LCD TV panels from CMO, over 1.6 million units from CPT and about one million units from LG Display. Funai decided to purchase LCD TV panels from LG Display in 2009 due to LG Display’s historical relationship with Philips.

Source: Digitimes.com