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LCD, plasma and OLED displays could soon have
a new challenger. Motorola Labs, the applied
research arm of Motorola, has unveiled a prototype
nano-emissive display (NED) based on carbon
nanotubes.
"Our NED display is basically a thin, flat
cathode ray tube with thousands of electron guns at
each pixel," a spokesperson for Motorola told Optics.org.
"The prototype has full colour video, high
brightness, uniformity and colour purity in the
ranges required for a commercial product. It shows
NEDs have a promising future for use in flat panel
displays."
The key to the development is Motorola's ability
to grow carbon nanotubes directly onto the display's
glass substrate. In the past, carbon nanotubes have
been pasted or printed onto a surface but the
quality of the resulting display has been
disappointing.
"On a back plate, only 3 mm behind each
sub-pixel, we place a small structure that contains
about one thousand carbon nanotubes arranged such
that a properly applied voltage excites each
nanotube to bombard the colour phosphors with
electrons," explained the spokesperson.
With a thickness of just 3.3 millimetres, the
prototype is a 5-inch diagonal section of a 42-inch
1280x720 high-definition television and has a
refresh rate of 60 Hz.
Motorola estimates that a 42-inch NED running
typical video would consume 75 W. In comparison, the
firm says a similar LCD would consume around 180 W
because it requires a 60 W backlight and matrix
switching.
Motorola now plans to license the technology to
panel manufacturers. "Motorola is ready to
deliver this technology to manufacturers
today," said the spokesperson. "We
estimate that this technology can be commercialized
in the very near term, depending on the
aggressiveness of the licensees."
The prototype has also been given the thumbs up
by display analysts. "Motorola's NED technology
is demonstrating full colour video with good
response time," said Barry Young, the CFO of
DisplaySearch. "According to a detailed cost
model analysis conducted by our firm, we estimate
the manufactured cost for a 40-inch NED panel could
be under $400."
About the author
Jacqueline Hewett is technology editor on Optics.org
and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.
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