Toshiba and Matsushita recently announced a plan to jointly produce high-resolution, high-speed, 32-inch LCD TV panels for spring 2005. Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology primarily focuses on small and medium-size display panels for use in mobile phones and notebook computers, but the new plan expands their offerings to include 32-inch, LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) LCD panels, the largest of their kind.

 

The joint venture will employ newly developed technology called Optically Compensated Bend (OCB), which allows for wider viewing angles and faster response speed. OCB technology enhances response speed of LCD pixels by roughly 100% from what is presently available in high-speed LCD panels. It also facilitates a response time of less than 5ms for gray and other colors that are typically slow. This

technology is aimed at a high-end niche market, which distinguishes it from the LCD panels already being produced under the $994 million venture announced by Toshiba, Matsushita, and Hitachi last month.

 

Production of the 32-inch LCD panel will start next spring in Singapore with a projected output of nearly 10,000 units a month. Toshiba Matsushita Display has also developed a 23-inch, high-resolution, TFT LCD screen using OCB technology, and has already secured an order from a Japanese TV manufacturer.