May 8, 2012
They call it the hammer test.
Researchers at electronics firms from Samsung to Sony have captivated audiences with their online OLED demonstrations. The setup is relatively simple. A researcher places a paper-thin, flexible OLED display on a table next to a traditional flat display. Then he breaks out a heavy mallet. After a single whack, the regular screen is completely destroyed.
The OLED display doesn’t react at all to the blow. It still works. Not even an attack from a sledge can mangle these next-generation displays.
You can find countless clips of twisted and abused OLEDs on YouTube. All of them end the same way: the traditional screens are ruined, while the OLEDs survive their beatings without a scratch.
But the hammer test is more than an interesting gimmick. These demonstrations actually prove how viable this futuristic display technology has become...
“The visual aspects of the breakthrough display technology are only part of the story,” says our own Ray Blanco.
“The market is expanding rapidly,” Ray explains. “This year, we also have some near-term catalysts to accelerate the touch screen business.”
Keep reading for Ray’s take on this extraordinary growth opportunity. And find out who will be the new market leaders as this sector continues to rise...
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Nothing Touches This Market...
By Ray Blanco
Last summer, I wrote about a new generation of display technology called OLED.
OLED display screens — short for organic light-emitting diodes — offer far greater energy efficiency, along with brilliant colors and durability.
I’ve seen video clips of mobile OLED screens being smashed with hammers and not looking the worse for wear. A standard LCD screen would shatter into dozens of shards. In addition, OLED allows for transparent and flexible screens, which opens up a new world of possibilities for display technology. CNNMoney’s site lists transparent screens as the big technology breakthrough of 2012, although they got the name of the technology wrong.
The visual aspects of a breakthrough display technology, however, are only part of the story...
Mobile devices bring additional challenges, requiring the application of additional technologies.
Mobile computing devices are, obviously, small. This complicates their use, since there isn’t much room to cram a display and keyboard interface onto them. As a solution to the problem, mobile devices have been dropping mechanical keyboards and moving to touch screens.
Screens are no longer just output devices. They are now input devices as well. Sharing input and output functions in the same physical space means display screens can be larger. That’s easier on the eyes. Touch screens are also easier and more intuitive for many mobile applications compared with toggles and trackballs.
Several types of touch-sensitive displays exist, but the most- popular variety today is known as the capacitive touch screen. A capacitive touch screen includes an insulating layer, like glass, that sits on top of a conducting layer. Current manufacturing techniques use indium tin oxide (ITO) for the conducting layer.
Touch screens allowing multiple simultaneous touches feature a coordinate grid layer of electrodes, which each act as a sensor. Since the human body conducts electricity, when the insulating glass layer is touched, a potential electrical difference is created between the finger (or thumb, as the case may be) and the ITO elements.
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This electrical phenomenon acts as a signal that is sent to a microcontroller, which interprets it so it can be used to sense input by a device’s operating system. Microcontroller functions include receiving the raw data, cleaning up background noise, interpreting the size and shape of the touch and calculating the exact coordinates of the touch. Touch has revolutionized the mobile computing market.
So just how big is the touch market? According to Walker Mobile, a mobile display market analysis and information firm, the touch screen market grew from $1.5 billion in annual revenues in 2008 to over $6 billion last year.
DisplaySearch, another market analysis firm, forecasts this market to grow to over $22 billion by 2016.
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The market is expanding rapidly, and this year, we also have some near-term catalysts to accelerate the touch screen business.
Microsoft’s Windows 8, for example, will feature increased support for touch screens. Microsoft’s new user interface, called Metro, is specifically designed to use them. I had a chance to demo the Windows reboot at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier in the year. It is a big improvement over Microsoft’s initial attempts to include stylus touch functionality in tablet computers.
With the launch of Windows 8, there will be a wave of new touch- enabled mobile devices at the end of the year. However, we’ll also see touch interfaces accelerate their move into traditional computers.
Intel, always a close Microsoft partner, revealed an Ultrabook reference design that includes the tech. Ultrabooks are a highly portable, high-performance segment of the notebook market that is being promoted by Intel. They are expected to post strong growth within the PC segment over the next few years and will be a huge driver for touch screen technology.
With continuing strong growth in touch-enabled smartphones and tablets, as well as new touch-enabled PCs, there is a huge opportunity for companies in the touch screen business.
The semiconductor industry has been going through a soft patch, but it isn’t expected to be touch-and-go for much longer. With Windows 8, touch-enabled Ultrabooks and flexible touch screens all starting to go live by the end of the year as well, it is a great time to start a position in the touch screen market.
Ad lucrum per scientia (toward wealth through science),
Ray Blanco
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