Product Archives - E3 Displays

SID Display Week in Los Angeles

Ray Damper — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 19:11:00 +0000

Hosted by the Society for Information Display (SID), the International Display Week Symposium, Seminar, & Exhibition, will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 21-26, 2023. Don’t miss the leading display experts’ technical sessions, short courses, seminars, and business conference showcasing the latest technology advancements in electronic displays and imaging.

The six-day event features nearly 400 technical presentations, numerous tutorials and short courses, a seminar series, a business conference addressing the display market outlook, an Imaging and Vision Special Event, the I-Zone, and over 100 exhibitors. While you’re planning your conference schedule make sure to reserve an in-person meeting with E3 Displays Co-Founder and Executive VP, Rob Tomasek. E3 will be in meeting room #44.

E3 Displays designs and manufactures custom display, touch, and electronics solutions for its customers in the automotive, aviation, commercial, industrial, medical, and military markets, delivering high-reliability performance in the human-machine interface (HMI) function, every time and everywhere.

If you have any questions about E3 Displays and the value and solutions they provide, please contact Rob through LinkedIn to schedule a meeting at the SID Display Week 2023. Rob enjoys networking with others and will demonstrate how his resources and connections can bring value to you, your products, and your business.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Los Angeles Convention Center!

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The Secret To Longer Battery Life

E3 Displays — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 22:30:22 +0000

The need for smart homes, offices, or even streets has drawn us towards the Internet of Things (IoT). Applications with display technology are around more than ever. Today, consumer devices boast exceptionally bright and detailed displays, ranging from higher pixel density on the latest iPhones to 4K HDTVs and watches using OLED technology. This rich graphical experience, however, has come at a great cost in terms of power usage. Whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, the display is typically the component that requires the most power.

Before, we had more devices used indoor environments, but now we need many of them for on-the-go use.

We now take our devices almost everywhere. The more we want to stay connected, the greater the need for power efficiency. Since we now have devices like fitness trackers, cyclometers, and smart monitoring systems that we need outside, we should consider how we can make them work more efficiently in their environment. That entails looking beyond the backlit LCD. The increased demand for mobile devices is driving the need for Memory Displays or MLCD. It can be the secret to longer battery life; let’s find out “HOW.”

What are memory displays?

The backlight in an LCD wastes most of the light it produces and is typically the most power-draining component in a device. The good news is that there are low-cost and widely available Reflective LCD screens that use ambient light to illuminate the display. Also, these displays now include Memory-in-Pixel (MIP) technology, which allows screens to hold a static image indefinitely without drawing power.

The memory LCD has high pixel density and the low power display requires no back-lighting. They draw in the 100uA of current while idling so they are perfectly suitable for applications that always use batteries.

How do memory displays work?

Sharp and JDI have recently introduced a Reflective LCD with MIP aimed at the wearable/IoT market. MIP works similarly to eReader technology, which only requires electricity for graphics that change on the screen. Reflective LCDs with MIP provide this energy efficiency to full-color panels capable of displaying HD video. The fact that it is not an experimental or nascent technology is also significant to product engineers and device producers; it is LCD, which is simple to adopt and integrate. This means they’ll be able to work inside their supply chains to achieve significant efficiencies, allowing their products to do more and go further.

Reflective displays have been increasingly popular in recent years as a result of their energy efficiency, which is due in part to their ability to exploit ambient light sources. The most important is sunlight, which has a two-fold benefit. Reflective displays adopt the better approach of using sunlight to help illuminate the panel, resulting in significant efficiency and usability advantages.

Cyclists and runners understand the value of a device’s daytime readability. Medical and industrial devices are no exception. With a reflective display, any screen that needs to go where its user does would perform better and last longer in the sunshine.

Reflective displays have their advantages and they are not just about the long battery life, but viewability too.

Benefits of memory displays

Engineers and product designers have long desired to move away from backlit displays, which consume roughly 80% of a device’s power, but there haven’t been many alternatives.

Advances in OLED and MicroLED technology are pushing the boundaries of emissive displays, but even these types of displays aren’t as energy efficient as reflective displays. The materials are either less stable or prohibitively expensive. They do, however, lose the backlight and address a problem with reflective displays: how to light the display when there is no ambient light. This is where a front-light system comes into play.
An ultrathin front light that can be laminated over the top of a device and requires only one LED to illuminate the display. This light only turns on when needed, resulting in an extremely efficient lighting system that works in all lighting conditions.

Weight of memory display

The extremely slender module is available with a lightweight two-glass design plus an integrated driver in the panel. The 3-wire SPI serial interface incorporates the Memory LCD into a simple design (SI, SCS, SCK). The weight of the memory display makes it easier to embed in small screen applications too.

The Efficiency of the Memory display

Continuous grain silicon LCD memory with greater electron mobility than typical amorphous silicon enables a pixel engineer to integrate a bit of SRAM. However, it also allows the engineer to provide a relatively simple 3-wire SPI interface right out of the box instead of other low-power technologies that require more expensive components and upwards of 40 to support an interface.

This LCD uses a three-wire interface, notably the spy bus, which is essentially a chip select with a data clock. This is an interface that is quite common in the industry and has already been built in most embedded processors. This gives memory LCDs a significant benefit in that engineers do not require any external devices, resulting in lower power usage.

Understanding Ultra-Low Power Memory Displays

When we talk about embedded technology, the Memory LCD seems to be a perfect fit for it. As the sizes of the application, wearables, and other small-screen applications are getting smaller. This is where Ultra-Low Power Memory Display comes in handy. Embedded 1-bit memory in each pixel provides an always-on display that can deliver high-comparison, low-power content.

Ultra-Low Power Consumption Displays working

LCD memory technology is now the future because it offers high-contrast, high-resolution outdoor displays. The populous Pebble watch already uses them. These LCD modules incorporate 1-bit memory in each pixel to allow each pixel to maintain a state with a low power requirement. This provides a display mode always low in power (only one voltage is required), even when pictures are updated. This helps designers build long battery life products.

It also minimizes sweeping images or “clipping” because only the portion of the image that needs to be updated is changed. Right now, Memory LCD is strong competition for the Smartwatch industry. With Android Wear on the horizon, perhaps Smartphones might leverage Memory LCD to develop a smartphone with weeks of battery life instead of days or weeks.

The wide viewing angle of MLCD

Since the wearables or the devices are now used outdoor, we need to establish an understanding of the viewability of different temperatures or weather.

All light & all-weather viewability

Sharp’s reflective Memory LCD technology uses ambient light as part of the display mechanics at the moment. This implies that the brighter the environment, the better the display appears, allowing you to offer sharp, high-resolution, high-contrast visuals to your outdoor wearable, portable, and other small-screened products.

Stability in Low Temperature

Sharp’s Memory LCD leaves bi-stable technology stopped in its tracks when it comes to robust, low-temperature LCD performance for wearable, mobile, and other small-screened devices. Memory LCDs have 1-bit memory embedded in each pixel, allowing them to provide an “always-on” display capable of presenting high-contrast, high-resolution material while consuming very little power.

Optical bonding enhancing the readability – How it works?

Direct sunlight or high-bright applications can cause glare and reflection on TFT LCD monitors. There is an air gap between the TFT panel and the cover lens in practically all TFT LCDs. In high-brightness installations, having an air gap creates recurrent refraction between each component level of the display. Optical bonding reduces reflection inside these components, increasing contrast and making the screen more readable in bright outdoor or high-light environments without increasing the panel’s brightness.

When applied to equipment that runs outside or in brightly lit situations, the Optical Bonding technique is particularly well suited and much more successful.

When LCDs, including touchscreens, are made, the screen’s front glass is stacked onto the LCD module. This isn’t a problem in most viewing situations, but in other cases, such as outdoor placement, the small gap between the two layers can degrade viewing performance.

Benefits of optical bonding

The light from the LCD reflects through the gap and then the screen’s outer glass to generate the display on a non-optically bonded monitor. When the light goes through the gap and glass of the screen, it is interrupted and bends, and some of it is reflected in the LCD module, which is known as refraction. This refraction across the layers reduces the brightness and readability of the final image by reducing its intensity and clarity. The disruptions and chances for light to be reflected are eliminated by connecting the LCD module and glass. Because more light reaches the screen’s surface, the image seems brighter. Increased brightness and readability requires less use of the battery power for the back light.

Memory Display Applications

So, you address pixels individually with a randomly accessible stored bit per pixel cell structure, refreshing only those pixels that need to be altered and so minimizing power consumption. These displays are ideal candidates for battery-powered applications such as wearable medical devices, wearable sports gear, Internet-of-Things (IoT) products, and other portable applications due to their exceptionally low-power LCD cell structure design. The most common applications we encounter now includes:

Watches
Healthcare devices
IC recorders
Secondary displays on DSLR cameras

These are daily applications we are using and yes, MLCD is the way to have longer battery life for them.

Conclusion

So, with the enhancements in the IoT devices that are now increasing day by day, having an MLCD to provide a long battery life is also a must. It is not only lightweight but also possesses the ability to work in different environments and weather conditions. OLED advancements along with MIP technology is a hope for the engineers to work on making these smaller screen applications more useful for people.

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Transparent and Flexible OLED Displays are Transforming Traditional Viewing

E3 Displays — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:22:08 +0000

Many transparent and flexible displays are based on the new display technology which is Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology, and they are going to be used often in future displays. Today, consumer electronic devices are using two major display technologies: LCD and OLED displays. Although most LCD TVs are equipped with backlit LED technology, recently LG and Sony are taking the technology one step further and have started manufacturing TVs/displays with OLED technology. OLED displays offer better picture quality, brighter, and true black color that enables better contrast and more vivid colors. These enhanced features compared to LCD displays have increased their popularity over the years. Even Samsung is majorly using active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays in their mobile phones to provide an excellent picture and color quality.

What are OLED Displays?

OLED stands for “Organic Light-Emitting Diode.” An OLED Display does not need any light source for backlighting because OLED itself emits light, it is an emissive display thus eliminating the need for backlighting and thus minimizing the number of material layers in a display stack thus making it much thinner than a conventional LCD. It is a light-emitting technology that is made by placing two thin organic films between conductors. When an electrical current passes through, it emits a bright light. Conductors are materials that allow for the electrical current to flow through them. Each small OLED pixel in the screen creates light depending on how much current flows through it. OLED displays not only provide excellent picture quality, but due to the reduced number of layers in the display stack OLEDs can be printed on flexible substrates an thus enabling novel features in the display such as simplicity of it is said that they can be transparent, foldable, flexible, and stretchable displays in the future. OLED displays are the future of display technology.

What is an LED LCD Display?

LCD (liquid crystal display) display technology is widely used in televisions. The display consists of pixels that are not visible but play a great role in creating pictures on the TV display. The display also consists of LED backlighting that shines through pixels and is responsible for pictures and colors on the TV screen. The LED is not a display technology, but it provides backlighting for the LCD.

Difference between LCD and OLED:

There are some differences between LCD and OLED Displays. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Light Output:

Both LCD and OLED have brighter displays in a sunny environment and provide excellent quality pictures. OLEDs are overall slightly brighter than LCD because of their dynamic range and no backlight function. OLED displays have a unique property of producing colors and light from a single diode when they are fed electricity. It is the reason that OLEDs don’t need a backlight. Each pixel you see on the screen is a self-contained source of color and light. Each pixel then combines to make a picture and produce a brighter display without a backlight.

Blackness Level:

The blackness level is very important for any display. It correlates with the quality and contrast of the image on the screen. The deep black levels are responsible for providing a picture that is rich in colors and has high contrast. OLED displays can turn off the individual pixels completely to produce truly black imagery. LED displays are unable to do this because there is always some minor amount of light in LCD due to the electrical nature of LCDs.

Contrast Ratio:

Contrast ratio is another important aspect of picture quality. A display with high-contrast will look more realistic than a display with low-contrast. The contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest and darkest pixels in a display. OLED displays have a clear advantage in contrast because they have true black pixels.

Resolution:

Both LCD and OLED displays can provide Ultra HD 4K resolution, so there is no difference when it comes to display resolution. Some old LCDs are still available in 1080P resolution, but modern displays are all 4K.

Refresh Rate:

The refresh rate is important in terms of motion blur. Motion blur means blurring of anything that moves on the screen. Unfortunately, both OLED and LCD have motion blur right now. OLED displays and all other 4K TVs have a refresh rate of 120Hz. Some lower-cost LCDs have 60Hz while other 1080p resolution displays have a refresh rate of up to 240Hz, but it is rare since most of the OLED and LCDs are offering a 120Hz refresh rate, so there is no difference in the refresh rate between the displays.

Viewing Angle:

OLED displays can be curved to display a wider viewing angle than LCDs. LCD viewing angles are very limited and can only be enhanced by using in-plane switching mode (IPS) rather than twisted nematic (TN). To learn more about IPS and TN click here.

Energy Consumption:

The energy consumption in OLED displays depends on the screen brightness: the more screen brightness, the more energy consumption. While on the other hand, the energy consumption in LCD varies depending on the backlight setting. So, the lower the backlight, the lower energy consumption. If you consider overall power consumption, OLED displays consume less energy than LCD displays. The reason is that since OLEDs don’t require a backlight they can turn off each pixel individually when they are black, unlike LCD where those pixels are still illuminated.

Screen Size:

Both LCD and OLED displays come in various sizes depending on the consumer electronics application. Most handheld consumer products like phones, smartwatches, and tablets have OLED displays. Both LCD and OLED displays can be manufactured in any size depending on the application needs.

Types of OLED Displays:

There are several types of OLEDs, however, we are going to discuss the following:

– Transparent OLED
– Flexible OLED

Transparent OLED:

Transparent OLED displays only consist of transparent components, and when they are turned off, they are up to 85% transparent. When it is turned on, it allows light to pass in both directions. Samsung used transparent OLEDs in 2015 for the first time and started supplying to customers in early 2016. Some of the present examples are Samsung 55” mirror and LG Transparent Display Digital Signage. LG now aims to use a Transparent OLED display in TVs to make an invisible bedroom TV. There are many benefits and applications of the Transparent OLED display.

Benefits:

– Transparent OLED displays can provide high-quality imagery as they have no backlight and have a larger viewing angle than other displays, which means you will get the same excellent quality view from wider angles. These displays are ideal for present and future high-tech environments to provide stunning visual effects.
– Being able to see through the screen when it is off, means that it can be placed in high traffic locations without disturbing the design of the space or obstructing important views.
– The interactive aspect provides a memorable user experience. Transparent OLEDs have multi-touch capabilities that can help increase the customer’s engagement and efficiency when used in retail settings.

Applications:

– Samsung launched the world’s first Transparent OLED display 55 inches mirror in June 2015.
– Retail stores utilize transparent OLEDs over product displays to present valuable product information to their customers.
– Hotels, restaurants, and cafes utilize this display type for an enhanced customer experience, as well as seamless check-in and ordering.
– The transparent displays can be utilized in public transit systems to enable riders to purchase tickets and view departure/arrival times. They could also be a source of revenue when utilized for advertisements. The transparency feature allows for all of this without obstructing the surrounding architecture.
– These displays are also found in jewelry shops, museums, visitor attractions places, health clubs, gyms, and more!

Flexible OLED Display:

Since OLEDs do not require a backlight, they can be curved during the manufacturing process to mold to a particular environment and increase their viewing angle. The flexible OLED display is the only display technology currently that can produce foldable smartphones and rollable TVs.

Benefits:

– Flexible OLED displays are useful for producing non-bezel designs of mobile phones with curved edges. These displays are providing excellent overall viewing experiences to users.
– The use of a plastic substrate and the ability to flex locally makes the display more durable, and there are fewer chances of any cracks when it drops.
– Like transparent OLED, flexible OLED displays consume low energy.
– Flexible OLED displays can be used in curved TVs to provide a clear and wide view to the audience. The quality and reliability of the flexible curved screen make the lifespan much longer than other displays.

Applications:

– Flexible OLED displays are used in the production of curved display TVs.
– Another application is foldable smartphones. We have seen that Samsung and Huawei already launched their foldable phones in 2019, many other companies are working on this technology.

– The next application is rollable devices. LG introduced a rollable TV prototype in 2018.
– As wearable devices are in demand now, flexible OLED displays can be used in curved edge devices like smartwatches or fitness trackers.

Conclusion:

The OLED displays are the future of technology. We see OLED displays in TVs, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. Transparent and Flexible OLED display technology is going to be used in next-generation electronic devices and it will make people’s life much easier, smoother, and efficient. These displays can engage users for a long time.

About E3 Displays

We’re a global design and manufacturing company that helps the world’s most innovative companies define the future of their business display needs. With over 20 years of combined experience in display technology, E3 Displays has everything you need to develop and manufacture your custom touch display all in one place. With customer-centric solutions featuring strategic planning, competitive pricing, longevity, and support, we ensure the best products on the market to help you scale. In the end, displays are a centerpiece in any hardware that provides a very important visual message in your product. We want to ensure that the visual entity exceeds your optical and performance requirements.

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Why Industrial Design Companies Should Work with A Global Designer and Manufacturer of Innovative Displays

E3 Displays — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 17:49:43 +0000

Industrial design is an important aspect of the development of a product. An industrial designer is a professional who designs products and services either as concepts or for launch and manufacture. This is critical to getting a product precisely as envisioned by the company, ensuring the product is designed with achievable functionality and meets consumer aesthetic demands. Touch panels and LCD displays are complex components and despite how commonplace they have become, working them into product designs is not as straightforward as it might initially seem.

For instance, adding an LCD touch panel to a device or machine without regard for the peculiarities of the display can be problematic. Each electronic component emits radio frequencies that can interfere with other components’ operations. Radiofrequency interference can put a display at risk for data breaches, display interruptions, delays in WiFi connection, and much more. EMI protection methods can add thickness to the display that is oftentimes not accounted for in the design process. Partnering with our team can enable the smooth integration of display enhancements with your design that will allow your client’s product to get to market faster.

Designing a display alongside the display module will also increase the speed to market. There are many options for customization a customer can choose from when building a custom display; including, brightness, resolution, size, temperature management, type of display based on the environment, and much more. When an industrial designer and display manufacturer works side by side, the product can enter the manufacturing process as soon as the design process is complete. Now that you know the importance of working with a display manufacturer during the design process, here are the benefits of choosing E3 Displays.

The Benefits of Working with E3 Displays for Industrial Design

There is a lot to gain when an industrial designer works with E3 Displays in developing and manufacturing a product. Our team is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in streamlining the manufacturing process. The designs developed while partnered can be sent to the manufacturing team without delay and any clarifications can be made immediately, making the development process a highly efficient one. The following are some of the benefits that can be afforded by such a relationship between an industrial designer and our innovative team:

Products can be appropriately customized:

Depending on the environment in which some of these machines or pieces of equipment are used, there are many features that can be incorporated into their displays to provide the best user experience. For example, with commercial displays in a restaurant kitchen or a fast food place, there is a high chance of the touch panel being operated with wet or oily fingers. Oleophobic or hydrophobic coatings can help to reduce the effect that oily or wet fingers can have on utilizing the display. Another example can be the use of a plastic or acrylic cover lens as opposed to glass on the display for an ATM. The public location of an ATM can predispose it to vandalism or breaking and replacing a glass cover lens is a more expensive process. By collaborating with us in providing your clients with high-quality products with great display functionality, you will be providing your customer with a better end product.

Lower manufacturing costs can be achieved:

There are multiple avenues by which manufacturing costs can be lowered when working with a design and manufacturing team skilled in display production. As mentioned above, customization is one area that can be taken advantage of to work towards manufacturing a product with appropriate display features. While customization allows the easy addition of features, it also allows for the removal of unneeded ones. Pre-built touch panels may have components that don’t add to the user experience and may not be needed for your specific display. If removed, the product could end up lighter or more efficient in its workings.

Removing these aspects of the display module also lowers the manufacturing cost which helps in providing the customer with a product that has better value and performs more efficiently. A company that specializes in the manufacturing of displays will have access to manufacturing equipment and processes that allow for the production of consistently high-quality displays. The designers and workers involved will also expand their skillset and knowledge through exposure to modern display design and manufacturing techniques. These factors together make it much easier for a company to get high-quality touch panels produced fast, effectively, and without errors. This enables the product to get to market quicker and with more value to the consumer.

The proximity of the design team and the manufacturing team allows for more efficient work:

The processes involved in manufacturing a display have multiple segments. These segments of development usually each have a team behind them; such as design, manufacturing, and quality assurance. The design team is responsible for conceptualizing and putting the product’s design and specifications to paper, and the manufacturing team translates these designs into an actual product. However, there is a lot that can go wrong during the communication process. When the design team and manufacturing team reside within the same building, it allows for more seamless production. The manufacturing team can immediately contact the design team for modifications in design in the presence of any problems during manufacture.

Working with an experienced team allows for the development of more refined and improved designs:

While an industrial designer conceptualizes their product that has a screen incorporated, our collaborative efforts can ensure that the display of the best quality and durability. It may be beneficial for industrial designers to seek perspective from the display engineers and designers in order to create a product that will optimally perform. This simply comes with experience in manufacturing displays and continuously allows for the production of high-quality products. Our team of designers will be able to collaborate with you to optimize the display elements of your existing design and provide the user with an improved experience.

The time it will take to get the product to market will be reduced:

There’s essentially no industry where competition isn’t a major aspect. It is important for manufacturers to be able to design, manufacture, and get their products to consumers as fast and efficiently as they possibly can. This allows them to get ahead of the competition to position themselves in front of customers first. By having an industrial designer work together with our team, there can be a perfectly-optimized division of labor. This means that the process of development will be appropriately segmented into tasks that can be completed by the individual most skilled at that said task. This allows for professional streamlined design and manufacturing that will ultimately find its way faster to market than competitors.

Why Should You Partner with E3 Displays to Develop Your Product?

As an industrial designer, you are tasked with turning the mere idea of a product into a design that makes sense both aesthetically and functionally. We want to help you deliver exceptional products to your customers. When needing a customized display for your device, it is important to take advantage of all the benefits that designing and manufacturing with E3 Displays brings along.

The end result is you will get an improved and more streamlined design. Your product will arrive on the market the fastest. There will be effective communication between teams of designers and workers and a reduction in the costs for manufacturing per unit for the bottom line. All these come together to improve the value of the product to consumers and to maintain profit for the industrial designer’s company. As an industrial designer, there is no need to worry any longer about how you’ll fit a display into your company’s newest product. Working with E3 Displays ensures that the display in your next product or concept will provide optimum value for your customers.

The post Why Industrial Design Companies Should Work with A Global Designer and Manufacturer of Innovative Displays appeared first on E3 Displays.

The Truth: Custom Touch Screens Are Saving You Money

E3 Displays — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 08:00:10 +0000

To keep production costs as low as possible, and provide your consumers with the best value, custom touch screens are the best option for any OEM. Custom touch screens are fabricated to the specific specifications instead of using pre-built modules. This means an OEM can choose the exact components of the display that are most appropriate for the machinery or device to provide a better value product for their user base. Since the inception of the touch screen display, our interactions with devices and machinery have utilized these modules to make our user experience more efficient and less complicated. With advancements in custom touch screen technology, traditional button interaction could become obsolete. Since custom touch screens have become so universal, consumers will be on the lookout for the best value they can get while maintaining touch functionality. It has become a race for many manufacturers to find the perfect balance between profit and price competitiveness. This is why many OEMs are turning to custom touch screens. To understand the extent to which you can customize a touch display, you must understand the structure in the most basic form. The average touch panel comprises a capacitive touch sensor which is laminated to a cover lens typically made of glass or plastic. This touch panel has a flexible printed circuit attached to it which holds the touchscreen controller. Controllers are responsible for sending the touch input as data to the device, which then interprets it as necessary. Then, there is the actual display unit which can be an LCD or LED display. This can either be separated from the touch sensor by an air gap, or the touch screen sensor is directly laminated atop it. The following are some of the components in an LCD display that can be customized to fit the user’s needs:

The Cover Lens

In most smartphones or tablets, the cover lens is simply what is referred to as the glass. Although commonly constructed of glass, other materials like plastic or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA or acrylic) can be used. This is the top layer of the display that the user interacts with. This is one of the components with which device cost can be kept low depending on the materials used. For example, the material used can be glass, acrylic, or plastic. While many pre-built modules will use glass, it may be entirely inappropriate in situations where it can be prone to vandalism or possible breakage. PMMA provides better cost savings than glass, as well as being lighter and more durable. Using PMMA can reduce costs by up to 50%. However, glass is better for maintaining optical clarity. Whether glass or PMMA is utilized, they can both be enhanced through film lamination to make them repel water or natural oils from fingers, become scratch-resistant, and have anti-glare properties.

The Touch Screen Sensor

A custom touch screen display is nothing without its sensor. This is responsible for registering the point on the display that is touched and sending that information to the processor to be interpreted. These are very complex structures despite how thin they are. A touch screen sensor is made by applying indium tin oxide to a substrate which can either be made of glass or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET provides greater cost savings than glass and protects better against display noise, but glass provides higher optical quality. Most touch displays use a two-layer system. This is used as it helps attain improved accuracy and multi-touch performance. When it comes to customizing touch screens, you can choose to utilize single-layer sensors instead. This is achieved by using fewer layers of substrate, indium tin oxide, and optically clear adhesive. Production and material costs will drop due to this. However, a two-layer system provides better accuracy. Multi-touch functionality is quite limited with a one-layer sensor, typically to just a single finger or two at a time.

The Flexible Printed Circuit

This part of the touch sensor is what is responsible for passing the touch input from the touch panel to the touch screen controller, and from there to the processor. Two kinds of flexible printed circuits (FPCs) are used. These are active and passive FPCs. An active FPC holds the touchscreen controller and other essential components atop the FPC. A passive FPC will only have the touchscreen controller and the traces, with all other components like resistors and capacitors placed on a printed circuit board. The efficiency of the routing improves the ease with which the other components can be added to the system, regardless of whether it is an active or passive FPC. The more complex this routing is, the higher the cost will be, so single-layer routing can help achieve a more complex and cost-efficient design. This is another one of the cost-effective measures that custom touch screens can afford OEMs.

The Touch Screen Controller

A custom touch screen controller is one of the most essential parts of the system. Intelligent controllers can help save material costs in other parts of the assembly. For instance, a controller that has advanced features like pre-programmed water rejection algorithms can make hydrophobic coatings unnecessary.

The LCD Display

The LCD display tends to be the bottom-most component in the system. Displays produce a lot of electrical noise and when not constructed well, this can cause interference with the touch panel and produce false touches. Also, depending on the design of the display, the effect of the display’s noise can be reduced. These same design choices can also have an impact on price. A layer of indium tin oxide can be added between the LCD display and the touch sensor to mitigate the noise from the display. This solution is effective but is one of the measures that can add to the cost of the unit as well as making it thicker. An alternative is an air gap. This will save you money over a layer of indium tin oxide. However, it will reduce the optical quality of the display and touch sensitivity. The display technology is another important consideration that can be customized depending on the OEM needs. The average display uses a thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD. These are reliable and considered the everyday standard. There are two variants which are DCVCOM and ACVCOM TFTs, which stand for DC and AC Common Voltage respectively. The former produces less signal noise. ACVCOM can save money but is not as effective at mitigating signal noise. However, active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED) is seen as the superior technology in terms of power efficiency, brightness, contrast, viewing angles, and the minimal display noise that they produce. While readymade display assemblies can be bought and fitted very fast, OEMs will ultimately be spending on extra features that their product may not need. Going the custom touch screen route with an experienced and trusted display manufacturer can increase your profit margins and provide more value to your customers. Custom touch screens are the best option for OEMs looking to cut expenditure and provide their users with a perfectly tuned product.

About E3 Displays

The post The Truth: Custom Touch Screens Are Saving You Money appeared first on E3 Displays.

If You’re An OEM, You Need To Start Outsourcing Manufacturing. Here’s Why!

E3 Displays — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 16:19:30 +0000

Original Equipment Manufacturers, or OEMs, are constantly developing new products or continuously manufacturing their current ones. Many of these OEMs outsource part of the manufacturing process to external companies known as Electronic Manufacturing Services, or EMS. This usually involves the manufacture of a particular component of the product that the OEM makes. An example of one of these components is an LCD display. This can go beyond just the actual production of the part, but into the research and design, as well as testing, assembly, and other logistics. Outsourcing the manufacturing of the LCD displays to an EMS is quickly becoming something that even the largest original equipment manufacturers do. This allows them to save time and manpower in the respective department, and put their forces more solidly towards improving the general product for their user base. However, for manufacturers who currently manufacture their displays in-house, they may be wondering what the benefit of outsourcing that section of the process may be. Once properly examined, it is easy to see why so many OEMs are moving in that direction.

Why Should OEMs Outsource Their LCD Manufacturing?

In products that have a lot more to offer than simply the display, an OEM may realize that there is ample benefit in leaving the LCD display manufacturing to an EMS who specializes in this. Whether a small or a large original equipment manufacturer, there is a lot to be gained. The major benefits of this are listed below:

1.) OEMs Are Able to Concentrate Their Resources

Consider smartphones as an example. There is a lot more to a smartphone than just its display. It needs to have a good camera, proper all-around build quality, and a long-lasting battery. These are just some of the hardware aspects an OEM of smartphones needs to ensure that they pay attention to. That OEM must still ensure that the software that the device runs on is properly optimized and provides a good user experience. This is all in addition to the marketing process, as well as testing of the product to ensure long term reliability. This is a lot for an original equipment manufacturer to focus on, and as a result, labor and resources will need to be divided between all these departments to ensure a functional product that will be received positively. When one of these components is outsourced to an external company, the OEM is able to focus more on the other segments of the device to provide a better experience for their customers. The LCD display is a very important part of almost any device, but in many cases, it is not the central feature. Outsourcing manufacturing allows the manufacturer to focus more on the selling points of their product.

2.) Manufacturers Can Get a Higher Quality LCD Display

While many manufacturers may opt for LCD display manufacturing that takes place in-house, they may be unknowingly selling themselves short in terms of quality. Companies that focus on LCD display production focus all their resources on that one field, mastering this trait. When these manufacturers have been in the business for years, they begin to build a higher quality product than could be achieved by an OEM that does all the manufacturing of their display screens in-house. This product will be better in terms of build quality, durability, optical quality, as well as touch performance; if required.

3.) Original Equipment Manufacturers Can Save Money

All businesses aim to be profitable in order to stay open and scale. Businesses exist to make money, and as much as they wish to provide users with a product that works for them, profit margins must always be considered. In developing many products, research and design, known as R&D, is a necessary step. It involves designing the product beforehand and ensuring that everything will work once put together. While the entire product will require R&D, so will some of the individual components. For a company that is deciding to manufacture LCD displays for the first time, or for an OEM that is looking to introduce a new model with a different kind of display, R&D will be absolutely necessary. This process can be costly, time-consuming, or both. By outsourcing the LCD display manufacturing process to an electronic manufacturing service, OEMs are able to save money. This can be because they can select from a variety of pre-designed displays that the EMS has available. They can also inform the manufacturer that they are outsourcing to the required specifications and dimensions of the display they desire. Also, with new and more efficient manufacturing processes, the cost to produce technology can be lower. This is the case with displays as well, and for an EMS whose whole business revolves around the development and production of LCD displays, they will be able to offer a price that is more attractive than what it would cost to produce in house. Once costs of production are cut, the original equipment manufacturer can leverage that to increase their profit margins. This can either be by: 1.) Allowing the reduced production price to reflect on the retail price of the device. A lower price for the device on shelves makes it more attractive for consumers to pick up and buy. This will translate to more units sold and a larger total profit. 2.) Maintain the same profit margin as before the outsourcing. For companies that switch over from in-house production to outsourcing, they will already have a sales price which takes into consideration what might potentially be a more costly in-house manufacturing cost. By outsourcing but maintaining the same price, the production cost will decrease, but profit margins increase. However, it is important to choose a competent OEM with a good history and the experience to show for it. This is why it is best to seek the best balance between price and quality.

4.) OEMs Can Ensure Their Technology Stays Up to Date

Displays may seem relatively stagnant to the consumer, but to those in the industry, they will recognize that research is never-ending, and improvements are constantly being made. However, for a company that produces a device, but thinks of the display as a relatively minor component, they may not be bothered with ensuring that their liquid crystal displays adhere to the latest standards of the technology. By outsourcing the LCD display manufacturing process, these OEMs can ensure that their liquid crystal displays utilize the best available technology, so as to provide their users with an excellent experience. This, of course, improves the perception that consumers have of the business and increases loyalty, and in turn, sales.

5.) Original Equipment Manufacturers Are Able to Be More Flexible

In the business world, especially market segments that are hardware-based and full of competitors, OEMs need to learn how to be as flexible as possible. New hardware developments come out with every launch window from their competitors, and sometimes these new features can give competitors the edge. Manufacturers need to be able to combat these new features as soon as they can, or risk being left behind in the market. However, there is a lot involved in ensuring that the company keeps up with the trends of the market. The corporate section of the company needs to give the go-ahead to the R&D team, who then has to pass on their approval to the engineering team and finally to the production department. This can increase the amount of time it takes to respond and flow with changing market conditions. However, by outsourcing segments of the manufacturing, LCD display manufacture included, OEMs are able to free up some of the delays in production. A company that produces LCD displays alone will usually be able to produce them faster than a small OEM that is pushing to produce them in-house. They will be able to adapt to requests based on changing market conditions much faster than an original equipment manufacturer that divides their production attention between different manufacturing segments. This means that these OEMs will be able to keep up with what their competitors are doing and worry not about being overtaken or left behind.

What Is the Most Important Thing to Note Before Outsourcing?

It is important for OEMs to be cautious when selecting an electronics manufacturing service for their components, such as liquid crystal displays. A lower price may be attractive at first, but there is a lot more to the process than simply going for the lowest bidder. Experience in the industry is one of the most important factors that need to be considered. A lower-priced display manufacturer may not be used to the industry and can cause devastating and costly delays in production. Experience also translates to producing a product that is generally higher-quality, with less of a chance of unit errors or faults. When experience and cost are balanced optimally to the original equipment manufacturer’s taste, the benefits they can reap for their business can be immense. Outsourcing does not need to stop with their LCD displays but can move on to other components. However, with the number of products incorporating displays these days, LCDs are a great place for OEMs to start to begin to have the benefits of outsourcing.

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