Samsung Electronics will unveil this weekend the first prototype of a new LCD (liquid crystal display) technology that won't be on the market until around 2011.
The "Blue Phase" screen is designed to offer a more natural display of moving images. Samsung will show it at a conference of the Society of Information Display (SID) starting Sunday in Los Angeles.
Most current TV screens are refreshed 50 or 60 times per second -- a rate that suits most situations except fast moving images, which can sometimes appear jagged or jumpy. A newer generation of panels, now finding favor among many of the latest TV sets and computer monitors, doubles this rate to 100 or 120 times per second so that the fast moving images appear to move more naturally. Samsung's prototype Blue Phase display doubles the refresh rate again to 240 times per second.
The liquid crystals used in the Blue Phase display will make screens easier and cheaper to produce, said Samsung. They will also require less in the way of driver electronics.
Samsung said it plans to begin mass producing Blue Phase LCD panels in 2011.
Television sets featuring the 100Hz/120Hz screen refresh rate have been on the market for about a year and are becoming popular among consumers. The global market for such sets is expected to climb from 4 million units in 2007 to 39 million units in 2012, DisplaySearch said. Most of the demand and growth is expected in the 37-inch screen size and above segment of the market.
