Dr. Tim Brosnihan
Pixtronix, Inc.
November 4, 2008 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room
Host: Al Pisano
Mobile multimedia devices such as smart phones, portable media players and navigation (GPS) devices are playing ever increasing roles in our daily lives. Consumers are no longer just talking and texting, but finding their way, catching the news and watching the latest movies and videos. As we use these devices for more applications and for longer amounts of time, we need larger, brighter, better image quality displays that don't drain the battery dry. Today's LCD technologies struggle to support these requirements. The Pixtronix display technology makes a fundamental breakthrough in the power/performance trade off, delivering 145% NTSC color gamut (CIE 1976), 24-bit color, 1,000:1 contrast ratio and 170 degree view angles, all at roughly 1/4 the power consumption of competing TFT-LCDs. At the heart of this technology is a MEMS-based Digital Micro Shutter (TM) device that enables the low power, high speed light modulation in the Pixtronix displays. The Digital Micro Shutter also supports an optical recycling approach through which 60% of the light from the backlight becomes available to the viewer - compared to only 6% efficiency in LCD screens. This talk will highlight some of the design innovations in the Pixtronix DMS technology, along with the manufacturing principles that have guided the design process.
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