Sony announces LCD panel with white subpixel
By
Mike Tomkins
(Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 15:21 EDT)
Sony Corp. has today announced a new LCD panel type which it says is intended for use in digital cameras and smartphones, dubbed "WhiteMagic".
The new Sony WhiteMagic panel is said to have benefits over existing types in terms of both outdoor visibility, and indoor power consumption, as compared to LCDs featuring red, green, and blue subpixels. The claimed improvements are achieved by adding a new white subpixel to the existing RGB subpixels, which allows an approximate doubling of total display brightness. When ambient lighting conditions allow the brightness to be reduced, the design should allow roughly a 50% decrease in power consumption over a traditional RGB display yielding the same brightness. Sony notes that it has developed new signal processing algorithms that allow the new pixel to be added with, it claims, no deterioration in image quality. The new Sony WhiteMagic LCD panel has been commercialized as Sony part number ACX432AKM, due to sample from early October 2011, priced at ¥5,000 (approximately equivalent to US$65, ignoring exchange rate fluctuations, taxes, and duties.) The Sony ACX432AKM panel has a three inch diagonal, and a total resolution of approximately 1.23 million dots, equating to a 640 x 480 pixel array, with each pixel comprising the four adjacent subpixels. The ACX432AKM display is said to reproduce 60% of the NTSC color space, and includes Sony's Vistarich technology, which was purchased from Seiko Epson Corp. back in December of 2009. Vistarich allows wide 160-degree viewing angles, reduced power consumption due to high transmittance and aperture ratio, and reduced variation in response times with tonal level. In low-power mode, the Sony ACX432AKM panel has a surface brightness of 470 cd/m², and consumes 225mW, of which 125mW powers the backlight. In outdoors mode, the surface brightness more than doubles to 1000 cd/m², while power consumption increases ~78% to 400mW, of which 300mW is consumed by the backlight. More details on the new display can be found in the official press release below.
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Original Source Press Release:
| Sony has commercialized “WhiteMagic™”*1, a 3-inch VGA LCD module incorporating the newly-developed ‘RGBW method’ for digital cameras - Enabling a reduction in power consumption of approximately 50%* & improved outdoor visibility (around twice* the brightness), suitable for implementation in Smartphones -
* compared with the conventional RGB method (Sony's comparison) Sony Corporation has succeeded in commercializing “WhiteMagic™ ”*1, an LCD module for digital cameras that utilizes the newly-developed ‘RGBW method’. “WhiteMagic™ ” incorporates a 3-inch VGA low-temperature polysilicone TFT LCD module that adds a white (‘W’) pixel to the Red-Green-Blue (‘RGB’) pixels. By improving the brightness of the entire screen, Sony has been able to develop a module that offers one mode to reduce the power consumption of backlight by around 50%, as well as another mode that approximately doubles the brightness to improve outdoor visibility. Even adding the W pixel, the analysis of the input picture data and Sony's unique signal processing algorithm enable images to be displayed without any deterioration. 
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The “WhiteMagic™” LCD module featuring the newly-developed ‘RGBW method.
Photo and caption provided by Sony Corp. | | Model name | Shipment date | Sample price | “ACX432AKM” 3-inch VGA low-temperature
polysilicone TFT LCD module | Early October, 2011 | 5,000 yen
(incl. tax) | In recent times, devices such as digital cameras and Smartphones have been gradually calling for even larger screens and higher resolutions. There are also increasing demands to reduce the power consumption of the displays. The conventional RGB display, however, has a major difficulty in simultaneously achieving both high resolution and low power consumption. By incorporating the newly-developed ‘RGBW method’ that adds a white (‘W’) pixel to the conventional RGB pixels, Sony has succeeded in enhancing the brightness of the entire screen of its new LCD module. The addition of a white pixel tends to result in deterioration of the image quality. However, Sony's “WhiteMagic™” analyzes the input picture data and performs suitable signal processing (using its new algorithm), thus enabling a deterioration-free display. As a result, Sony has succeeded in equipping its LCD modules with a new ‘low power mode,’ which enables brightness equivalent to that of conventional RGB LCD modules, even the power consumption of the backlight is reduced by approximately 50%. There is also an ‘outdoors mode,’ which successfully improves outdoor visibility of the display by enhancing the display brightness to roughly double, even without the use of any additional power. Consequently, the ‘Low power mode’ increases the battery life of the devices, while the ‘outdoors mode’ facilitates focusing of the camera and/or checking of the images being filmed even under strong sunlight. “WhiteMagic™” is also applicable to displays for Smartphones. Sony hopes that “WhiteMagic™” module will meet the demands of customers across a wide range of mobile devices. Special features of this product & its technology -
‘High resolution LCD’
Equipped with 3-inch 1.23M-dot full VGA LCD -
‘RGBW method without deterioration in image quality’
By adding a W pixel to the RGB pixels as well as developing a new algorithm for image signal processing, Sony has succeeded in improving the brightness of the entire screen without any deterioration in image quality. -
‘Low power mode’
Reduces the power consumption of the backlight by approximately 50%, with keeping the display brightness equivalent to that of conventional RGB LCD modules. -
‘Outdoors mode’
Improves outdoor visibility of the display by enhancing the display brightness to roughly double, while using the equivalent power consumption of conventional RGB method displays. -
‘Flexibility for mobile device displays’
Can be used in applications for displays of Smartphones and other mobile devices Main module specifications | Table of Specifications | | Screen size | 3.0 inches | | LCD mode | Vistarich™*2, transmissive | | Number of display dots | 1.23M-dot (640 x RGBW x 480) | | Color reproducibility | NTSC ratio 60% | | Contrast ratio | 1000 : 1 | | Viewing angle | Vertical/horizontal160 degrees | | Mode | Surface brightness | Power consumption | | Low power mode' | 470 cd/m² | 225mW
(Backlight 125mW) | | Outdoors mode | 1000 cd/m² | 400mW
(Backlight 300mW) | -
“WhiteMagic ™” is the generic name attributed to the LCD technology of low power consumption and of enhanced outdoors visibility, which uses RGBW method, as well as the LCD panels and LCD modules that have been designed based on this technology.
In addition, and “WhiteMagic ™” is a trademark of Sony Corporation. -
Vistarich™ is a trademark of Sony Corporation. |
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