If you are not in the technology side of the business, it can be really daunting to try to understand all the several basic display technologies and all the variations on those themes. I hope I don't do TFS (or you) a dissservice here, but maybe I can help a little.
TFS manufactures liquid crystal flat panel displays of low to moderate information content. The displays are essentially monochrome, but TFS has a way of creating colored zones on those display. The displays can be backlit or reflective. In adding recently to their toolbag through licensing, they are also now able to add gray scale to their displays.
They do not do the large laptop-type displays, nor do they do active matrix (thin-film transistor) displays.
They also use solid-state light-emitting diode devices (purchased) for presenting information, or for lighting of LCDs for viewing.
TFS uses these devices to create display subassemblies, adding as much as the customer needs in the way of lighting, frames, mounting hardware, and support electronics, improving the value added. In a few instances, they also produce electronic subassemblies containing no displays, but that's not their preferred operating mode.
Their most recent technology entry, developing in cooperation with National Semi, is also LCD, but in this case, the device is reflective and quite small, and built on a silicon device substrate. Think of the silicon IC as replacing one of the two glass layer that form the normal LCD.
Organic light-emitting diode OLED) technology is another animal entirely. Where LCDs control the transmission of light (light valves), OLEDs generate their own light. Where the optically active layer in LCDs is a liquid, the OLED's is series of thick-film polymer (plastic-like) layers. And the patent you referred to describes stacking up several sets of these transparent layers on top of one another (a problem to pull off in reality, it turns out). Only the OLED substrate is similar to the LCD structures.
The process of manufacturing the OLEDs involves a number of steps (like spinning on a relatively thick film of each of the OLEDs layer materials), which are quite different from the way LCDs are manufactured. And worse, the OLED materials are VERY sensitive to humidity. Consequently, much of the equipment required to manufacture OLEDs is quite different than that for LCDs. The manufacturing equipment is more expensive, and it is more difficult to achieve high product throughput than is the case for LCDs.
As a consequence, the only ways OLED devices are likely to affect TFS are (1) if they turn out long term to be a viable competing technology to the LCDs (that's what they promise, but need to demonstrate), and (2) if TFS decides to purchase the devices for incorporation into their display subassemblies, as they do in the case of solid-state (inorganic) LEDs.
I suppose a third and really unlikely way it could impact TFS is if they should eventually decide to become an OLED manufacturer under license. Probably won't happen, at least in the next few years. It would require a substantial capital investment and the setup of a whole new and quite different manufacturing line. It would also require them to become expert in a whole new, immature, and not well understood display technology. Much of their present success derives from the use of mature manufacturing tools and excellent fundamental understanding of the LC technology. Neither exist for OLED today.
JimA |
