Glowing plastic TVs.................
news.com
Thin plastic screens coming
By Reuters
Special to CNET NEWS.COM
February 13, 1998, 8:50 a.m. PT
Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) said it will
unveil the world's first plastic TV display Monday,
a move which could eventually see the demise of
the standard television set.
The Cambridge, England-based privately held
company, in which Intel has a minority stake, said it
will also reveal the identity of a Japanese partner.
CDT has previously declined to identify the
Japanese company. Industry sources estimate it is a
large Japanese laptop computer screen maker.
CDT has developed light-emitting polymer (LEP)
technology, which it calls "plastic that glows." CDT
hopes this thin, flexible LEP technology will lead to
the production of flat-panel display screens for use
in mobile communications, computers, consumer
electronics, and ultimately as an alternative to the
cathode ray tube (CRT) that's the standard for TV
tubes and desktop monitors.
The company hopes to able to eventually produce
TVs as thin as the picture frames that are hung on
walls. "CDT and its Japanese partner will unveil the
world's first plastic TV display on Monday and will
set aggressive targets for commercializing the
technology," it said in a statement.
Last November, CDT announced that Intel had
taken an undisclosed stake in the company.
Sources said this amounted to an equity stake
worth $2 million.
Investors in CDT include Cambridge University
(which owns about 25 percent), and a high-profile
group of private investors led by former British
cabinet minister Lord Young of Graffham, who
own a slightly bigger stake. Other investors include
the rock group Genesis, entrepreneur Herman
Hauser, and technology guru Esther Dyson,
president of EDventure Holdings of New York.
CDT has twice promised to announce this stage of
the project and its Japanese partner over last six
months, but canceled at the last moment. "The
announcement which we are to make on February
16 will demonstrate that our technology is very
close to commercialization for computer and video
display applications," CDT chief executive Danny
Chapchal said in a statement. |
