The global awareness of sustainable environmental protection has risen, making e-paper a popular fried chicken among “carbon reduction products”, attracting major manufacturers to compete, and panel manufacturer AUO (2409-TW) In the 2022 Touch Taiwan Smart Display Exhibition, they joined hands with Rainbow Optoelectronics and TPV Technology (TPV) to launch the cholesteric liquid crystal display technology (CLCD), aiming at the electronic paper application market, which also predicted that the cholesteric liquid crystal technology officially entered the first year of development.
Cholesterol liquid crystal technology is not a new technology. In the past, like electronic ink technology and other electronic technologies, it has not received much attention from the industry. The main reason is that the global awareness of environmental protection was not high at that time, and transmissive display technology was booming, which squeezed the market’s impact on reflection. The so-called reflective display technology, in simple terms, does not emit light by itself, and must reflect the display content through an additional light source, which can save power compared to ordinary displays.
AUO exhibited for the first time this year a 7.9-inch reflective display using cholesteric liquid crystal technology. The driving voltage can be interrupted during static display, and the screen can be displayed using ambient light without any backlight, which greatly reduces power consumption, and does not require the use of color filters and polarized lights. The reflectance and color saturation are better than those of commercially available color electronic paper, and it will be applied to the education market and outdoor public display in the future.
AUO’s 7.9-inch reflective display is jointly developed, designed and manufactured with Iridescent Optoelectronics and TPV Technology (TPV). Among them, Iridescent Optoelectronics masters cholesteric liquid crystal technology, AUO provides panel design, and TPV is responsible for back-end assembly. It is understood that, The product is expected to be mass-produced in the second half of the year and officially launched to the market in the second quarter of next year.
Compared with e-paper using e-ink on the market, cholesteric liquid crystal display technology has advantages in color performance, page changing speed, and no afterimage, and also highlights the characteristics of liquid crystal. However, AUO’s announcement to enter the e-paper market has also attracted attention from all walks of life. , General Manager of AUO Ke Furen said that the reflective technology has multiple application fields, including education, transportation, smart cities, etc., and will have multiple applications in the future. Cholesterol liquid crystal also has bistable characteristics, which is expected to save power, and the material is shared with liquid crystal. , the future supply elasticity is stable.
Cholesterol liquid crystal technology has been in existence for more than ten years, but there is still no actual product launched on the market. Iridescent technology, which holds related technology, can be described as a sword in ten years. After its establishment in 2012, it was originally intended to cooperate with Japan’s Fujitsu. , but with the withdrawal of Fuji Group, Iridescent Optoelectronics was silent for a long time, until 2018, the electronic paper technology once again attracted market attention, and it also made major display manufacturers find Iridescent Optoelectronics again.
After receiving capital injection, Iridescent Optoelectronics continued to develop cholesteric liquid crystals and accelerated the product development process with the assistance of major manufacturers. Iridescent Optoelectronics also participated in the 2022 Touch Taiwan for the first time this year. It is expected that this year will be the first year for the development of cholesteric liquid crystal technology. , Rainbow Optoelectronics also uses the characteristics of liquid crystal technology. In the future, it is expected to launch products that join solar panels (solar panels), so that the products can generate electricity by themselves, and further achieve the vision of sustainable environmental protection.
Iridescent Technology was established in 2012. At present, its major shareholders include AUO, TPV Technology, Qijing Optoelectronics, etc. According to AUO’s annual report last year, AUO held about 5% and 17.1% of Iridescent Technology through its Conley Investments and Longli Investments. , but Rainbow Technology still showed a loss in operation last year, with a loss of about 61.792 million yuan last year.
Electronic paper technology has developed rapidly in recent years, mainly from Yuantai (8069-TW) vigorously promote e-paper products using e-ink technology. Facing the entry of other manufacturers such as AUO, Li Zhenghao, chairman of Yuantai, believes that this means that other manufacturers are also optimistic about the development of the e-paper industry. Welcome to AUO to join the E-Paper Alliance.
There are dozens of e-paper technologies. In recent years, the fastest-growing and most well-known in the market is the e-ink technology used by Yuantai. Although the color rendering is still relatively limited at this stage, it has changed from black and white to the present. Five-color electronic ink controls color, including e-book readers, ESL (electronic shelf label) applications are the main battlefield, and cholesteric liquid crystal has more advantages in color and page changing speed. In the future, the market is expected to focus on education and outdoor signage. Each has its own niche.