Password 20_090704 - Philips Research

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Philips Research magazine - issue 20 - July 2004 

Displays 

Video signal processing ups the image - 4 

Polymer OLED displays - 10 

Courting displays to spice up our lives - 16

Philips Research Password 20 • July 2004 

2 

in this issue: 

Window to the 

w orld 

By Rick Harwig, CEO of Philips 

Research. 

3 

Courting 

displays to spice 

up our lives 

Even more than today, ubiquitously 

present displays will enrich our lives in 

the future.A whole range of new 

display technologies is being 

4 

developed to make it happen. 

meet 

Guofu Zhou 

Principal scientist at Philips Research, 

working on electronic paper-like 

displays. 

8 

Polymer OLED 

displays 

Light from plastic opens up the way to 

flat, thin displays and 

10 

sparkling pictures. 

Low-temperature 

polysilicon 

A new silicon technology allows to 

integrate displays and their electronics, 

yielding compact and more functional 

display modules. 

Video signal 

processing ups 

the image 

14 

Digital video processing is a key 

differentiator in future 

16 

display systems. 

News 

Published 

Articles 

Published 

Books 

Open Innovation 

from theory to 

practice 

Cooperation with partners increases 

the efficiency and impact of Philips’ 

research programme on 

22 

displays 

what’s new 

20 

21 

21 

24 

For more information, see Password-online 

at www.research.philips.com 

colophon 

Password is a quarterly magazine 

published by Philips Research. 

Philips Research, part of Royal Philips 

Electronics, has five main laboratories 

in three continents where 2100 

researchers investigate promising 

options for innovation. 

Editor-in-chief: 

Dr Koen Joosse 

Coordination: 

Claudia van Roosmalen 

Erica Schrijvers 

Editorial Board: 

Dr Tobias Helbig, United Kingdom 

Dr Frans Greidanus, the Netherlands 

Dr Fopke Klok, the Netherlands 

Dr Thomas Zängel, Germany 

Ellen de Vries, the Netherlands 

Dr Satyen Mukherjee, USA 

Design and Art Direction: 

Storm Scott, Eindhoven 

Printer & Lithography: 

Roto Smeets Services, Eindhoven 

Other contributors to this issue: 

Peter Harold 

Dr Ian Crick 

Craig Brelsford 

Ian Hay 

William Third 

Peter van den Hurk 

Photography: 

Michel Klop 

Jeroen Schellekens 

More information: 

Philips Research Public Relations Dept 

Prof. Holstlaan 4 

5656 AA Eindhoven, the Netherlands 

Tel. +31-40-27 43403 

Fax +31-40-27 44947 

E-mail: prpass@natlab.research.philips.com 

See also: 

www.research.philips.com 

© Royal Philips Electronics, Amsterdam, the 

Netherlands 2004. 

Articles may be reproduced in whole 

or in part provided that the source 

'Philips Research Password' is 

mentioned in full; photographs and 

illustrations for this purpose are 

available via the abovementioned 

website.The editor would appreciate a 

complimentary copy. 

Window to the world 

Displays undoubtedly changed people’s lives in the previous century.The 

amount of time spent watching television, working with a monitor, using the 

mobile-phone interface or playing animated games now takes up a 

significant portion of our day. Although we sometimes feel dissatisfied about 

this increasingly virtual encounter with the world around us, on the whole, 

displays have unquestionably enriched our lives, broadened our views and 

enhanced our productivity at work. 

Part of the slight unease we feel, stems from the fact that our interaction with displays 

is often a rather unnatural experience.Think of the children cocooned in the one-cubic 

foot confinement of their video games. Unlike the real world they portray, display 

images are limited in size and resolution.They are flat and two-dimensional. Large 

displays restrict viewers to a fixed location, and while mobile displays do offer freedom 

of movement, this comes at the price of a trade-off in screen size and image quality. 

We see making displays more natural and ubiquitously applicable, as being the next 

important wave in the advancement of displays, and Philips’ research programme on 

displays aims to realize the technologies needed for this.We are working on reflective 

displays that mimic the properties of paper and solve viewing issues in bright daylight, 

developing low-cost fabrication technologies to apply displays on large and non-flat 

surfaces and creating rollable displays that provide mobile users with a large screen 

when using the display, in a small, lightweight package for carrying it when not in use. 

These are just a few examples of the range of new display technologies under 

development in our laboratories.This issue of Password highlights further examples, 

and, yes, three-dimensional displays that can be viewed without the need to wear funny 

glasses or sit in a fixed position, are viable too. 

New display technologies will increasingly enable new ways of 

interactivity, both in the private and the professional 

environment. As a result, the percentage of ‘eyeball time’ 

claimed by displays will only increase further in the decades 

ahead. It is our ambition to remove as many of the 

constraints and discomforts posed as possible, and make the 

world we enter through displays a natural and integrated 

extension of the real world in which we live. 

Rick Harwig 

CEO Philips Research 


3

Courting displays 

to spice up our lives 

In terms of sensory experiences, Philips’ vision of Ambient Intelligence promises to give us what we 

want, when we want and where we want it. And since a great deal of what we experience is perceived 

through our eyes, display technologies will play a large part in realizing that promise. Even today, 

however, full-colour video displays largely remain rigid, rectangular structures based on brittle glass 

substrates, which are not suitable for the 'ubiquitous display' concept needed to roll out Ambient 

Intelligence in a wide range of environments. For displays to become truly ubiquitous, we will not only 

need the flexible displays that we can roll-up and put in our pockets, or displays that can be stitched into 

our clothing, but also the means for displays to be produced cheaply, preferably using reel-to-reel 

manufacturing processes.This is one of the major goals of the display programme at Philips Research. 

For more information: 

E-mail: 

Dr Peter Wierenga, Programme Manager Display Systems at Philips Research 

peter.wierenga@philips.com 


4 

Displays everywhere 

If displays are to appear everywhere, in all 

shapes and sizes, then it is unlikely that 

any single display technology will 

dominate the market.While the typical 

flat-screen displays we are familiar with 

will continue to proliferate, new display 

types will also be needed. For example, 

low-cost reflective displays with the look 

and feel of paper will be needed to give us 

convenient access to content currently 

delivered by printed media. Highly flexible 

displays that can be incorporated into 

clothing will be needed to create the 

ultimate in fashion garments. And largescreen 

3D displays will be required to 

provide us with truly immersive viewing 

experiences. Although some of these 

displays may seem a long way off, Philips is 

already working on technologies that will 

bring them to reality. 

Mimicking paper 

One ‘paper-like’ viewable display 

technology that has already hit the highstreet 

shelves in a consumer product is 

electronic ink – a technology invented by 

E Ink and now being developed further 

and commercialized in collaboration with 

Philips and several other companies. 

Fabricated on a solid glass substrate that 

accommodates active-matrix drive 

electronics (similar to that used in LCD 

panels), it is the basis of the LIBRIé E- 

Book introduced recently by Sony. 

Deceptively simply, electronic ink 

comprises tiny microcapsules containing 

oppositely charged black and white 

particles suspended in a clear liquid.When 

an electric field of one polarity is applied 

to the particles, the black particles are 

attracted to the visible side of the 

capsules.When an electric field of the 

opposite polarity is applied, the white 

particles are attracted to it. As a result, 

the visible part of each microcapsule can 

be switched between black and white. 

Electronic-ink displays are reflective, 

visible in daylight, viewable from virtually 

any angle, and consume very little 

electrical power. 

An alternative solution for paper-like 

reflective colour displays could be an 

electrowetting display technology 

currently being developed by Philips 

Research.The technology is based on the 

micro control of fluid motion by an 

applied voltage. Oil containing a dye is 

confined between a layer of water and a 

hydrophobic (water-repellent) coating on 

an electrode.With no voltage applied, the 

oil naturally forms a barrier layer between 

the water and the coating to create a 

coloured pixel.When a (low) voltage is 

applied between the electrode and the 

water, the interfacial tension between the 

water and the coating changes, causing the 

water to move the oil aside.This results 

in a partly transparent pixel or, where a 

reflective white surface is used under the 

switchable element, a white pixel. 

Electrowetting displays can achieve video 

switching speeds coupled with a 

reflectivity four times higher than 

"New display technologies allow new ways to interact with the content they deliver. This opens up 

completely new opportunities for entertainment and communication, and will continue to change our 

lifestyle in the future”, says Peter Wierenga of Philips Research. “Think of our new technology for 

electronic paper, which will allow people to access books, newspaper and other content anywhere, 

anytime, without the need to carry everything in printed form”. 

v i s i o n 


5

Display technology drives product innovation 

colour LCDs. Ultimately, they could 

provide us with paper-thin displays with 

It is one thing to create enabling technologies, but quite another thing to turn them into practical consumer products.Yet as a 

the colour quality of glossy magazines 

commercially oriented organization, this is what Philips Research is increasingly turning its attention to. 

and the ability to display movies. 

In the field of new display applications, the ‘Display Mirror’ originally developed in Philips’ HomeLab as part of its research into 

Designed for flexibility 

Ambient Intelligence is a case in point. It takes an existing LCD panel and a foil that is already used in LCD manufacture, and 

If displays are to appear everywhere 

combines them to create a mirror that turns itself into a display as soon as you activate the LCD. Another example is Philips 

around us they must become much more 

Ambilight TM technology, which analyses TV pictures and automatically projects appropriately coloured mood lighting onto the wall 

flexible, both physically and in terms of 

behind the TV set. 

the design freedom they offer. Physical 

flexibility will allow the production of 

Both of these innovations represent highly appealing applications that were turned into commercially available consumer products in 

displays that conform to curved surfaces 

little over a year. Both add tremendous value while requiring no new factories or manufacturing methods to produce them. 

such as the dashboard of a car, or that 

can be rolled up for convenience and 

In its CINEOS projection TVs, Philips has combined a miniature LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) panel with innovative optics and a 

carried around. Design freedom will 

unique ultra-high-power discharge lamp, all originating from Philips Research.The result has been high-resolution sparkling images on 

come when physical flexibility is 

affordable large-screen rear-projection TV sets. 

combined with the ability to produce 

displays with irregular shapes instead of 

Similarly, Philips Research has combined LCD and lenticular-screen technologies to create 3D displays that free users from wearing 

the rigid rectangular formats that we are 

special goggles or having to hold their head in a fixed position. And by providing software that autonomously generates 3D pictures 

used to. 

Research on reflective paper-like displays based on electrowetting 

from the graphics output of computer games or standard 2D video material, it is enabling the commercial introduction of 3D displays 

without the need for content providers to generate 3D material. 

Philips Research’s ‘Paintable Display’ 

matrix displays – yet even this is a 

solution. Potentially printable onto flexible 

technology addresses both the flexible 

challenge that Philips Research is already 

substrates using ink-jet printing 

It is this strong awareness of commercial issues, gained through close cooperation with Philips’ product divisions and external 

substrate and manufacturability issues for 

tackling. 

techniques, PolyLED displays may 

partners, that gives Philips Research the edge in applying new technologies quickly to real consumer applications. 

LCDs by removing the need to laminate 

Using its advanced polymer electronics 

eventually be suitable for reel-to-reel 

together two separate substrates in order 

technology it has successfully made 5- 

manufacture. A detailed description of 

to encapsulate the liquid crystal. In the 

inch-diagonal QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) 

Philips Research’s work on PolyLED 

When it comes to impressing consumers, 

new Philips process, a fluid mixture of 

active-matrix displays with a resolution of 

technology can be found in the 

however, colour reproduction is not as 

liquid crystal and polymer-forming 

85 dpi and a bending radius of 2 cm.The 

accompanying article on page 10 of this 

exact a science as it might seem. Research 

material is applied as a thin layer to a 

displays comprise a 25-micron thick 

issue of Password. 

has shown that different people perceive 

plastic foil and subsequently irradiated 

active-matrix back plane, containing the 

the same colour differently, often having 

with UV light to stimulate the 

polymer electronics pixel drivers 

A splash of colour 

particular psychological sensitivity to 

polymerization of solid plastic from the 

laminated to a thin electronic-ink front 

For electronic displays there is a widely 

certain colours or colour combinations. In 

mixture. Careful control of the process 

plane.They represent the thinnest, and 

held belief that RGB (Red/Green/Blue) 

a world of Ambient Intelligence, where 

results in separation of the mixture into a 

most flexible, active-matrix displays 

pixels give us all the colours we need.The 

what we see with our eyes will be 

solid-plastic cover layer on top of a liquid- 

reported to date. And with close to 

truth is, this is simply what we have 

designed to reflect or modify our moods, 

crystal layer. Patterning of the plastic foil 

80,000 thin-film transistors, they are also 

become used to. In reality, the range of 

the ability to heighten colours when we 


6 

with an adhesion promoter, applied by an 

offset printing process prior to UV 

exposure, results in robust interconnects 

between the solid plastic cover layer and 

the plastic foil, and hence a robust display. 

Electronic-ink displays may prove even 

easier to produce in a flexible form, 

because the ink can be printed directly 

onto a flexible substrate using an offsetlitho-type 

printing process. However, for 

both LCD and electronic ink technologies, 

one of the key technological challenges 

will be the production of flexible active- 

the largest organic-electronics-based 

displays with the smallest pixel pitch so 

far reported. 

What will be much more difficult with all 

these technologies is to produce flexible 

displays that are viewable in darkness as 

well as in daylight, because all 

transmissive/reflective technologies either 

require a backlight or natural front-light. It 

is here that emissive display technologies 

such as small molecule (smOLED) or 

polymer-OLED (PolyLED) technologies 

may come into the picture, to provide the 

colours that can be resolved by the 

human eye and perceived by the human 

brain goes well outside the colour gamut 

achieved by typical RGB systems.While 

work by Philips Research such as its 

adaptive-colour-mapping technology (see 

the article on page 16 of this issue of 

Password) aims to move colours that lie 

outside these gamuts into resolvable 

colours within them, it is also working on 

multi-primary display technologies that 

expand the colour gamuts to match those 

of our own eyes. 

are elated or subdue them when we are 

in a more reflective mood will be a 

powerful tool in generating environments 

that are truly adaptive to our needs. 

• Electronic ink 

• Electrowetting displays 

• Paintable displays 

• PolyLED displays 

• Adaptive color mapping 

• Display Mirror 

• Ambilight TM technology 

• 3D displays 

Philips’ paintable-display technology 


7

MEET 

Guofu Zhou 

Principal Scientist at Philips Research Eindhoven, the Netherlands 

For more information: Dr Guofu Zhou 

E-mail: guofu.zhou@philips.com 


8 

Imagine: a device that offers paper-like readability, is as portable as a paperback and can hold a small 

library’s worth of information – all while subsisting on the most meagre of electronic diets. Sound like a 

dream? It is. And it’s one that Guofu Zhou is helping turn into reality. As project leader for 

electrophoretic displays at Philips Research, Guofu has been pivotal in the development of LIBRIé, the 

first E-book available to consumers that uses an electronic-ink display.The result of a strategic 

partnership between Philips, the US company E Ink and Sony, LIBRIé offers a reflective and paper-like 

display that is up to six times brighter than normal liquid-crystal displays. A vital element in the new E- 

book is waveform technology, developed by Guofu and his team, a technology that achieves the accurate 

rendering of grey states in this type of displays. 

Guofu, 

1 

welcome to Password. Please 

tell us a little about yourself. 

I joined Philips Research Eindhoven in 

1995 after receiving my PhD from the 

University of Amsterdam. Before that, I 

was educated in China, my native country. 

My first projects at Philips focused on 

technologies for rewritable optical 

storage, aimed at increasing the recording 

density and data rate of CD-RW and 

DVD+RW discs. After six years I 

moved to the Flat Display 

Modules research group 

and started working on 

electronic paper-like 

displays. Patents are 

an important aspect 

of industrial 

research, so I’m 

quite proud that 

the work I was 

involved in 

resulted in more than 100 patent filings so The other thing that attracted me was the 

far. 

2 

E Ink and Philips have been working 

together since 2001 on electronic-ink 

displays.You've been deeply involved 

in this partnership from the 

beginning.What attracted you to 

this project? 

Firstly, the technology and its implications. 

Electronic-ink displays offer a unique 

opportunity to bring people’s dreams to 

reality: paper capable of changing content. 

People are used to reading on printed 

paper because of its comfortable 

readability. In the past, displays could 

never match this quality, and therefore the 

adoption of e-books and e-readers has 

been quite low. Our electronic ink 

modules truly resemble the quality of a 

paperback book, so I think this technology 

is going to be very successful. 

technical challenges. Electronic-ink display 

is a new technology, requiring unique, 

creative solutions, in particular in activematrix 

backplane technology and display 

electronics.This was the major focus of 

my team at Philips Research.What was 

developed in my team, in close 

collaboration with the development team 

of Philips’ Emerging Display Technology 

business, is the so-called waveform 

technology used to drive the display and 

achieve the correct rendering of text and 

images on the screen. 

Last month in Japan, Sony rolled 3out 

LIBRIé.What part did Philips, and 

more specifically you and your team, 

play in the development of LIBRIé? 

LIBRIé is a result of close collaboration 

between Sony, E Ink and Philips. E Ink was 

the inventor of this revolutionary display 

principle in which oppositely charged 

black and white pigment particles can be 

moved to the display surface, depending 

on the voltage applied to the respective 

pixels. In our partnership with E Ink, 

Philips focused on the integration of E 

Ink’s laminated front planes with activematrix 

back planes and the development 

of the appropriate driving electronics. Our 

collaboration with Sony started very early 

in the development process as well.This 

helped us to understand customer 

requirements and specifications in order 

to develop a customized solution. 

Although we are a research team, we 

were a fully involved in the whole 

development process, up to the latest 

phase of product development.The 

intimate working relation with both E Ink 

and Sony still exists and adds a great deal 

of fun to my work. 

4So how does waveform technology 

work? 

Electronic-ink displays are stable in 

multiple states. In other words, the image 

stays on the display after addressing 

without a driving voltage.The challenge, 

then, is how to completely remove the 

previous image in the next image update. 

Solving this problem by creating the right 

control mechanisms for the display driver 

is what my project team is doing. 

There are two basic ways of achieving 

grey scales: pulse-width-modulated (PWM) 

driving and voltage-modulated (VM) 

driving. PWM driving involves the 

application of a voltage pulse with a 

constant voltage level, but varying the 

pulse period. For example, the switching 

time for black to white is 300 ms at 

– 15 V.The dark-grey level from the black 

state may be achieved by applying 100 ms 

at – 15 V, and the light-grey level by 200 

ms at – 15 V.VM driving involves the 

application of a voltage pulse with 

constant pulse duration while varying the 

7 

voltage level.This is a less favourable 

solution, as VM drivers are always more 

costly. 

How is colour different from black, 

5 

white and grey? 

The next challenge is indeed to add 

colour. One option would be using a 

simple colour filter, but that would block 

two-thirds of the light, loosing the big 

advantage of this bright-display 

technology, so we are working on ideas 

for more clever solutions. Once the 

display principle has been demonstrated, 

the next question would be how to drive 

these displays. Our knowledge and 

experience built on the current black-andwhite 

display would significantly help us 

towards the successful driving of colour 

electronic-ink displays. 

Meanwhile, we are working on E-paper 

that can display 16 or more grey levels, 

which would come in handy in medical 

imaging or to display black-and-white 

6 

photographs. 

Besides the addition of colour 

displays, where do you see E-paper 

heading by, say, 2014? 

After intrinsic bright-colour E-paper 

displays, I would dream of having a flexible 

or rollable active-matrix substrate 

integrated with E-paper.Then, E-paper 

would reach almost every family, because 

it would replace, or at least complement, 

conventional paper, for example for 

books, newspapers and magazines.The 

impact on people’s lives would be similar 

to that of television, the PC and mobile 

phones. 

So, are we moving to a paperless 

world? 

Not completely, but a large portion of the 

Because of the special nature of 

paper world will eventually be occupied 

electronic-ink displays, we had to develop by electronic paper! There is probably no 

a new type of driving waveform to achieve need to move to a completely paperless 

the correct and reproducible rendering of world, but E-paper will add to many 

intermediate grey scales.We created quite applications, replacing paper as it 

a number of inventions, for example combines the features of paper and of 

waveforms consisting of more than one modern, portable, wireless electronic 

voltage pulse in an image transition. devices. 


9

In most people’s minds, the ‘flat, thin display’ is usually associated with LCD, yet an exciting new technology has far 

greater claim to that title. Polymer OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays are much lighter and thinner than 

LCDs and they offer better picture performance. Although not yet a strong rival to LCD, they soon will be and, 

what’s more, the design flexibility they offer will open up a host of new display possibilities in the future. 


E-mail: 

Dr Mark Overwijk, Programme Manager Polymer OLED displays, Eindhoven, the Netherlands 

mark.overwijk@philips.com 


Polymer OLED displays 

Opening a world of possibilities 

v i s i o n 

OLED displays are light and efficient, 

which makes them ideal for portable 

applications.They have a viewing angle of 

almost 180 0 and a fast response that 

makes them ideal for full-motion video. 

And because OLED displays are 

intrinsically emissive, they don’t need a 

backlight and can therefore be much 

thinner than LCDs. Contrast is also 

excellent as the pixels can be fully 

switched off in the black-state, unlike LCD 

pixels which function as light switches and 

inevitably allow some backlight leakage in 

the black-state. Moreover, current 

research into the use of plastic substrates 

is opening the way to flexible displays and 

displays that can be moulded to any 

desired contour. 

The structure of polymer OLEDs is 

simple – a thin layer of a light-emitting 

polymer sandwiched between a metal 

cathode and a polymer anode.When 

current flows, electrons and holes are 

injected by the cathode and anode into 

the polymer layer where they recombine, 

releasing energy as high-intensity light of a 

characteristic colour.This colour can be 

precisely controlled by altering the 

composition of the OLED material, 

allowing full-colour displays to be created 

using a two-dimensional array of RGB 

pixels. 

Pioneering research 

The origins of polymer OLED technology 

go back to the discovery of conducting 

polymers in 1977, which earned the codiscoverers 

– Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. 

MacDiarmid and Hideki Shirakawa – the 

2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Following 

this discovery, researchers at Cambridge 

University, UK discovered in 1990 that 

conducting polymers also exhibit 

electroluminescence and the polymer 

OLED was born! 

Philips started research into polymer 

OLEDs in 1991. In 1999 it began pilot 

production of the first monochrome 

polymer OLED and in 2002, under the 

PolyLED label, Philips became the first 

company to launch polymer-based OLED 

displays for consumer applications. Since 

then, Philips has continued to develop the 

technology both for new display options 

and enhanced device performance. 

The major reason for Philips’ early 

commitment to polymer OLEDs is their 

enormous potential for industrialization. 

In contrast to their principal rival: smallmolecule 

OLEDs, which are manufactured 

by vacuum deposition using shadow 

masks, polymer OLED displays can be 

manufactured by a high-resolution inkjet 

printing process that can easily be scaled 

to large substrates to provide a low-cost 

solution for manufacturing large-screen 

displays. 

Philips and other manufacturers are 

already using polymer OLED displays in 

several new mobile products such as 

Philips’ 639 mobile phone.This features a 

1-inch PolyLED monochrome ‘magic 

mirror’ display on the outside of the 

phone’s flip-cover that provides a clock 

and flashing call indicator, and a mirror 

when in standby. What’s more, there are 

plans in the pipeline to produce fullcolour 

PolyLED modules for both 

secondary and main displays in mobile 

phones. 

Polymer OLED TV 

One of the most exciting applications for 

polymer OLEDs is in TV. Even though 

LCD flat panels are currently establishing 

themselves as the successor to the 

familiar cathode-ray tube, research on 

improving efficiency and manufacturing 

technology are likely to result in the 

polymer OLED TV becoming a serious 

contender in the flat, thin TV race before 

the end of the decade. 

At this year’s International Symposium and 

Exhibition of the Society for Information 

Display in Seattle, USA, Philips 

demonstrated the feasibility of 

manufacturing large-screen polymer OLED 

displays using a proprietary multi-nozzle, 

multi-print inkjet printer technology. 

Taking the wide-screen 30-inch WXGA 

display (1365 x 768 resolution) as its 

reference application, Philips 

demonstrated a prototype 13-inch carveout 

of this display (resolution 576 x 324). 

The prototype also featured a number of 

video-processing technologies to 

“In flat-panel displays, polymer OLED technology may be the new kid on the block but with its unique visual 

and physical properties, it’s all set to become a major player in the world of displays in the coming decades,” 

says Mark Overwijk, Philips Research Programme Manager for polymer OLED displays. 

10 11 

Philips Research Password 20 • July 2004

further enhance image quality and take 

OLED emitters too, whether driven by 

blue-emitting polymer – the latter 

J oining forces 

maximum advantage of the OLED’s 

LTPS or a-Si TFTs, show variable ageing 

currently the ‘world record’ in luminous 

excellent video rendering and black-level 

effects, resulting in brightness drift with 

efficacy for blue polymer emitters. 

In 2003, the European Research Commission 

performance. 

time. Both these effects are compensated 

Another breakthrough in polymer OLED 

awarded the prestigious EU Descartes Prize 

by Philips’ proprietary ‘photo-feedback’ 

efficiency has been achieved through 

to a project on polymer OLEDs for light and 

Innovative drive circuitry 

circuitry, which uses the photosensitive 

combining fluorescence and 

image display screens. Philips was one of the 

Although today’s small polymer OLED 

properties of the silicon back-plane itself 

phosphorescence as effective emissive 

six partners in this project, the others being 

displays are usually passively addressed, a 

to sense and correct for changes in 

processes.Taking advantage of this, Philips 

the Cambridge University, Cambridge Display 

lot of research is going into developing 

individual pixel brightness. Philips 

Research has invented a new copolymer 

Technology, Materia Nova, Linköping 

active-matrix devices. For emissive devices 

Research has already demonstrated the 

providing a luminous efficacy of 40 cd/A! 

University, and Covion Organic 

like OLEDs, active addressing, where each 

effectiveness of its new photo-feedback 

Still higher efficacies and efficient blue 

Semiconductors in Frankfurt am Main. 

pixel is individually switched by one or 

compensation circuitry, which limits 

emission are expected in the future 

more thin-film transistors (TFTs), is 

brightness degradation of a polymer 

through further tuning of the copolymer 

The work on development of combined 

definitely preferred and is essential for 

OLED display to only 1 to 2% over the 

composition. 

fluorescent and phosphorescent materials was 

larger displays as it minimizes power 

half-life of an uncompensated display (the 

done in close collaboration with TNO 

consumption and improves lifetime by 

time for average brightness to fall by 

In collaboration with material suppliers, 

Industrial Technology, the University of 

imposing lower stresses on the OLED 

50%). 

Philips has also succeeded in increasing 

Durham, and the Eindhoven University of 

emitters. Philips Research has therefore 

the operational lifetime of polymer 

Technology.The collaboration was sponsored 

devoted considerable resources to 

Breakthroughs in performance 

OLEDs by several orders of magnitude 

by the Dutch government.This is but one 

perfecting active-matrix OLED drive 

Efficiency and lifetime are major focuses in 

over the past few years.This has already 

example of the embedding of polymer OLED 

circuitry with the aim of optimizing 

display lifetime and uniformity. 

The two semiconductor processes 

current polymer OLED research, and 

significant improvements have been 

realized by comprehensive research on 

materials and device physics. Higher 

enabled commercial application of 

monochrome passive-matrix and 

segmented dot-matrix displays, with 

operational lifetimes well exceeding 

13-inch PolyLED TV 

prototype showing excellent 

image quality 

activities at Philips in the scientific 

community. Over the past years, Philips has 

established fruitful and open relationships 

with key groups in universities such as the 

currently used for active-matrix back- 

efficiency enables the use of a-Si for back- 

10,000 hours. Lifetime improvements for 

University of Groningen, the University of 

planes are Low Temperature Polysilicon 

(LTPS) and amorphous silicon (a-Si). 

Though more expensive, LTPS offers 

greater potential for miniaturization which 

plane electronics in larger displays. At 

lower efficiencies, the relatively low 

charge carrier mobility of a-Si requires 

that the pixel circuitry occupies a large 

pure red, green and blue emitters are 

expected to lead to the commercial 

introduction of full-colour devices next 

year. 

Pilot line for 

inkjet printing 

of full-colour 

PolyLED displays 

Amsterdam, the Catholic University Leuven 

and Cambridge University. Collaborative 

projects are organized within the framework 

of the Dutch Polymer Institute, in bilateral 

is especially important for small displays 

proportion of the display’s surface area, 

agreements, and in Dutch/European- 

(see also the article on page 14). It also 

decreasing the ratio of the active area to 

A new world of possibilities 

sponsored projects. 

allows greater integration of the logic and 

the total area of the display. Higher 

Although polymer OLED technology is a 

mixed-signal functions required for 

efficiency also implies lower power 

potential rival to LCD, its major impact is 

An essential contribution to the 

addressing the display. An issue in LTPS, 

consumption, which is crucial for battery- 

not likely to be in replacing existing 

industrialization of polymer OLEDs is made 

however, is the spread in threshold 

powered hand-held devices. And it widens 

displays but in whole new areas of 

by suppliers and partners, such as The Dow 

voltage between individual TFTs during 

the range of possible applications for 

application. Here, flexibility and thinness 

Chemical Company, Covion Organic 

manufacture. In OLEDs this leads to small 

polymer OLED technology, e.g. in solid- 

will be the keys and we’re likely to see 

Semiconductor GmbH, H.C. Starck, Litrex and 

Philips Research Password 20 • july 2004 

12 

luminance variations in the picture giving 

rise to spatially noisy pictures known as 

‘dirty windows’. In the 13-inch PolyLED 

TV demonstrator shown at SID 2004, 

Philips eliminated this with a measuring 

and compensation circuit embodied in the 

back-plane. 

The lower cost of a-Si makes it attractive 

for large displays where the cost of the 

processed glass substrate becomes 

important.The threshold voltages of a-Si 

TFTs, however, can drift with time, 

resulting in changes in individual pixel 

brightness and in picture burn-in.The 

state lighting. 

Philips Research recently has achieved 

major improvements in efficiency through 

the development of improved device 

structures and polymers with improved 

properties. A novel anode material 

resulted in significant reduction of losses 

due to imbalances in the hole and 

electron partial currents, leading to huge 

increases in the quantum efficiency to 

around 12% (from 2 to 4% for standard 

devices). Such efficiencies translate into 

luminous efficacies of 35 cd/A for a yellow 

light-emitting polymer and 20 cd/A for a 

flexible and conformal polymer OLED 

displays moulded to the contours of our 

mobile phone or car dashboard, or as rollup 

television screens.When not emitting, 

the polymer OLED display can also be 

made virtually transparent, which opens 

up other possibilities, such as super-thin 

TV screens hanging from a wall that 

become invisible when switched off, or 

windows that can be switched on to show 

a picture of a favourite scene. All we can 

say now is that the possibilities for this 

exciting new technology are virtually 

boundless and limited only by our 

imagination. 

Spectra. 

• Background on polymer OLED 

• PolyLED business info 

• PolyLED TV 

• Inkjet printing of PolyLED displays 

• Efficiency improvement 


13

ultraviolet excimer laser, such that when it 

between the display glass and the external 

vision,” Johan van de Ven points out. 

cools it crystallizes into polysilicon. 

electronics, making the display cheaper 

“Research developed demonstrators, 

The resulting LTPS has a highly improved 

and more robust. Last but not least, by 

which we then showed to customers, 

charge-carrier mobility and stability 

eliminating the need for separate driver 

giving them the confidence that we could 

compared to a-Si, opening up the ability 

circuitry, the power consumption is 

in fact develop LTPS technology. 

to integrate the display driver circuitry for 

greatly reduced. 

Furthermore, Steve Battersby built up the 

active-matrix LCD panels right on the 

nucleus of an LTPS team at Philips’ LTPS 

glass itself. 

“These features give LTPS displays a 

design centre in Kobe, Japan and helped us 

strong marketing advantage in the area of 

set up a relationship with suppliers in 

LTPS has its drawbacks, the biggest being 

handheld products, where small size, light 

Japan.” 

cost. Because it typically requires two or 

weight and neat designs are selling 

three extra mask steps, LTPS is currently 

features”, explains Bart Fokkink, Senior 

While LTPS is already being applied to 

more expensive to produce than a-Si. 

Director for Advanced Technology at 

active-matrix, thin-film-transistor LCDs, as 

These costs must be recovered in savings 

Philips MDS in Heerlen, the Netherlands. 

well as organic-light-emitting diode 

in the IC costs. However, as Steve 

“Of the key features in a display, a great 

(OLED) displays, other possibilities 

Low-temperature 

polysilicon 

f or display-centric mobiles 

Battersby, leader of the Active-Matrix 

Systems group at Philips Research Redhill 

(England) explains: “There’s a point where 

the physical size and cost of conventional 

driver ICs are less significant in relation to 

overall panel size and cost, and that’s at a 

display diagonal of 8 to 10 inch.Those 

small displays aren’t just for mobile 

image is the number-one thing users want, 

followed by low power consumption.” In 

Asia, where marketers and researchers 

are intensively looking for emerging 

trends in telephony, a ride on a Tokyo 

subway was enough to show him where 

the future of mobile phones lies. “A 

majority of the people was using their 

emerge for this technology as well. “We’re 

working closely with Research on applying 

LTPS to 3D displays and non-rectangular 

displays.” With LTPS, it is also possible to 

move even more complex circuitry from 

the periphery of a display into the pixel 

structure itself.This means that displays 

will increasingly evolve from 

Low-temperature polysilicon is a new silicon technology, which allows to integrate displays' driver electronics with the 

phones: LTPS works for digital cameras, 

personal digital assistants, high-end GPS 

phones more for i-mode than for talking. 

The future is in colour displays and plenty 

straightforward output devices into 

intelligent system-on-panel solutions, 

display glass. This saves separate components and allows the design of very compact and functional display modules. 

Johan van de Ven and Bart Fokkink of Philips Mobile Display Systems tell about the opportunities this creates for their 

sets, mobile DVD – potentially anything 

with a small display.” 

of features.” In such a world, LTPS stands 

to play an increasingly important role. 

opening up a whole new range of mobile 

applications. 

business.After working on the technology at Philips Research, Steve Battersby helped transferring it to the production 

LTPS is also key to improving other 

The work on LTPS technology has 

For now, though, Johan van de Ven and his 

facilities in Japan. 


E-mail: 

Dr Steve Battersby 

steve.battersby@philips.com 

important display characteristics. First of 

all, the in-pixel circuitry is simply smaller 

in LTPS than in a-Si, so less light gets 

blocked and the display can retain a bright 

provided the perfect springboard for 

exploring alternative exploitation routes – 

for example, via LG.Philips LCD, a 50-50 

joint venture formed with LG Electronics 

colleagues are busy enough preparing for 

the growth in phones containing LTPS, 

which is expected to rise from 10 to 15% 

of the market in 2005 to between 35 and 

image up to a much higher resolution. 

of Korea in 1999, which recently 

50% in 2008. As he states, “LTPS is going 

The mobile phone is becoming more than 

requirements of displays up.” 

technology, and then added as separate 

“With LTPS, you can pack double the 

announced that it has started to build an 

to continue having a big impact.” 

just a phone. A trip to your local cell- 

With displays taking up a relatively large 

components to the display module, 

current pixel density into the same screen 

LTPS manufacturing centre in Korea. It is 

phone dealer bears this out: at one end of 

space in mobile products, product 

occupying a large portion of the total 

size,” explains Johan van de Ven. “That’s 

also an example of the successful 


14 

the shelf are the humble old handsets 

with their monochrome displays. On the 

other are machines that allow users to 

read their E-mail, surf the web, play video 

games, take photographs, record video – 

and, yes, even call their friends. 

“More and more, you’re working not with 

a phone but with a mobile communication 

and information terminal,” says Johan van 

de Ven, Chief Technology Officer at Philips 

Mobile Display Systems (MDS) in Hong 

Kong. “Mobile phones are changing from 

voice-centric devices to display-centric 

devices – and that drives the 

developers are looking for ways to embed 

as much functionality as possible onto the 

display substrate itself, instead of using 

costly additional space for peripheral 

circuits.With amorphous silicon (a-Si), as 

currently still applied to large-area glass 

substrate panels, the low charge-carrier 

mobility and poor stability are not 

sufficient to implement the logic and 

mixed-signal functions necessary to drive 

the display as an integral part of the 

active-matrix LCD panel. Instead, driver 

ICs are fabricated separately using 

conventional, single-crystal silicon 

area, and significantly contributing to the 

power consumption, even in stand-by 

mode. 

However, with low-temperature 

polysilicon (LTPS), the latest in a rapid 

series of breakthroughs in display 

technologies, very high levels of circuit 

integration within the display panel come 

into reach. 

Philips Research has developed a method 

to heat up a thin layer of amorphous 

silicon to a temperature above its melting 

point within nanoseconds using an 

where LTPS really makes a difference.” 

Second, the integration of the drivers 

greatly simplifies the interconnections 

cooperation between Research and MDS. 

“We have absolutely needed the Research 

team in the development of our strategic 

• More information on LTPS 

technology 


15

Video signal 

processing ups 

the image 

The viewing experience that modern display technologies can provide continues to improve. LCDs are now brighter, 

faster and larger, and plasma panels have reached home-theatre proportions. Even the ubiquitous CRT now has a 

super-flat screen and is slimmer than ever before. So it is rather ironic that many of the video sources that we want 

to view on these displays are relatively poor by comparison.The pictures that you take on your camera phone may 

look OK on the phone’s 2-inch LCD, but viewed on a 42-inch high-definition flat-screen display the results will almost 

certainly be disappointing.The same applies to the low-resolution video clips that proliferate on the Internet. For 

Philips Research, advanced video signal processing is the key to raising the quality of less than perfect video sources 

to levels commensurate with modern displays. 


E-mail: 

Dr Geert Depovere, Head of the Video Processing and Visual Perception group at 

Philips Research Eindhoven, the Netherlands 

geert.depovere@philips.com 

Enhanced TV 


Demonstration set-up showing improved colour saturation 

by using the adaptive Colour Gamut Mapping algorithm 

Over the last two years, LCD TVs have 

taken the market by storm.Yet there is 

still plenty of room for improvement in 

the picture quality they deliver. Despite 

the fact that modern active-matrix LCD 

panels have reached video switching 

speeds, they still suffer a degree of 

‘motion blur’ due to the slowness of the 

liquid-crystal material and the inherent 

sample-and-hold nature of their pixels. 

Unlike the flying spots in a conventional 

raster-scan colour picture tube, which 

decay very quickly in intensity, the pixels 

on an LCD panel maintain a fixed intensity 

for a complete frame period.This results 

in a visible artefact that is the equivalent 

of motion-related low-pass filtering of the 

video signal, often referred to as motion 

blur. Philips Research is combining its 

expertise in motion estimation (derived 

from earlier work on Digital Natural 

Motion television) with innovative new 

Motion-Compensated Inverse Filtering 

algorithms that counter motion blur. It is 

also developing more advanced motioncompensated 

de-interlacing algorithms to 

eliminate some of the de-interlacing 

artefacts that can appear on highresolution 

LCD TVs. 

Another drawback of LCDs is a low 

contrast ratio, mainly due to the fact that 

the backlight is continuously on. Even in 

black areas of the image some of the 

backlight still filters through.To overcome 

this problem, Philips Research has 

developed its dynamic-backlight concept, 

in which analysis of the video image 

results in the backlight intensity being 

reduced behind dark areas. It is also 

looking at ways in which video processing, 

in combination with new backlight 

technologies, can be used to increase the 

colour gamut of LCD panels, allowing 

faithful reproduction of a wider range of 

colours. 

Even more exciting is the prospect of 

displaying 3D images on LCD TVs, even 

for standard 2D broadcast material. Philips 

Research has developed image analysis 

techniques that identify 

foreground/background information in 2D 

images and construct a 3D image from 

them. Nine separate views of the image 

are constructed, each representing the 

image as seen from a slightly different 

angle.When these are displayed on an 

LCD or emissive display equipped with 

Philips’ patented slanting lenticular-lens 

technology, the nine different views 

become visible at appropriate angles, 

presenting viewers with a highly realistic 

3D image that is not dependent on the 

wearing of special glasses or keeping one's 

heads in a fixed position. 

“Digital video processing will not only be a key differentiator in future display systems, for example, 

turning low-quality video into stunning images. It will also contribute to our safety and well-being by 

giving us a clearer picture of the world around us,” says Geert Depovere of Philips Research. 


16 

v i s i o n 

17

Video on mobile 

TV on PC 

Philip Research has developed advanced 

Philips Research has also developed 

In addition to increasing the speed of 

Although the PC started off as a 

algorithms to PC platforms and licensing 

software intercepts the games’ standard 

video processing techniques to enhance 

algorithms for content-related control of 

LCDs to reduce motion blur, Philips 

productivity tool, the advent of video 

them to PC component manufacturers 

graphics output and constructs nine 

the performance of full-colour LCD 

backlight intensity in order to reduce 

Research has also adapted its Digital 

games quickly turned it into an 

and system integrators.The initiative, 

separate virtual reality views, each from a 

displays in mobile devices. Designed to 

power dissipation by as much as 40%, 

Natural Motion TV algorithms to 

entertainment device.Today, people use 

which Philips is marketing under the name 

slightly different angle.When displayed on 

overcome the motion blur, motion judder 

while also improving perceived video 

reduce motion judder in mobile displays. 

their PCs for watching TV programmes, 

Trimension TM , already includes its Digital 

Philips’ patented lenticular-lens screen 

and poor colour rendition that are 

quality. On the basis that it is better to 

Severe motion judder (jerkiness in the 

playing DVDs and editing their home 

Natural Motion and de-interlacing 

systems, these images create a realistic 3D 

common in these displays, such techniques 

render darker scenes by reducing the 

motion) results from the low frame rates 

movies. Despite this, many of the image 

algorithms.These algorithms bring video 

effect. As a result, gamers can shift their 

can be applied individually or in 

backlight intensity rather than blocking 

used in mobile devices – typically between 

improvement techniques developed for 

quality to PCs only previously available in 

head to glance down the side of objects 

combination to provide a much better 

light with the LCD, Philips’ Dynamic 

5 and 15 frames per second. Philips’ 

televisions, such as Digital Natural 

high-end TV sets. 

to see what might be lurking there. 

user experience with more vivid and 

Backlight works in combination with 

Mobile Natural Motion technology 

Motion TM and motion compensated de- 

realistic colours and a more natural 

contrast enhancement techniques to 

analyses successive video frames to 

interlacing, have not yet penetrated into 

To add new realism to computer gaming, 

portrayal of video material. 

maintain maximum grey-scale range in the 

establish motion vectors for every moving 

the PC domain. 

Philips Research has also developed 

image. 

object in the picture. It then uses these 

software to convert the graphics output 

As the resolution and pixel density of the 

motion vectors to create intermediate 

With the increased processing power of 

of computer games into 3D images. 

active-matrix LCDs used in mobile 

Another well-known problem even with 

image frames that are inserted between 

modern PCs, which allows much more 

Although many games create three- 

devices increases, the ratio between the 

active-matrix LCDs is the poor response 

the original frames, thereby increasing the 

video processing to be done by their 

dimensional virtual realities in which the 

active area of each pixel and the dark area 

time of their LCD pixels, which typically 

frame rate and smoothing out the motion. 

CPUs, Philips Research is porting many of 

game is played, they normally display these 

occupied by its drive transistor and 

amounts to several tens of milliseconds. 

its advanced video improvement 

virtual realities in two dimensions. Philips’ 

storage capacitor decreases. Coupled with 

The result is a smearing of picture 

The important thing about all these 

the fact that these displays employ colour 

filters to produce RGB triplets, this means 

motion, because the pixels cannot keep up 

with the changing grey-scales in moving 

mobile-video improvement techniques is 

that they have been engineered to run 

Automotive 

that less than a third of the light emitted 

images.To overcome this problem, Philips 

within the processing resource and power 

by the backlight reaches the viewer. 

Research has developed a technique for 

consumption limits of mobile devices. 

Video cameras are already being fitted to 

Philips Research is already investigating 

Because most mobile devices have battery 

momentarily ‘over-driving’ each pixel with 

goods vehicles to assist in rear-vision, but 

what can be done to enhance and analyse 

power constraints that limit the ability to 

a voltage higher than is needed to achieve 

this is only the start of what video 

the images picked up by typical vehicle 

compensate this effect by brightening the 

the required static grey-scale change. 

systems may one day do for drivers. 

cameras. Areas being looked at not only 

backlight, many LCD manufacturers simply 

Advanced cameras will be able to punch 

include the noise reduction and image 

broaden the transmission bandwidth of 

through darkness, rain and fog, giving 

stabilization algorithms needed to clean 

the colour filters to let more light 

drivers a much clearer vision of what is 

up video images, but also ways of 

through. Although this improves the 

ahead of and behind them. Ultimately, they 

recognizing specific image features such as 

brightness of the display, it also limits the 

may be able to relieve the driver of much 

road boundaries, road signs and 

display’s colour gamut (the range of 

of the responsibility for keeping the car 

pedestrians. 

colours that it can faithfully reproduce). 

on the road. 


18 

What scientists at Philips Research have 

developed is a means of converting 

colours that lie outside a display’s colour 

gamut into corresponding colours that lie 

within it. At the same time corrections for 

the display’s white-point and hue 

deviations are made, with the result that 

the user perceives an image with more 

vivid and realistic colours. Philips calls this 

combined process ‘Adaptive Colour 

Gamut Mapping’ and it is already 

marketing the relevant algorithms under 

its LifePix TM product name. 

Medical 

Video signal processing has become a key 

technology within medical imaging, 

allowing clinicians to view real-time 

images of a beating heart or the 

movements of a baby in the womb. In 

these applications, prior knowledge of the 

characteristics of what is being imaged 

and the method used to image it, enable 

video-processing algorithms to be highly 

tuned in order to give clinicians the best 

possible pictures.To date, this work has 

been done by separate groups that work 

closely with Philips Medical Systems, but 

there is increasing synergy between this 

and the work being done for consumer 

applications. Digital Natural Motion and 

3D display technology, both developed for 

consumer applications, could be used to 

give clinicians even better pictures of 

dynamic organs such as the heart.Work 

on recognizing the boundaries of objects 

within an image will help to focus a 

clinician’s attention onto potential tumors 

or other abnormalities. 

• Digital Natural Motion TM 

• Motion-compensated 

inverse filtering 

• Dynamic backlighting 

• 3D TV and computer gaming 

• Adaptive color gamut 

mapping (LifePix TM ) 

• Pixel overdrive 

• Mobile Natural Motion TM 

• Trimension TM 


19

Philips shows 

display innovations 

at SID 

At the international symposium and 

exhibition of the Society for Information 

Display (SID), from 23 to 28 May in 

NEWS 

Dr Helen Routh, 

Research Department 

Head in Healthcare 

Systems and 

Information 

Technology, Philips 

Philips adds a new 

dimension to computer 

gaming, video entertainment 

and professional imaging 

a pplications 

Scientists at Philips have developed an innovative method of 

PUBLISHED ARTICLES 

Dago de Leeuw, Research Fellow of Philips Research, was a 

co-author of a paper entitled ‘Spatially correlated charge 

transport in organic thin-film transistors’, which was published in 

the March 19, 2004 issue of Physical Review Letters.Written 

together with authors from the Consiglio Nazionale delle 

Ricerche in Bologna, Italy, the paper provides a solution to a 

long-standing problem in organic accumulation field-effect 

Seattle, Philips showcased its latest 

Research USA, has been appointed a 

creating 3D images that brings a whole new level of 

transistors: the question how thick the accumulation layer is and 

advancements in display technologies. 

Fellow of the American Institute of 

excitement and realism to computer gaming, video 

how the charge transport depends on the device’s 

With 6500 visitors of scientific, business 

Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM). AIUM 

entertainment and professional imaging applications. 

microstructure. 

or media background, SID is by far the 

largest and most influential annual display 

fellow membership is a way to 

recognize individuals who have 

Using advanced image analysis techniques, they have 

PUBLISHED BOOK 

event worldwide. During the symposium, 

contributed in a most distinguished 

succeeded in creating 3D video from standard 2D video 

Reinder Coehoorn, also a Research Fellow of Philips 

20 papers were presented and several 

fashion to the field of ultrasound. 

material.This 2D-to-3D conversion, which involves 

Research, is the author of the first chapter of a new volume of 

sessions were chaired by scientists from 

Routh's contributions to the 

identifying the individual solid bodies that make up a 

the prominent book series ‘Magnetic Materials’ published by 

Philips. Delivering a primary keynote 

advancement of the field of ultrasound 

picture, modelling them in 3D and then rendering the 

Elsevier. In the invited contribution almost 200 pages, entitled 

address, Johan van de Ven, Chief 

in medicine and her efforts on behalf 

model with picture detail from the original image, is 

‘Giant Magnetoresistance and Magnetic Interactions in Exchange- 

Technology Officer of Philips Mobile 

of the AIUM were recognized in the 

performed in real-time and should be well within the 

biased Spin-valves’, Reinder Coehoorn gives an unprecedented 

Display Systems, illustrated how different 

citation. 

processing capabilities of relatively low-cost silicon chips 

comprehensive overview of the physics and materials aspects of 

human environments can evolve and 

subsequently impact today’s display 

technologies. 

Although primarily product-oriented, the 

New, m ulti-purpose cleanroom 

facilities at the High Tech Campus 

Eindhoven 

Philips has extended its Microsystems Plaza (MiPlaza) facility for innovation in 

that can be built into consumer devices. Philips’ 2D-to-3D 

conversion technology overcomes the biggest obstacle to 

the introduction of 3D video entertainment, by avoiding the 

need for content providers to create 3D material and 

deliver it to the user. 

a new class of layered magnetic nanomaterials.These materials 

show the giant magnetoresistance effect, providing the basis of 

extremely sensitive sensors for magnetic fields.These sensors 

are currently applied in readers for hard-disk drives, but could 

also be of interest for new applications. Philips Research is 

Philips booth at the exhibition contained 

several technology demonstrations 

materials, devices, and microsystems in Eindhoven with world-class cleanroom, 

laboratory, and materials-analysis services. 

Development of video processing algorithms for real-time conversion of 

2D video into 3D content 

investigating the use of magnetic biosensors based on the effect. 

For more information on the book, see 

indicating Philips’ vision of how new and 

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/50 

highly integrated display technologies 

Whereas cleanrooms are typically dedicated to a single process technology such as 

0754/description#description 

provide leading-edge solutions that truly 

enhance the end-user experience.This 

included the first public demonstration of 

silicon microelectronics, this cleanroom is a multi-purpose, multi-technology facility. 

It occupies an area of 2650 m 2 , making it one of the largest cleanrooms of its kind 

in the world. It also offers a broad range of process equipment capable of handling 

Holidays in June event 

Holidays in June took place from 8 to 10 June in New York.The 

a 13-inch PolyLED (Polymer Light-Emitting 

substrates of any shape, in sizes up to 200 mm. 

objectives of this annual product preview show for media and 

Diode) TV prototype, based on polymer 

specially invited customers are to create a high-end futuristic 

OLED (Organic LED) technology, 

Philips will use the MiPlaza cleanroom for research on topics such as materials and 

environment that showcases innovation and forward thinking across 

illustrating the significant potential of 

devices for molecular medicine, solid-state lighting, system-in-package solutions for 

all of Philips’ product lines, present Philips as the brand of choice 

OLED display technology for TV 

healthcare, lifestyle and technology applications, sensors and actuators and new 

Philips also developed a 3D display technology that requires 

for trendy gift-givers, and showcase the breadth and depth of Philips 

applications (see also the article on page 

types of displays. Furthermore, as a further step in fostering Open Innovation, the 

no special glasses and provides a wide viewing angle, 

and its technology. 


20 

10). 

Other technology demonstrations were 

on video-processing algorithms to 

improve the picture quality of mobile 

displays (see also page 16), 3D displays 

and real-time 3D content generation, 

paintable LCD technology (an innovative 

technology to produce flexible LCDs on a 

single substrate) and in-cell technologies 

for LCDs.The Polymer Vision team of the 

Philips Technology Incubator showcased 

their latest samples of rollable displays 

employing ultra-thin, polymer electronics 

active-matrix backplanes. 

new cleanroom facilities are offered to third-party researchers and engineers active 

in the field of materials, devices and microsystems. First external users start-up 

companies such as micro-filtration specialist FluXXion and the Dutch Foundation 

for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). 

For more information, see www.research.philips.com 

allowing multiple viewers to enjoy the 3D experience at the 

same time.The technology is based on Philips’ patented 

lenticular-lens technology on a liquid-crystal display.The 

lenses focus the light from different pixels in well-defined 

directions, causing the two eyes of the viewer to see 

different pictures.With the appropriate pixel information, 

this gives a natural 3D impression.The system provides nine 

separate stereoscopic views, each taken from a slightly 

different angle to create a remarkably lifelike 3D image over 

a broad range of viewing angles. 

In addition to the 2D-to-3D video conversion, real-time 

content rendering software was also developed for other 

applications such as gaming, mobile and automotive 

applications. 

Several demonstrations from Philips Research were given in the 

‘Gifts for the Future’ area. One was about content augmentation, 

which allows content providers to insert additional information, 

tailored to user preferences, after production, giving users an 

enriched TV experience with fast access to information. Another 

demonstration, set up together with Philips Semiconductors, 

exhibited the technology and application of Near-Field 

Communication (NFC). NFC, a combined standardization effort of 

Philips, Nokia and Sony, enables the user to exchange all kinds of 

information in a secure way, simply by bringing two devices close 

together. Interaction over a few centimetres greatly simplifies the 

issue of identification. Also Philips’ technology for 3D displays and 

content generation was shown (see description elsewhere on this 

page). 21 

Philips Research Password 20 • July 2004

The concept of Open Innovation has changed the way many organizations manage their research and 

development programmes. By working together and sharing ideas, organizations can bridge gaps in their own 

projects, thus enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness and speed of research and product development. 

Philips Research has embraced this new business model through a range of initiatives, from participating in 

consortia to direct one-to-one collaborations with like-minded innovative organizations and end-user customers. 

The following article looks at four Open Innovation case studies from the Philips Research Display Systems 

programme, and examines how the strategy works in practice. 

Open 

Innovation 

from theory to practice 

Merck innovation 

through close 

cooperation 

The working relationship between Philips 

Research and the chemical concern Merck 

dates back to the pioneering days of LCD 

technology. Developments in LCDs rely 

heavily on material science research, and 

cooperation with Merck allows Philips to 

evaluate and develop new materials and 

concepts. In one example, Philips built up 

a strong patent position in the application 

Electronic-paper 

displays from concept 

to market 

each organization’s value chain. E Ink 

supplies electronic ink to its 

manufacturing partner Toppan Printing, 

which in turn processes the ink into a thin 

frontplane laminate film. Philips integrated 

pigment particles that allow a variety of 

surfaces to become a display when the ink 

is printed on a sheet of film.When 

integrated with the backplane and driving 

electronics, the result is a reflective 

of liquid-crystal polymer networks for 

optical films and layers. Merck then 

acquired licences to further develop these 

optical films to improve the brightness 

and viewing angle of LCDs. 

In April this year, the world's first 

this frontplane laminate with an active- 

display that is six times brighter than 

consumer application of an electronic- 

matrix backplane and added the driving 

normal LCDs and can be viewed at 

Current topics of cooperation include 

paper display module was launched in 

electronics. Finally, Philips worked with 

virtually any angle - just like paper. And 

materials for liquid-crystal mixtures and 

Sony's new E-book reader, LIBRIé.The 

Sony to co-develop and customize the 

because the display only uses power when 

alignment layers with improved lifetime 

commercialization of this revolutionary 

product. 

the image changes, the module consumes 

for projection LCDs, faster liquid-crystal 

display technology resulted from a 

only a fraction of the power required by 

materials to improve video performance, 

collaboration between Philips, E Ink, 

Collaboration between E Ink and Philips in 

other ‘low power’ displays. 

and an LCD ‘in-cell retarder’ technology. 

Toppan Printing and Sony. 

developing the electronic paper display 

In this last example, the external foil 

started in 2001. E Ink’s electronic ink 

retarder used in transflective LCDs is 

The strength in this collaboration lies in 

consists of electrically charged 

replaced with an ‘in-cell retarder’ coating 

the effective linkages across activities in 

microcapsules filled with black and white 

inside the liquid-crystal cell.This 

overcomes the problem of conventional 

LCDs, where the retarder cannot be 

FlexiDis and Flexible 

Displays Center 

innovation through 

consortia 

Each stakeholder in the consortium then 

gains from other members’ strengths, 

enabling everyone to share in the 

rewards. 

To this end, the FlexiDis (Flexible 

Philips is also considering participation in 

the Flexible Displays Center (FDC) in the 

US, where they will have access to worldclass 

facilities in and around Arizona State 

University. FDC’s activities include 

research into the feasibility of future 

independently oriented for both 

transmission and reflection modes, which 

results in a trade-off between, for 

example, contrast and brightness, or 

between contrast and viewing angle.With 

the ‘in-cell retarder’ technology, optical 

Flexible displays is an area with a vast 

Displays) consortium was formed to work 

flexible-display technologies. 

properties can be varied (‘patterned’) 


22 

potential and one that is rooted in Philips’ 

strategy with several technology 

developments, including the Polymer 

Vision activity in the Technology 

Incubator. Philips has many years’ 

experience in this field including research 

into E-ink, PolyLED, flexible LCDs, and 

driving electronics. However, there are 

also many areas where gaps exist, 

including the development of the required 

industrial equipment. One way to 

overcome this is by pulling the resources 

of other like-minded organizations 

together in a well-structured consortium. 

on the development of materials and 

process technologies, with a connection 

to industrial equipment and handling, for 

flexible active-matrix displays.The 

programme is presently under 

consideration for partial funding by the 

European Commission FlexiDis comprises 

twenty organisations with Philips Research 

Eindhoven being the coordinator and one 

of its main strategic drivers. 

The consortium’s goals are to further the 

research into rollable electrophoretic 

displays and full-colour, ultra-thin OLED 

video displays. 


FlexiDis (Europe) 

Dr Eliav Haskal 

email: eliav.haskal@philips.com 

Flexible Displays Center (US) 

Dr Michael Pashley 

email: michael.pashley@philips.com 

across each pixel, allowing the retarder to 

be optimized for both transmissive and 

reflective modes.This not only makes the 

displays thinner, it also results in brighter 

and more contrast-rich displays that 

consume less power than conventional 

LCDs. 


Dr Dick Broer 

email: dick.broer@philips.com 

Dr Bas Zeper 

email: bas.zeper@philips.com 


23

What’s new? 

Innovative technology from Philips Research enables exciting new Philips products and services to be introduced. 

LifePix TM Picture 

In the migration of great TV pictures to new points of use & displays large and small 

100 Hz TV – Digital Natural Motion TM – and Pixel Plus TM are all Philips inventions that have 

smoothed the picture pathway onwards, upwards and outwards.This track record in 

video-processing is now being used to improve image quality in mobile displays. 

From mobile phones to PDAs 

LifePix TM :a trademark for advanced video processing algorithms to enhance the 

performance of mobile LCD and OLED displays 

The first application: advanced colour gamut mapping 

• The most complete colour-enhancing solution on the market for optimal brightness 

and colour 

• Cuts out colour/brightness trade-off by identifying the optimum colour range of 

primary colours and reprocessing the info to produce more realistic colours, while 

correcting the display’s white-point 

• Vividly enhanced colour reproduction without compromises on other areas of 

screen performance 

Given the increasing demand for more content on mobile displays, LifePix TM offers 

technology partners improved front-of-screen performance without altering the 

display panel 

LifePix TM can be applied in software for still pictures or in the display driver, display module 

or in future generations of image processors of mobile phones and handhelds 

The LifePix TM colour-mapping algorithm is available now to manufacturers and ready for use 

see also: www.semiconductors.philips.com/news/content/file_1059.html

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