IHS – Mobile driving FPD
September 2015 – At the IHS FDP conference the overview was on the global direction in Flat Panel Displays (FPD). In the CE space the drives have been TVs on the large screen side, and mobile devices on the smaller screen side. The net result of all of the details of various global drivers was that the display industry is continuing to grow at about the same pace as the GDP growth of ~3%.
The mobile devices are driving the fastest growth of displays. The phone marketplace (nominally defined as sub 7” displays) is still in high growth, while the table market (7”-12”) are in a stall. The shift to Windows 10, and convertible / muti-function laptops, convertibles & ultrabooks has driven and increase in the touch screen marketplace for the 13”-32” displays. The apps are helping to turn those devices into both content creation tools rather than just content consumption products. As a result, the lower price content consumption side is starting to be dominated by white box products running Android and modified Android OS. The growth of touch screens has also created a rise in the number of RTOS applications that use displays as the GUI for industrial devices.
For the content consumption side, there are a couple of tradeoffs: aspect ratio, color depth, and resolution. While most products are discussing the increases in pixel density (PPI), the addressable resolution is mostly driven by power constraints. Playback of 4K video takes a lot more power and heat than FHD and SD video. The SD form factor of 4:3 for the screen is still maintained by Apple in the iPad products. The HD, FHD, and 4K form factors are the primary aspect ratio of choice for Android and Windows tablets and phones which are running a 16:9 aspect ratio. New displays are heading toward a 21:9 cinematic aspect ratio. At this time most of the displays are still showing 8 bit color, but soon will be migrating toward HDR at 10-12 bit color. A new feature for the final displays is the need to have integrated high performance audio.
ON the professional side was the growth of the Digital Signage market. These are not consumer displays, rather they are higher brightness and designed for 24/7 operation. As a result they are using a different set up components and design. The design is optimized for heat dissipation. The designs have to accommodate a higher refresh rates along with smaller bezels.
