Taica Corp developed a resin material that is manufactured based on a soft gel material made mainly from silicone and helps improve the luminance and contrast ratio of liquid crystal displays.
The company aims to release the product by the end of 2009.
Taica has already commercialized the gel material for use in heat dissipation and protection of electronic parts from electromagnetic waves. This time, the company developed a material suitable for use in displays by improving the additives added to the gel material.
The main features of the new material are as follows. It has (1) a high transmittance of 99% or higher in the visible light range (380-780nm), (2) a refraction index equivalent to that of acrylic material and (3) excellent shock absorbing characteristics, stress relaxation properties, durability and a high resistance to light.
The LCD luminance will be improved by about 10% when the new material is used, for example, for the air gap between the front acrylic plate and the polarizer. By replacing the air gap with the material, which has a refraction index equivalent to that of acrylic material, reflection and scattering of light on the interface can be reduced, thereby enhancing the luminance, according to the company.
The new material also contributes to the improvement of contrast ratio. When it is used between the backlight source, such as LEDs, and the acrylic light guide plate, etc, it will improve the light utilization efficiency so that the LCD luminance will be increased by about 15%, Taica said.
Moreover, when the material is attached to the display surface, it helps improve the viewing angle and the shock resistance while reducing the parallax, which poses a problem when a touch panel is mounted on the display.
Meanwhile, Taica exhibited the material at an exhibition of displays currently taking place in Tokyo. The company laid the gel material (with a thickness of 2cm), which is the base material of the new resin, on the floor in its booth and demonstrated that a raw egg dropped from several meters above the floor does not break on the material. The demonstration attracted the visitors' attention.
"A raw egg dropped from the sixth floor (18m above ground) will end up standing still on the material without breaking," the company said regarding the shock absorbing characteristics of the gel material.
The effect achieved using the new material between the front acrylic plate and the polarizer (when the new material is used on the right-hand side of the screen)
The thickness of the black portion in the center of the screen corresponds to the distance between the front acrylic plate and the polarizer. The air gap is provided on the left half side, while the new material is used on the right half.
