LCDs

Ruling means AT&T can sue LCD makers over alleged price-fixing

AT&T's claims in a lawsuit over price-fixing LCD displays have been partially reinstated by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Yesterday, AT&T won the right to have its claims reinstated based on Californian law and the purchase of panels made outside of the state, which reverses a previous, lower-court judgement that dismissed AT&T's allegations. The U.S. phone carrier is now able to sue companies including Taiwanese AU Optronics Corporation and South Korean firm Samsung Display Co., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

In July, Toshiba, LG Display … Read more

Samsung, LG fined $35 million over alleged price fixing

Samsung and LG Display have been fined by the Chinese government over charges that they fixed the prices of LCD panels.

China's National Development and Reform Commission fined Samsung $16.2 million and LG $18.6 million, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

Also included in the fines for price fixing were four Taiwanese firms: Chi Mei Optoelectronics, AU Optronics, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., and HannStar Display. The total fine levied against all six companies reached $56 million.

The display makers were accused of fixing prices on LCD panels that they sold to Chinese TV makers from 2001 to … Read more

Buy laptop, TV, monitor a while back? You may be owed money

If you bought a laptop, computer monitor, or television with a flat-panel LCD display between 1999 and 2006, and you live in one of the affected states, you could be eligible for a damages payment under a half-billion-dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving price-fixing.

The California attorney general's office issued a statement this week urging residents of the state to visit a new class-action Web site--lcdclass.com--for information on how to file a claim.

In October 2010, California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against 10 companies, including Samsung, Hitachi, and Sharp, that alleged the companies &… Read more

Mosaic LCD tiles: When wall paintings aren't enough

For the past few months, I've been trying to figure out how to rearrange my old wall art to make it look fresh again, but nothing's working at the moment. These mosaic LCD tiles would be the perfect solution--you know, if I were rich.

The Planar Mosaic LCD Tiles come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be arranged in different patterns, while proprietary software allows you to program whatever video or image you want displayed across all screens.

Customers can choose from the three models. The first is the Planar Salvador, which is a square LCD that measures 15.6 inches on each side and ideal for use over larger surface areas. Meanwhile, the Planar Pablo has a rectangular shape and measures 40 inches wide, or you can go slightly bigger with the 48-inch wide Planar Vincent.

Planar designed the mounting hardware so that the displays can hang in any position and at various angles, including "concave and convex arrays."… Read more

LCD makers fined $388 million for alleged price fixing

Sharp, Samsung, and a handful of other LCD makers have settled a price-fixing case that has set them back nearly $400 million.

According to Bloomberg, which obtained court papers filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, Sharp and Samsung paid $105 million and $82.7 million, respectively, for their alleged involvement in driving up prices for LCDs sold between 1999 and 2006. Chimei Innolux paid $78 million as part of the class action lawsuit's settlement.

The eight companies cited in the lawsuit paid a total of $388 million, Bloomberg … Read more

Samsung transparent LCD panels: We see through them

The shopping experience is getting more "Minority Report"-ish by the day, what with innovations like digital billboards that know your age and gender and serve up ads accordingly.

Now Samsung is looking to buy into the future-of-retail space with a transparent LCD panel that can be used to dramatically enhance kiosks, store windows, and billboards with text and images that do fancy tricks like rotate and fade in and out rather than just sit there. Think bus shelters with see-through walls displaying scrolling schedules and clothing shop windows that feature models sashaying down the catwalk.

Yesterday in San Francisco, the company showed CNET a 22-inch transparent LCD panel built into a display case housing a Samsung Galaxy Tab. That size panel has already gone into production, with a 46-incher on the way.

During the demo, the 7-inch Tab sat behind a window-like facade programmed to display text and images spotlighting some of the product's specs and social-networking capabilities. Bill Beaton, senior manager of LCD marketing for Samsung, even did a little hand dance behind the rotating imagery to demonstrate the panel's high transparency rate. … Read more

LCD TV shipments up, but growth slowing

LCD televisions are the most-desired sets around the globe, but their sales growth is starting to slow, according to a report today from research firm DisplaySearch.

During the first quarter of 2011, over 44.2 million LCD televisions were shipped worldwide, earning the technology 80.1 percent ownership of the overall TV market. Though year-over-year growth was up by 9 percent, DisplaySearch said that rate was "the weakest year over year growth ever for LCD TV, and the only quarter with single-digit growth." By comparison, in the first quarter of 2010, LCD shipments were up 50 percent compared … Read more

HTC to switch to Super LCDs on some smartphones

This summer has seen no shortage of hot smartphone releases, including the HTC Evo 4G and Motorola Droid X. However, it's seen its fair share of smartphone shortages.

Part of the shortage problem is that the device manufacturers aren't able to get enough of the right components to make their handsets. HTC, in particular, has had a hard time getting enough AMOLED displays from Samsung; however, rather than wait, HTC is taking matters into its own hands and will begin using Super LCDs (SLCD) to a number of its smartphones, the company announced on Monday.

"HTC is … Read more

U.S. trade agency eyes Samsung-Sharp spat

A U.S. trade court has agreed to look into Samsung's claims that Japanese rival Sharp had infringed its patents relating to LCD (liquid crystal display) technology.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said in a statement on its Web site this week that it has "voted to institute an investigation" into Samsung's complaint of patent infringement by Sharp, filed Dec. 1.

The Korean company's allegations, according to the statement, are made against Sharp Corp. of Japan and two of its American subsidiaries.

Nokia sues Samsung, LG over LCD prices

Nokia has sued Samsung, LG Displays, and other makers of liquid crystal displays, accusing them of conspiring to inflate prices for displays, a suit that comes a month after AT&T made the same allegations against LCD manufacturers, according to a Bloomberg report.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 25 in San Francisco, is based on federal and state antitrust claims. Nokia is seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction that would bring a halt to the alleged collusion.

Both the AT&T and Nokia suits cite an investigation of display panel price-fixing by the U.S. Justice Department. … Read more