For more information about Rainbow Displays, phone 607 754 5670, ext. 32, or e-mail info@rainbowdisplays.com. The company's Web site is www.rainbowdisplays.com. For more information about Philips Flat Display Systems, contact Karen Hopkins, 408 570
Philips Flat Display Systems Forms Alliance With Rainbow Displays To Develop 36-Inch And Larger Flat Panel Displays
Philips Flat Display Systems (FDS), one of the world's largest suppliers of active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs) and a business group of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, have announced that the company has entered into a joint development agreement with Rainbow Displays, Inc. (RDI), of Endicott, New York, to produce large AMLCDs for a variety of leading-edge consumer and business applications - utilizing an innovative design process known as tiling. Philips will take a minority equity stake in RDI. Tiling, a breakthrough and enabling display technology, combines several smaller-sized displays to produce a single, large flat display without any visible seams. Consumer adoption of HDTV and digital TV, along with the increased use of displays in public areas (airport terminals, stock exchanges and entertainment) are fueling the demand for larger-scale flat panel displays (FPDs). In fact, market researchers estimate that the large display arena is on the brink of becoming a mainstream market within the next several years. Specifically, the large-scale FPD market is expected to grow from $250 million in 1999 to $5 billion by the year 2005. However, the large-scale FPD market poses several challenges for display manufacturers, including cost control, resolution, brightness and overall visual quality. Emerging technologies, such as tiling, are designed to address these manufacturing challenges. Utilizing proprietary optical and illumination treatments, tiling renders the seams surrounding each of the individual smaller displays invisible to the naked eye. Most importantly, large tiled displays have the potential to offer superior performance and resolution capabilities, along with a price point comparable to today's smaller-sized AMLCDs. RDI is the industry's first tiling company to produce a high-quality, 38.6-inch diagonal display prototype that features four 19.3-inch (2x2 matrix) panels with no visible seams - a significant technical achievement that led in part to Philips FDS' investment. According to Matt Medeiros, Philips FDS' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), this development agreement signals the company's aggressive commitment to further entrench its leadership position in the flat display arena. ""Philips FDS continues to invest in a wide variety of exciting and innovative display technologies that deliver best-of-class display performance and greater value for our customers. The large display market is one such area, which also affords tremendous growth opportunity for Philips FDS. ""After extensive research in this particular arena, we chose RDI based on their proven ability to cost-effectively create performance-packed, large-scale tiled displays - both seamlessly and efficiently."" As part of its initial investment, Philips FDS will share key technical information and proprietary product roadmaps to cost-effectively produce 36-inch and larger AMLCD panels that deliver best-of-breed display performance. RDI, in turn, will provide critical tile design, optical systems, electronics and software data, as well as manage the joint development efforts. Commenting on the partnership, Kailash Joshi, RDI President and CEO, noted, ""It has taken our highly talented team considerable innovation, time and effort to achieve what we believe to be a true breakthrough technology of the future. After reaching the prototype stage, we set out to find a strategic partner to work with - Philips FDS was at the top of our list. ""We believe our alliance with such a leading display manufacturer as Philips FDS will allow us to pool our critical resources toward making tiled displays a strong contender in the rapidly growing large-scale FPD market."" Philips Flat Display Systems (FDS) manufactures and markets state-of-the-art flat panel displays including passive and active matrix LCD and Polymer LED products. A full line of display panels up to 23 inches are available for desktop monitor, industrial, automotive, telecommunications, hand-held and medical system applications. Through its joint ventures - LG.Philips LCD and Hosiden and Philips Displays (HAPD) - Philips FDS holds the world's largest AMLCD manufacturing capacity to date. Philips FDS is part of Philips Components, a division of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. Philips FDS is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and maintains facilities throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. About Rainbow Displays Rainbow Displays, Inc. (RDI), headquartered in Endicott, New York, is a privately held flat panel display company. RDI, which began operations in 1996, was founded by a group of former IBM executives and Cornell University professors. Among the company's principals are the three senior executives, and Professor Peter Krusius and Professor Che-Yu Li of Cornell University. The company's intellectual property includes 26 filed patents, of which several have been granted. RDI has formed a strategic alliance with Philips Flat Display Systems to develop large-scale FPDs. The company's mission is to become a key supplier of large flat panel displays for use in business and consumer markets.
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