Mobile display technologies: Past developments, present technologies, and future opportunities

It has been thirty years since the first active matrix (AM) flat panel display (FPD) was industrialized for portable televisions (TVs) in 1984. The AM FPD has become a dominant electronic display technology widely used from mobile displays to large TVs. The development of AM FPDs for mobile displays has significantly changed our lives by enabling new applications, such as notebook personal computers (PCs), smartphones and tablet PCs. In the future, the role of mobile displays will become even more important, since mobile displays are the live interface for the world of mobile communications in the era of ubiquitous networks. Various developments are being conducted to improve visual performance, reduce power consumption and add new functionality. At the same time, innovative display concepts and novel manufacturing technologies are being investigated to create new values. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics