Sharp to invest two bln dlrs to boost LCD panel output
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Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. said it will invest two billion dollars to increase output of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for digital TVs, mobile phones and game consoles.
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Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp  Corp.  said on Tuesday it has started the commercial  production of blue laser diodes, taking aim at a market with  strong growth potential.
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(InfoWorld) - BenQÂ plans to offer a 65-inch LCD TV in the second half of this year as it moves to expand the size of its LCD TV products, a manager in its digital media group said Friday. The company is also researching the possibility of using LED (light emitting diode) backlights in some desktop LCDs (liquid crystal displays), including 19-inch and 21-inch sizes. The company currently has noÂ laptop PCs equipped with LED backlightsÂ due to concerns that the displays are too easy to break, said Greg Lin, a manager at BenQ's digital media group, in Taipei. BenQ plans to offer a range of new LCD TV products this year, including a new 37-inch model that supports full high definition viewing, due out in April, and a 46-inch model to be launched in July or August. "Our focus is on the middle to high end LCD TV, and we want to increase our offering of larger and larger sizes," said Lin. The new LCD TVs will be sold in Taiwan, China, and the Middle East initially, and some will make it to Europe by the second half of this year, he said. The LCD panel used in the TV makes the biggest difference in picture quality, and it's down to the supplier to improve their technology in order to meet user demands for clear images and vivid colors, he said. Around 80 percent of BenQ's LCD panels come from AU Optronics, he said. LED backlights, which greatly enhance color saturation in LCD TVs but cost a lot more than older technologies, could be used in BenQ LCD TVs sometime in 2008, he said. Currently, LED backlights for larger displays go into high end LCD TVs. AU has said it ships some LCD TV panels equipped with LED backlights to customers in Japan that are willing to pay a premium for the picture quality. A backlight is a light behind the LCD display, on a laptop, monitor or TV, used to illuminate the screen. Most flat displays currently rely on cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights because the technology is less expensive than LEDs. The LED backlights can be two to three times more expensive than CCFLs, an executive at AU, the world's third largest LCD (liquid crystal display) screen maker, said in an interview last year. LED makers have been driving down costs by putting LEDs into more gadgets. The more they increase production, the lower their per-LED cost. LEDs are now used in auto lights and the small displays on DVD players and MP3 digital music devices. Some companies, including Asustek Computer, are starting to announce new laptop PCs with LED backlights in their screens. As costs come down, LEDs will be used in larger and larger screens. Â
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Japanese chip equipment and digital  camera maker Nikon Corp.  said on Thursday it has  invested about 2.3 billion yen ($19 million) to start  production of glass substrates for liquid crystal display  photomasks.
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Japan's Tokyo Electron Ltd , the world's No. 2 maker of semiconductor equipment, said on Monday it was planning an alliance with consumer electronics and panel maker Sharp Corp  in the solar cell market.
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High-level executives from Japan's Sharp  Corp. (6753.T) traveled to South Korea last week to visit  LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. (034220.KS), as Philips  seeks  a buyer for its 32.9 percent stake in the Korean LCD firm,  Taiwan media reported on Friday.
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Samsung Electronics Co. announced Monday that it was beginning full-scale investment to build a second production line for seventh-generation liquid crystal displays (LCDs) at its complex in Tangjeong, South Chungcheong Province from early next year.
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Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. and Japanese camera maker Canon Inc. are investing 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion US) to set up a joint venture near Tokyo to make next-generation flat display panels for TVs.
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&quot;We have decided to increase LCD production capacity to meet the growing demand for large-size TV and computer monitors,&quot; says Samsung in a statement to the stock exchange.
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Samsung Electronics said its board of directors has approved a plan to invest US$274 million in a second seventh-generation LCD production line at its Asian plant.
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Toshiba said it will buy large liquid crystal displays from Sharp as part of an alliance likely to help spark a realignment of the flat-panel TV industry.
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LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. , the world's second-biggest maker of large liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, said on Sunday it would increase the capacity of its biggest TV panel production line by 22 percent to meet growing demand for large LCD televisions.
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Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. plans to invest 200 billion yen (1.7 billion dollars) in a new plant in Japan to produce large flat screens for televisions, a newspaper reported on Friday.
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Hitachi, Toshiba and Matsushita will pour $1 billion into manufacturing large LCDs for flat-screen TVs.
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A shortage of large panels is boosting margins for Samsung Semiconductor, the largest maker of L.C.D. displays.
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Samsung is going to increase its 7th generation LCD production line and will pay with its own cash reserves. Samsung says that this will help them to meet demand for large size TVs and computer monitors.
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Japan's Sharp Corp. said on Monday it  will buy Fujitsu Ltd.'s liquid crystal display (LCD) business,  the latest consolidation in the fast-growing but highly  competitive market for thin displays.