Blog – DisplayLCM

Outdoor LCD and Semi-Outdoor LCD Screens for Digital Signage

Outdoor and Semi-outdoor Application:

Typically outdoor and semi-outdoor application will need very high luminance LCD, mininum more than 1000 nits to 3000 nits. Most commercial LCD has luminance at 400 nits, usually for indoor usage. To increase the luminance (or brightness) is where we specialize in. Care are being taken in material selection and thermal design for a reliable and uniform brightness over time plus efficient heat dissipation on the LED backlight.

Next, thermal management of an outdoor and semi-outdoor digital signage unit utilizing a transmissive LCD panel is something that must be handled carefully. This is such that the heat in the unit does not exceed the working temperature of the liquid crystal in the LCD.

Special material and secondary processes are also necessary for outdoor and semi-outdoor application to mitigate the UV ray of the sunlight that is detrimental to commercial LCD panel. Last but not least, it will need an enclosure that house the LCD and its electronics against moisture.

This is not a LCD digital signage. But is a very good candidate for using LCD screen that is designed for outdoor environment. Credit: Genting Premium Outlet

Reflective LCD for Outdoor Digital Signage

Present Mainstream Solution for Outdoor LCD Digital Signage:

The typical solution for LCDs that are being utilized in bright outdoor environment comes equipped with :

1. Multiple Fans internally to act as exhaust for internal temperature regulation

2. High power consumption in the region of 500W for a 43″ LCD, primarily due to attaining high luminousity

3. Thick structure of around 130 to 250mm

With the above, they bring about high energy usage and irritating noise from the fan that is c00ling the internal temperature. With that, most probably more frequent maintenance are needed for the components. Besides, with a thick structure, due to fan and ventilation, it is aesthetically unappealing.

This LCD digital signage screen is located under semi-outdoor condition. Thickness of the signage is 15cm.

New Solution for Outdoor LCD Digital Signage:

By using a Reflective type of LCD panel, the technology allows it to reflect ambient light to project the color of the filters without the aid of a LED backlight as being practiced currently in most of the transmissive LCD panel in the market today.

As such, Reflective LCD do not need any LED backlighting to remain legible in bright environment, therefore bring about great energy saving. Without LED, that also means heat generation are greatly reduce thus making the fan redundant. And without the fan and the LED backlighting, the digital signage LCD structure can be reduced to half the current thickness, making it more sleek looking and lighter in weight for ease of installation.

Current available sizes are 32″ and 43″ in Full HD. Please write to jack@displaylcm.com to inquire more.

LCD Touch Panel Supplier Outside China

A little bit of history on LCD in the region of Malaysia where we are based in. Historically, LCD were successfully produced in mass quantity in Japan more than 30 years ago. In the early 1990s, LCD began production in Singapore and Malaysia. Not long after that, Taiwan and then China began to get into LCD production until today. Incidentally, I was part of the pioneer batch of LCD people in this region. I started my training in Singapore in 1995. Since then, I have worked in HongKong and China before I returned to Malaysia to continue my work in the LCD industry. I founded DisplayLCM and become a LCD supplier outside of China in South Asia region to serve worldwide customers that source for LCD (and touch panel).

Design Team and Factory in Malaysia and Taiwan

DisplayLCM proposition is that we have a LCM factory, in Taiwan and in Malaysia, supporting our customers. Our offering in terms of pricing, project management, designing capabilities are competitive. In this regard, it is further proven that many clients of our factory in Malaysia are multinational corporations.

The facilities include TFT Color backend, Monochrome STN/TN line (Malaysia factory), Full turn-key COG, FOG equipment, and Touch Panel manufacturing capabilities. For quality assurance, we have assorted temperature chambers, ovens, programmable measuring equipment, for instance. Hence, we can ensure reliable and high quality products are churned out from the factory.

Outside China: Our Proposition with our Malaysia and Taiwan factories

Outside of China LCD Manufacturer

We can definitely play the role for customers that would like to geographically diversify their LCD supplier outside of China. In doing that, we are competitive in price and reliable in quality. We started the business in being competitive globally, including against China. Therefore, even if you are looking for LCD as the first source, with humility, we are fully capable in developing the project with you working from the concept level to mass production.

Specifying LCD Features for Quotation and Design

Getting a correct LCD for your needs, in terms of cost or performance, depend heavily on specifying your display requirement correctly. Many times, I have customers that starts with a very simple requirements and it took quite a few discussions and quotation iterations to finally settle on a final requirement and price. My experience often times requires me to keep track of every quotation iteration and its justification such that when a $5 display suddenly become $8, it can be explained clearly.

Some sourcing personnel and engineer, may not have extensive experience in using LCD, and therefore half the time, they are not sure if the quotation or proposal design that they have gotten back would suit their needs. I thought if they have the information as provided below, they should get a good response from the manufacturers.

Following list are the basic LCD features that you should specify in your color LCD requirements. If care is given to specifying LCD features in your quotation request to the manufacturers, the returned quotation and your sample will be relatively accurate and can be used as a standard for comparison.

Specification for Color LCD

Size of the active area (or image area). This would be simply the diagonal length of the active area. For example: 12.1”, 7” and so on.
The pixel count or the resolution of the display. For example: 1920×1080 dots
Luminance (Brightness) in nits or cd/m2
Viewing angle or viewing cone
Operating temperature range
Electrical interface : LVDS, eDp, Mipi, and etc.

Specification for Touch Panel Module Option

If you have a touch panel in your design, you should also list down in your specification or requirements:

Is it a resistive or capacitive touch panel?
Do you need a single touch or multi touch (how many)? (for capacitive touch)
Do you need to use it for signature?
Cover glass material? (for capacitive touch)
Regarding attachment of touch panel module to the LCD, is it air-bonding? Will it be optical bonding? (for capacitive touch)
Operating temperature range
Any impact requirement?
Dimensions

Again, these are basic items that any manufacturer will need to know in order to give you a quotation.

The more information that you can supply to the manufacturers the more accurate the response will be. Another good point that you might also want to tell the manufacturers is the application of your products. And from product application, manufacturers will start to ask more pertinent questions that you may have missed.

Finally, by specifying LCD features and Touch Panel features comprehensively, it will safe a lot of guessing work and the quality of the design and quotation will be better.

Usually, request for quotation or request for proposal during conceptual design, the product designers or the sourcing folks will have a tonne of questions. That’s normal and we understand that. So if you do have an inquiry, contact us at jack@displaylcm.com. We will respond to your many questions and promptly too, in English :).

To Design-in a Monochrome LCD or a Color LCD?

With color LCD panels being so prevalent in the market, the utilization of monochrome LCD in products is getting lesser. Based on my most recent experience, approximately 10% of the total LCD inquiries will only be asking for monochrome LCD. Will monochrome LCD eventually be phased-out? I think it will still take quite a while.

Monochrome LCD

Monochrome LCD still has its place in many product designs. Why? It is because monochrome LCD tooling (read: customization) cost is relatively cheap. If you have a product design that calls for a particular size to optimize the space in the product and you do not need the display to have video rate response time or to show heavy graphics, monochrome LCD may be feasible to consider. The customization cost can range from USD1k to USD12k, really depending on the extent of the customization. The customization cost of a Color LCD panel, on the other hand, is still very high at the time of writing, ranging from USD50k to USD100K. There is not many color LCD raw panel foundry is willing to take up customization if the volume is not attractive and also some other consideration.

Also driving a monochrome LCD uses less processing power, less memory-intensive than, say, driving a color LCD. Thereby bringing down the product cost in the electronics.

Some examples of monochrome LCD that are still relevant in some products (and many more):

So, Color or Monochrome LCD?

I must confess that a standard size color LCD panel can be considerably cheaper than a monochrome LCD of the same size dimension. This is due to the sheer volume of the standard size color LCD that are being churned out from color panel foundries. Volume bring the cost down.

With better aesthetic and visual performance of a color LCD, and if you (read: product designer) are able to design around a standard color LCD, then this case must be seriously considered. I suspect even with a higher electronic hardware cost, it will tip to the color option.

Further Discussion

You know, if you like to have a further discussion on this topic, feel free to drop us a line, in the comment box with your email so that we can reply to you. Or you can reach us at jack@displaylcm.com. We can shorten your decision making time by giving you current market information. Always happy to receive a mail.