Out with the old and in with the new — that’s the motto driving Samsung’s latest business decision. The display maker officially announced its intentions of spinning off its liquid crystal display (LCD) division so it can better focus on the future of display technology, which Samsung feels has everything to do with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels and little to do with LCDs.

“Currently, the display market is undergoing rapid changes with OLED panels expected to fast replace LCD panels to become the mainstream,” Samsung said. “Amid this structural change of the Display industry, adopting measures for change and innovation, including business restructuring, are essential to improve our competitiveness for our Display business.”

Samsung’s LCD business will be spun off into a new wholly-owned subsidiary, and as time goes on, the company will consider “various restructuring measures,” one of which could include a possible merger with Samsung Mobile Display and S-LCD Corporation.

The spin-off is hardly surprising. It was previously rumored Samsung was considering ditching its LCD business, which reported a hellish operating loss of $666 million (750 billion won) last year. Samsung has set April 1, 2012 as the effective date of the spin-off.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Its-Official-Samsung-Decides-to-Ditch-Its-LCD-Business/

Ever heard of an Optical Sensor in Pixel panel? Now you have. Samsung just announced that it began mass production of 40-inch ‘Optical Sensor in Pixel’ LCD panels, which feature highly advanced optical sensors, in November this year.

The Optical Sensor in Pixel LCD panel detects reflected images of an object on the panel using Infrared sensors that are built into the panel. With optical sensor in each pixel of the panel, the new panel can much more accurately assess touch sensitivity compared to existing touch panels.

Using next-generation image sensing technology, the Optical Sensor in Pixel panel can detect more than 50 touch points simultaneously and can display images with Full HD resolution and wide-angle viewing.

All of the input functions of a keyboard, mouse or scanner can be carried out on the panel itself. The panel can be installed in a variety of applications including table top and wall-mounted types. Its tempered glass is strong enough to withstand external loads over 80 kilograms.

As the panel can perform touch and multi-touch sensing and image display simultaneously, it represents a new paradigm for massively interactive communications, compared to the one-way communication of today’s kiosk touch panels.

Samsung’s ‘optical sensing per pixel’ technology can perform accurate image sensing without interrupting the image signals displayed on the panel, so it should be well received by many types of professional consultants including stock brokers and financial analysts. Also, it can be handily used in eDesk applications for schools or business conference rooms.

The Optical Sensor in Pixel LCD panel has been installed in ‘Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface’, a table-type PC product, co-developed by Samsung Electronics and Microsoft®. SUR40 has been available for pre-order since last month.

“Our Optical Sensor in Pixel panel has overcome the limitations of touch functionality that have hampered the effectiveness of most interactive displays,” said Younghwan Park, senior vice president of sales and marketing team, Samsung Electronics LCD Business. “With the world’s first mass production of an Optical Sensor in Pixel LCD, Samsung Electronics has set its sights on taking the lead in the global interactive display market,” he added.

Hard to say if this stuff will ever skip beyond Surface and touch more mainstream gadgets, but we’re pretty sure Samsung didn’t make these kinds of investments for nothing.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Samsung-Looks-Ahead-With-Optical-Sensor-In-Pixel-LCD-Panels/