The KDC event, created to be a specialized international conference on display well-matched to the size and capacity of the domestic display industry, is already celebrating its 5th conference in Winter 2004. There was especially a large participation and interest from related industries overseas as well as the domestic industry, and though it was a relatively long event of 3 days, including the FPD training seminar, which is a pre-event for the display industry, over 550 participants crowded the event site each day.

A report on the event was prepared for a brief review using event sketches and presentations by speakers.

1-1. Educational Seminar about Flat Panel Display on 22nd of Nov.

The KDC event this year also offered a basic training program on TFT-LCD, PDP, and OLED. Over 400 people from the industry and financial sector participated in this training program, which was a pre-event type of gathering held the day before the event.

LG.Philips LCD's Mr. In Byeong Khang explained the TFT-LCD development process, operating principles, manufacturing technology, current issues, and progress direction. The presentation on PDP was provided by Samsung SDI's Mr. Yoon-Sung Jung, who presented PDP technology outline, market trends, operating principles, manufacturing technology, and directions for future development. The OLED area was explained by Samsung SDI's Dr. Jun Yeob Lee, who helped the understanding of OLED structure and basic theories, passive and active type OLED, and the process and tools.

After a detailed explanation, sufficient time was provided for questions for a valuable and in-depth Q&A time on the current technology of each device and directions for future development.

General View of Conference Room	Large Attendance
Barrage of Questions	Conversation with Attendace

1-2. Day 1 - Session 1 "Keynote" on 23rd of Nov.

Samsung SDI's Vice President Chulhan Bae came up as KDC's first speaker with a presentation entitled 'PDP as a Perfect Digital Picture'. Vice President Chulhan Bae forecasted that "the price of 42-inch HD-level PDP module, which is currently at 1,000 dollars, will drop to 600 dollars next year". This is an outlook that the price of 42-inch HD-level PDP TV may drop to 2 million Won level next year, and to 1 million Won level in 3 years.

Vice President Bae said, "with the continuous drop in PDP module prices, 42-inch PDP TVs will drop from 3,999 dollars this year to 2,499 dollars (2.74 million Won) next year, 1,999 dollars (2.19 million Won) in 2006, and 1,499 dollars (1.64 million Won) in 2007".

Mr. Bae also forecasted that the average prices of 63-inch and 50-inch PDP TVs, which were 11,999 dollars (13.19 million Won) and 5,999 dollars (6.59 million Won) respectively this year will also drop to less than 10 million Won next year, to 7,799 dollars (8.57 million Won) and 4,499 dollars (4.94 million Won) respectively.

Managing Director of SERI, Jong On Yoon, who came up as the second keynote speaker, pointed out that "after Korea's entry into the market, it reached a Grand Slam, acquiring the largest market share for LCD in 4 years, and for PDP in 2 years, with CRT (TV tube) also at number one, but the check and pursuit by Japan, Taiwan, and China will be a critical threatening factor."

Mr. Yoon also said, "after getting a 26.8% share in world LCD production in 4th quarter, Taiwan will increase its share to 27.8% in one year," and forecasted, "China will also focus on basic material technology for the display industry to narrow its technology gap with Korea to 1 year by 2010."

He explained that Japan is uniting through joint 6th generation LCD line by Matsushita, Toshiba, and Hitachi, large scale PDP investment, and Toshiba – Canon joint venture, while reinforcing the protection of their technology through patent litigations against Korean companies.

He said, "as for LCD, prices recorded 'magic prices' last September at 200 and 300 dollars for 17 and 19-inch panels respectively, causing explosive increase in demand, while 50-inch HD-level PDP TV is also approaching its magic price (4,200 dollars)."

He also mentioned that in the TV market, apart from existing companies like Samsung, LG, Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Philips, and TCL, PC companies like Dell, HP, and Gateway are newly entering, with companies like Motorola, Westinghouse, and Tatung, who had given up the business long time ago are returning to the arena, intensifying competition.

1-3. Day 1 - Session 2 "FPD Market Outlook (Supply/Demand & Price Forecast)" on 23rd of Nov.

Displaybank's Managing Director, Kim Kwangjoo, spoke on LCD market outlook and said, "the current overcapacity to supply large LCD will reach a peak in 2nd quarter next year, gradually dropping in 3rd."

He forecasted that large LCD demand will grow 27.5% from 133 million units this year to 170 million next year, while LCD TV demand will increase 74.4% from 8 million this year to 14 million units in 2005.

Managing Director Kenny Kim's outlook on Samsung Electronics and LG Philips LCD was that even if market prices drop, 7th and 6th generation production lines will be built as planned as an opportunity to expand future market share and to reorganize the industry.

Deutsche Bank's Yasuo Nakane said, "both LCD and PDP will be profitable along the 40-inch level until 1st half of 2005 in line with market growth, but prices will drop faster," anticipating that "from the end of 2005 to 2006, the actual war will begin with quality and cost gap reducing between two products."

He also said, "in the war between LCD and PDP, the outcome will be decided by how PDP can improve cost and life span, and how LCD can improve expense (7th generation yield) and quality". He forecasted that from 2007, LCD has potentials for defeating PDP in the 44-inch units as well.

Unlike domestic outlooks, Cynthia Chyn, Deputy Director of MIC, Taiwan's Market Research Agency, presented the analysis that oversupply of LCD panels in the 20% level will continue into next year. Thus, she expected panel price for 17-inch monitors to drop to 148 dollars, and for 32-inch TVs to 430 dollars by the end of next year.

She pointed out that small and medium markets of mobile phones, PDA, digital cameras, and navigations will grow gradually until 2008, while the different technologies of a-Si, STN, OLED, and LTPS are in intense competition against one another.

Chemical Market Research Inc.'s Consultant Noh Kyong-Kook presented the results of a research on domestic LCD materials market, covering CCFL, Polarizer, Light Guide Panel, and Alignment Layer.

He mentioned that domestic light guide panel market is at 130 billion Won level in 2003, with domestic consumption reaching about 40,000 tons. Of this, about 70% is being imported from Japan's Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Asahi Kasei. He also said that due to insufficient supply of PMMA and MMA, which are raw materials for light guide panels, price has continually increased, and this may present a future obstacle in cost reduction for TFT-LCD.

The domestic optic film market is at 49.1 billion Won level in 2003, of which 70% is dominated by SKC, said Mr. Noh. He analyzed that SKC's monopoly is because it was the first company to enter the market, and mentioned that Kolon and Toray Saehan had the rest of the share.

He explained that domestic alignment layer market in 2003 is at 39.8 billion Won level, and that leading suppliers are Nissan for TN, JSR for VA, and Chisso for IPS.

Consultant Noh Kyong-Kook discussed major suppliers of each type of material, and said that the most important success factor in this market is whether you have a captive market or not, and added that price competition should be sought ultimately through selection and focus, advanced technology, and global marketing.

Senior Manager Justin Lee of Samsung SDI asserted that the purchasing class, purchase triggers, and major sale areas differed for monitors and TVs, with price being the most decisive factor for TVs, and emphasized that CRT TV still offers the greatest merit over other devices in terms of price. In addition, he said thickness and weight factors are steadily improved through slim CRT for stronger competitive edge.

Senior Manager Justin Lee explained that this year's CRT TV market sold over 170 million units, that the level of 150 million units will be maintained over the next 5 years, and that increase in flat and wide types is the main trend.

1-4. Day 1 - Session 3 "Success Strategy of Large Screen Digital TV " on 23rd of Nov.

With regard to 'Competition and Outlook for Large Digital TVs', General Manager Inchan Yee of Samsung Electronics' VD business department said "in the competition between PDP and MD projection, MD currently has an edge in terms of price, but the gap with PDP will gradually close to give PDP a broader position."

General Manager Yee also said, ｡ｰfor LCD TV, the 30-inch LCD TVs will greatly expand the market from2005 when 6th and 7th generation lines are in full operation" and that "CRT TV will likely compete in the digital TV market again with the emergence of slim CRT, making 2005 a year of intense competition in the digital TV industry."

Mr. Yee added that PDP is in a position to compete intensely with LCD, MD, and CRT, and therefore, the PDP players will need to reinforce consumer education to actively improve their image in power consumption, life span, and contrast, and to reinforce marketing in terms of parts as in the case of Intel or TI's DLP, while engaging in close technology cooperation with set and panel makers.

TI's Managing Director Sung-Oh Park presented DLP chip structure and driving principles in detail using moving picture data.

Managing Director Park said that the initial DLP chip life has already gone beyond 100,000 hours, and stressed that it still operates without problems until now. It exceeds other devices in brightness, contrast ratio, weight, and size, and based on such superior performance, its projector market share is at 38% in 2nd quarter this year, while its share in the US projection TV market reached 18% in 2nd quarter this year, showing steady growth.

LG.Philips Displays' Vice President Ney Corsino asserted that the CRT TV market is still strong, and that demands have continued to grow over the last 10 years. He also emphasized that if consumers had to purchase CRT TV, audio systems, and VCR/DVE in relation to TVs in the past, now in the digital age,  the purchases have become diverse with PC, MP3 player, digital camera, mobile phone, internet service charges, and therefore consumers with limited budget will likely choose a CRT among TV devices like CRT, LCD, PDP, and projection TV, as it offers the best price advantage.

He explained that 21-inch products are already in the market among super slim products, which are slim CRTs, and that 32-inch products will be launched in the market early in 2005, 29-inch in the 2nd half of 2005, and 28 and 24-inch in 2006. In addition, he emphasized that 21-inch and 32-inch slim CRT is highly competitive in terms of cost as 4-6 dollars can be saved compared to existing CRT in cabinet, packing, and transportation.

Director Jumpei Nakamura of Japan Picture Quality & Technology Lab attracted attention by comparing quality and performance of large screen display devices. Brightness, contrast, viewing angle, and response speed were evaluated mostly with large screen digital TVs sold in the Japanese market, and as a result, Sony's 32｡ｱ LCD TV offered the best picture quality among 30~40-inch level units, and among units of 50-inch or above, Panasonic's 50" PDP TV and Sharp's 45" LCD TV had the best picture quality.

Mr. Nakamura pointed out that brightness in certain products was unnecessarily high, with the reverse effect of actually aggravating fatigue in consumers' eyes. He also hoped for less quality competition and more development of cheaper displays that give comfort to consumers' eyes.

He also suggested a separate standardized norm for viewing angles and power consumption, which are among core quality categories for large screen digital TVs, because the standards for product evaluation in the PDP, LCD, and MD display industry have been different from one another so far.

1-5. Day 1 - Session 4 "Large-Size OLED Technology Issues" on 23rd of Nov.

Samsung SDI's Executive Director Ho Kyoon Chung analyzed the preparation status of AM OLED commercialization and tasks to be accomplished through the recent OLED development history. He mentioned that the current issues to be resolved are first, to develop high-efficiency materials, to realize low-voltage operation, and to increase life span. But he emphasized that there were no issues at all in applying the current life span of small molecules to OLED products.

Executive Director Chung talked about the necessity to achieve low-cost and low-power consumption through SOP technology that can realize the one-chip driver IC. He also said deposition, inkjet printing, and Samsung SDI's laser injection (LITI) methods can be used to realize larger size, speaking in detail about the company's LITI technology used to achieve 17" AMOLED.

Dr. B.H. Ryu of Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology presented on the trends in inkjet technology development and the realization of enlargement through inkjet technology's integration with OLED.

Professor Soon-Ki Kwon of Gyeongsang National University, an authority figure in the world of OLED materials, presented the features of materials currently used for OLED and technology development status.

Director Changhun Chriss Hwang of Doosan DND, which created the nation's only 4th generation (730x920mm) OLED equipment, introduced cases of large OLED equipment development. By presenting visual materials on core matters to be considered in each major process, he helped the understanding of industry personnel.

2-1. Day 2 - Session 5 "Keynote" on 24th of Nov.

HP director Jun B Kim displayed the position of HP as a huge global company. He said HP reaches into practically all areas of business including network, system, general consumer electronics, IT products, and contents, and that it never ceases innovations with the three strategic axes of High-tech, Low-cost, Best customer experience.

Director Kim shared diverse marketing cases of HP, a leading global company, using moving picture files.

2-2. Day 2 - Session 6 "PDP Core Technology Development Strategy & Price Competitiveness" on 24th of Nov.

Displaybank's CEO Peter Kwon said the price competition among devices through 'PDP demand/supply and cost analysis' is the core condition for consumer choice, and 2005 will likely be the year of heated price competition.

In particular, he said PDP will continue to have a higher hand, even though panel price ratio of 40｡ｱ LCD panels will be 1.38 times that of 42｡ｱ PDP panels at the end of 2005, somewhat lower than 1.67 times at the end of this year, thanks to cost analysis..

In his outlook for PDP demand and supply in 2005, he said this year's demand of 3.5 million units will grow by 81.3% next year to 6.3 million, and the total supply quantity of 2005 will meet increased demands with 6.35 million units through the full operation of Samsung SDI's line 3, LG Electronics' line 4, and Matsushita's line 3.

FHP's director Akihiko Yano explained that PDP's advantages in price competition with LCD are investment efficiency, process simplicity, and high possibility of reducing material costs.

The biggest trend in the PDP market is transition to HD following digital broadcasting, with Japan completely converted to HD, and its share steadily increasing in the US.

Director Yano was confident that many consumers would favor FHP, since it is the first in the world to sell 55-inc e-ALIS WXGA panels, and because this size occupies an appropriate position between 50 and 63 inches.

Samsung SDI's Managing Director Yoon-Hyoung Cho presented a roadmap for PDP quality and performance improvement as well as specific cases in practice. He said that the PDP industry is pursuing light emission efficiency, brightness and contrast improvement, and reduced power consumption, and will be able to improve light emission efficiency from the current 2lm/W level to 10lm/W by 2010, brightness from the current 1000cd/m2 to 2000cd/m2, full white brightness from 200cd/m2 to 400cd/m2, power consumption from 250W to 100W, and contrast ratio from the current 3,000:1 to 10,000:1 level.

For these improvements, the academic and industrial sectors are studying gas ratio control, improving operation methods, improving rib structure, and discharging method changes, and Managing Director Cho explained specific cases.

2-3. Day 2 - Session 7 "New Growth Momentum - Mobile Display Industry Oulook" on 24th of Nov.

TSR's Director Shusuke Hayashi analyzed that this year's mid and small LCD panel demand will continue growing gradually, but the mobile phone and digital camera markets will be slower in the 2nd half than the 1st, with games, navigations, and portable DVD demand springing back to life.

Director Hayashi expected the TFT-LCD share ratio in the mobile phone market to grow up to 36% in the 2nd half with the rapid penetration of Samsung in the 1st half, but didn't forecast much growth overall due to the large inventory of the industry, and seeing that digital camera market has reached a saturation level while new customer creation is reducing, he expected the industry's target to decrease in the 2nd half.

Hitachi's General Manager Zenzou Tajima presented LTPS panel and technological features, as well as its outlook. Since LTPS has the characteristic of quick electron movements, has a high aperture ratio, and can have the number of its parts reduced, smaller and thinner display can be realized with low electricity consumption features. For these reasons, he says it is suitable as OLED board, and is widely used as displays for digital cameras, digital camcorders, and PDAs. By combining these features with IPS technology, having an optic viewing angle as a feature, optimum display can be provided for mobile applications.

BENQ, Taiwan's largest mobile phone maker has been leading the Taiwanese market since entering the mobile phone business from the early days. Vice President Chen examined the historical traces of mobile phones in each age, and said that many more functions are in demand for mobile phones such as multimedia functions including ring sounds, color screen, luxurious exterior, moving pictures, and text message, as well as functions of digital camera, games, MP3, and security. Also, he helped the understanding of participants through an introduction to basic mobile phone structure, major parts suppliers, and diverse business areas of BENQ.

Director Davis Mok of Tomato LSI presented the driver IC and the recent trends in mobile driver IC technology. He particularly elaborated on the one-chip solution that composes a display module with a single chip, emphasizing the merits of the 2-panel (sub and main window) one-chip solution that can further reduce cost and space. On the whole, he presented the built-in module solution with cost reduction through low electricity consumption, standardization of interface with MDDI, MIPI, and memory sharing, as well as reinforced multi-media concept.

SK Telecom's Manger Kim Young Chan discussed the requirements of display devices from the mobile communications business point of view. Particularly due to the superior characteristic of OLED, he expressed high expectations for mobile phone displays in the future, and asked OLED developers to keep up the good work. Meanwhile, as multimedia elements such as TV contents grow in demand among services provided by mobile display, wide TV-like screens, optic viewing angle, quick response, high resolution, full color, high contrast ratio, 3D, touch screen, and large screen features are being requested. For these reasons, he anticipated that TFT-LCD application ratio will gradually increase from about 33% this year to 60% in 2007.

2-4. Day 2 - Session 8 "Main Issues for TFT-LCD 2005 - Performance Upgrade & Cost Down? " on 24th of Nov.

LG. Philips LCD's Mr. Oh Chang Ho made a detailed presentation on the technology development status of LCD for LCD TVs. He said LG. Philips LCD currently adds white pixels to improve brightness and uses the optical compensator on the polarizer to improve viewing angle. In addition, he explained that advanced products like C/F resin and pure black polarizer are used to improve contrast ratio, and that the software-type technique of AI (Adaptive Dynamic Image Control) is being applied. To improve response speed, he said ODC technology is basically applied, and that 5ms would be reached in the 1st half of next year by applying the method for improving liquid crystal property.

CMO's director Duglas Park presented that CMO is currently the 2nd ranking company in the world after Sharp in panels for TV. He also emphasized that LCD is very suitable for TV in a bright environment due to smaller influence of surrounding lights compared to other devices.

He explained that CMO is applying a technology to reduce bluish light in the circuit, so that the LCD panel can emit more natural colors. To improve response speed, he said scanning backlight, 120Hz drive, and ODC technology are being applied, and that most LCD companies will all be able to reach a response speed of 5ms in the 2nd half of next year. In addition, he explained that TV panel leaders such as CMO, Samsung, LG.Philips LCD, and Sharp are pursuing 1000:1 contrast ratio, and that this is a specification that can be reached without much difficulty.

He also emphasized that for LCD TV to become more common, the cost ratio of glass, BLU, and polarizer should especially be reduced. He pointed out that the ratio of BLU and polarizer costs for TV panels are 39% and 17% respectively, and that they are much higher than the ratios for monitor panels, which are 27% and 9%.

Samsung Electronics' Dr. Gicherl Kim explained that backlight technology is becoming diversified from CCFL to EEFL, FFL, LED, and CNT, and that low cost and better performance, as well as environment-friendly features is more in demand. While emphasizing that highly efficient use of light source is much more important than the light source itself, Dr. Kim expressed confidence that LED will be revived into a more perfect light source through optic design improvements using packages, although LED is not a device with high light efficiency. He pointed out that the current CCFL also developed through such stages.

In his presentation, he discussed the high brightness LED products and specifications for LCD backlight, and presented the trends in related technology. Regarding LED backlight potential, he was confident that market demand will grow through the efforts of LED developing companies and the spontaneous research of engineers creating backlight, and that the dilemma of low cost will be resolved once demand is increased to a large scale.

Gumchang Electronics' CEO Lee Kye-Seung provided a systematic presentation on the merits and demerits of CCFL, EEFL, LED, and FFL backlight, and explained the competitive edge of FFL in detail. He explained that since the surface light source called FFL uses well-known technologies, it is not the newest technology, but offers more diverse advantages over existing CCFL backlight. He added that since FFL is not limited to size, is low cost, allows easy mass production with its simple structure, and offers superior performance with a small amount of optic film, it is the optimum technology for future lighting and large LCD backlight.

He explained that the surface light source technology is largely divided into a process creating bulb types, a process applying fluorescent substance, and a process of injecting gas and sealing, and that performance depends mostly on fluorescent coating technology, while mass production possibility depends on the technology to make bulbs.

Kumchang Electronics said it has already developed a 17-inch FFL prototype going beyond 1,000cd/m2 at the panel stage, and that it is now focusing on developing 32-inch products. Particularly, the 17-inch FFL product demonstration that followed the presentation attracted the attention of many participants.

SKC's researcher Seo Min Seok presented that SKC is world's number 3 supplier of PET films, that it built a competitive edge in the film coating area at an early stage, and that the diffuser sheet business began in 1999. He mentioned that SKC plans to develop and market diffuser sheets, PDP filter, reflective film, LCD protection film as well as Prism sheets in the near future. He explained that SKC has achieved a reform in expenses based on self-supply of PET films, discovery of new production technologies, and localization of foreign product, contributing to the industry and to the commercialization of LCD products.

Researcher Seo said that SKC is making every effort to become the world's best optic film company through development of products required by the industry, such as films with diverse thickness, high brightness diffusing board, and high brightness reflective film.

Message of Appreciation

As we close 2004 and prepare for 2005, many industry personnel took time out of their busy schedules to participate in this event. We wish to thank the many people who took part and showed interest in this program. We hope it was helpful for exchanging useful information and preparing new businesses. Displaybank promises to return with the KDC event and more fruitful conventions.

KDC 2004 Winter Information Booklet is currently being sold. Also, please be sure to contact us at the following coordinates if you have any feedback on Displaybank's convention business.

Contact Point : Kate Kim (kate@displaybank.com, Tel. +82-2-574-7232