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News Release

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Epson Releases 0.6-inch XGA HTPS TFT Module for Data Projectors

- Including the World's First Utilization of Inkjet in Alignment Layer Technology -

- TOKYO, Japan, April 27, 2005 -

Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") has developed a new series of high-temperature polysilicon TFT liquid crystal panels (HTPS) for its 3LCD data front-projectors, and began shipment of these products in April 2005. Featuring D4 technology, this new HTPS panel produces XGA (1024x768) resolution using a smaller 0.6-inch panel. To achieve improved display performance, the alignment layer is formed on the glass substrates using inkjet technology. This is the world's first use of inkjet technology for this process. Through the introduction of this innovative technology, Epson has realized high-definition images surpassing those achieved by any preceding product.

Increasing demand for presentations in the corporate environment and the computerization of education and other spheres have led to even greater growth in the market for data projectors. In particular, there is a growing demand for XGA models at the entry level, in which SVGA models have long been mainstream, because of the ability of XGA models to meet a wide range of business presentation needs coupled with reductions in price. In order to comply with these market demands, Epson has launched its lineup of 0.6-inch XGAL3P06X series panels. These new panels have enabled Epson to successfully realize a low-cost, compact data projector that features D4 technology and XGA resolution.

Panels in the D4 series boast technology for achieving a high aperture ratio, which makes the panels brighter, and improved response speed, which produces smoother, higher quality images and moving pictures. The D4 technology used in the new panel series has made it possible to realize data projectors that are compact and offer outstanding picture quality at a high performance-to-cost ratio.

Epson has utilized alignment layer technology, which makes use of its proprietary inkjet technology, in the manufacture of this new panel.

Effect of introducing inkjet alignment layer

• It has become possible to use a non-contact method for applying the alignment layer, enabling the alignment layer to have a smoother surface, resulting in uniform display quality.

• The flexo printing plates, used in conventional flexo printing, are no longer needed, making it possible to reduce the amount of time required in the initial set-up stage, and therefore increasing manufacturing flexibility.

• It has become possible to reduce by approximately 95% the amount of waste solvent produced when washing the flexo printing plate each time there is a change in the model being manufactured, thereby contributing to the protection of the environment.

In becoming one of the world's leading manufacturers of inkjet printers, Epson has accumulated a great deal of information and knowledge in its proprietary Micro Piezo print head technology. Epson has been conducting extensive research into industrial applications of inkjet technologies in order to apply its Micro Piezo print head technology to production. These efforts have resulted in a new production method that uses inkjet technology capable of forming patterns by means of direct writing and laying thin uniform layers by ejecting precise drop sizes in the picoliter (1 trillionth of a liter) and nanogram (1 billionth of a gram) range, onto a precise location.

The inkjet method used to form patterns by means of direct writing is especially promising from the standpoint of reducing waste materials and contributing to the protection of the environment. This method condenses the many stages conventionally required in the photolithography process, which is widely used in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat panel displays, down to one to three stages. This method also reduces the large quantities of the principal materials that are disposed of as a result of the photolithography process, as well as the quantity of resist material or other such materials, to less than one-tenth the conventional amount. Through this new production method, Epson has successfully developed and launched a number of prototypes, including a 40-inch OLED display, which was the world's largest, as well as an ultra-thin 20-layer circuit board. The application of the inkjet alignment layer in the production of TFT marks the first example of the actual implementation of inkjet technology in an industrial application.

Features
* The use of D4 technology, which boasts technology for achieving high aperture ratio, realizes a 0.6-inch XGA HTPS panel, the smallest in the world.
* The use of D4 technology has made possible products that offer outstanding picture quality at a high performance-to-cost ratio.

Sample specifications

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