Academia / IMID IMID now competing with America's SID or Japan's IDW in display conference field Growing importance is being attached to the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) that will be held on Aug. 22~25, 2006 in EXCO (Exhibition & Convention), in Daegu, Korea, In comparison with Korea's leading position in the global display industry, the perception prevailed that Korea's exhibition scale or academic rally level is inferior compared with its competitors. The Chair of IMID, Prof. Whang Kiwoong, School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, College of Engineering, Seoul National University, noted in an interview that IMID has come to be on a par with America's SID (Society for Information Display) or Japan's IDW (International Display Workshop), two representative international academic rallies in the display field. In terms of participating companies or announcement paper numbers, IMID is developing by leaps and bounds every year, according to Whang. First off, in the light of IMID exhibition scale, participating companies are on the rise, posting 48 firms in 2001, 51 firms in 2002, 57 firms in 2003, 114 firms in 2004, and 145 firms in 2005. Participating booth numbers are also increasing every year, with 126 booths in 2003, 270 booths in 2004, and 406 booths in 2005. Announcement papers are also on the increase, with 230 papers in 2001, 258 papers in 2002, 296 papers in 2003, 350 papers in 2004, and 441 papers in 2005 respectively. Korea is global No.1 with 40.6% production In connection with the present situation that IMID has come to be on a par with SID or IDW, Prof. Whang explained that Korea display industry's competitiveness is very high, adding that display has settled as a considerably important export product group among Korea's entire export items. Actually, Korea holds No.1 position globally with the amount of 40.6% production in the display field with production of $26 billion. Among Korea's entire exports of $285 billion, display accounts for 6.5% with an export of $18.3 billion. Prof. Whang went on to say that Korea holds the No.1 position in terms of product quality too though our country shows numerical inferiority in the core technologies, adding that Korea started LCD 6~7 years later compared with Japan, but several years have already passed after Korea has outdone Japan, a leading display nation. On the investment side too, he is proud to say that Korea leads LCD investment globally. Domestic LCD firms such as Samsung Electronics, LG Philips LCD, invested around 7 trillion won (approx. $7.4 billion) last year, equivalent to 9% of total private investment in Korea. Such a lead in terms of volume is linked eventually to cost reduction and this is an important factor, which results in market control power, Whang said. At this crucial juncture in time, Korea display's competitiveness is high internationally, but to maintain such a position continuously, Korea's display business circles should make bigger efforts including timely supply of manpower and R&D (research & development), he cautioned. Timely supply of manpower and R&D needed In conjunction with such tasks, Whang said that the government must give preferential support to the R&D of the fields needing longer experimental testing periods and with greater risk burden and hazard burden is big. In particular, he asked the whole nation to help well with might and main so that this industry can maintain its global No.1 position continuously. He cautioned that Korea's competitors like Taiwan and Japan are pouring huge amounts of funding into nurturing the LCD industry plus pouring huge amounts of money from universities or research centers, to a degree that Korea can only envy. In the case of Japan as well, he pointed out that it has mapped out a strategy to grow by merging smaller companies since it is lagging behind Korea in terms of scale. In consideration of such steps by Taiwan or Japan, Whang warned that Korean LCD companies cannot afford to rest on their laurels just because they still maintain the leading position globally. In particular, Prof. Whang pointed out that for Korea to maintain competitiveness continuously, the government or an educational- industrial complex need to strive to raise the information display industry on a more strong and steady rock with one accord. Compared with industry scale, he insisted that the government's support is too small, including inadequate budget, despite having great responsibilities. Sessions for the Conference Workshops (August 22, 2006) o LCD o PDP o OLED o Flexible Displays o Advanced FPD Manufacturing Equipment o FPD Standardization and Intellectual Propriety o Business Forum (co-organized with Displaybank) The workshops will address fundamentals and recent advances of display technologies and manufacturing and provide in-depth analysis of important technological issues. The Business Forum will provide an opportunity to analyze display market issues and to explore the potential value creation opportunities. - Speeches by leaders in display field - Display industry trends - FPD market trends & outlook - Display marketing strategy - Emerging Display Technology Conference (August 23~25, 2006) The submission of original papers is encouraged on all aspects of display research, engineering, manufacturing, and applications. The IMID/IDMC 2006 welcomes the submission of any of the general symposium topics or any of the topical sessions listed below: (1) Active-Matrix LCDs Advances in the development of active-matrix displays and driving electronics: AMLCDs for LCD-TV, AMLCD Monitors, AMLCD Miniature Displays, Portable Handheld AMLCDs, LTPS AMLCDs, Integrated Driving Circuit Techniques for AMLCDs (2) Liquid Crystal Technologies and Other Non-emissive Displays Advances in the development of liquid-crystal materials, electrooptical effects, and devices, new materials development in nonemissive display technologies: LC Materials, LC Modeling, LC Alignment, Bistable LCDs, Fast Switching LCDs, Wide Viewing Angle LCDs, Microdisplays, Reflective Displays, Non-Emissive Displays (3) Plasma Display Panels New developments in the design and manufacturing, performance characteristics, and driving methods and circuitry: Fundamental Mechanisms, Panel Configurations, Picture Quality, Driving System and Technology, Fabrication, etc. (4) Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Displays All aspects of OLEDs, including advances in organic materials (both small molecules and polymers), electrodes, device structures, fabrication processes, driving methods, characterization and analysis of the device performances, etc: OLED Devices, TFT Back Planes (LTPS or a-Si-TFT) for AMOLEDs, Organic Materials (small molecules, dendrimers, and polymers), Processes, Characterization, Driving methods, etc. (5) Electroluminescent Displays, LEDs and Phosphors All aspects of inorganic ELDs and LEDs, including advances in phosphors, device structures, characterization the device performances, etc: Inorganic EL Displays (materials, processes, devices, driving circuits, etc.), LEDs (materials, devices, etc.) (6) Flexible Displays/Plastic electronics (*special session coorganized by KIDS, EDIRAK, USDC) All aspects of flexible displays and plastic electronics, including advances in organic materials (both small molecules and polymers), phosphors, electrodes, device structures, fabrication processes, driving methods, characterization and analysis of the device performances, etc: TFT back planes (LTPS or a-Si-TFT) on Flexible Substrate, OTFTs, Flexible LCDs, Flexible OLEDs, E-papers, Plastic Substrates, Thin- Film Encapsulation, Electrodes and Interconnection, Processes and Manufacturing, etc. (7) Field Emission Displays and CRTs Recent developments in field emission displays and CRTs including advances in materials, device structures, characterization, and driving methods Design and design methods in CRTs, including flat thin CRTs, their components, and materials: Flat and Thin CRTs, FED Devices, Processing, Fabrication, Glass & Glass Coatings, Vacuum Technology, Optical Aspects, Simulation and Modeling, Emission Physics and Beam Characteristics, Novel Devices, Driving Methods (8) Projection Displays Projection-display systems, key components and materials for applications such as TV sets, game systems, electronic cinema, desktop monitors, business presentations and training, commercial and military simulations, and medical imaging: Projection Systems, Components Including Light Sources and Screens, Projections Using CRTs, LCDs, and Other Light Valves, Tiled Displays, Novel Large-Area Displays (9) Applications, Systems and Driving Electronics Practical aspects of display technologies, such as design, materials, and test of displays or display-related products, innovative and new display applications: Helmet Mounted and Head-Up Display Devices, Display Addressing and Electronics, System-On-Panel (SOP) and System-On-Glass (SOG) Technologies, Display Lighting, Environmental Durability and Testing (10) Applied Vision/ Human Factors/ 3D Displays All aspects of vision, perception, and human factors in the design, image quality, and usability of all types of visual display systems: 3D Imaging Processing, Novel Methods of Information Transfer, Impact of Ambient Lighting on Display Performance, Spatial- Temporal Interactions in Displays, Color and Gray Scale in Visual Displays, Display Metrology (11) Display Materials and Components New development of materials and components for displays including new substrate materials, materials properties, and handling methods: LCD Backlight, Color Filter, Polarization and Compensation Films, PDP Phosphor Materials and Process, Electrodes, Dielectric materials and Process, PDP Color Filters, Glasses (12) Display Manufacturing & Measuring Equipment Development and application of new designs of equipment for the manufacturing, testing and measuring, manufacturing issues on the breakthrough for the display performances, cost reduction, and throughput, etc: Robotic Handling, Thin-film Deposition, Etching, Pattering, Spacer Construction and Application, Final Assembly, Test, and Repair, Measuring Equipment, etc. (13) Novel and Future Displays Development of new and novel displays, new applications: Novel Active-Matrix Devices and Processes, Novel Devices and Image processing, Novel Display Applications, etc.