Developing displays

• Features

• 25/11/2015

The LCD panel with LED lighting reigns supreme as the most commonly used display. But what future developments are manufacturers working on? How are consumer demands for displays changing? Hurrairah bin Sohail finds out.

We are surrounded by displays to such a degree that we do not even pay special heed to them anymore. Walk into any commercial area for any major city in Asia Pacific and you will find yourself inundated by images from LCD displays, which are just considered to be a staple of the scenery.

It is no surprise then that manufacturers of LCD display panels report that the market in Asia Pacific is saturated. However there are still avenues for growth. Richard Heslett who is the senior product manager, global market solutions at Christie says: “While the market for consumer TVs has been reported to be stagnant in most of Asia Pacific regions for the last couple of years, there are pockets of growth such as commercial ulta-narrow bezel and UHD (ultra high definition) panels.”

The fact that growth is possible is also evident by the resurgence of Philips as a player in the LCD display market. Rob Fowler who is the sales director Asia Pacific for Philips commercial displays expounds: “The Philips brand of commercial LCD panels is probably quite unique in the APAC market because of a strategy that affected us in 2009 and 2011 when our presence in the region was a lot less aggressive than it is today. The last three years has seen a tremendous growth for us and we see many territories within the APAC market growing at a healthy rate.”

Since humans primarily use the sense of sight to receive and process information LCD displays find use in a number of verticals making it extremely hard to pinpoint which industries are leading the demand for LCD displays. Fowler continues: “There is no single vertical market which is demanding [LCD displays] more than any other. Of course the fast food industry is transcending from static menu boards to digital ones and transportation projects are always high profile. But the steadily lowering costs are making commercial displays a lot more affordable for all market segments, such as retail, education, banking, casinos and so on.”

Heslett states: “Commercial uses for flat panels include digital signage, control room video walls and meeting rooms in corporations and educational institutions. Costs tend to decline by 5 percent to 15 percent per year depending on the supply and demand conditions, which vary depending upon the category of flat panel, technological innovations and macroeconomic forces.”

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