7.7 Inch Low-Temperature Polysilicon LCD

Toshiba Corporation has announced commercialisation of a 7.7 inch, low-temperature, polysilicon thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD), designed for mid-size electronic books supporting Microsoft's ClearType technology. Jointly developed by Microsoft and Toshiba the display will enter mass production at the beginning of 2001.

The low-temperature polysilicon display achieves a resolution of 150 ppi, the same image quality as digital photography. It is optimised to take advantage of Microsoft's ClearType font display technology, which offers improved font display resolution.

The display delivers an on-screen reading experience that approaches the quality of reading text printed on paper.

The LCDs use crystallised silicon. This supports fast electron flows in transistors, a performance enhancement that supports higher resolution and richer colour.

Low temperature polysilicon TFT LCDs offer design flexibility. As a result, the space required at the periphery of the display panel is minimised, the number of components in the LCD module is cut by 40%, and the number of connections between TAB drivers and electrodes on the panel is reduced by 95%. The displays also achieve low power consumption and high durability, making the product suitable for mobile terminals ranging from notebook PCs to PDAs and eBooks.