Micro Device Display Consortium (MDDPC) Established to Publicize and Promote Growth of Micro Device Display Technology.

TOKYO -- Four leading companies today announced that they have established the Micro Device Display Consortium (MDDPC) in order to widely publicize the features and advantages of Micro Device Display Projection Televisions (MDDP) among consumers, retailers, industry experts and the mass media. The new consortium is aimed at promoting the growth of MDDPs and boosting public awareness of the Technology. The four founding members of the consortium are: Arisawa Mfg. Co., Ltd., Seiko Epson Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated and Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC).

Moving forward, the four consortium founding members, in addition to 3M Company, Luminus Devices, Inc., Samsung Japan Corporation and SCRAM Technologies, Inc. as endorsing members, will seek to bring other firms into the consortium from related industries. The consortium will also undertake public relations activities to promote the spread of MDDP through various promotional activities. These activities will include preparing marketing materials for consortium members to share in promoting the common advantages of MDDP. In addition, the consortium will launch a new Web site (http://www.md-display.com) to provide information on MDDP. The consortium also plans to sponsor product demonstrations.

(Future PR Activities)

--A call for consortium members (starting September 20th)

--Prepare and distribute a pamphlet that concisely summarizes the advantages and features of MDDP in positive language

--Prepare MDDPC shared promotional materials, promotional tools and Point of Purchase displays

--Launch a new MDDPC Web site that will include detailed descriptions and illustrations showing how MDDPs work and their advantages. The site will also contain information on MDDP products and key devices from consortium member firms, as well as relevant news and other product information.

--Acquire labeling for energy-efficient performance and add products to energy-efficient catalogs (for electric home appliances)

(About Micro Device Displays (MDDP))

MDDPs use micro display devices such as high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) LCD, DLP(R) technology and liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS). As a TV application, MDDP TV sets first began to appear in the market around 2004. MDDP TVs outperforms conventional CRT projection televisions in brightness, high resolution, wide viewing angle, light weight and superior design by a wide margin. As MDDP TV sets offer high value cost performance based on their high image quality and large screens, they have gained a particularly strong following in North America. An estimated 4.1 million sets have been sold to date worldwide(a), while global demand for MDDP is forecasted at 3.5 million units in 2006(a). (a) Data supplied by Techno Systems Research Co., Ltd.

Micro Display devices are consisted of very small pixel composition (several micrometers) using semiconductor processing technology. There are several types of devices such as micro mirror devices using very small mirrors on silicon, LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) using liquid crystal silicon and reflective contacts and HTPS (high-temperature polysilicon) using liquid crystal silicon with transmissive technology. The MDDP is a projection display that expands an image from this device to the screen. The current size of Micro Display devices is around 0.5 to 0.7 inch in diagonal.

Common Advantages of Micro Device Displays

--High quality, large screen images in a lightweight and stylishly designed package

--Low power consumption saves on household utility costs and has a lower lifetime cost of ownership

--Long product life (with capability to restore screen brightness through lamp replacement)

--Runs cooler and saves on air-conditioning costs

--Low energy consumption from total energy for manufacturing

--Reduced CO2 emissions from total energy for manufacturing (MDDP as well as plasma Display and LCD TVs)

--Less waste for disposal of set, parts and materials

(Details of MDDP Consortium) (as of September 20th, 2006)

--Name of Consortium

MDDPC: Micro Device Display Consortium

--Date of establishment

September 15th, 2006

Consortium founding members:

Arisawa Mfg. Co., Ltd., Seiko Epson Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated and Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC)

Supporting companies:

3M Company, Luminus Devices, Inc., Samsung Japan Corporation and SCRAM Technologies, Inc.

Directors:

Representative Director:

Shintaro Nakagaki, Associate Director, Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC)

General Manager, Display Unit, Technology Development Division, JVC

Directors:

Masahide Iesaka, Executive Operating Officer, Arisawa Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Satofumi Koike, General Manager, Seiko Epson Corporation TFT Design & Engineering Department, TFT Operations Division

Kazuhiro Ohara DLP(R) Products, Senior Manager, Product Marketing & Technical Support Center, Texas Instruments Japan Limited

Takakazu Hayashi, Technical Marketing Manager, 3M APAC 

Mikiya Kuroda, Senior Manager, Samsung Japan Corporation, Business Development Department

Special Advisors:

International Display Workshops (IDW), Workshop on Projection and Large-Area Displays, and Their Components (LAD-WS) Chairman, Zenzo Tajima http://idw.ee.uec.ac.jp/

Consortium Establish Committee:

Techno System Research Co., Ltd. Midori Takaso

DLP and the DLP logo are registered trademarks of Texas Instruments.