The Society for Information Display Celebrates 50 Years of Display Innovation and Achievement During Display Week 2012 In Boston

CAMPBELL, Calif., May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrating 50 years as an organization dedicated to display innovation, the Society for Information Display (SID), announced its final program line up for Display Week 2012.  Display Week is SID's annual International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, and will run from June 3-8, 2012 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.  Keynote speakers include industry visionaries from LG Display, Samsung Electronics and MIT, while the technical program features more than 400 papers covering the latest state-of-the-art developments in the display arena.

SID was established in 1962 to bring together the electronics industry's best minds to focus on development and commercialization of display technology, with the inaugural Display Week taking place a year later.  "The landscape of the display industry was far different then compared to what it looks like today," said Brian Berkeley, SID's president-elect.  "Back in the days of heavy glass cathode ray tubes, it would have been hard for most of us to imagine displays evolving as they have over the past 50 years.  The first plasma display debuted in 1964 and the first LCD in 1968; today, LCD industry production well exceeds 100 million units per year.  In 1974, we saw the first AMLCD prototype, and 10 years later, the first commercial LCD TV hit the market.  OLED was discovered in 1987, with the first commercial OLED panel coming to market in 1999.  In 2009, mobile OLED displays achieved high-volume mass production.  These and myriad other display innovations ALL debuted at Display Week."

Berkeley continued, "This event has been, and continues to be, the most important venue for getting a first look at what consumers will be clamoring to buy in the months and years ahead.  The display technology you see here and at other conferences has changed how we live, work and play.  But, as every display company and research organization knows, Display Week is truly the only venue where you can get the most comprehensive look at all the display technologies shaping our future."

The evolution of display technology will be the focus of the keynote addresses at Display Week 2012, as the speakers provide their vision of how this evolution will change the shape of displays in the future.  Kicking off the Symposium portion of the event on Tuesday morning, June 5, the keynote addresses include:

• Recent Breakthroughs for Larger-Sized OLED Displays and Their Application to OLED TV – Dr. Byung Chul Ahn, senior vice president and head of the OLED Development Center, LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Display Transformation for Continuous Growth of the Display Industry – Dr. Sung Tae Shin, senior vice president, LCD R&D Center, LCD Business, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• Computational Displays: New Optimization for Interactive Lighting-Sensitive 3D Displays – Dr. Ramash Raskar, associate professor of Media Arts and Sciences and co-director, Center for Future Storytelling, MIT

Technical Program

This year's technical program consists of 73 technical sessions with a total of 256 oral presentations and an additional 138 papers to be presented at the Thursday afternoon poster session.  Special technology tracks will cover green technologies, 3D, solid-state lighting, touch and interactivity, and printed displays and electronics.  Highlights of each special track are provided below.

• Touch and Interactivity – While touch has become an increasingly crucial component for numerous display products, the industry has not found the ideal touch-technology solution.  Touch is in an evolutionary phase now, and this year's papers reflect the diversity of approaches: projective-capacitive, optical and many more.
• 3D – Possibly the biggest recent commercial story in displays is the arrival of 3D-ready TVs.  Researchers continue to pursue different approaches of active-shutter vs. passive glasses technology, while many experts believe glasses-free viewing must be achieved to make 3D displays truly successful.  Presentations also cover auto-stereoscopic 3D displays, 3D comfort and perception, volumetric and holographic displays, and stereoscopic and display applications.
• Solid-State Lighting – LEDs have made more commercial inroads in saving energy and providing design flexibility than OLEDs, which are currently available only in high-end architectural applications.  OLED papers therefore form the bulk of this year's solid-state-lighting sessions, as the industry pushes to develop higher-efficiency, higher-performing OLED panels.  Other solid-state-lighting papers will focus on trends in LED illumination.
• Flexible Electronics and Printed Displays – SID is dedicating sessions to these technologies for the first time at Display Week.  Recent advances in the area of flexible electronics and printed displays have created the potential for lightweight, low-cost and flexible devices based on technologies such as oxide TFT, OLED and organic photovoltaics (OPV).  The exciting work to be described includes printing of organic TFTs and using high-temperature processes on low-temperature substrates.
• Green Technologies – Display technology continually advances to provide more resolution, larger size and better performance – all at a lower cost.  At the same time, environmental, social and legislative forces are combining to ensure that manufacturers use the greenest possible processes to create the most energy-efficient displays.  Examples will abound at Display Week of companies and research organizations that are "doing well" by "doing good."

Held in conjunction with the symposium, the 2012 exhibition will feature nearly 200 companies showing the latest display developments, many of which, attendees can expect to see integrated into the next generation of consumer electronics products and gadgets in the near future.  A ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating SID's 50 years of innovation will kick off the opening of the exhibition, which follows immediately after the morning keynote addresses.  Admission is free with registration for any of the technical sessions.  Exhibit-only attendance is $25.  Hours and dates for the exhibits are:

• Tuesday, June 5:  10:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 6:  9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Thursday, June 7:  9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

I-Zone—Making its inaugural debut at Display Week 2012, SID will provide a forum for live demonstrations of emerging information display technologies in an exhibit called the "Innovation Zone" (I-Zone) in the main Exhibit Hall.  The I-Zone, sponsored by E Ink, offers researchers space to demonstrate their prototypes or other hardware demo units for 2 days free of charge, encouraging participation by small companies, startups, universities, government labs and independent research labs.

As if all of the content-intensive symposium and exhibition weren't enough, attendees can participate in additional activities summarized below.  More information on the respective agendas for each of these widely acclaimed events are available at www.displayweek.org.

Business Conference and Market Focus Conference Series—Sponsored in part with IMS Conferences, the Business Conference and Market Focus Conference Series returns to Display Week.  This year's Business Conference will take place on Monday, June 4, and will focus on the opportunities and challenges companies are facing in this highly volatile economic environment.  Meanwhile the Market Focus Conference Series (LED Lighting Evolution and the Future of Touch and Interactivity) will run June 6 and June 7, respectively—and will bring together industry leaders throughout the supply chain to explore the cutting-edge innovations that will shape the future of these two fields.

Investors Conference—Produced in collaboration with Cowen and Company, the Investors Conference returns again for its 8th year on Tuesday, June 5 and will feature presentations from leading public and private companies in the display technology supply chain.

Awards and Special Events

Awards Banquet—The Honors and Awards Banquet will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 4, within the convention center.  Tickets cost $75 and must be purchased in advance, as they will not be available on site.

Awards Luncheon—The Display Industry and Best-in-Show Awards will be presented at this luncheon, scheduled for noon on Wednesday, June 6, at the convention center.  Tickets cost $35, and the luncheon is open to all interested attendees.

Special Local Event—This year's signature Display Week event, sponsored by Corning Inc., will be held Wednesday evening, June 6, from 7:00-10:00 p.m. at Boston's Museum of Science.  Attendees will dine amid high-tech devices, mingle among Mesozoic creatures, and experience a journey to the stars.  Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased at the SID Registration Desk.

Contact Information:

• Media and market analysts interested in attending Display Week must contact Marie Labrie or Joseph Beare at [email protected]; credentials will be required.
• Companies interested in exhibiting or participating in sponsorship opportunities at Display Week can contact Christine von Steiger at [email protected]. 

About Display Week
The 49th SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, dubbed Display Week 2012, will take place Sunday, June 3-8, 2012, at the Boston Convention Center.  Display Week is the premier international gathering of scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users in the field of electronic-information displays.  For more information on Display Week 2012, visit http://www.sid.org/ConferencesExhibits/DisplayWeek2012.aspx or follow us on Twitter at @DisplayWeek.  Share Display Week-related tweets using the hash tag #SID2012.

About SID
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Society for Information Display (SID) is the only professional organization focused on the display industry.  In fact, by exclusively focusing on the advancement of electronic-display technology, SID provides a unique platform for industry collaboration, communication and training in all related technologies while showcasing the industry's best new products.  With more than 6,000 members worldwide, the organization's members are professionals in the technical and business disciplines that relate to display research, design, manufacturing, applications, marketing and sales.  To promote industry and academic technology development, while also educating consumers on the importance of displays, SID hosts more than 10 conferences a year, including Display Week, which brings industry and academia all under one roof to showcase technology that will shape the future.  SID's global headquarters are located at 1475 S. Bascom Ave., Ste. 114, Campbell, Calif. 95008.  For more information, visit www.sid.org.

SOURCE SID