Slimmest LCD ever developed by Samsung SDI

Samsung SDI has developed the slimmest liquid crystal display (LCD) for mobile phones, breaking the record set by its sister firm Samsung Electronics only three months ago.

The display maker said the new prototype module is only 0.74 millimeters thick, while Samsung Electronics' product is 0.82 millimeters. Samsung SDI also said it will start mass-producing a 1.9-millimeter-thick LCD module from the second quarter of the year, which is also the slimmest among commercially available ones.

The 1.9-millimeter module will fit into Samsung Electronics Ultra Edition II series which is scheduled to hit the market this spring. The 0.74-millimeter version is to be equipped in Samsung's next-generation phones, the company said.

"We have secured the industry's leading technologies for both development and manufacturing of slim mobile phone displays, said Kim Kee-doo, chief of the mobile phone display development team. "We will be able to actively respond to the fast growing slim mobile display market."

Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and LG.Philips LCD have been engaging in a three-way race to make slimmer, brighter and clearer mobile phone displays over the past years. Samsung Electronics, the biggest of the three, seemed to take a step ahead when it announced the development of the 0.82-millimeter module in November.

Monday's announcement from Samsung SDI means that Samsung Electronics' mobile phone department decided to purchase parts from SDI for its popular `Ultra series, instead of the ones made by its own LCD department.

The slim handset market has been steadily expanding since the phenomenal success of Motorola Razr phones. Samsung launched its Ultra series last year, which is from 6.9 millimeters to 12.9 millimeters thick.

As the demand rose from phone companies, display makers have worked to develop paper-thin color screens. So far, the slimmest of all is an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen made by Samsung SDI. The laboratory version is only 0.6 millimeters thick, though the company does not have a plan for mass manufacturing.

The OLED is slimmer, and yet has an unmatchable picture quality than LCDs. But we don't want to rush to shift from LCD to OLED, as there are few competitors in the OLED sector, a company official said.