Epson Commences Production of World's Smallest XGA HTPS-TFT Liquid Crystal Panel

Seiko Epson Corporation (Epson) today announced that it has started volume production of its latest line of liquid crystal panels ("3LCD chips") for 3LCD data projectors. Measuring just 0.55 of an inch (1.4 cm) on the diagonal, the new 3LCD chips are believed to be the world's smallest high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) TFT panels offering XGA (1024x768) resolution.

The new 3LCD chips enable projectors to deliver 2000 to 2600 lumens of brightness. Epson made this possible by using a liquid crystal material with high light-resistance and by further increasing the luminance of panels with an organic alignment layer. Also, Epson achieved an aperture ratio equivalent to that of the company's earlier 0.63-inch (1.6 cm) panels while shrinking the chip size to 0.55 inch by using its latest process technology to narrow the pixel pitch of the new panels to 11 microns.