September 21, 2006
LCI first-ever university site for International Display Research Conference

On September 18, Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute hosted the first laboratory-based workshops for the 26th International Display Research Conference (IDRC) sponsored by the Society for Information Display (SID). The workshops, featuring hands-on presentations of display technology, kicked-off an outstanding week of presentations focused on developing and emerging technologies. This marks the first time that the IDRC took place in a university setting.

The conference, attended by 250 people, primarily focused on the latest research on plasma displays, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes, flexible displays and electronic paper.

“Having the conference at Kent State University was exciting because it is the first time a university has hosted the original and premier conference on display research,” says Conference General Chair and LCI Associate Director Dr. Philip Bos, “Other conferences put a heavy emphasis on what’s available now and what’s going to be available a year from now; whereas at IDRC, the focus is on the underlying work that is pointing toward the future of displays.”

Kent State Vice President of Research John West and LCI director Oleg Lavrentovich opened the conference with a welcome to Kent State.

Keynote speaker, Jun H. Souk, executive vice president and director of the LCD Research and Development Center for Samsung Electronics, gave an exciting presentation entitled “Flat-Panel Display World in 2012,” which foreshadowed the developments he expects in the future of the display industry. Souk not only visualizes 100+” flat-panel televisions in consumer’s homes, but even considers that the virtual realities shown in futuristic movies like “Minority Report”, could become a reality.

The entire first day of the technical program (Tuesday, September 19) was dedicated to the new area of flexible displays. Key Invited Paper presentations were given by Greg Raupp from the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University (TFT Backplane Technology Development for Flexible Displays) and J. William Doane from Kent Displays, Inc., former director of the Liquid Crystal Institute (Cholesteric Reflective Displays: Thin and Flexible Displays).

Another important aspect of the conference was the group of presentations about new materials by University of Colorado’s David Walba and Noel Clark as well as Harry Coles from University of Cambridge. Walba presented “Chiral SmA* Materials for Display Applications.” Clark presented “Experimental Observations of the Polarization Current Response of a Chiral Smectic-A Phase During Electronic Reorientation.” And, Coles presented “Bimesogenic Liquid Crystals: New Materials for High Performance Flexoelectric and Blue Phase Displays.”

Another highlight of IDRC came on Thursday September 21, when Samsung’s (the world’s largest display manufacturer) S.S. Kim gave an invited paper presentation on “The Developments of Super-PVA Technology for Wide-Viewing-Angle Performance.”

"IDRC is where researchers from the top display companies and universities meet to discuss where they are headed," explained Bos. "At IDRC, you can see the whole picture of display research, from the discussion of totally new ideas, to the optimization of existing ones. It spans all technologies in an integrated format, so comparisons can be made across technological lines. It is the only conference that allows someone to draw their own impression about what is the future of displays."

One of the major highlights of the conference for the LCI came when J. William Doane, the former director of the LCI, received the Chairman’s Award to for his contributions to the IDRC and display industry.

Another LCI success was the Open House held Wednesday night at the Liquid Crystal Materials Sciences Building. Attendees were treated to a tour of the LCI labs, student posters, a Kent Displays, Inc. exhibit, wine, appetizers and a string quartet. Kent Displays, Inc. sponsored the Open House.

The IDRC, which rotates yearly between North America and Europe, offers an intimate look at display topics being actively researched, both in universities and in the industry as a whole.

To view the program and learn more about IDRC 2006 visit: http://www.idrc2006.org/