Top Notebook PC and Flat Panel Display Producers Agree on Display Standard

AUSTIN, Texas, October 27, 1999 - The industry's top notebook PC and flat panel display (FPD) manufacturers today announced a mechanical and electrical standard for current and future notebook PC displays through the Standard Panels Working Group (SPWG). The SPWG consists of procurement and engineering executives from Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corp. and Toshiba Corp. DisplaySearch, a leading FPD market research and consulting firm, has facilitated the meetings.

In a joint statement the group said, "We are extremely pleased that the PC and FPD industries have reached an agreement on this standard. This new standard should help improve notebook PC display availability and allow each of us to reduce our time to market, allowing us to spend more time on what our customers really care about - reliability, service, support and price. The standard should reduce the overabundance of custom display module designs that has forced notebook OEMs to modify their packaging, interface design and tooling nearly every time a new panel supplier or display module is adopted. It will lessen the development cycles, logistics and problems created by product obsolescence. For the flat panel display industry, the standard offers the potential to decrease the number of designs and part numbers, improve the utilization of engineering resources, and reduce inventory control and other obstacles to design wins."

According to DisplaySearch President Ross Young, "The standardization of notebook PC display modules is a win for notebook PC manufacturers, FPD manufacturers and users. From the FPD manufacturers' perspective, it results in fewer part numbers, improved inventory control, better utilization of engineering resources, longer product life, reduced manufacturing and service costs and fewer obstacles to achieving an increased number of design wins. For the notebook PC manufacturer, it results in reduced time to market, shorter development cycles, improved inventory control and reduced servicing and tooling costs. Ultimately the customer wins, with better availability and pricing as costs get squeezed out of the process."

The SPWG standard 1.0 can be found and downloaded at DisplaySearch's web site at http://www.displaysearch.com/SPWG. In addition to the SPWG members, the standard has been endorsed by leading notebook PC OEMs and FPD manufacturers including Acer Inc., Acer Display Technology Inc., Arima Computer Corp., Chi Mei Optoelectronics, Compal Electronics Inc., First International Computer Inc., HannStar Display Corp., Hitachi Ltd., Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd., IBM's Display Business Unit, Intel Corp., Inventec Corp, LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd., Quanta Computer Inc., Quanta Display Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corp., Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. and Unipac Optoelectronics Corp. Additional companies are also expected to provide their support. Quotes from executives at endorsing companies can be found on the SPWG web site.

(Originally published by DisplaySearch)