Industry Working Groups Update Mobile PC Display Specification

New Specification to Improve Panel Interchangeability, Enable Lower Display Power Consumption

Intel Developer Forum, San Francisco, February 18, 2004 - The Standard Panels Working Group (SPWG), today announced the release of the SPWG 3.0 specification, designed to help improve the notebook PC display availability and time to market by shortening development cycles and minimizing product obsolescence. This specification development work was done in collaboration with the members of Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group (EBL-WG). The new specification is available for downloading at www.spwg.org.

The SPWG, formed in October 1999, brings together the industry’s mobile PC and LCD manufacturers to create mechanical and electrical standards for mobile PC displays. The group brings together mobile PC makers, TFT-LCD suppliers, connectivity solution suppliers (such as cabling and connectors), display components suppliers, display industry market research/analysis companies and others. Almost 60 percent of the displays used in the industry now comply with the current SPWG 2.0 specification. The specification has helped reduce the overabundance of custom display module designs that previously forced notebook OEMs to customize their packaging, interface design and tooling for new panel supplier and display modules. The SPWG 3.0 specification further improves panel interchangeability by adding support for additional sizes and resolutions including support for wide aspect panels, providing recommendations for integrated inverter location and connector pin out, and for the front of screen parameter definition and measurement methodology.

“After the SPWG 2.0 specification was developed in September 2001, no ongoing updates occurred for an extended period of time. EBL WG members realized the need to update the specification to keep up with the pace of changing mobile PC display industry. With the support of the EBL WG, the SPWG 3.0 specification adds recommendations for integrated inverter and power measurement methodology. This is a step in the right direction which will lead to matched 1:1 panel/inverter combination resulting in the most power efficient operation of the notebook display. The SPWG 3.0 specification’s adoption of the power measurement guidelines developed by the mobile PC EBL WG will also help ensure consistent measurement across the industry,” said Kamal Shah, display strategy and mobility enabling manager, Mobile Platforms Group, Intel, and the chairman of the Mobile PC EBL WG.

“Support for additional panel sizes and resolutions in the SPWG 3.0 specification expands the scope of the SPWG 2.0 and helps streamline product roadmaps at mobile PC manufacturing companies,” said Rieko Kataoka, manager of Application Product Development, Portable Systems, IBM Japan Ltd.  “The SPWG 3.0 specification further enhances panel interchangeability while allowing product differentiation and technology innovation.  The SPWG 3.0 specification defines common mechanical and electrical interfaces that enable PC makers and suppliers to focus on providing differentiated solutions to their respective customers for other aspects of the panels.”

The Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Work Group (EBL WG) is a worldwide, industry-wide group of companies working together to extend the battery life of mobile PCs. For more information about the EBL WG, visit www.eblwg.org.  More information about the SPWG can be found at www.spwg.org.