What’s Next (in Display Technology)?

by Yong-Seog Kim
President, Society for Information Display

“What’s next [in displays]?” is a question I am frequently asked, especially by company leaders pondering their next move in the display industry. I typically answer as follows: If you look at the history of the information display industry, you will see that it took approximately 30 years for it to become a major industry. Therefore, if you find a display technology that has endured scrutiny and competition for more than 20 years, that technology has a good chance of becoming the next major display technology in the future. Many people are not very satisfied with that answer, which may be one of the reasons why people come to SID Display Week – to find their own answers.

People know that at Display Week they will find high-quality and cutting-edge information regarding the trends of information display technologies. SID has built a solid reputation as the authoritative source of information for the industry. This year’s technical conference was built from more than 700 submissions, reviewed (and in some cases rejected) for quality by more than 150 SID program committee members who were vigilant in maintaining the high-caliber standards that have become the SID hallmark.

Display Week 2018 in Los Angeles will feature the world-renowned technical symposium, short courses, and seminars; the three-day exhibition; the Innovation Zone; and the Business, Investors, and Market Focus Conferences. The technical symposium has designed special sessions to attract emerging display technologies, including Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Artificial Intelligence; Quantum Dots and microLEDs; and Wearable Displays, Sensors, and Devices.

This year, SID is inaugurating the David Sarnoff Industrial Achievement (DSIA) Prize to honor individuals for long-term and significant leadership and/or exceptional contributions to the advancement of the information display industry. The prize is named after the late David Sarnoff, a pioneer of American radio and television who served as Radio Corporation of America (RCA) president and chairman for many years. This prestigious and unique award provides the opportunity for us to recognize an outstanding person who might not qualify for one of SID’s technical achievement awards but who nonetheless has had a profound, positive effect on the display industry.

At Display Week 2005 in Boston, Sang Wan Lee, who was in charge of the LCD division of Samsung Electronics at the time, gave his now-famous keynote speech, “LCD Revolution – The Third Wave.” Dr. Lee made a provocative prediction that production volumes of 100 million LCD TVs per year could be achieved by 2010. Considering that at that time, CRTs had 70 percent TV market share and 40-in. LCDs cost $2,500 each, his speech was very controversial, but an effective way to share his goal with the display community at large. As we know now, the 100-million-per-year milestone was actually achieved earlier, in 2008. At that time, Lee answered the question: What’s next? He will be the first winner of the DSIA prize and I hope SID will have more industry leaders to share their visions with our members in coming years.

During Display Week 2018, Dr. Helge Seetzen will take the reins as SID’s incoming president. I hope you will join me in welcoming Dr. Seetzen. He has done outstanding work for SID for many years, and I have no doubt that our organization will prosper under his leadership. It has been my great privilege to serve the SID membership during these past two years.

Enjoy Display Week 2018 in L.A.  •