Optical Bonding Facility Meets Growing Demand

Have you searched for a vendor to help with your optical bonding display requirements? Planar's optical bonding lab is fully functional and able to assist with all of your optical bonding projects. And, we've created an optical bonding vendor checklist to make your selection easier.

It's important to choose an optical bonding vendor that can provide comprehensive quality and engineering systems and has processes in place to certify their work. Planar's state-of-the-art optical bonding facility is a Class 10,000 certified cleanroom and has ISO 9001, MIL-Spec and FDA level quality systems in place.

Why do you care about optical bonding? Well, because it provides protection, clarity and viewability, improves resistance to shake and shock and fills the gap between the protective glass and LCD to keep out dust and moisture. And, you can learn lots more about the benefits of optical bonding in Planar's Optical Bonding FAQ.

Are you wondering what display applications would benefit from optical bonding? Displays used in avionics, digital signage, vehicle navigation, outdoor television, and hand carried electronic devices can generally benefit from better readability than is representative of the standard TFT offerings. In ambient light conditions, improved display contrast enables displays to be more readily seen without increasing backlight brightness and the associated unwanted higher power and higher operating temperatures.

Let Planar guide you through your optical bonding requirements and let us know what other performance films and coatings would be useful to your display project.

Large Format Signage on Display at Digital Signage Expo

The Digital Signage Expo just ended at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Planar exhibited some amazing large format digital signage displays in our booth #1254.

If your display requirements call for deployment in retail environments, Planar's 42" digital signage might be the ticket. And, we offer displays ranging from 37" to 65" to meet other size requirements. Touchscreen integration makes it easy for your customers to interact with your digital content. The 46" outdoor digital signage includes an optically bonded IR/AR filter for superior sunlight-readability, along with a wide viewing angle and custom cooling design which requires no A/C. This display is perfect for extreme environments where outdoor conditions can impact viewing.

Also on display in Planar's booth was the Clarity Matrix LCD Video Wall. If you're in need of a seamless video wall and uninterupted operation for your control room operations, the Clarity Matrix LCD Video Wall, with its ultra-thin bezel, provides outstanding tiled visual performance.

Planar's customization display experience has been applied to numerous projects that need a tailored solution. Let us know what your large format digital display needs are.

Catalog of Specialty Displays

Have you been looking for a display solution for your project? Planar has just posted its Embedded Displays Catalog on its website. Almost every application you would need a display for can be found in this new and updated catalog.

Planar's display innovation began over 26 years ago with the Electroluminescent (EL) displays and has grown to include transportation, kiosk and digital signage, custom displays and 3D/Stereoscopic displays, to name a few. If your custom design project requires a rugged and custom display, Planar can assist with product definition and guide you through the challenges of developing a custom display.

An interactive guide to selecting a custom LCD can help with your display requirement selections, as well. Planar has developed a Guide just for that purpose. So, between the Guide and the Catalog, Planar can help guide you through the key considerations in creating your display.

Check out the catalog and let us know if there's something missing that would help you with your design project.

LCD Displays and the Future of Touch

The researchers at MIT's Media Lab have been working on a thin LCD display design that is touch and gesture friendly, much like your iPhone. Despite the fact they've already developed a large -scale gestural interface like the system that Tom Cruise's character uses in the movie Minority Report, the goal is to be able to incorporate the gestural display into a thin LCD device without wearing gloves or any type of tracking tags.


LCDs with built-in optical sensors are new to the market and Media Lab hasn't been able to procure any yet, so they are experimenting with a mocked up display in their lab to test their approach. The LCD display includes an array of optical sensors right behind it and serves as lens to display a black-and-white pattern that lets light through to the sensors. On Dec 19 at Siggraph Asia, the MIT team is presenting the first application of its work, a display that lets users manipulate on-screen images using hand gestures.


Customized LCD displays can be used in a multitude of other applications, too. Planar's use of an ultra-thin digital signage display provides premium performance by using LED backlighting. If your display specifications require more brightness and less wattage, Planar's in-house design and manufacturing capability enables performance advances in TFT display technology. Or, if you have some questions about selecting a custom LCD display, Planar offers some answers in its ebook and provides a guide to help navigate your display project requirements.


How would you use gesturing or touch for your display project?

Ultra-thin Digital Signage - 1/2" Thick

Our R&D and engineering teams have been applying their expertise with LED backlighting to create a 32" digital sign that is only .5" thick. We're applying this technology to build ultra-thin and low power displays. Here's a quick video showing the digital sign in action.



What else could you do with an ultra-thin display?

Large Format Digital Signage Makes a Hit in Retail

Who knew the number of people who walk through the doors of big-box retailers was greater than viewers watching Idol? And, since advertisers are frothing at the mouth to get their share of consumer dollars it all made sense why consolidated marketing practices referenced in an article in AdWeek are so popular. We not only see the usual end-aisle displays, but also in-store video networks displaying content on digital signage which we believe is the best way to get your message out to consumers. Talk about a way to intergrate the shopper with your products! Here's an example of a large format digital display that can be used in many retail environments:



In this display format lots of information can be displayed and, in a touch display format, consumers can interact to find information about products in retail stores quickly. What features do you wish were included in retail digital signage?

Customized Digital Signage

Our engineering team has been cranking on an exciting new custom project. A few details were recently released about our collaboration with PRN, the leading provider of television networks in retail environments. Who watches TV in stores? Evidently a lot of folks as PRN is the 5th largest TV network. Here's an excerpt from an article in Inc. Magazine from a few years ago.

But PRN is the biggest television network you've never heard of because of these traits, not in spite of them. Its name stands for Premier Retail Networks, and it is the in-store ESPN of consumer products. In industry argot, PRN is by far the largest network in the domestic "narrowcasting" niche, the business of sharply targeted "out-of-home" networks that was born of the fragmentation of traditional television audiences. PRN responded to the fragmented media landscape with a question elegant in its simplicity: Considering that about 70% of brand-buying decisions -- Charmin or Cottonelle? -- are made inside the store, why not try to get relevant ads in front of shoppers at the moment of decision? "Where else," asks Jim Wiatt, CEO of William Morris and a PRN board member, "can advertisers get the message out better?"
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050601/tv-network.html

Check out the release "Planar Systems Wins Contract with Thomson's PRN to Deploy Digital Displays." Look for more news about this project later in the year.