News Releases

November 21, 2016

November 21, 2016 (Tokyo, Japan) - Japan Display Inc. (JDI) today announced the development of a 3.42-inch low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT LCD specifically designed for virtual reality (VR) head mount displays (HMD) and started sample delivery.

The new LTPS TFT LCD provides the required display performance and characteristics for VR applications, including ultra-high resolution, high-speed response time, high refresh rate, and blinking backlight. These features enable the new VR-HMD LCD to show more life-like images and create a more immersive experience than other VR-HMD displays currently available in the market.

Enhancing reality and the sense of immersion through advancements in both software and hardware are indispensable for VR device users to feel and enjoy experiences which are nearly identical to reality. The recent technology evolution in sensors, displays, signal processing and signal transmission has greatly improved the VR user-experience, which in turn has supported the growth of the VR market. Currently-available displays, however, do not satisfy the required level of "VR quality" in terms of resolution, response time and motion quality because they are not designed for VR applications but instead for smartphones. JDI has succeeded in developing a display specifically-designed for VR device.

1) Ultra-high resolution
Since a VR-HMD has lenses between the user’s eyes and the display, which magnifies the display image, the user's eyes can see the structure of pixels when smartphone-type displays are used. This spoils the feeling of reality and sense of immersion. JDI has developed an ultra-high resolution display with 651ppi*¹, with which the user can hardly see the pixel structure. JDI plans to develop and start sample shipments of an even higher resolution 800ppi display next.

2) Suppression of motion blur
Since there are many cases in which objects move quickly on a VR display, motion blur can be a major problem. In order to suppress motion blur, JDI has employed a high refresh rate of 90Hz, a high-speed IPS LCD with response time 3 msec (black-to-white), and blinking backlight technology (with a 10% duty rate, typical).

3) Improved system latency
The "system latency" of a VR device is defined as the time latency beginning from the moment the motion sensor recognizes the start of the user’s movement to the moment the image is displayed on the VR-HMD. If the system latency is too long, the user's brain becomes stressed, and the user cannot continue using the VR-HMD. JDI's VR display has a high refresh rate and a high-speed IPS LCD, which contributes to shorten the latency of the display which is a significant part of the overall system latency.

*¹ ppi is an abbreviation for pixels per inch.

Figure 1.　Comparison of pixel fineness between a low ppi display vs. a high ppi display

(a) Smartphone display (b) VR display

Figure 2. Comparison of motion blur between a smartphone display vs. a VR display

About Japan Display Inc.
Japan Display Inc. (JDI) is a leading global manufacturer of advanced small- and medium-sized LTPS LCD panels. By leveraging its advanced technologies and the world's largest LTPS production capacity, JDI provides high resolution, low power consumption and thin displays for smartphones, tablets, automotive electronics, digital cameras, medical equipment and other electronic devices. JDI, which commenced operations in April 2012, was formed through the consolidation of the display panel businesses of Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba. The company's common stock is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with the securities code number 6740. For more information please visit: https://www.j-display.com/english/.

The information contained in this press release is accurate as of the date of issuance and is subject to change without notice. Information in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, constitutes forward-looking statements, which are based on available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements.