LCD TV Gets Technology Association

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/29/2007

LAS VEGAS — Seeing promotion groups devoted to other display technologies, including plasma displays and rear-projection TVs, a long-time developer of LCD TV concepts and technologies has started a coalition supporting the hugely popular flat-panel LCD technology.

Bruce Berkoff, former executive VP and chief marketing officer of LG.Philips LCD in Seoul, South Korea, recently formed the LCD TV Association ( www.LCDTVAssociation.org), which he has based in Beaverton, Ore.

Early members include component and finished product manufacturers, retailers and market research organizations including Coring, DisplaySearch, LG.Philips, Micronas, Syntax-Brillian and the U.S. Display Consortium.

He said the LCD TV Association is billed as "a global non-profit trade association formed to help the entire LCD supply chain and retail channel through to the end consumer via various communication tools, including speeches, interviews, sponsored research and the resulting information distribution."

Berkoff, who is listed as the "founding chairman" of the organization, said that in addition to educating the industry and consumers to the benefits of LCD TV technology, the association will "also look to develop features and functions for the industry to better support their products."

Berkoff, who is credited with coining such common industry terminology and concepts as "GreenTV," "Auto Format Detection" and "dynamic contrast," said he would like member companies to sit down together to hash out common solutions that can be used to advance LCD TV performance collectively, while increasing consumer demand for the technology in general.

He envisions the body as "a voice of reason in providing standards."

"The LCD TV Association is a place where interested parties can share ideas in a friendly manner to make better products," Berkhoff said. "There's lots you can do to add value without adding a lot of extra cost."

Berkoff's background includes being CEO and chairman of Enuclia Semiconductor, a venture capital-funded fabless semiconductor startup in the HDTV video processor space, and executive VP and chief marketing officer of LG.Philips LCD for 6 years. Before that, Berkhoff served as general manager of Philips Flat Display Systems' software and electronics business unit in Silicon Valley. He has also held executive management positions at several technology companies, including UMAX Computer, Radius and SuperMac Technologies.

The mission statement of the foundation is based on four pillars, including: "information dissemination," "promotion," "improvement" and "connection" of the industry supply chain through a Web site, publications, research and white papers, Berkoff said.

Berkoff said the body will have general memberships and "sustaining members," a smaller body of power players who will work together on a regular basis to advance the state of the technology. He said sustaining members will meet quarterly on key issues facing their products and a detailed report on their discussions will be issued to members in a newsletter produced by the association.