LG Debuts Sunlit LCD Panel At CES

By Colleen Bohen -- TWICE, December 22, 2008

Seoul, South Korea — LG’s display division has developed a 14.1-inch LCD panel for notebooks that is illuminated by sunlight instead of the backlight when used outdoors.

LG said its backlight data signal switching technology uses selective reflection plates in existing backlight panels to enable the switch from reflective mode in sunlight to a “transmissive” mode indoors and at night. The switch can be performed with the touch of a button.

According to the company, the display consumes about one-fourth the amount of energy in its sunlight mode than it does when it uses the backlight, which increases battery life.

LG said the display has a “contrast ratio exceeding 9:1 when used outdoors in reflective mode” as opposed to the 2:1 or 3:1 ratio that it said conventional notebooks offer when used outdoors.

The panel will debut at the International CES, being held in Las Vegas next month, at a private room in the Bellagio Hotel.