For embedded computing applications, such as point-of-sale terminals, display and security systems, a number of suppliers are offering single board computer (SBC) ranges with PC-quality graphics capabilities.

Typically for units with 40in. LCD or plasma panels, many designs have done away with the separate display driver and the SBC is integrated into the back of the display panel. With price tags as low as £100 for some boards it is proving cost effective to integrate a full-featured SBC onto the display.

For example, Trident Microsystems is offering the VIA EPIA M-series, which features the VIA Apollo CLE266 chipset with embedded UniChrome MPEG-2 decoder and integrated 2D/3D graphics core.

Designed for LVDS embedded LCD panels, it has a memory bandwidth of DDR266 SDRAM and data transfer speeds of ATA/133.

Display Solutions is another company offering displays and embedded display systems for industrial control, process engineering, retail sectors, or public information and point-of-sale.

The Huntingdon-based firm offers graphic and character LCD displays for industrial, commercial and digital signage markets. Sunlight readable displays, fanless embedded computers, touch monitors and peripherals for the industrial control system, automotive, kiosk and POS markets. Its suppliers include Aaeon, Advantech, 3M Microtouch, LG/Philips and Sharp.

To support embedded displays markets such as point-of-sale and industrial systems, Anders Electronics has opened a design facility in London to produce custom display systems.

The design centre, which will also support the firm’s growing embedded PC product business including its recently announced Intel XScale based systems, will cover the distributor’s range of conventional and low-temperature polysilicon colour TFT LCDs, OLED flat panel displays and flexible plastic.

Pacer Components is another distributor which has built up its displays business in the last few years. Key markets for the Pangbourne-based firm are currently medical systems, military and industrial sectors as well new activity in point-of-sales kiosk designs.

Positioning itself as a specialist supplier of display panels ranging from high value vacuum fluorescent and TFTs to commodity mono and passive displays. Its lines include Samsung VFDs, Tatung TFTs and low cost passive displays from Chinese supplier Orient.

Review Display Systems (RDS) includes NEC, Futaba, Aaeon, and Panasonic amongst its franchises. It offers the full range of display products from standard LCD modules to TFT panels and complete systems incorporating drivers and SBCs.

Customisation of display systems should not be limited to higher value TFT and VFD products. For standard character LCD modules, available as yellow/green STN with yellow/green LED backlight, there is a demand to differentiate a specific application to the standard yellow/green module.

RDS offers a variety of colour combinations and positive or negative display images. Typical combinations are white LED backlight and FSTN LCD in negative mode. This gives an active white character on an almost black background. The advantage of the negative display image is more active display information to the user.

For reasonable volumes it can offer almost any combination of an LED backlight colour: Blue, green, red, yellow and white and either STN or FSTN LCD, negative or positive image. This can be done in the standard range of character modules from 16 characters in one line up to 40 characters in four lines.

Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) supplier Itron also specialises in customised products, which it supports from a UK-based design and manufacturing centre.

The Great Yarmouth-based firm has moved most of its products to chip-in-glass VFD technology which increasingly makes the products cost effective for industrial and consumer applications.

Many of the firm’s VFD modules have seen significant price reduction in the last few years. When this is combined with the traditional features of VFDs, which are high reliability and high brightness, the design opportunities for this long established monochrome display technology in panel meters and even car dashboards seems to be growing.

Apollo Display Technologies is a supplier of Optrex LCDs, which range from alphanumeric (1x8 up to 4x40) modules through to mono/colour passive graphics displays (from 128x32 up to 640x480). There are also active matrix TFT’s from 2.5 up to 15in. specifically for industrial applications offering brightness up to 850cd for sunlight readability.

NEC distributors such as Gleichmann Electronics, RDS and Sunrise Electronics are soon to start sampling of an 8.4in. (21cm-diagonal) VGA TFT LCD module based on NEC’s proprietary UA-SFT high luminance, high contrast ratio technology.

Known as the NL6448BC26-08D the module offers a high luminance of 400cd/m2 and a wide colour gamut of 72 per cent, equivalent to that of a cathode-ray tube.

The TFT also has a viewing angle of 170 degrees, with a contrast ratio greater than 10:1.

www.sunrise.co.uk
www.msc-ge.com
www.noritake-itron.com
www.review-displays.co.uk
www.pacer.co.uk
www.apollodisplays.com
www.anders.co.uk
www.displaysolutions.co.uk
www.tridentmicrosystems.co.uk