The Taiwanese manufacturer of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels, AU Optronics, has entered into an agreement with Field Emission Technologies and FET Japan, Inc., to transfer technology from FET, a company specializing in field emission displays technology that is part owned by Sony Corporation.
In the transaction, AUO will acquire certain assets that include patents, know-how, inventions, and relevant equipment related to FED technology and materials.
AUO says that the fast response time, high efficiency, brightness, and contrast of FED technology not only compare favorably with traditional CRT technology but also outperform it in terms of image quality and power efficiency. FED technology will be focused on high-end display application for future development. FED technology will be a new application option in the flat display industry in addition to OLED, which will become a strong support for AUO's unique competence in the future.
According to AUO's CEO and President, Dr. L. J. Chen, FED technology will be an appropriate fit especially for the high-end market needs such as medical or broadcast displays; adding that Sony had been a leader in FED technology, and AUO also has committed itself to developing new technologies. He concluded that with its successful cooperation with FET, AUO intends to utilize FET's resources of FED technology to commercialize products, which would hopefully benefit their customers and end consumers.
FED display is self light-emitting and has great contrast and low power consumption, with no motion blur and deeper color depth and is capable of 12bit gray level.
The acquisition is seen as a highlight for AUO's strategies of actively developing core technologies in advanced displays, with the contribution of the Department of Industrial Technology of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs supporting Taiwanese companies in acquiring core industrial technologies.
With the completion of the acquisition, AUO expects to become one of the few companies in the world that will be able to offer commercialized FED products.