Tom Miller has spent more than 30 years working independently as a serial entrepreneur as well as a serial intrapreneur within multi-national corporations. His career has included leadership roles at both Fortune 1000 companies such as Texas Instruments, NCR, Fairchild Semiconductor, Fujitsu and DuPont, and entrepreneurial ventures such as Integrated CMOS Systems and VIA Technologies. Tom is a Founding Partner of Endeavor Innovation Partners and is also a Principal with E3 Innovation, Inc.
Today, Tom serves as the executive director for SID, a newly appointed position designed to help the organization expand its global brand and visibility as the leading authority on display technology. Needless to say, Tom is an expert in the field of displays and took the time to give Avnet his insights into the future of display technology.
FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHAT ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TRENDS IMPACTING THE DISPLAY MARKET TODAY AND WHAT SHOULD AVNET’S CUSTOMERS WATCH FOR?
I believe there are three key trends that will impact the display market starting later this year. First, the use of 3D imaging will increase in entertainment applications and LCD vendors will be ready with special configurations using new 3D filtering technology. This kind of9technology has been demonstrated for the past couple of years at the SID Display Week and content developers are going to be launching new releases in increasing numbers.
Second, plasma is not ready to be replaced as a display technology. Very large displays are ready for shipment in 2008, and many of the past problems with heat and power have been effectively mitigated in the new products ready to come to market. One very interesting new development is coming from a new plasma display company called Shinoda Plasma Co., Ltd., which is based in Japan. Dr. Shinoda and his team of researchers have developed a new plasma display technology that will support wall-sized displays that can be curved to fit a wall surface. The color gamut and saturation levels have also improved based on new materials and firing methods. Plasma technology will continue to be a technology of choice for large information displays as well as an excellent choice for home theater installations.
Third, the popularization of e-paper displays will expand from e-book readers to new applications such as cellular handsets and supermarket shelf labels. Since e-paper is inherently flexible, it will likely be one of the first displays used for conformal-fitted applications. And new manufacturers are coming to market to provide a broader variety of choices at increasingly attractive price points.
Although these are some of the key trends for this year, you can expect to be surprised by new technology breakthroughs that will impact new products in the coming years.
DISPLAYS HAVE BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF AVNET’S BUSINESS FORWELL OVER A DECADE. HOW DO YOU SEE INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION IMPACTING THE DISPLAY MARKET OVER THE NEXT DECADE?
One of the most interesting developments over the past ten years has been the evolution of the display market outside Asia. While most large-volume electronic systems get manufactured in Asia, a vibrant market still exists for embedded displays in special purpose, moderate-volume electronics systems designed and manufactured in local markets. In North America, for example, analysts estimate that more than $500 million of commercial off-the-shelf LCD displays are adapted to fit into embedded applications for military and commercial avionics, marine navigation and instrumentation systems, automotive and heavy transportation, medical instruments, and other industrial sectors. I’m sure your team won’t be surprised to learn that the latest models of John Deere agricultural equipment have LCD displays inside the cockpits to assist with navigation, operation and preventative maintenance. The crop dusters that spray commercial farms have LCD displays as well for similar kinds of uses.
In this marketplace, industrial distributors such as Avnet play a vital role in making the market operate smoothly. The dominant LCD manufacturers are heavily focused on building displays that continue to break performance and cost barriers for consumer electronics applications. It is difficult for them to address the broad range of applications and the wide variety of small, medium and even some large customers that are integrating displays into their products.
Industrial distribution smoothes out the bumps associated with addressing this important market opportunity. Distribution can buy in bulk and supply the small quantities of products to the large variety of customers. They can provide critical engineering support for environmentally challenging applications. And they can effectively buffer the LCD manufacturers from the technical support headaches created by putting these displays into such demanding applications.
It’s my belief that industrial distribution will continue to play a vital role for many years in the future.
ABOUT DISPLAY WEEK 2009
The 47th SID International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition, dubbed Display Week 2009, will take place Sunday, May 31st through Friday, June 5th, 2008 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Display Week is the premier international gathering of scientists, engineers, manufacturers and users in the field of electronic information displays. For more information on Display Week 2009, visit www.sid2009.org.Important note: Avnet customers and affiliates are entitled to a special discounted rate—so be sure to contact your Avnet contact prior to registering for Display Week 2009.
ABOUT SID
The Society for Information Display (SID) is the leading international professional society exclusively devoted to the advancement of electronic-display technology, manufacturing, and applications. Its international headquarters are located at 610 South Second Street, San Jose, Calif.
Visit SID online at www.sid.org.
This article was featured in the February 2009 issue of Systems inDesign. Click here to read the entire issue.
