I think we've all been waiting for IGZO-based LCD panels even if we have never heard of them. According to wikipedia
Indium gallium zinc oxide, IGZO is a semiconducting material which can be used as the channel for a transparent thin-film transistor. It replaces amorphous silicon for the active layer of an LCD screen, and, with a forty times higher electron mobility than amorphous silicon, it allows either smaller pixels (for screen resolutions higher than HDTV) or much higher reaction speed for a screen.
Its advantage over zinc oxide is that it can be deposited as a uniform amorphous phase while retaining the high carrier mobility common to oxide semiconductors. The transistors are slightly photo-sensitive, but the effect becomes significant only in the deep violet to ultra-violet (photon energy above 3 eV), offering the possibility of a fully transparent transistor.
Its advantage over zinc oxide is that it can be deposited as a uniform amorphous phase while retaining the high carrier mobility common to oxide semiconductors. The transistors are slightly photo-sensitive, but the effect becomes significant only in the deep violet to ultra-violet (photon energy above 3 eV), offering the possibility of a fully transparent transistor.
Technical mumbo jumbo to one side, what does this all mean? Well quite simply it means massive resolutions on smaller sized and thinner screens. An example is Sharp's new PN-K321 monitor which is a 32 inch monitor that sports 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160) with HDMI and DisplayPort at 35mm thick! The expected price is 450,000 yen (~$5,500 USD) and is said to debut it February 2013.
Hopefully we see more at CES in January!
What do you think? Let us know in our forums.
Source: www.engadget.com via www.sharp.co.jp
