Universal headaches for LCD users usually include one event or a combination thereof. These include substandard performance, cost overruns, delivery delays, component obsolescence, and you can fill in the blanks with a hog’s wad of other problems. Phoenix Display International has what it believes is a viable solution: the Perfect Match Program.
The Perfect Match Program is an LCD cross-matching process whereby Phoenix Display duplicates virtually any display manufactured by another supplier and re-tools it in-house. The company promises a quick turnaround at minimal cost with optimum results. It has the capacity to match almost all monochrome character, graphic, and full-color TFT LCDs in terms of performance levels, resolution, contrast, interface, and almost any other parameter. It also stands to reason that customization and/or integration are also on tap.
Essentially, Phoenix claims it can improve upon price, obsolescence, quality, delivery, and logistics plus offer additional customization and/or integration with minimal user impact. In essence this all equals a 100% compatible drop-in replacement LCDs in almost all cases, except when an LCD driver IC or raw TFT panel has become obsolete. But the company stipulates that even in these cases where components become obsolete, it may still be able to make a totally compatible hardware match. Afterwards, users will only need to test and qualify the new LCD without making any changes to their existing designs.
Phoenix Display’s Perfect Match Program is an LCD cross-matching process whereby the company can duplicate any display manufactured by another supplier.
For those in need of an LCD matchup, there are five necessary steps in the process.
- 1. Client Qualification: keeping costs optimal, Phoenix only works within its volume guidelines and not all LCD display projects or technologies will qualify.
- 2. Identifying the Issue: the most common issues with LCD modules are price, quality, delivery, performance, and obsolescence. Phoenix makes a technical evaluation of the user’s current product and requests and creates a commercial proposal based on that information.
- 3. Commercial Proposal: Phoenix submits a formal proposal stating improvements to some or all of the display’s characteristics.
- 4. Product Development: the company starts the design process with the other supplier’s display specifications, and then uses actual samples to match all of the basic attributes: contrast, background color, backlight color, backlight brightness, backlight uniformity, contrast binning, cross talk, viewing angle, viewing direction, over-driven or under-driven states, and size.
- 5. Qualification Submittal: as a result of rigorous and up-front testing, most often qualification submittal is a plug-and-play process with no extra iterations or changes required. With all of those displays floating around out there in ATMs, kiosks, and what-have-you, this sounds like a perfect approach to maintaining one’s costly design investments. For more details visit the Phoenix Display website and/or send them an e-mail. And if you’re old school, you might want to give them a phone call at (630) 359-5700.