Vandal resistant screens!

Varitronix has announced a new development to further enhance their range of High-Resolution Touch Panel TFT Displays. The development allows the addition of a Cover Lens with glass thickness up to 15mm through which the Capacitive Touch Screen can still easily be operated.

The technology challenge was to provide the required range of touch-sensitivity through a thick 15mm glass which was needed to provide a solution for use within a high-risk vandal environment. Mutual Type Projected Capacitive technology which when combined with software upgrades gives the end-result of unimpaired touch-sensitivity, despite the glass thickness, while also maintaining minimal drop in the optical transmission of the display at less than 10%.

In the example shown Varitronix has incorporated a 7” Normally Black, TN, Transmissive TFT panel, resolution 800xRGBx480 with the Special Cover Lens for a Public Transport application. Other applications will include the Intrinsically Safe, Military, and Marine market sectors.

The displays are manufactured in accordance with international certifications including ISO 9001 for general quality management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management of automotive products.

TFT panels!

Varitronix has announced a new addition to their range of High-Resolution Colour TFT Panels. The new panel is 10.1” HD720 layout in 16 :9 format with overall dimensions of 224mm x 126mm (250mm approximate diagonal) and a pixel resolution of 1280 x720 RGB pixels.

Using Normally Black TFT technology and High Brightness backlight (800cd/m2) the panel is particularly suited to the Automotive and Marine markets, where high resolution enhances the readability of the image, particularly for mapping applications.

The new panel also offers an all-round wide viewing angle U/D/L/R 85° with minimum colour inversion, and a typical contrast ratio of 1000 : 1 while maintaining an Operating Temperature range of -30° C to +85° C.

The displays are manufactured in accordance with international certifications including ISO 9001 for general quality management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management of automotive products.

The displays will have a wide variety of applications, including automotive, marine, industrial, commercial and medical markets.

High-contrast mono LCD touch displays with colour option.

Varitronix has announced the availability of a range of High-Contrast Mono LCD Touch Displays with the option of adding Colour Filters. The displays use Improved Black Nematic (IBN) technology to provide a very high contrast ratio of around 1000:1 with extremely low bleed-through of light around the edges of the ON segment characters and graphics. IBN is a Negative Mode Transmissive LCD technology for low to medium multiplex applications.

Colour filters can be customer-specified to provide areas of bright, coloured characters on a black background. As an alternative option to colour filters, tri-colour backlights can be specified to highlight the display status with differing colours.

IBN technology offers a stable optical performance and wide viewing cone over a typical operating temperature range of -30 to 85 deg C and typical drive conditions of 1/9 Duty, 1/4 Bias. The Varitronix range of High-Contrast Touch Displays are manufactured to very high quality standards, providing durability and long-life. The IBN technology is already widely used within the Automotive sector for dashboard and HVAC applications where clarity of information over a wide viewing cone is paramount. Other market sectors are now looking at this enhanced technology as an easy way of upgrading the visual appearance of the end product.

The touch displays are manufactured in accordance with international certifications including ISO 9001 for general quality management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management of automotive products.

The High-Contrast Displays will have a wide variety of applications, including automotive, industrial, commercial and medical markets.

Ultra-flexible LCD touch displays.

Varitronix has announced the availability of a new range of Ultra-Flexible LCD Displays. The displays accept a curve with a radius as tight as 12.5cm, and currently can be manufactured in small sizes, similar to that of a credit card.

The flexibility is due to the innovative manufacturing process that Varitronix uses – the thickness is just 0.56mm. This extremely thin design also makes the displays very light. Varitronix claims that providing the curvature specifications are not exceeded, the displays are virtually unbreakable.

The Ultra-Flexible LCD Displays use Segmented Monochrome TN technology and have In-Cell touch capabilities. The displays have a wide operating temperature range of -10C to +60C, with a typical supply voltage of 5V.

Display modes include Transmissive; Transflective; and Reflective and the inter-connection method is via heat seal FPC bonding.

With international certifications including ISO 9001 for general quality management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management of automotive products, the new range of Ultra-Flexible LCD Touch Displays are manufactured to very high quality standards, providing durability and long-life.

Varitronix is a worldwide, technology-led company with design and  manufacturing based in Hong Kong and China, and these Ultra-Flexible LCD Touch Displays are a very affordable option for designers worldwide.

Affordable custom mono LCD production service.

Clear, sharp, unambiguous displays are always pivotal to any product design. The chosen display medium is the real-life Human Machine Interface (HMI) and must easily convey the Measurements, Messages and Instructions of the equipment to the end users.

Custom solutions rather than off-the-shelf displays will always provide the most satisfactory HMI. Varitronix provides an affordable and fast custom mono LCD production service - the success of this custom service now accounts for a high percentage of the Varitronix production capability.

Varitronix is an R&D-led company, and is able to offer advanced product features within its custom mono LCD service. For example, view angles and contrast ratios are the parameters that OEM product design engineers are most keen to maximise.

Because Varitronix manufactures its own LC cells, its in-house development team can offer different LC fluid combinations, cell gaps, internal cell construction, and molecular alignment techniques. After the cell specification is agreed, the process is continued by discussing options for the drive electronics; operating temperature range; and power consumption.

In a high percentage of applications, Varitronix will supply a complete modular solution including drive electronics, backlights and in many cases customer circuitry. With the experience of more than 30 years of custom design, Varitronix engineers know that a little more time spent in the design stage will result in time saved further in the development cycle, when the samples supplied meet and often exceed the customers’ expectations first time.

To enhance the external characteristics of the displays, many different anti-glare, polariser combinations and final coatings are offered, and if required a custom silkscreen can be applied to the surface of the glass to highlight special areas of the display and add a company logos.

Applications include industrial, commercial, automotive and medical markets.

LCD touch screens.

Varitronix has announced the availability of a new range of Projected Capacitive LCD Touch Screens, for use with a stylus, a gloved finger or bare finger. The screens have been developed to operate with Varitronix-developed, in-house software which allows the "touch technology" to be optimised to differentiate between false and genuine touches.

The technology ensures that false touches are rejected, even when liquid is unintentionally present on the screen – the touch-sensitivity is fully restored when the liquid is removed. In addition, wet, damp (or sweaty), bare fingers are not a problem – accurate tracking is still ensured.

The Touch Screens are also gloved-finger compatible – the glove can be made from cotton, leather or plastic (eg for medical applications). A stylus can also be used, with a minimum diameter of 3mm - Touch Screens which support a stylus diameter of 2mm are currently under development. The screen size options vary from 1.77” to 17”.

With international certifications including ISO 9001 for general quality management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management of automotive products, the new range of LCD Touch Screens are manufactured to very high quality standards, providing durability and long-life. The Touch Durability is 10M touches.

Two options are offered for the hardness of the screen glass – the standard glass is 6H and the harder glass option is 7H. A custom silkscreen can be applied to the surface of the glass.

Applications will include industrial, commercial, automotive and medical markets.

LCD plant for China

LCD manufacturer Varitronix has announced a €19m (US$25m) investment in a new LCD design and manufacturing facility in Heyuan, Guangdong, (PRC). The new, four-floor 31,200m² plant will support design and development, display cell production and LCD module assembly. Two automated production lines employing new Japanese made manufacturing equipment will start production in the spring of 2013. The new factory will provide Varitronix with a 40% increase in production capacity.

The development and construction of the new fabrication facility has been driven by growth in Varitronix's global business across automotive and industrial markets, and the need to reduce product lead-times. Varitronix develops and supplies small to medium size displays (2.5" to 10.4" in TFT and a wide range of passive displays) and is also in the enviable position of having the latest PCap (projected capacitive) touch-screen and optical bonding manufacturing facilities available in-house.

Mike Burke, General Manager TFT division, Varitronix said, "Varitronix currently enjoys strong automotive business in Europe and is keen to migrate the technology and manufacturing skills into the wider and more diverse industrial market. Our challenge and goal for 2013 is to build on our experience servicing the automotive market and provide the same service to new industrial customers who want a high quality product which will be available for five years or more.”

"We do not want to support aggressive, low quality consumer business where displays are often produced in very high volumes for a short period of time and then discontinued. Automotive and industrial markets provide viable, long term business and stable revenue streams. We are keen to develop strategic partnerships and relationships with suppliers and customers, and offer a reliable, long term display solution."

Varitronix supports an expanding range of standard TFT displays derived, predominantly, from its automotive display product portfolio. The latest display technology including FFS (fringe field switching) and MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment) is employed on a number of TFT display modules. New industrial TFT displays feature very high brightness white LED backlights, wide viewing angles and a -30°C to +80°C operating temperature range. Quality is assured with testing procedures that meet full automotive specifications.

One of Varitronix's established strengths is its Passive TN (twisted nematic) display technology. The market for passive display technology is still strong and remains the dominant technology for monochrome display applications. Passive displays are easily driven and provide very cost effective display solutions for use in clocks, meters, timers, white goods and automotive instruments. Varitronix has refined and developed passive display technology to provide positive and negative display modes, contrast ratios of >1000:1, very wide storage and operating temperatures, extremely low backlight bleed-through and the ability to use any colour backlight to provide bright, coloured characters on a black background.