Samsung starts making new kind of indoor displays

March 17, 2009 | Dean Takahashi | Comments | |

Samsung Electronics said today it has begun producing a more economical breed of digital displays for indoor applications where round-the-clock use isn’t needed.

The so-called Basic Digital Information Displays, (B-DID), will widen the market for digital displays, the South Korean company said. The displays can be used in stores, restaurants, schools, museums and other places.

These displays are cheaper to use as digital signs than liquid-crystal displays that consume power 24 hours a day. These B-DID displays will begin shipping next month. They come in sizes ranging from 32 to 52 inches. The contrast ratios — a quality measure of the brightest white colors to the darkest blacks — range from 3000:1 to 4000:1.

Samsung says that the displays are made with a different kind of liquid crystal material that retards image retention. A 46-inch model consumes about 260 watts of power. Pricing is expected to be aggressive and pretty close to that of regular LCDs.

But it’s likely that these displays don’t need all of the electronics that TVs do, and that probably makes them cheaper and less power-hungry. Digital signs made from LCDs are a big business now. They’re being used in everything from shopping malls to Starbucks.

We’ve written about various companies that are installing the displays into all sorts of retail outlets and public places. According to market analysts eMarketer and PQ Media, the out-of-home video industry is expected to grow to $2.25 billion and $3.22 billion, respectively, by 2011.

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About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Most commercial grade digital signs use 3rd party software that power down systems when not in use in off hours. Maybe they are embedding hardware/software in the screens.
  • I would say they definitely are. You buy any high end display and it will have its own hardware and software.
  • A photoreactive material in the display could in theory capture an image projected onto it from behind, then all is needed to light the "photo" would be a bulb behind it. That could only consume the power of a normal lightbulb, maybe 40 to 80 watts.