Samsung, one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturer, have decided that the humble window glass could be put to better use - and in their case, being used to develop a new LCD panel instead of using a more expensive and sophisticated glass substrate. This breakthrough will definitely cause consumers looking for a new flat panel display to sit up and take notice - with such a cheap (and abundant) raw material available, would this signal the advent of a new breed of LCD displays that are equally good, if not even better than existing technology without breaking the bank?

It is said that adoption of ordinary glass where the LCD panel manufacturing process is concerned “is expected to give more room to Samsung in choosing glass suppliers and thus help reduce its LCD TV and monitor prices.” To date, only a small amount of companies are capable of delivering special, high-endurance glass substrate that is used in LCD panels, and these have been sold off to electronics manufacturers for a handsome profit. Samsung already has a prototype of this new breed of LCD panels on display, dubbing it “Soda-Lime LCD”. It measures 19″ in size and paraded it at a display exposition held in Yokohama, Japan, last week. Home movie buffs will be disappointed to find out that there are no plans to mass produce it yet though.

According to a Samsung spokesman, “We will be able to save costs in purchasing glass substrate. The quality of the Soda-Lime LCD is almost identical with conventional LCD monitors.” Sounds like good news to me, and if there is so much going for using this new material, what’s stopping Samsung from forging ahead? After all, I’m all for cheaper and more affordable living room entertainment, ordinary window glass or not.

Source: Korea Times