I'm looking for small (2 inch diagonal or 2.6 inch diagonal) 256 color
LCD screens for something like a handheld GPS mapping device. For
reference, I'd like to find screens similar to those found in the
Garmin eTrex Vista C or GPSMap 76C. My questions are as follows: where
can I find these screens in 10,000+ unit quantity? What do they cost
in that volume? And finally, I've heard that there has been a supply
shortage for volume shipments of these displays over the last 6
months. Does a supply issue still exist? I have not been able to
confirm any supply problems, but have heard this from several sources.

Hello -

Thank you for your question.  If you require any clarification, please
don't hesitate to ask.

I have located three phone-confirmed sources for the product you're
seeking.  Turn-around time for them is generally 3-4 months.  The
supply shortage you're referring to is most likely in relation to
color filters and (Samsung) controller chips.  Supply seems to be much
greater than demand industry-wide, which is pushing turn-around times
out a few weeks.  This will vary depending on the source of parts.

While the Garmin products feature transflective TFT, an alternative to
consider might be transflective CSTN, which is significantly cheaper
and possibly sufficient for your application if it's not very
frame-intensive.  It may have better light-handling capability as
well.  All of these products do thousands of colors.  Some do a few
thousand colors, some 65K, and some 260K.  You can speak about these
options with the representatives from the companies below.

All products have controller boards included.  I've included a number
of possible pricing configurations.


Three-five systems
(407) 380-2242 east coast; (602) 389-8884 west coast
(quote is from Marc Thomas, east coast)
http://www.threefive.com/contact_us/index.shtml
2.2 inch, transflective CSTN; cost: low $40's (not quite ready; Q4)
2.2 inch, transflective TFT; cost: $42-$44 (176x220 resolution)
2.2 inch, transflective TFT; cost: $51 (320x240 resolution)
Turn around time: 2-10 weeks
This company is able to do pretty much any display product you need,
as well as custom engineering around the display, to your
specifications.  There is an NRE (non-recurring engineering charge)
for custom units.  Has 11 engineers just for custom engineering. 
Among other high profile projects, this company developed much of the
Star Tac phone for Motorola.

Pacific Display
http://www.pacificdisplay.com/contact_us.htm
909-396-5128 (contact: Steven Parsons)
2.2 inch, transflective CSTN; cost: $26.23 (128x160 resolution)
2.2 inch, transflective TFT; cost: +$44+ range (176x220 resolution)
This company is able to do pretty much any custom display product you
need, to your custom specifications.  There is a $45K NRE
(non-recurring engineering charge) for custom units.

Optrex
http://www.optrex.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
770-622-2146x14 (contact: Derise Kennedy)
2.2 inch, transflective, white LED backlight (TFT only; 163x220
resolution; 260K colors)
Turn around time: 12-14 weeks
$43-$46/unit


Other possible manufacturers:
  
  Lidian
  678-471-7704

  AU Optronics
  281-895-7942

A website dedicated to the topic:

  China TFT
  http://www.china-tft.com/Product/catalog.asp?first_class_id=5000

  
Select Search Strategy:
  LCD TFT modules oem
  custom color LCD screens

---

Request for Answer Clarification by parker3676-ga on 20 Jul 2004 15:04 PDT

Thank you for your answer and for your further suggestions. Your
research is very helpful. I just have a couple quick points of
clarification. If I need a screen that is readable in sunlight (such
as a GPS mapping device) does that necessitate the filters that you're
referring to. And do these filters not only make the screen easier to
read, but also reduce the number of colors displayed to 256 from 4096?
Or is that more a function of the LCD controller? Finally when you
wrote, "Supply seems to be much greater than demand industry-wide,
which is pushing turn-around times out a few weeks," did you mean that
demand is greater than supply for the filters and controller chips?
Wouldn't a larger supply actually decrease turn around time? Thank
you.

---

Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 20 Jul 2004 16:21 PDT

Hello -

Thanks for your clarification request.

>If I need a screen that is readable in sunlight (such
>as a GPS mapping device) does that necessitate the filters that you're
>referring to. And do these filters not only make the screen easier to
>read, but also reduce the number of colors displayed to 256 from 4096?

The color filter is integral to all color LCD's.  It's responsible for
making the color happen.  Without it, the screen is black and white. 
It doesn't have any correlation to making the screen easier to read or
displaying less colors.  According to Pacific Display, the shortage of
these depends on the manufacturer.  There are multiple manufacturers. 
In Japan, there is a bit of a shortage due to the high demand of cell
phones wiht screens.

> "Supply seems to be much greater than demand industry-wide,
>which is pushing turn-around times out a few weeks," did you mean that
>demand is greater than supply for the filters and controller chips?
>Wouldn't a larger supply actually decrease turn around time? Thank
>you.

My apologies; yes -- I meant "demand is greater than supply."

If you require any additional clarification, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

jbf777

jbf777 is very well informed, and the answer provided was thorough and
helpful. I would definitely be happy to let jbf777 answer my
electronics-related questions in the future.

park3767 -

Thank you for the kind words, rating, and tip!  Glad to be of help. 
Please stop by again.

jbf777

Three-Five systems just called me back today to tell me the 2.2 inch
TFT currently in production is a "transmissive" display, although they
can make it a transflective display by adding something to the back of
it; it would not be as good as an internally transflective device, but
it will meet sunlight requirements.