Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp. said Monday they will collaborate to develop specifications for color displays for e-books.
The two companies recently completed basic specifications for the new products, low-temperature polysilicon TFT (thin-film transistor) LCDs (liquid crystal displays), and plan to put them in prototypes by the end of 2000, the companies said in a statement. A low-temperature polysilicon display will support digital photography image quality and use the Microsoft Cleartype display technology, company officials said in the statement.
Moreover, they said low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCDs offer higher resolution, richer color, lower power consumption and more design flexibility than other LCD technologies. The qualities make them ideal for PDAs (personal data assistants), notebook computers and e-books, the companies said.
Toshiba produces 30,000 400 mm by 500 mm glass substrates a month, and officials plan to start producing an additional 25,000 550 mm by 670 mm glass substrates a month by April 2001.
Toshiba, based in Irvine, California, can be reached at +1-949-583-3000 or at http://www.toshiba.com. Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington, can be reached at http://www.microsoft.com.