An Interview with Brett Bryars

11/5/2006

Taken from Veritas et Visus' 3D Newsletter

Please give us some background about the mission of the US Display Consortium.

The USDC is an industry-led public/private partnership providing a common forum for display manufacturers, developers, users and the supplier base. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, the consortium's primary mission is to manage supply-chain projects and share the results with USDC member companies.

The USDC also provides a communication channel among industry, government and the financial communities for display issues, sponsors workshops to broaden the impact of technological developments, and educates consumers on the importance of displays in providing access to information technology. In recent years our mission has evolved in coordination with the Army Research Lab’s Flexible Display Initiative, which many of your readers may be familiar with.

What are the requirements for membership in the USDC?

Our membership base represents some of the leading companies from the electronic display and related industries. USDC members are display manufacturers, developers and suppliers who take an active interest in the development of the display manufacturing supply chain and the promotion of display use in electronic applications. Member companies participate in the decision making to set the technical direction for USDC research and development projects. Information and results gathered from USDC R&D projects are shared with USDC member companies who utilize this valuable information to further advance their technological capabilities and subsequently advance the entire display industry. New tools and materials developed under these R&D projects are applied by members and the industry in their manufacturing operations.

Membership is available in several categories, determined by the type of interaction or benefit package desired. Additional information on the benefits and costs of membership can be found at our website (www.usdc.org). All levels of membership receive a site-wide license to our documentation package which contains extensive information on display market and technology developments.

• Voting Members: Companies join this group who are display or flexible microelectronics FPD manufacturers and/or developers and want to have decision making authority on USDC policy and disposition of funds. Members of this group are automatically members of the USDC Technical Council and Governing Board.

• General Members: Companies join this group to have representation on the USDC Technical Council and provide technical direction and oversight to contract recipients.

• Associate Members: Global, non-U.S.-based companies are welcome in USDC. Associate members join the Governing Board and have a vote on all policy decisions regarding USDC activities, as well as a voice in infrastructure projects through representation on the Technical Council.

• Sustaining Division: These companies supply services, research, equipment and materials to FPD manufacturers/developers and are eligible to receive matching federal R&D funds through USDC contracts.

• Military & Avionics User Group (MAUG): Companies who integrate FPDs for military markets join this group to solve common issues and strengthen their competitive positions. The MAUG meets quarterly to define and manage R&D projects in military interest areas.

• Commercial User Group (CUG): Companies who integrate FPDs for commercial markets join this group to resolve common issues and strengthen their competitive positions. The CUG initiates infrastructure and component development contracts.

How is the USDC funded?

USDC is primarily funded through membership fees and through a contract with the U.S. Army Research Lab ( ARL). While the USDC Technical Program was initially funded by DARPA, it has since been transferred to ARL.

Each year the USDC submits a technical program plan to ARL identifying areas of interest. The mission of the ARL is to enable technologies that will meet future Army combat needs and solve the critical technical barriers that limit the performance, reliability, functionality and affordability of battlefield systems. The USDC/ ARL partnership funds technology advancements in the display supply chain that will meet military needs and consumer requirements to fuel further industry growth.

Since 1994, the U.S. Display Consortium has funded over 120 projects in the display supply chain R&D with a total public/private investment in excess of U.S. $220M. At the beginning of each calendar year, USDC solicits proposals from the display industry for candidate projects which will receive funding. Through a competitive bid process supported by the USDC Technical Council and USDC Governing Board, project proposals are downselected for available funds. The typical funding is structured as a 50/50 cost share with the industry participant.

Because USDC “Member” companies play a part in selecting projects for the Technical Program, they are not eligible to receive funds. However, they do have access to the results, reports, and hardware as a result of these projects. Summary information on all of the USDC funded projects can be found at our website.

A documentation package is available for all consortium participants. The license for these documents is sitewide, which means if your company is a USDC member then anyone at that organization is eligible to access the documents at our website in the Members area. If your company is a member and you would like access, please contact me at bbryars@usdc.org. Currently this package consists of:

How many companies are currently members of the USDC?

We currently have 103 participants in the consortium spread across the various member categories described above. Lists of the membership companies can be found on our website. The largest category with over half of participation is in our Sustaining category.

For the past several years, the USDC has been particularly active in supporting the development of flexible displays. Do you regard this effort as being successful?

As mentioned earlier, the mission of USDC has evolved over the years in collaboration with our source of funding for the Technical Program. One of the primary objectives in the last several years has been to move the flexible displays technology forward. We believe that our efforts have resulted in several significant breakthroughs for this technology and products are just around the corner.

The USDC has been involved with the creation and development of both the Flexible Displays Center ( FDC) at Arizona State University, as well as the Center for Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) at Binghamton University. While the FDC is currently focused on a batch mode of processing flexible displays for the Army, the CAMM provides an industry-wide resource for roll-to-roll manufacturing of electronic products. Several pieces of equipment, materials, and process technology developed under USDC projects have or will be implemented at both the FDC and the CAMM.

When USDC first got started in this area, there were many major technology areas that needed to be addressed. One of the biggest was moisture and oxygen barrier layers. USDC has funded projects with Dow Corning, GE, Vitex, and Symmorphix for solutions in this area. Products that meet the needs of both electrophoretic and OLED displays have recently been released.

In order to determine whether these layers provided suitable performance, new techniques to measure moisture and oxygen permeation was required. USDC has funded Duke University and General Atomics in this area for improved metrology processes. And to facilitate R2R manufacturing, metrology in the area of defect detection was also required. USDC currently has a project underway with ECD Ovonics to develop a tool for this application which will reside at the CAMM.

Manufacturing processes for low cost, high volume production of flexible displays is very difficult. Several USDC projects in this area have produced outstanding results. We are working with HP on developing the Self-Aligned Imprint Lithography (SAIL) technology which has produced very exciting results to date. We have also recently completed a project with MicroContiuum on R2R patterned conductive layers, and are currently reviewed a possible Phase 2 on this effort. We currently have a program with Princeton to develop high temperature TFTs on the new materials.

Materials development remains an area of active investigation in this field. USDC has a number of projects underway which cover topics all the way from substrate development to ink-jet materials. Two examples include hole injection layer material development projects at Plextronics and Dow Corning. We have also funded projects for stainless steel substrate development, and most recently to Honeywell for organic passivation dielectric layers.

Several large capital equipment projects have been undertaken to help develop processes for manufacturing. A R2R coater from CHA Industries and a lithography tool from Azores with active compensation are scheduled to be installed at the CAMM. A precision ink-jet system developed with Litrex has led to a commercially available printer for this application.

USDC has seen incredible progress in this field, and we will continue to support its development. We invite everyone to attend USDC’s Flexible Displays and Microelectronics Conference, which will be held in Phoenix, AZ, February 6-8. A full agenda is available at www.usdc.org

The USDC is sponsoring a 3D Workshop on November 16. What is the intent of this workshop?

Although our focus for the last several years has been on flexible displays and military display applications through our Military and Avionics Users Group (MAUG), we still have a mission to provide a common forum to enable a world class, competitive display industry. We think that 3D displays are poised for growth with the convergence of applications in the military, entertainment, design, and medical fields.

3D displays and their respective technologies have been around for a long time, but it has never really gained significant traction in the market. There seems to be great interest in applications and a lot of work going on out there in industry, but what is holding it back from moving to the next level? Why does it seem like there is a lot of fragmentation, and how can USDC help the industry to identify and solve problems of common interest?

Since USDC has not been involved with the 3D industry at any great depth in the past, it made sense for us to start looking at technologies and market information that might provide some of these answers. We have joined forces with Insight Media to prepare and distribute a report on the 3D industry that we hope will provide a basis to help us answer some of these questions. The report is due out in January 2007, and many of your readers may have already been contacted or visited by Insight Media.

As part of this process, we planned a one-day workshop to discuss preliminary findings from the report and to solicit feedback and ideas on what are the main issues facing the industry today. USDC and Insight Media are pleased to host a workshop in Silicon Valley to discuss relevant topics in the 3D industry. While there are numerous companies working on bringing this technology to the mainstream and significant dollars are being invested in R&D, there is no central platform bridging this sector.

Although still in the formative stages, USDC and Insight Media hope to gauge industry interest in a commercial working group as a means of addressing common industry issues—leveraging the workshop in November as the springboard for this initiative. Moreover, the one-day workshop will look at how to drive additional funding and support necessary to take the 3D market to the next level.

Because of the wide ranging areas of technology, we decided to start each technical session with a broad overview of status in that field, and then move onto a discussion on what the challenges are in that arena. We will finish the day with an open session intended to help us identify areas of common need where the industry could benefit from a collaborative working group. At the present time we have approximately 75 pre-registered attendees for the workshop.

The workshop is also intended to share some of the initial results from Insight Media analysts from the 3D industry report scheduled to be published in January 2007. An exchange with industry professionals will help shape the final results and focus of the report to best serve the 3D community.

Has the USDC supported the development of any technologies related to 3D displays in the past?

USDC supported several market and technology studies in the near-to-eye ( NTE) market, and we have supported the development of peripheral technology in the optics area that might be applicable to 3D displays. However we have never looked at the field from a global perspective which includes not only the display technology, but all of the other pieces that need to be in place to accelerate acceptance in the market.

It seems that the USDC’s membership does not include many companies currently involved in the development of 3D displays. Is this investigation in 3D displays designed to encourage existing companies to support 3D, or are you hoping to expand your membership base?

Our first objective is to see if there is a need for an organization like USDC to help execute a coordinated response from the 3D industry, and we believe that the answer is “yes.” However, we need to get the same response from industry and formulate what the objectives and mission of this specific Users Group would be.

We envision forming a Consumer Users Group in the 3D space that would consist of industry companies who would come together to help us with this mission. We realize this is a tough challenge where competitors may need to collaborate, but we also believe and have experience with other Users Group that this can be highly successful.

Certainly there are technologies in our current member base that could be applied to 3D products, but we are looking at this effort more as a new program. In some cases I have been surprised at who is registered to attend the 3D Workshop, companies that I would not have expected. However I believe it is a clear indication that there are a lot of companies keeping an eye on the market and waiting for the right time to enter.

Should the 3D Workshop uncover some opportunities for US manufacturers, will the USDC help fund specific projects related to 3D displays as you’ve done in the past to support flexible displays?

Locating and securing funds for a Technical Program in this space is one objective, but it requires active support and involvement from the industry. We will not be successful in this process without clearly being able to communicate the benefits to a particular funding agency. If that source is expected to be the government, then the industry needs to come together and explain to federal technology managers why 3D displays are good for national security or homeland security applications. USDC can help facilitate this process, but not without the active support and participation of the industry.

Would USDC funding for 3D displays be in competition with funding for flexible displays, or is a separate program envisioned?

USDC supports emerging technology, and 3D displays are a part of that group. Each year, we weigh our member’s priorities and how they will be supported in our current program. We do believe that there are funding sources available for this industry, and we expect to undertake efforts with that in mind. However, again I must stress that these efforts will not be successful without the support and participation from the 3D companies that make up this industry.

There is a considerable amount of technology development work that is taking place in the US related to 3D displays. Do you think there is an opportunity for US companies to develop some sort of manufacturing base related to 3D displays?

That is our mission and expectation. We think there is a good opportunity in this field and we want to see what we can do to facilitate this. Our impression of the market is that there is a lot of great work going on in the US, however it seems disconnected and fragmented from an industry perspective. We hope to facilitate a process that allows us to understand where the gaps are, how we might fill those, and create a strategy which forms the basis for a successful manufacturing industry base in the US.

Do you foresee 3D displays becoming commonplace in the consumer electronics industry?

I have been waiting and hoping for that for 20 years since I first started working on head-mounted displays for the military! Of course, there is a lot of debate about exactly how 3D displays might make their way into the consumer space. We hope to gather more information on how this might happen and what the gaps are to making this happen through the information developed in the Market & Technology report due out in January, the discussion at the 3D Workshop, and the formulation of 3D Users Group.

It is exciting to see USDC member companies like eMagin and Colorlink gaining traction with their products in some consumer applications, and there are many others US companies that are making great strides as well. Gaming certainly seems to be one application that might drive adoption of this technology for consumer electronics, but 3D TV still seems far off. Which technology is a winner in this space will be interesting to watch, but I expect that we will wind up similar to today’s TV space where different technologies play in various segments based on price and quality.

Is the USDC’s investigation into 3D technologies focused on stereoscopic devices or volumetric devices?

Our report with Insight Media intends to cover all technologies at some level, although there is becoming an extremely large choice of approaches. But we are also trying to look at the industry from a perspective beyond just the technique for displaying the information. For example display technology is one part, but we also intend to cover human factors issues and content creation/delivery issues as well. Our 3D Workshop agenda is structured to reflect the current topics within the Market & Technology report. We expect the report to cover the following topics:

• Emerging 3D display technologies

• Human Factors of 3D

• 3D Image Processing Formats and Standards

• 3D Acquisition and Conversion Technologies

• Markets & Applications of 3D

What’s your estimate of how many people will attend the 3D Workshop?

We currently have 75 pre-registered attendees, and we expect approximately 100 participants. We are fortunate to have several displays from our sponsors which include 3ality, DDD, Philips, eMagin, dep3D, Planar, and TDV

Is the USDC working with other organizations, such as the 3D Consortium, with regard to the 3D Workshop?

USDC is currently working with Insight Media on the Market & Technology report and the 3D Workshop. Part of the open session at the end of the 3D Workshop is to solicit feedback from the industry on who and how we should collaborate with other organizations to develop our agenda. At this point we have no limitations on partners for activities going forward. We want to do what is best for the industry to fill gaps where needed and to leverage existing efforts where it makes sense.

Brett joined the USDC staff in January 2006 as Director of Technical Programs. He has many years of experience in the display industry on both commercial and military products ranging from helmet mounted display systems to DLP and LCOS rear projection TVs. Brett has previously held engineering and management positions at JDSU (formerly OCLI), KLA-Tencor, Kaiser Electronics, and Lockheed. He also runs his own consulting business. He has a graduate degree from the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics, and an undergraduate degree in Physics from Loyola University New Orleans.

About the U.S. Display Consortium
The U.S. Display Consortium is an industry-led public/private partnership providing a common platform for flat panel display and flexible microelectronics manufacturers and developers, FPD users, and the supplier base. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the consortium’s primary mission is to fund supply-chain projects and share the results with USDC member companies. The USDC also provides a communication channel among industry, government and the financial communities for display issues; sponsors workshops to broaden the impact of technological developments; and educates consumers on the importance of displays in providing access to information technology. More information about the USDC can be found at www.usdc.org