SID New England Chapter Members Brave Snow to Hear About Advanced Television Display Technology

by Steve Atwood

It was January 29th, just two days after a record-setting storm had delivered over 3 feet of snow to the Boston area, and no one was sure if the roads would even be clear.  Yet, roughly 30 hearty SID New England Chapter members made their way safely to Waltham, Massachusetts, for a lively dinner and evening of technical discussions around the topic of advanced television displays.  This annual event was made possible in part by the generosity of 3M Company.

Leading the technical bill was longtime Information Display contributor and current industry analyst Ken Werner, who presented a survey of a number of key innovations being utilized by the television industry to entice consumers and squeeze more value out of their products.  Some new features like 4K resolution, quantum dots, and OLEDs are being met with almost universal applause, while others, like curved TVs, are facing some skepticism.  Ken delivered his engaging and very informative analysis of all of these areas with emphasis on which ones people should pay the most attention to in the coming years.

Following Ken was a presentation from John Van Derlofske, Senior Research Scientist at 3M, who drilled into some key technical areas of LCDs, including backlighting efficiency, color-gamut expansion, and high-dynamic-range (HDR) capabilities.  These subjects generated a great deal of audience discussion during the Q&A periods, with listeners asking specific questions about quantum-dot technology and video encoding and distribution for 4K and HDR platforms.

It wasn’t long after this evening that the snow came again, and the shovels and plows were once more the order of the day, but everyone was glad for the chance to re-connect with old friends, make some new ones, and learn something along the way.  The New England chapter will carry on with at least two more technical meetings this spring, and all are welcome, members or guests, to participate.  Meeting announcements are posted on the SID NE webpage: http://www.sid.org/chapters/americas/newengland.aspx.  •