In the consumer electronics world, it’s sometimes the little things that count. Case in point? Samsung has developed a new thermally enhanced chip-on-film package (TECOF) for the display driver integrated circuit (DDI) used in large screen, high resolution LCD televisions. The net effect of this new development? Thermal heat dissipation is improved by 20 percent over a conventional chip-on-file (COF) package which means that DDI components will last longer and operate at a greater reliability. This ultimately translates to longer lasting, higher reliability LCD TVs. Not a bad proposition eh? If you’re into the nuts and bolts of the details, then check out the Samsung press release below.

[Check it out]

Here is the press release:

Samsung Improves Heat Dissipation in LCD TVs with New DDI Package

SEOUL, South Korea –(Business Wire)– Jan. 31, 2007 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced that it has developed the industry’s first thermally-enhanced chip-on-film (TECOF) package for the display driver IC (DDI) used in large-screen, high-resolution LCD TVs. The new DDI package improves thermal heat dissipation by 20 percent over a conventional COF package, allowing the DDI to last longer and operate with greater reliability.

Demand for LCD TVs is surging with increased accessibility to digital broadcasting. At the same time, rapidly improving LCD TV performance has sparked explosive demand for full-high-definition models with a screen size of forty inches or larger.

A typical DDI requires at least 15 volts of power to drive these larger, higher-resolution LCD TV panels that operate on broader frequency spectrums to reproduce high-speed video images. As a result, the DDI generates greater heat, which can create reliability problems.

Samsung has developed a new material for the thin metal tape component that has the optimal properties for effectively maximizing heat dissipation. The company has also developed a new automated process for attaching the metal tape to the COF package. By applying Samsung’s new TECOF package, the thermal emissions from the DDI are quickly released via the metal tape, minimizing heat buildup.

In addition, heat build-up limits the number of channels a single DDI chip can cover, creating an obstacle to reducing the total number of DDI per panel. With the new TECOF package, the number of source DDIs for a full-HD LCD TV is reduced from fourteen 414 channel-DDIs to eight 720 channel-DDIs.

“Package technology has become an important element, along with circuit design, in the development of DDIs for large-screen LCD TVs,” said Sa yoon Kang, vice president for Samsung’s System LSI Division. “With the development of TECOF package, we propose the new standard for DDI product and solidify our global leadership position in developing display driver ICs for the LCD market.”

Samsung has completed reliability testing of the new TECOF package and expects to ship its DDI product with the new TECOF package technology in the 2nd quarter of 2007. Samsung has maintained the top share of the global DDI market for the past five years.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2005 parent company sales of US$56.7 billion and net income of US$7.5 billion. Employing approximately 128,000 people in over 120 offices in 57 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, visit http://www.samsung.com. 

Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
Lisa Warren-Plungy, 408-544-5377
lwarrenplungy@ssi.samsung.com

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