Flat panel displays (FPDs) are popping up everywhere, from the TV set in the living room to the navigation system in a car, to giant screens in New York’s Times Square, but as new display technology is created, standards have to keep up.
The International Electrotechnical Commission is addressing the need for evolving FPD standards with its Technical Committee 110 (TC 110). The standards apply to a variety of FPD technologies: light-emitting diodes (LED); organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), now used for many smartphone displays; backlight units (BLUs); and flexible display panels.
The Commission enacted seven new standards in 2009 and has 16 standards in various stages of development this year. One is IEC 61747-5-2, which would establish environmental, endurance and mechanical test methods for liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Another is IEC 61747-6-2, which would establish measuring methods for reflective type LCD modules.
“TC 110 has been focusing on the standardization for terms and definitions, and measuring methods for the functional characteristics [of FPDs],” said Hideo Iwama, secretary of TC 110, in a story on the IEC’s Web site. The standards help manufacturers, as well as consumers, compare the performance of their products with others.
