National Semiconductor Amplifies Flat Panel Display Technologies

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 20 -- National Semiconductor Corp. has obtained Vivid Semiconductor Inc., a flat-panel display design firm in Chandler, Ariz., for an undisclosed amount. The move strengthens National Semiconductor's potential to create silicon solutions for the flat panel display market, the company said. Market research done by Display Search predicts that 38.5 million high-tech flat panel units will be sold next year, about 10 million more than were sold this year.
Vivid Semiconductor's technologies expand National Semiconductor's ability to run high voltage designs on its standard CMOS processes at its manufacturing facility in South Portland, Maine, said National Semiconductor. Vivid Semiconductor's proprietary WhisperBus, a data bus architecture, improves display performance and diminishes electromagnetic interference effects on liquid crystal displays.