TOKYO, Nov. 12 -- The IBM Technology Group has unveiled what it calls the highest resolution production-level liquid crystal display monitor panel available in the industry. The ITQX20 high-definition thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel is the first 20.8-inch TFT display to be available commercially that combines the highest production-level monitor panel resolution with large image size and high image quality. With each of the display's nine million transistors acting as an individual switch for three million picture elements, or pixels, the display achieves 2048 x 1536 resolution at 123 pixels per inch.
IBM's research labs in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. performed the research on high-resolution displays that led to the new panel. In 1998, IBM announced the development of a 200-pixels-per-inch prototype display -- code-named Roentgen, after the pioneer of x-rays -- that the company said is nearly indistinguishable from the printed page. IBM announced recently that it is conducting exploratory research on flexible transistors that use hybrid organic-inorganic semiconducting materials. The company hopes that such transistors could make possible inexpensive flexible or curved displays on plastic, glass, and other materials.