Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced it is now mass-producing 43-in. LCD panels for advertising and informational displays. The panels produce images with a panoramic aspect ratio of 4:1, compared with conventional standard (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) panels. Featuring full high-definition-ready (1920 × 480) resolution, the panels can be used in subway stations, airports, shopping malls and schools, where existing standard panels can’t effectively deliver information. Three split VGA screens can be displayed simultaneously “We now are witnessing digital information displays [DIDs] being used in a broader range of applications, with increasing demand for customizable DIDs to improve information delivery,” said Chang-man Kim, vice president of marketing at Samsung Electronics’ LCD business unit. “Samsung Electronics will target the DID market with specialized products, including brighter outdoor DIDs and panels with an ultraslim bezel, as well as our superwide panel.” The panel also allows for effective delivery of related information in various formats through split screens. With the ability to run three VGA (640 × 480) screens at once or individually, the superwide panel can present various eye-catching combinations of video and text in contiguous displays. Samsung has already converted some of its facilities to mass-produce the superwide LCD panels. It expects to produce 12 panels per substrate on its seventh-generation production line. The market for DID LCD panels is expected to grow from 1.33 million in 2010 to 6.57 million units in 2015, according to market research firm DisplaySearch. It also is projected that LCDs will account for nearly 90 percent of the DID market in 2015. For more information, visit www.samsung.com