This is not going to revolutionize your life, but Samsung offers a new cheaper DDI (Display Driver IC) for PDP (Plasma) screens.

Samsung Delivers Power-Saving Display Driver for Plasma Screens
Seoul, Mar 05 — Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced that its new, broad 256-channel display driver IC (DDI) for plasma display panels (PDP) is in mass production.

This new DDI offers a lower power consumption rate over conventional PDP driver ICs, and creates greater cost efficiencies by reducing the number of DDIs per panel.

“The flat panel TV industry is experiencing unprecedented growth due to consumer demand for a high-definition experience,”said Jin-Tae Kim, vice president, DDI business development team of System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “Our new display driver IC solution enables greater high-definition clarity for plasma screens while reducing the amount of required energy.

“First introduced in the 192-channel DDI, Samsung’s unique power-saving technology, an energy recovery circuit (ERC), is again implemented in the new 256-channel driver IC to recycle energy loss within the circuit. This new power-smart feature lowers the DDI power consumption of a conventional PDP TV by over 35 percent. Such a reduction in power eliminates the need for a separate power-saving component feature, enabling for a slimmer and lighter TV module.

Moreover, an increase in the number of channels covered per chip reduces the number of DDIs required per panel. Twelve 256-channel DDIs can now replace the sixteen 192-channel DDIs previously needed to achieve the same low power consumption in a full high definition 40-inch PDP.

According to the market forecast firm Display Search, the demand for 40” and larger PDP screens is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent, from 12.25 million units in 2007 to 18.84 million units in 2010.