Brillian Corporation designs and develops rear-projection LCoS (TM) (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) HDTVs
targeted at the high-end market. They also offer their LCoS (TM) light
engines to OEMs for integration into proprietary HDTV products. In July 2005 it was announced that Brillian and
Syntax
agreed to merge. The merger is pending stockholder and
regulatory approval. Upon completion of the merger, the new company will be in a unique
position to serve the both the high end and general consumer markets for High
Definition televisions.
On hand you have
Brillian a technology company that has a research and development
group, design, and manufacturing capability. On the other you have
Syntax, a company that knows how to buy low and sell low. Their early
offerings consisted of second tier panels and decent electronics.
They were known as the value brand in the LCD space. They had one of
the cheapest 27 inch LCDs you could buy. Their current products now
use panels from Samsung, LG.Philips, and Sharp. Couple that with
second generation electronics and you now see Syntax LCDs
getting great reviews.
The
combination of these two companies brings Brillian's R&D group
and light engine to Syntax's volume production. If the combined
company could produce a lower cost 1080p LCoS (TM) TV it would make a
major impact in the HDTV market. Likewise, Syntax would be able to
market their higher end LCDs through the Brillian channel. Time will
tell if the potential synergies develop into better and cheaper
products for consumers.
We asked Mr. Sollitto to a clarify a comment he made about Plasma TVs
being squeezed out by LCDs on the low end and LCoS (TM) TVs on the high end.
Basically he feels that the sweet spot for Plasmas right now is the 42
to 50 inch range. Smaller than that, LCDs are hard to compete with.
Plasmas have a better picture but LCDs are getting better each year and
for the price it's not worth paying the difference. Plasmas bigger than
50 inches are available but are not practical to build.
Once LCDs get into the 42 inch range Plasmas will be pushed out.
In the
greater than 50 inch market it will be tough for plasmas to compete
with DLP and LCoS (TM). Mr. Sollitto feels that the combination of superior
picture and great value of LCoS (TM) TVs will make them a value proposition
over both Plasma and DLP.
We also asked if the SED, OLED, or NED technologies would pose a threat to LCoS (TM).
Although those technologies are interesting OLED is at least five years
away. He also said that there is a huge infrastructure built around
LCDs. There is already a great deal of investment in manufacturing and
engineering and LCDs will continue to get better. The new technologies
have a long way to go before they are ready for prime time. Finally,
some of these technologies have required royalites to their developers,
which is a big reason asian manufacturers will not embrace them.
Listen to the podcast for much, much more.
