You might not expect much discussion of display materials to go on at CES, but as CES increasingly becomes less of a consumer electronics show and more of an SoE (show of everything), an increasing number of technical conversations about materials, panels, chips, and components are held in hotel suites, cocktail lounges, and those pre-fab meeting rooms way in the back of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall. Some of those conversations even take place on the show floor and in the press-and-analyst-only shows-within-a-show that take place in the evenings when already exhausted editors force themselves onward, fueled by deadlines, adrenalin, and free martinis.
Patchwork showed its ITG after-market hardened cover glass in sizes to fit several popular smart-phone models. (Photo: Ken Werner)
Display glass is certainly more likely to be shown and discussed at the Society for Information Display’s Display Week in San Jose, the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) in Daegu, Korea, or the International Display Workshops (IDW) in Japan. But at the CES Unveiled show-within-a-show, two companies were showing hardened glass cut to fit popular smart-phone models and intended to be placed over the existing hardened cover glass, which is usually Corning’s Gorilla Glass.
Patchworks ITG (“Impossible Tempered Glass”) is made from 0.33mm-thick Dragontail, which is Asahi Glass Company’s product intended to compete with Gorilla Glass. The Patchworks products are cut to fit particular cell phone models, and are pre-coated with optically clear adhesive. Patchworks says consumer application is easy-to-do and bubble-free, which was the case when I applied a relatively large piece intended for a Galaxy Note on the screen of an ancient phone that was much to small for it.
XTAR’s “sapphire-like glass” undergoes a scratch test at CES Unveiled. (Photo: Ken Werner)
The price for an ITG kit, which also includes a dust remover and cleaning towlette, will be $25-$30 retail, depending on size and model. They will be availabe during the first week of February through wireless service providers such as AT&T. Although new to the U.S. market, Patchworks is no start-up. The company claims to be the leading supplier of tempered-glass screen protectors in the Japanese market.
XTAR (Shenzhen, China), the “inventor of saphire-like glass” has a different spin on the same basic idea. XTAR’s David Hu said the company deposits a thin layer of sapphire on a substrate of alumina-silica glass, thus providing “the hardness of saphire with the cost of Gorilla Glass.” XTAR has both OEM and consumer solutions, but the company seems more serious about the OEM solution. Production equipment for OEMs will be available in March. The consumer solution is available only on XTAR’s website, with a per unit price of approximately $50. If XTAR’s “sapphire-like glass” can replace Gorilla Glass and can offer superior performance at the same price, XTAR might have something.
But does it really make sense to put a layer of XTAR or ITG on top of the Gorilla Glass that’s already part of the smart phone your buying? I asked that question of a source at Corning, who answered in a studiously mild tone of voice, “the company does not believe the aftermarket addition of other layers of hardened glass are necessary.” On the show floor, Corning was showing its Gorrilla Glass 4. The design goal for Gorilla 3, a rep said, was to minimize scratching and make those scratches that did occur less visible. Gorilla 4 adds increased resistance to point damage.
So, do you need to add an aftermarket layer of hardened glass to your smart phone? If you weigh 300 pounds, keep your phone in your hip pocket, and sit on rocks, it might be a good idea. For the rest of us, I have my doubts. – Ken Werner
Display Daily Comment
Corning also sneaked out news of a new glass product (Corning Stays Ahead in Display Glass) for light guides during the show. (BR)
