With the Time Shop, I Too Am the Greatest Conglomerate of All Time

Episode 76. TM display.(2)

“Are you the best display company in the world?”

At my words, the staff in the conference room began to murmur.

Most of them didn’t seem to take my words seriously.

‘It will take some time, too.’

I decided to end the meaningless meeting at this point.

“I think I’ve done everything I want to tell you today. Then you can all go away, leaving only President Yoo, the development team leader, and the head of the research institute.”

People got up and scattered out of the conference room.

Only the three people I called were left.

“Who is the head of the lab?”

A man in his 50s wearing glasses stepped forward.

“I am Lee Kwan-jae, the head of the research center.”

“nice to meet you. The reason I asked you to stay is because I have a question for you. Are there any FFS mod-related projects you are working on right now?”

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

It is a device that displays an image by placing a light source behind and using the liquid crystal as a kind of shutter to turn on/off only the necessary parts.

However, there are many different types of this screen.

There were also several ways to make this liquid crystal a shutter structure.

There are four major shutter structures (TN, VA, IPS, and FFS) that are mainly used.

This is called a mode.

Responsiveness that indicates how quickly the screen can change, depending on this mode.

The viewing angle characteristic refers to the degree to which the color does not change when viewed from the side.

The black characteristics (CR, Contrast Ratio), which show how black the black is, are all different.

How well you choose this mode was the factor that had the biggest impact on the success of the display business.

The research director asked with a surprised face.

“How do you know that? It is a technology that is far from reaching the commercialization stage, so not many experts in this field know about it yet.”

Hwansung was a company specializing in VA mode, which is often used on TVs.

That didn’t mean I was completely immersed in IPS, TN, or FFS modes.

It’s the same with all big companies.

Insurance was always assuming the worst-case scenario.

“I have always been interested in LCD. Since I am not a stranger to LCD, the director does not have to worry too much.”

“Right now, research is mainly focused on the TN mode, isn’t it?”

Twisted Nematic (TN) mode.

Because the response speed is fast and the production cost is low compared to other modes, almost all of the early LCD panels used the TN mode.

Of course, it was not used later because almost all characteristics such as viewing angle characteristics and black characteristics were worse than other mods.

“As of today, please divide all the research personnel into VA, IPS, and FFS modes, leaving only the minimum number of people on the TN mode side.”

VA (Vertical Alignment) mode.

It was a mode that could express dark colors well because it had good black characteristics.

It was a mode used a lot for TV.

Since the viewing angle and response characteristics are inferior to those of the IPS mode, it is rarely used in monitors or smartphones.

In Plane Switching (IPS) mode.

It has good viewing angle characteristics and the color does not change well when viewed at an angle.

In addition, the response characteristics are better than the VA mode, so it will become a mode used a lot for smartphones, tablets, and monitors in the future.

Although FFS mode is similar in structure to IPS.

It is a mode that further improves its characteristics.

Later, it became famous for being used in Apple’s smartphones.

Due to the high production cost, I was thinking of replacing it with IPS mode for the time being.

The head of the lab hesitated for a moment before answering.

“VA, IPS, and FFS all have better characteristics than TN, but there are many problems that need to be solved before mass production. All the panels sold right now are only TN mode products, so I’m worried about whether I’ll be able to release a new product on time.”

“I will help you with that. So, don’t worry, the research manpower should be divided into those three modes.”

The head of the research institute looked as if he was about to breathe a sigh of relief at any moment, and then nodded his head.

“If that is the owner’s will, then I understand.”

“I know what you think is impossible right now. But when you work with me, you will understand why I said this.”

This time, he spoke to the development team leader.

“Development manager. Did you know that Soap in Japan released LCD TVs?”

“Are there any projects that are developing panels that can be used on TVs?”

“Why not? In Japan, the actual product has already been released. It’s a bit strange that they’re not even developing it.”

“Even if a TV panel is developed, it is because the price is too high to replace a CRT TV. Of course, one day we will also have to develop TV panels, but I think it is premature to change jobs. Even more so, considering that the LCD TVs that Soap has released are being consumed only for domestic consumption in Japan, and the sales volume is small.”

When producing LCDs, the electrical circuits of several LCD panels are made at once on a large glass.

That big glass is called a disc glass.

The original glass is cut into individual LCD panels and sold.

The larger the original glass, the more LCD panels that come out, so the unit price can be lowered.

Currently, the biggest disc of TM display was the size of the 3.5th generation.

Other LCD companies were also at the same level.

As the generation grows, so does the disk.

Considering that 8th-generation-sized disks will become the mainstream later, LCD panels were inevitably expensive.

However, the reason LCD TVs did not sell a lot in the beginning was not just because of the price.

“If the price is high, won’t it be sold unconditionally?”

“..not necessarily, but price is the most important factor in selling.”

The development team leader was wrong.

“Not the best. The most important thing is performance and quality. The reason LCD TVs don’t sell is not simply because they are expensive. That’s because I don’t think it’s worth paying for that money.”

said the development team leader.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think there is any reason why our LCD TVs are inferior to CRT TVs in terms of quality and performance.”

Pride in the product isn’t a bad thing, though.

This wasn’t pride, it was an idea close to arrogance.

A CRT TV is a TV with a convex back.

It is a product that expresses an image by shooting an electron gun called CRT (Cathod-Ray Tube) to the screen and making the fluorescent material on the surface emit light.

Compared to LCD TVs, it had the disadvantage of being very large and heavy.

Conversely, in terms of picture quality, it has many advantages over LCD TVs.

“How fast is your monitor responding now?”

“Around 25ms.”

“Do you know what the response speed of a CRT TV is?”

“..I do not know.”

“It is less than 0.001ms. What is the contrast ratio of the LCD monitor? Is it something like 1000:1?”

Contrast ratio is the ratio of the brightness in case of black to the brightness in case of white.

The greater the difference in this ratio, the better the black characteristics and the better the image quality.

“..500:1 or so.”

“CRT TVs are usually around 10000:1. It also means that the picture quality is greatly inferior. Do you think that quality and performance are not compromised even after this?”

“..Quality and performance do not necessarily imply those picture qualities. Our LCD panel is light and small in volume, so it is easy to install and has a beautiful design. I want you to know that there are many things that CRT TVs cannot keep up with.”

“I know. But a TV is something you see with your eyes. In that sense, picture quality is more important than anything else. What if our product has the same picture quality characteristics as a CRT TV, but is much lighter and prettier? At that time, the advantages of our LCD TV will be noticed. And consumers are willing to buy our products, even if they are a bit pricey.”

“..I see what you mean. However, it is almost impossible to match the LCD picture quality characteristics to that of a CRT. In the first place, CRTs and LCDs used for CRTs have different strengths because the principle itself is different.”

“Of course it is impossible. However, if it is above a certain level, it will be able to move the hearts of consumers. Elevating the TV panel to that level is what the development team leader has to do from now on.”

“..I don’t really get a sense of that level.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you the exact numbers. From now on, you can think of half of the development team’s capacity to focus on TV panels.”

“If you say half, do you mean to develop all the panels for mobile phones and monitors with the other half?”

“Don’t develop panels for mobile phones for the time being. You can think of it as simply selling the existing models by raising the yield as much as possible. Think of it as half the monitor and half the TV.”

“..The most popular panels are for mobile phones now, but if we stop developing new products, there will be a big hit later.”

“How much profit do you get from that popular cell phone panel?”

Knowing that I was in a deficit, I asked.

After all, liquid crystal panels for mobile phones are cheap.

It is an industry where there is not much profit left due to fierce competition.

Smartphones come later.

It was a field where profits were made only after entering into the high-definition competition, so it was enough to jump into it at that time.

Among the LCD panels, the most profitable was the panel for TV.

Due to its large size, the unit price was also high.

The TV itself has the image of high-end furniture, so it sold well even though it was a little expensive.

“And I will be involved in development projects.”

“..is it the CEO himself?”

“yes. Do you have any problems?”

You can tell what he’s thinking just by looking at his face.

“haha. It won’t be as much of a distraction as you worry.”

At my words, the development team leader put on a stern expression.

“..I didn’t think of that.”

“I’m glad I didn’t. Anyway, let’s do well in the future.”

“Then the head of the research center and the head of the development team can go out.”

After the two left the conference room.

I asked the last remaining president, Yoo Kang-woo.

“How much can we afford to invest in our company now?”

“..It’s embarrassing to say, but we already have a lot of debt, so we can’t afford to invest any more.”

I expected that.

If you can afford to invest.

You wouldn’t have passed it on to me at the low price of 350 billion won.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I will invest 100 billion won every month from the end of this month through TM Mirae Corporation.”

“A hundred billion? And every month?”

“yes. President Yoo, please make a new 5th generation line with it.”

6th generation or higher is good for properly producing TV panels.

It required trillions of dollars of investment.

Since we don’t have such a big fund yet, we decided to use the 5th generation as a stepping stone to cross over.

“..5th generation is a generation that not only us, but also major domestic companies such as Hwansung and RG, as well as Japan’s Soap, have never tried it yet. It could become a complex that only eats money.”

A generation that no one has ever tried.

Investing in a 5G line would be a great adventure for them.

For me, having experienced up to the 8th generation, there was no big difference between looking at a set drawing and fitting the blocks together.

“Because there is no such thing. Please make an investment plan. Please discuss the details with me.”

LCD was the device industry,

The larger the scale, the more competitive the structure.

Scale here meant the number of generations and lines.

Among them, the most effective was raising the generation.

It could be seen that if you raise a generation even a little earlier than your competitors, you will have that much competitiveness.

After even President Yoo Kang-woo left, I was the only one left in the spacious conference room.

‘It reminds me of when I was happy. Once in a meeting in the conference room she was always sitting at the end. Now I’m at the forefront.’

I inhaled the air as hard as I could.

Because the seats were different, even the air felt sweet.