Stutensee (Germany), January 28, 2010 – Gleichmann & Co. Electronics GmbH and the South Korean Tovis Co. Ltd, the leading manufacturer of special format TFT panels, have agreed to a far-reaching sales cooperation on a pan-European level.

Tovis rebuilds ordinary TFT panels into so-called "stretched panels" which results in  aspect ratios of e.g. 32:9 to 56:9. To achieve this, panels in the usual 4:3 or 16:9 formats are precisely cut and then immediately thereafter sealed again without any loss of liquid. This is performed using Tovis’ patented cutting and sealing process. Frank Dornscheidt, Line Manager at Gleichmann Electronics, responsible for the marketing of Tovis’ products in the European market, sees an ideal complement with the special format TFT panels from Tovis to the current display product portfolio of the MSC-Gleichmann Group. “Over the next few years, individual form factors will become increasing important due to the constantly increasing information needs, but at the same time in many areas (for example, mobile passenger information) only a limited mounting space is available. With "stretched panels" it is possible to present text information much more eye-catchingly and concentrated in a small place than with traditional monitor formats.”

Yong Beom Kim, CEO of Tovis Co. Ltd., who founded the enterprise in 1998, also believes that the demand for "stretched panels" will continue to increase rapidly over the coming years. Initially focused on the production of display modules for mobile telephones and open frame monitors for the gaming market, Tovis therefore wants to continue to rapidly expand this business area with new product lines and technically competent distribution partners. “Because we also want to strengthen the design and production of customer-specific special formats, we very consciously did not look for a conventional distributor, but rather a system integrator with many years of design-in experience that can comprehensively support customers during application development in the area of displays. In this respect, we have found an ideal partner with Gleichmann Electronics,” explained Yong Beom Kim.

(from left): Yong Beom Kim, President & CEO, Frank Dornscheidt, Line Manager at Gleichmann Electronics, responsible for the marketing of Tovis’ products and Inho Cho, Marketing Manager at Tovis are jointly setting out to conquer the European market with high-quality "stretched panels".

Gleichmann Electronics will present the product range for the first time in Hall 9/Booth 9-463 at embedded world 2010. This range of products currently includes ten different panel sizes from 6.2‑inch to 49.5-inch with various resolutions, whereby the two recently introduced 37.9-inch and 28.4‑inch panels with heights from 234 mm and 296 mm respectively, manufactured from future-oriented Full HD displays, are particularly well suited for all types of travel and air passenger information.

All of Tovis’ displays feature ultra-wide horizontal and vertical viewing angles of 178°. In addition, all larger displays have a brightness of greater than 400cd/m2 and are therefore also suited for use in bright lit environments. The first high-brightness version with 1000 cd/m2  has been announced for the first  quarter of 2010.

The various TFT displays can be provided by Gleichmann Electronics, depending on the needs, as: module (LVDS input), open frame monitor (RGB/DVI input) or also complete monitor with enclosure. Furthermore, for a minimum quantity of a few hundred, Gleichmann Electronics and Tovis also offer additional customer-specific panels.

With its latest 76-inch (2 x 42-inch) and 84-inch (4 x 42-inch) seamless TFT panels, Tovis proves that the company is not only an expert in cutting and sealing. These panels feature a panel seam of just 6.8 mm. Only plasma display panels currently have a smaller spacing, however, these solutions are significantly more expensive and draw considerably more power.