Digital View - Enabling Digital Displays


controllers

Over the past nearly 30 years, as the major electronics companies evolved the consumer LCD TV market, Digital View has played a key role enabling the commercial and industrial display market with its LCD controllers.

Since 1995

Digital View, founded in March 1995 in England and Hong Kong by James Henry and Richard Cobbold, expanded to California within a year. Over its 28-year history, the company has remained at the forefront of LCD display technology, providing highly reliable controller and interface electronics that enable LCD monitors and video displays for non-consumer applications.

Early Days In the early days of the company, the LCD landscape was very different. The highest resolution available for production LCD panels was about 1024x768, with 640x480 still being prevalent. Panel interfaces were TTL, sizes were generally less than 20" diagonal, and the standard aspect ratio was 4:3. Typical input signals included Composite Video (PAL, NTSC, SECAM) or ARGB, commonly referred to as VGA. Despite the existence of a digital standard, SDI, since 1990, analog Component remained widely used in the professional video market.

Growth and Evolution The industry saw significant changes with the broadcast market adopting HD-SDI in 1998 and the introduction of DVI in 1999 for the consumer market. HDMI products emerged in late 2003, followed by DisplayPort's release in 2006. Digital View was agile in responding to these trends, introducing controllers to match these standards, allowing the commercial market to develop niche display products.

Today's Landscape 29 years later, in 2024, LCD panel technology for the non-consumer market has advanced significantly. Resolutions up to 3840x2160 (usually referred to as Ultra-HD or 4K) are common and 8K is available. Common panel interfaces include LVDS, eDP, and V-by-One, with sizes up to 110" diagonal. The predominant aspect ratio is 16:9, but 16:10 and 4:3 remain available, along with super-wide models. An emerging trend is the creation of native "banner" panels in various resolutions and sizes, departing from the previous practice of cutting standard panels. Digital View continues to support all these innovations, reflecting its enduring commitment to technological excellence.

Explore some of our web pages:
•   Digital View Home Page
•   Summary of Digital View controller boards
•   Controller Solution Generator matching displays with controller boards

Products

Tracking the developments in the LCD panel technology and the release of video signal standards Digital View has released an average of 3 new models a year while also maintaining a long product lifecycle. To provide display system developers with the easiest route to making a finished product we sought to provide flexibility both for the input signals and the output panel support with our multi-panel functionality.

In addition, to further enhance the capabilities of finished displays we added RS-232 command support followed by Ethernet connectivity. This was complemented by a range of accessories that included the basics such as the on-screen menu function buttons and various cables as well as more application specific functions such as display monitoring for the digital signage market.

For display systems to be used in harsher environments, complementary versions were released with higher spec components, physical modification and conformal coatings. A controller product summary is available here and we cover many topical issues on the Digital View Blog here.


controllers

LCD Controller Release Date History

Date launched
1995 AC-9511
1996 AC-9606
1997 PN-9701
1998 AC-1024, AV-0640, AV-0800, DC-550/555, SV-1024, SV-N705
1999 AC-0640, AC-0800, AC-1024v3, ACM-1024, AV-1024, AV-1280, MAV-1280
2000 AC-9512, ACG-1024, ACL-1024, SVP-1280/SVP-1600
2001 SV-1600
2002 ACL-1280, AVP-1280
2003 DVI-1280, SV-1600+
2004 AL-1024, AL-1280
2005 SVH-1920
2006 ALR-1400, SP-1600
2007 DVI-2560, DVS-1600, HE-1400, HE-1600
2008 HE-1920, SVH-1920+
2009 AVP-1600, HX-1920, SVX-1920
2010 HVX-1920L
2011 ALR-1920, ALR-1920-120, ALR-1920-SDI, DD-1920, SGX-1920, SGX-1920L
2012 HG-1920
2013 DD-1920-DVI
2014 DD-1920-HDMI, SVX-1920v3, SVX-2560, SVX-3840
2015 DD-1920-VGA, DD-1920-HDBT, SVH-1920v2, SVX-3840
2016 SVX-4096, ALR-1400v2
2017 SVX-4096-120, SP-1920
2018 DT-1920-HDMI-EDPT, SP-4096, SVX-4096-VW, SVX-4096-SDM
2019 ALT-1920, DT-1920-HDMI, MIP-1000, SDM-1920-LVDS
2020 AVD-2000
2021 EPM-050, SVX/HX-1920-PRO
2022 DT-4096, EPM-100v2, HX-2560-SDI, SP-1920v2
2023 EPL-100, EPM-050C, STM-100

Some Display Industry Milestones:
• VGA - 640x480 introduced in 1987
• XGA - 1024x768 introduced in 1990
During the 1990s the consumer industry started moving away from standard 4:3 aspect ratios as well as moving to digital interfaces.
• DVI was introduced in 1999
• HDMI was introduced in 2003
• Displayport was introduced in 2006
• USB-C with DP Alt mode, and Thunderbolt 3 or later are now in consumer devices