LG Display Co. Ltd. and TPV Technology Ltd. forged a module assembly joint venture in China for LCD TVs and PC monitors that will start production in first quarter. L&T Display Technology will have a TV plant in Xiamen, while the monitor facility is in Fujian. The Xiamen plant will have annual capacity for 4 million TVs, while the Fujian factory has capacity to produce 6 million. The joint venture will supply LG and TPV customers. TPV will shift some orders from its other factories in China to the joint venture, but that won't involve 'massive' layoffs or transfer of business. The companies will invest $34 million to $50 million in the joint venture with LG owning 51% and TPV 49%.

STMicroelectronics NV, in collaboration with LG Display Co. Ltd. announced submission of their proposed iDP (Internal DisplayPort) interface standard aimed at replacing the current LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) standard to the VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) TV Panel Task Group. To enable more realistic animation, graphics and 3-D video and better overall picture quality, LCD TVs are rapidly advancing toward higher refresh rates thus creating the need for a new high-speed panel-interface standard. The proposed iDP standard was developed as an open and royalty-free industry standard to address this market requirement, accelerate market adoption and drive innovation in the consumer electronics industry. iDP is an advanced technology that is based on DisplayPort, a proven industry-standard technology that is an open and royalty-free VESA digital-display interface standard. The DisplayPort interface enables high-bandwidth audio and video signal transmission by utilizing a digital protocol.

AT&T Inc. is suing the major makers of LCD screens for cell phones, saying they colluded to raise the prices the carrier paid for 300 million cell phones. AT&T filed the suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It didn't specify what damages it sought. Hitachi Displays Ltd., LG Display Co. Ltd., Sharp Corporation, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., all of whom were named in the suit, have already pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of price-fixing, settling them for more than $600 million in fines. AT&T's suit also names Epson Electronics America Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp., saying they fixed prices between 1996 and 2006.