The LEP display will offer solution to day and night  viewing challenges in covert operations
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom,  – Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), the leading researcher and commercial technology developer of light-emitting polymers (LEPs), announced that it has been selected to develop a prototype handheld LEP display for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), through the National Technology Alliance Program.

The prototype handheld tactical device will use a Red/Near-Infrared (R/NIR) monochrome LEP display, designated a covert red/infrared viewer, CRIV, and represents a new class of displays to be used by U.S. Armed Forces and the Intelligence Community in its Situational Awareness and Planning Systems (SAPS). This display is designed to be easily viewable during normal daylight and nighttime operations as well as optionally viewable at night only with the use of night vision goggles, offering an important performance improvement in reducing the probability of detection during nighttime operations.

“NIMA continually researches and identifies the best technology available to support imagery intelligence and geospatial information in guaranteeing the information edge to its customers,” said research and technology staff at NIMA.  “The unique performance characteristics of CDT’s LEP displays offer great potential in developing the next generation of SAPS.  Their wide viewing angles, energy efficiency, fast refresh rate at any temperature, thinness, and near-infrared characteristics offer advantages over current SAPS displays.  And the potential for flexible displays is exciting.”

The development of the R/NIR LEP display is the first phase of a demonstration prototype project that CDT is partnering on with the National Center for Applied Technology (NCAT), one of three labs run by the National Technology Alliance (NTA), a partnership sponsored by NIMA between government, industry, and academia to leverage high value technologies developed in the commercial market for government users.  Potential subsequent phases will include a full color display as well as a flexible display format.

“The selection of CDT for this program because of the unique performance features of our LEPs illustrates the broad potential that the technology offers,” said David Fyfe, CEO of CDT.  “Working in a collaborative effort with an agency like NIMA/NTA affirms our strategy to target a wide range of high performance display markets.  Coupled with ongoing development of partnerships, continual improvement of our LEP technology and a pilot technology development facility in the U.K., CDT is firmly positioned to leverage the opportunities of the growing OLED market.”

According to research from DisplaySearch, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display revenue is expected to grow from $24 million in 2000 to $3.3 billion by 2005. The OLED display market consists of a wide range of electronics products that includes mobile phones, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, camcorders and eventually personal computers and consumer products.

About NIMA
NIMA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and a member of the Intelligence Community and the government's principal provider of imagery, imagery intelligence and geospatial information in support of national objectives. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NIMA operates major facilities in northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo.  More information: www.nima.mil.

About NTA
The National Technology Alliance (NTA) is a U.S. Government Program for which NIMA serves as the Executive Agent.  The mission of the NTA is to influence commercial and dual-use technology development by discovering, initiating, or accelerating commercial solutions to meet U.S. national security and defense technology challenges.  The NTA is currently comprised of three laboratories:  National Media Laboratory (NML), National Information and Display Laboratory (NIDL), and the National Center for Applied Technology (NCAT).  More information:  www.nta.org. 

About NCAT
The NCAT is a consortium of leading companies and academia hosted by Autometric, Inc.  The NCAT fosters the cost effective, collaborative development and evaluation of world class commercial information technology, imagery and geospatial applications to focus on and enhance the capabilities of analysts and field users around the world in their support of the intelligence, Department of Defense, and civilian/environmental communities. More information: www.ncat-nta.org.