Spencer Chin EETimes Supply Network (10/25/2004 1:06 PM EST)

The Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group (EBL-WG) has announced that shipments of XGA resolution panels consuming under 3 watts has reached 6 million units, about 12 per cent of total estimated notebook shipments for 2004 and meeting the organization's goal of driving down PC power usage.

According to EBL-WG, an industry-wide group of companies formed a year ago to drive longer battery life in mobile PCs, average display panel power has dropped from 4.3 to 4.5 watts to 3 watts or less over the past year. The power savings is equivalent to 60 minutes of extra battery life in notebooks.

The EBL-WG is targeting an annual rate of 10 million units mobile PCs with displays consuming 3 watts or less by 2005, about 20 per cent of estimated total notebook shipments.

According to Kamal Shah, Mobility Enabling Initiative manager, Mobile Platforms Group for Intel Corp. and chairman of the EBL-WG, display subsystems constitute a significant portion of the overall average power consumed by a mobile PC.

The EBL-WG is extending its efforts to drive the industry to adopt its methodology for measuring battery life, which provides a common reference for mobile PC manufacturers to assess power consumption of different panels. The group is encouraging all display panel manufacturers to include power consumption measured according to the EBL-WG guidelines in their product data sheets.

The initiative would allow mobile PC manufacturers to assess the list of panel features comprehensively and simplify the panel qualification process by compiling all relevant data in one place, the group said.