Panasonic Mobile Communications Co Ltd unveiled a total of seven new models for NTT DoCoMo Inc, SoftBank Mobile Corp and KDDI Corp at a stroke at its press conference on Feb 1, 2008.
To develop these new models, Panasonic Mobile reportedly refined its proprietary technologies for enhancing picture quality and 1seg reception sensitivity as well as for reducing the handset thickness.
At the conference, Panasonic Mobile introduced its efforts to enhance picture quality of FOMA P905iTV handset developed for NTT DoCoMo. This model employs the Mobile PEAKS processor for better picture quality.
The Mobile PEAKS processor was developed by applying the image processing technology used in the PEAKS processor to mobile phones. The PEAKS processor is an image processor employed in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd's PDP and LCD TVs.
The P905iTV also has new functions designed for mobile phones. Specifically, displaying 1seg broadcasting at a frame rate of 15fps at 30fps became possible by adopting an image interpolation technology.
The model features the maximum contrast ratio of 4,000:1, which is double that of the existing product. The production cost increased due to the enhancement of picture quality, which was balanced out by eliminating functions such as GSM international roaming.
The P905iTV uses a built-in antenna in combination with a rod antenna to enhance the 1seg reception sensitivity. The company expects that the users will watch 1seg broadcasts with the built-in antenna alone under normal conditions, but in places crowded with tall buildings, etc, where the reception is poor, users may pull out the rod antenna from the handset for better reception.
According to the demonstrator, the luminance of LCD screen installed on the W61P handset developed for KDDI is "enhanced to approximately 400cd/m2, ie, the industry's highest level." Most of the high-luminance models from Panasonic Mobile and competitors have a luminance of about 300cd/m2.
The luminance was enhanced mainly by increasing the number of white LEDs used in the LCD backlight from three units to five in the existing model, the company said.
In regard to the thickness reduction technology, the company introduced innovations in the "board mold process," which has been employed in its low-profile models. The process ensures the strength of circuit board by applying resin to the entire part of the device mounting surface. The main purpose of this process is to reinforce the chassis strength, which tends to get lower by the thickness reduction.
The company improved the resin materials so that the thickness of the latest models can be reduced by approximately 14% while maintaining the equivalent level of strength. The technique is adopted in the FOMA P705i, FOMA P705iμ and PROSOLID μ handsets for NTT DoCoMo as well as the W61P handset for KDDI.
Based on this technique, the P705i equipped with the 1seg reception function is 12.8mm thick when folded. Similarly, the W61P is 12.9mm thick. As for the models without the 1seg reception function, the P705iμ and the PROSOLIDμ both measure 9.8mm in thickness when folded.
In the P705iμ and the PROSOLIDμ, a smaller hinge is used to reduce the profile. In particular, the diameter of the button on the side of the hinge that automatically opens the folded handset when pushed has been reduced by approximately 15%.
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