TOKYO, SANTA CLARA, Calif. U.S.A, May 19, 2008-NEC LCD Technologies,together with its sales and marketing channel in the Americas, NEC Electronics America, Inc., today announced the successful development of a manufacturing technology that enables more flexible design of thin- film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.

The prototype design, a "heart-shaped," low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) color TFT LCD module formed using two half-circular arcs and two straight lines, has a display width of 4.0 centimeters (cm), height of 3.6 cm and pixel pitch of 174 micrometers (146 pixels per inch). A presentation about the new technology, titled "A Non-Rectangular Heart -Shaped SOG-LCD," will be given at the Society for Information Display (SID) Symposium on Friday, May 23, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. in Petree Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The module also will be on display in the NEC Electronics America booth (#235) at the SID ExhibitionMay 20 through 22.

NEC LCD Technologies' new technology enables optimal arrangement of gate and data lines in the pixel array and minimizes the overlaps between gate and data driver circuitry (*1), when the module is non-rectangular in shape. By applying its proprietary value-integrated TFT (VIT) technology and integrating the driver circuits into the module along the perimeter of the LCD glass, NEC LCD Technologies has simplified the interconnection scheme and substantially reduced the area needed to contain the wiring and interconnections between external circuits, thereby yielding a bezel as slim as 2.0 millimeters (mm) (*2).

Traditional display modules are rectangular in shape, since it is thesimplest, most efficient and versatile shape for accommodating the pixel arrays. Recently LCD suppliers have started to introduce fairly simple non-rectangular LCD shapes, including circles, ellipses and rectangles with trimmed corners.The shapes have been fairly simple because the more complex the shape, the more difficult it is to accommodate the wiring patterns, resulting in thicker bezels and greater consumption of power. Displays with non-rectangular shapes are generally targeted to replace mechanical instrument gauges-such as the speedometers and tachometers found in cars-and other applications that require simple shapes.

NEC LCD Technologies' new technology enables LCD modules to bedesigned with varied, more flexible shapes that can be adapted to embedded applications and also to nontraditional LCD applications. NEC LCD Technologies believes this development will stimulate the development of new and unique LCD applications.

*1:There is no overlap between the gate driver and data driver in theheart-shaped prototype

*2:The bezel size of the glass substrate, excluding the interconnection area for FPC and driver IC

About NEC LCD Technologies
NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. is one of the world's leading providers of high-quality, innovative, active-matrix liquid crystal display (AM-LCDs) modules for the industrial and high-end monitor markets. The company focuses its development on four core technology areas: ultra-wide viewing angle SFT technology with high luminance, wide color gamut and fast response; NLT technology for high visibility in any kind of ambient light environment; VIT technology to add extra value to LCD modules; and adaptive design technology, which together meet a variety of specialized needs for the flat panel display markets. NEC LCD Technologies' worldwide support includes sales and marketing affiliates NEC Electronics America, Inc. (www.am.necel.com) and NEC Electronics Europe (www.eu.necel.com) that offer specialized display solutions to their respective markets. NEC LCD Technologies employs approximately 1,200 people worldwide and offers one of the broadest product portfolios for the medical, factory automation, test and measurement, entertainment, kiosk, POS and ATM markets. Additional information can be found at www.nec-lcd.com/en

About NEC Electronics America
NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and platform solutions for a wide range of customer applications. NEC Electronics America offers a local manufacturing facility in Roseville, California, and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. NEC Electronics America is also the Americas marketing and sales channel, specializing in industrial applications, for active-matrix LCDs from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by NEC Electronics America can be found at www.am.necel.com.

NEC Electronics America is either a registered trademark or trademarkof NEC Electronics Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners.