Society for Information Display

Society for Information Display
Name	Society for Information Display
Formation	1962
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	San Jose, California
Region served	International
Membership	Engineers, scientists, designers

Society for Information Display

The Society for Information Display is an international professional association for researchers, engineers, designers, and industry leaders focused on electronic visual displays, founded amid the growth of cathode ray tube and liquid crystal technologies. The organization convenes practitioners from companies such as Sony, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Sharp Corporation, and Apple Inc. and collaborates with research institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Tokyo, University of Cambridge, and Tsinghua University to advance display science, display engineering, human factors, and materials science.

History

The society originated during the era of pioneering display work involving laboratories at Bell Labs, RCA, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Hewlett-Packard, and Kodak and was shaped by technological milestones including the development of the cathode ray tube, the invention of liquid crystal display, and advances in organic light-emitting diode research. Early leadership included engineers affiliated with NASA, IBM, General Electric, Philips, and Eastman Kodak Company who sought mechanisms for sharing results across venues like the International Solid-State Circuits Conference and the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting. During the late 20th century the society engaged with companies such as Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Seiko Epson, and research centers at National Institute of Standards and Technology and Fraunhofer Society to respond to shifts introduced by color matrix addressing, thin-film transistor arrays, and flat-panel manufacturing.

Organization and Membership

The society's governance mirrors structures found at organizations including IEEE, ACM, SPIE, OSA, and MRS with a board of directors, elected officers, technical committees, and regional chapters spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. Membership categories encompass academic researchers from University of California, Berkeley, industry engineers from Intel Corporation, product designers from Microsoft, and students from institutions like California Institute of Technology, Seoul National University, Peking University, and Imperial College London. Corporate partnerships and sponsors have included Canon Inc., Nikon Corporation, Texas Instruments, Corning Incorporated, and 3M, fostering ties to standards bodies such as ISO, IEC, ANSI, JEDEC, and SPIE-affiliated conferences.

Publications and Conferences

The society publishes peer-reviewed outlets and proceedings that join literature alongside journals like Nature Photonics, Applied Physics Letters, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Journal of Applied Physics, and Advanced Materials. Its flagship conference competes for submissions with events such as SID Display Week, the Consumer Electronics Show, the International Display Workshop, and the Japan Display Exhibition and draws plenary speakers from Google, Facebook, Amazon, NVIDIA, and ARM Holdings. Conference programs include sessions on emissive displays pioneered by researchers at Kyushu University, quantum-dot advances linked to Nanosys, microLED work connected to Texas Instruments', and flexible substrates investigated at University of Arizona.

Awards and Recognition

The society confers honors that parallel recognition from institutions like the National Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, IEEE Medal of Honor, and MRS Awards and includes prizes named after pioneers associated with George Heilmeier, Shuji Nakamura, Nick Holonyak Jr., and Isamu Akasaki. Award recipients often hold affiliations with Bell Labs, UC Santa Barbara, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Kyoto University and have contributed to technologies adopted by Samsung Display, BOE Technology Group, AU Optronics, and Innolux Corporation.

Technical Activities and Standards

Technical committees coordinate work on topics such as colorimetry rooted in standards from CIE, video interfaces related to VESA, display driving techniques analogous to HDMI signaling, and materials testing protocols influenced by ASTM International. Collaborative efforts include liaison with IEC TC 110, ISO/TC 42, JEITA, and regional consortia like METI and national labs such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop metrics for contrast ratio, luminance, lifetime, and reliability used across supply chains including fabs at TSMC, glass suppliers like Corning, and component vendors such as Broadcom.

Outreach and Education

The society supports educational initiatives through tutorials, student awards, and university partnerships similar to programs run by IEEE Foundation, ACM-W, IEEE Electron Devices Society, and Optica including outreach to students at MIT Media Lab, Carnegie Mellon University, ETH Zurich, University of Waterloo, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Workshops, webinars, and summer schools bring together participants from industry leaders such as Sony Semiconductor Nagasaki, Samsung Display Co., Ltd., LG Display, Sharp, and research consortia including IMEC and CEA-Leti to promote workforce development and technology transfer.

Category:Professional associations Category:Display technology