SOLTRACER




It tracks the sun's altitude & location and shields sunlight. There are two main benefits. 


  • Good visibility and efficient sunlight shading
     It almost completely blocks the sunlight but the ambient light is very slightly shaded. So, it does not disturb customer’s sight.

  • Extremely low power consumption (<0.1W/㎡)
     It is because the driving voltage is as low as 5V or less and the specific transmittance preferred in the primary use environment is given in voltage off-state.

CHARATERISTIC



       Good visibility and efficient sunlight shading

It almost completely blocks the direct sunlight but the ambient light is very slightly shaded. So, it does not disturb customer’s sight. Also desired shading can be provided to any passengers of the vehicle while driving. For example, in case tinting on a off-state is 15% blocking of the sun light, you can change the tinting range of each window from 0.1% to 35% by applying power according to the outside light conditions, that means each window, i.e. windshields, side windows and back windshields can be individually controllable with intermediate degree of darkening. Therefore everyone in the vehicle could be free from glaring during the day.



 Low power consumption and Eco friendly

 It is because the driving voltage is as low as 5V or less. Furthermore the specific transmittance preferred in the primary use environment is given in voltage off-state. Blocking or filtering of the Sun's rays reduces the amount of solar energy being transmitted through the vehicle windows significantly minimizes the need to cool the vehicle, thus reducing A/C cooling that means increasing fuel efficiency or saving gas prices, especially in summer. A reduction in overall solar heat gain means reducing your carbon footprint. Across many climate zones, blocking the Sun's rays has been shown to be one of the most cost-effective energy saving solutions.


        Selection of off-state transmittance and desired shading while driving

 Off-state(power off) transmittance to be a specific value between the highest and lowest, used for most of the time spent at wheel could be selected by users. Users can increase or decrease transmittance as they want while driving depending on the brightness of the circumstances by applying voltage which consumes little power. For example, if you apply voltage ranging from 0V to 5V, transmittance can be lowered to 0.1% or less or highered to 35%. Applying different voltages to smart window devices makes maximum shade or minimum shade possible for every window of a vehicle, including sunroof according to their surroundings.


How to reduce Glare-related Car Accidents


   Bright Sunlight Increases Accident Risk


 Sun glare is one of the most common cause of car accidents, second only to slick or icy roads resulting from environmental conditions. 

Although good driving conditions will always be a clear and sunny day, research on the effects of sun glare suggests that the brighter the day, the higher the risk of a glare-related accident.

A study on bright sunlight and the incidence of life-threatening vehicle accidents indicates that while there is an average accident risk on a day with normal sunlight, that risk increases by 16% when it is exceedingly sunny and glare is increased. (9,000 glare-related accidents occur each year in USA and 2,900 accidents U.K.)  

 High possibility of Sun glare accidents during rush hour, especially as autumn turns to winter


 When the sun is low in the horizon, the angle of the direct sunlight creates a strong glare across the windshield.

The danger is particularly high as autumn turns to winter and the sun sets at around 5-6 pm, just as most drivers are heading for home.

 How to protect yourself from sun glare while driving 

Wear Polarized Sun glasses


 Keep a pair of polarized sunglasses in your car and you can instantly reduce inescapable sun glare. Polarized sunglasses are made with a special filter in the lens that can block intensely reflected light. They're particularly effective while driving through snowy areas where sun glare is the most extreme.

Wearing sunglasses to block the sunlight is not only costly and cumbersome but also requires that other passengers wear their own sunglasses.

Tint the Windows


 If you were thinking about tinting your vehicle's windows, reduced sun glare could be one of the benefits. 

Tinting a vehicle to block the Sun glare, you will have to make the tinting very thick, which will interfere with driving at night.

 Solution, NDIS' SolTracer


  Our SolTracer technology tracks the sun's altitude and position to intensively block the portion of the vehicle's glass that receives direct sunlight, thereby overcoming both sunglasses and tinting problems.





PRESS


Future Company Focus "NDIS Corp."

Oct. 22, 2018/ etnews


  NDIS (CEO Kwon Soon-bum) commercializes smart windows, which have more sunlight blocking effect than existing smart windows for automobiles. NDIS will be in charge of technology development of the product, and a domestic listed company will handles production and sales.

 Established in 2004, NDIS was founded by a team of professors from Hoseo University. It is a subsidiary of DMS, a display equipment company. After its establishment, it developed such special displays modules like glasses-free 3D displays and flexible displays.

Smart window with the brand name "Soltracer" developed by NDIS features the ability to sense SUN's location automatically and then to shield direct sunlight as much as possible while maintaining ambient light, which means improving visibility. Smart windows usually do not properly block the glare caused by sunlight, or the whole view darkens. "Soltracer" solves these shortcomings and manufacturing cost is as low as one third compared to competing technologies such as Polarized Particle Dispersion (SPD).

The "Soltracer" is a plastic liquid crystal display(LCD) using a roll-to-roll (R2R) process. In contrast to driving a display based on a thin film transistor(TFT), this device controls the brightness by adjusting the voltage without a TFT. 

 NDIS will focus on developing technologies and related products to mass produce displays using roll-to-roll process technology. Starting with the mass production of "Soltracer", NDIS plans to develop products for various niche markets such as color electronic paper.

 Kwon Soon-bum, CEO of NDIS said, "Although TFT-based displays have been able to produced by only large companies, small and medium-sized companies can also target new display niche markets if they have a roll-to-roll based technology. The domestic display industry is expected to create new markets and small and medium-sized companies are also expected to be a new starting point for producing displays".





Evolved LCD ... VR · From hologram to smart window

August 30, 2018 / Digital Daily


  LCD (liquid crystal display) is evolving. Beyond the liquid crystal display (LCD) used in smart phones and TVs, application areas are expanding to include virtual reality (VR), holograms, and smart windows for sunlight blocking. NDIS, founded by  Hoseo University professor Kwon, Sun-Bum, exhibited a Smart Window brand named "Soltracer" at the 18th International Information Display Conference (IMID 2018), which opened in BEXCO, Busan on August 29, 2018. 

  Liquid Crystal is a material that plays a key role in LCD. In the intermediate state between solid and liquid, the arrangement is changed according to the voltage to block or pass the light. The most basic principle of LCD TVs is the 130th anniversary of its founding this year, and it was the 50th anniversary that was made with LCD panels. This is a long and proven technology. 

  The NDIS SolTracer is a kind of intelligent tinting. It protects the eyes of the driver by blocking light coming in from outside (mainly sunlight). If you lower the voltage, the window becomes less darker, and if the voltage is higher, the window will be darker. Compared to suspended particle devices (SPD), which are dependent on imports, the price of SolTracer is one-third of SPD and the response time of LC is much faster than that of SPD. Kwon said, "If the price of SPD is 300-400USD per square meter, SOLTRACER price is 100USD only. For electricity usage, the SPD requires 3.5 watts(W), while SOLTRACER only uses 0.5W. " Currently, the mass production equipment design has been completed by the roll-to-roll (R2R) method.



Challenges to the global display market ... IMID strikes a small business

August 30, 2018 / etnews


  This year, the 2nd International Exhibition on Information Display (IMID), which provided the exhibition booth, attracted a lot of domestic SMEs who challenged to enter the market. As a combination of professional academic conferences and exhibitions, a variety of products have emerged, ranging from R & D equipment to commercial products. It is a desire to find business opportunities in the domestic and overseas markets, starting with IMID exhibition. At the IMID 2018 exhibition held in BEXCO, Busan from 29th to 31st of 2018, a number of high-tech products of domestic SMEs appeared. Founded by Hoseo University professor Kwon Soon-bum and a team of researchers, NDIS has developed a smart window 'Sol Tracer' that is more effective in blocking sunlight than conventional smart windows for automobiles. This product automatically detects the solar altitude and location by adjusting the voltage to intensively block the sunlight.
  The existing Smart Windows have a disadvantage. For example to shade the sunlight, the whole field of view darkens and the glare caused by the sunlight can not be blocked properly. The NDIS Smart Window keeps the ambient light intact, sensing the location of sunlight with high visibility, and is highly effective in shielding. Kwon, Soon-bum, CEO, said, "The cost is lower by one-third than the competing technology, Suspended Particle Devices(SPD), and the power consumption is as low as one-fiftieth."



NDIS succeeds in developing film type LCD

July 23, 2012 / etnews


  A Korean venture company has developed the world's first film-type LCD that can overcome the flexible LCD limit in which the image is distorted when pressed or bended . It is noteworthy to be able to realize a glasses free 3D display (3D display) which is reduced in thickness by half using plastic substrates. NDIS announced today that it has developed the film type LCD 'F-LC' which has the same electro-optic characteristics as the conventional glass substrate type LCD. Polymer walls located between the liquid crystals stabilize the LCD cell in the column, so there is no image distortion even if bent. The polymer wall was installed in the black matrix part between the LCD pixels to eliminate the aperture ratio damage. This allows the electro-optical properties to remain the same as for conventional LCDs. The polymer wall was made by mixing the liquid crystal and the monomer, coating them, and then irradiating ultraviolet rays to transform the monomer into a polymer. In this way, the TN, IPS and VA mode LCDs can also be realized on plastic substrates. F-LC developed by NDIS can reproduce the LCD on a flexible display without any impact stability problem. In addition, due to its lightweight, unbreakable nature, it will be used in a variety of applications. NDIS has also developed a parallax barrier-type autostereoscopic 3D display module that uses F-LC to cut the thickness by half compared to glass substrate LCD (0.7mm). Futhermore the weight of the plastic substrate can be reduced to one tenth. Parallax barrier is a technology that displays images of left and right eyes only in each eye using a barrier, and is mainly used in a glasses-free 3D display. By using the display module of NDIS, the thickness and weight of the glasses-free 3D display module of a mobile device such as a smart phone and a game machine can be greatly reduced. NDIS is a research-oriented venture company that was founded in 2004 by Professor Kwon Soon-beom of Hoseo University and develops the next generation display. Kwon said, "F-LC is a film-type application field is unlimited," he said. "We will secure the cost competitiveness by early establishment of roll-to-roll production line and will pioneer the next generation market including film LCD for glasses-free 3D display."



NDIS Corporation's Display Global New Technology

October 8, 2010 / Herald economic nespaper


  NDIS (CEO: Soon Beom) is a company established in Hoseo Incubator Center in 2004 by CEO Soon Beom Kwon, a professor of Hoseo University's Department of Display Engineering, and has been focusing on 3D display and flexible display, leading the next generation display market by developing differentiated new technology. Recently, the company acquired a new technology (NET) certification of flexible display manufacturing method, which is a liquid crystal encapsulated flexible display technology capable of separating RGB color by pixel by using one liquid crystal on one flexible substrate without color filter. It has excellent shock resistance without deformation against bending and pressing because it encapsulates liquid crystal molecules and roll-to-roll method can be produced by forming liquid crystal layer by coating method process. In addition, it is evaluated that it can expect large-scale import substitution and export effect because it has excellent color characteristics and easy coloring in comparison with foreign competitors prevailing in the current market. Flexible display technology is a technology that even large companies can not easily challenge. As a small and medium venture company, we have been attracting much attention because of its success in technology development. CEO Soon-Bum Kwon said, "We challenged ourselves to try to win the world by technology, In the case of 3D stereoscopic images, we have developed the 3D technology of wide viewing angle without glasses, Ghost Free Parallax Barrier LCD design technology and the technology of precise adhesion of TFT and barrier to develop the core Technology and has been leading the market with the production of 3D LCD module production equipments for the first time in Korea at the end of 2008. Kwon Soon-bum, CEO, said, "We will prioritize the market through the commercialization of next-generation display (3D, flexible) technology as our top priority, and in the long term we will leap forward as a top-tier company through upgrading and globalization of our core businesses."