Samsung Electronics announced today it has developed the thinnest mobile LCD panel, no thicker than a credit card at 0.82mm and is 0.07mm thinner than the panel previously reported to be the world's slimmest.

The new LCD screen is available in 2.1- and 2.2-inch sizes, featuring QVGA (240¡Á320 pixels) resolution, a 300nit brightness and a 500:1 contrast ratio. Mass production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2007.

The company also announced that it has developed a new mobile technology, i-Lens, for integrating panel assembly, including a protective layer, into a single, thinner module more shock-resistant and easier to read than conventional panels.

Samsung has further contributed to the trend toward slimmer phones with its new i-Lens technology. The result is a thinner, highly integrated LCD module (LCM) that protects the mobile phone's main display better than previous designs, making it more resistant to damage from shock and vibration. In deploying Samsung's i-Lens technology, manufacturers can trim 1.4 to 2.4mm from the thickness of a mobile phone, the company said.

Today, a typical mobile phone screen leaves a 2-3mm space above the panel before attaching a reinforced plastic sheet to protect the LCM. In Samsung's new i-Lens process, a shock-resistant protective sheet is fastened directly to the LCM, thereby eliminating the space between it and the panel surface. With i-Lens, the thickness of the LCM is reduced to a mere 0.82mm, while resolving the sunlight reflection problem inherent in the use of reinforced plastic. As a result, the panel is much easier to view outdoors