TOKYO-Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., today announced that it had commenced mass production of Wide-ARAS, a surface coating for cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays, at its Funabashi Plant. Wide-ARAS, a high-performance functional surface coating that satisfies Tianstemanners Central Organization (TCO) standards and can be supplied at low cost, is expected to find increased demand as a coating for personal computer monitors.

Display coatings are employed to protect the health of users. The objective of such coatings is to prevent glare, thus making the display easy to see and preventing eye strain, and minimize potentially harmful electromagnetic waves. With conventional coatings, fulfilling these requirements necessitates the application of between five and seven layers using vacuum processing. However, the high cost of such procedures has precluded their use on CRT displays. As a consequence, concerned users have had to purchase filters to attach to their PC monitors additionally.

Wide-ARAS is a high-grade, sputtered coating that requires only two layers to achieve nearly the same level of anti-reflection and electromagnetic wave reduction as conventional coatings requiring between five and seven layers. Moreover, Wide-ARAS facilitates manual control of light transmission which affects the degree of contrast that can be obtained between 55% and 90%. With sales of PC monitors on the rise, demand for Wide-ARAS for use on PC monitor displays is expected to grow. Asahi Glass expects annual sales of the product to reach two million pieces by fiscal 1999, ending March 31, 2000.

Additional Information

1. Wide-ARAS

(1) Product name:

Asahi Glass launched Wide-ARAS, the name of which is derived from "Wide-band anti-reflection & anti-static coating," in May 1997, as a glare-preventing anti-static coating for CRT monitors.

(2) Properties:

• Reflectance: Below 0.6% on average with a low reflection property in all visible-light wave lengths; approximately 0.5% of visible reflectance.

• Electrical characteristics: below 1 x 10³? /cm²

• Light transmission control range: 55%-90%

2. TCO Standard

The TCO Standard is a guideline for electromagnetic wave emissions from CRT monitors established by Tienstemanners Central Organization, an association of professional employees in Sweden.