SCRAM Technologies

By ERIC A. TAUB October, 2003
Published: October 29, 2003 in the New York Times
Published: October 30, 2003 in the International Herald Tribune

DUNKIRK, MD. - America's love affair with all things big has moved from supersize French fries and sport utility vehicles to large flat-panel, wide-screen, HDTV-compatible televisions, the kind that can hang on a wall. While comparatively few are bought today - because of their high cost - sales are expected to explode this decade as prices plunge.

Old-style sets are on their way out, a trend that is bound to be accelerated even further by Sony's decision to end production of traditional cathode ray tubes in Japan to focus exclusively on newer display technologies. [World Business, Section W.]

Except for the smallest models, they are likely to be replaced within a few years by flat-panel and rear-projection sets. But plasma screens, which have captured the most attention so far, have flaws that are likely to open the way to other technologies.

With the playing field open, new start-up companies keep appearing with fresh ideas - companies like Scram Technologies, which has developed a screen that improves a projection set's picture, imbuing the image with greatly increased contrast, brightness and viewing angle.

The technology also sharply reduces the bulkiness of rear-projection sets. TV's using the new Scramscreen can be made thin, just a few inches deeper than the most-advanced plasma screens. Even a 52-inch set can be as shallow as seven inches, making it the thinnest rear-projection TV made.

"We want to be known as the Dolby Labs of visual displays," said Ray Kwong, the company's founder, who imagines a day when the Scramscreen name, along with the Dolby logo, will be embossed on millions of sets. But unlike Dolby, which licenses its surround-sound and noise-reduction technologies to a wide range of consumer electronics manufacturers, Scram will manufacture the screens and lenses, then sell them to set makers.

There is no guarantee that Scram - a tiny privately held company operating above a bait-and-tackle shop in rural Maryland - can ever reduce its costs enough to compete with well-heeled corporations. Its screen and optics systems will initially cost about $500 more than a conventional set, Mr. Kwong said, and that could dissuade manufacturers and consumers from buying. But with volume purchases a Scram-enhanced TV will cost the same as a regular model, the company predicts.

In a demonstration at Scram's offices here, the technology created an impressive picture that was noticeably brighter, richer and sharper than a typical HDTV display.

Because the screen absorbs virtually all of a room's ambient light, the display looks black, not gray, when the set is off. The image can thus be watched in a well-lighted room and appear as bright as in a dark room.

"By increasing the image's contrast, the brain perceives it to be brighter and sharper," said Jim Veligdan, a physicist and creator of the technology. The company has been financed up to $30 million by Richard Sharp, chairman of the CarMax automobile chain.

Today, Scram's 14 employees are divided between its offices here and a small shop a few miles down the road, where, surrounded by tobacco and corn fields, engineers create hand-built prototypes for Samsung, the first company to license the technology. If Samsung finds the patented system cost-effective, it is expected to incorporate it into products.

SCRAM Technologies, Inc. is a design and engineering company with a significant patent portfolio of IP that includes the SCRAMscreen® and LED Illumination systems. The SCRAMscreen® is a high-contrast rear projection screen with exceptional transmission efficiency and ambient light viewability. SCRAM's LED illuminators and associated components are unique alternative solutions for the projection industry. SCRAM provides creative engineering answers for challenges in the advanced projection display market with light engines, complex optical systems, and our SCRAMscreen® to commercial, consumer and military markets.