Samsung Will Add Polarizers In China

Samsung SDI will spend $180 million to build a plant in Wuxi, China, that makes polarizer films for large-screen liquid-crystal-display TVs. The facility, scheduled to open late next year, will have annual production capacity of 30 million to 40 million m², about 10% of the entire polarizer market in 2014, Samsung says. Polarizers control display brightness, contrast, and other optical features. They are typically made from polyvinyl alcohol and cellulose acetate films, but Samsung recently launched polarizers that substitute cheaper polyethylene terephthalate for cellulose acetate.