No. 756: World’s thinnest speaker for flat-screen TVs from Kyocera (August 21, 2013)

Technology:

Kyocera's world thinnest speaker

Kyocera developed the world’s thinnest speaker for flat-screen TVs. It is as thin as 1 mm. It is 3.5 cm deep and 6.5 cm wide, and weighs 7 g. It is less than twentieth as thin as the existing speaker for flat-screen TVs. It is hundredth in volume and twentieth in weight as compared with the exiting speaker for flat-screen TVs. LG Electronics of Korea employed the Kyocera’s new product for its 4 mm-thick 55-inch flat-screen TVs and its organic EL TVs. Kyocera ships its samples for 2,000-3,000 yen apiece. 

Kyocera employed ceramic piezoelectric elements instead of magnet coils for its world’s thinnest speaker. A speaker that utilizes piezoelectric elements cannot be used for audiovisual devices because of the narrow range and low output. The company piled up thin films of piezoelectric element in six-eight layers to increase the output, and covered them with a specially-developed soft resin film to amplify sound. Although the existing the coil speaker is built in downward, Kyocera’s new speaker can be built in in the front face and gives listeners clear sound even in a distant place. Demand for thin speakers is expected to grow as the business of organic EL TVs and 4K TVs is scheduled to gain momentum in 2014.  

  Kyocera's displays