Soul Returns to Hong Kong: From Tailor Shop to Richest Woman

After hanging up Claire's call, Lin Ying sat in her study, flipping through her technical notes, her mind already analyzing the feasibility of the matter.

For a 24-inch monitor, panel technology isn't the problem; 45-inch TVs are already in mass production, so shrinking to 24 inches is actually easier to control. However, computer monitors and TVs are two different things, with completely different signal input interfaces, higher refresh rate requirements, and stricter resolution standards.

She had to ask the technical side first! She picked up the phone and dialed the extension of the R&D center in the Shenzhen factory. Liu Yang answered the phone shortly afterward.

"The boss?"

Do you have anyone with you?

"Yes, Sister Liu is here, Engineer Li just came back from the materials room, and Chen Jian is adjusting the equipment next door."

Lin Ying cut straight to the point: "Liu Yang, I have a question for you. With our current plasma panel technology, is it possible to make a 24-inch computer monitor?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yang asked, "Boss, you want to make monitors?"

Answer my question.

"We can do it!" Liu Yang answered confidently. "The panel is not difficult at all. We've made 45-inch panels, and 24-inch is just a smaller version. The yield rate will only be higher."

Lin Ying pressed further: "What about the interfaces? TVs use RF and AV inputs, while computer monitors use VGA and may also need to support BNC; the signal protocols are completely different."

Liu Yang clicked his tongue on the other end of the phone: "Boss, that's a very technical question. I suspect you've been secretly reading technical documents at night."

"If I don't look at the documents, what should I look at? Your weekly report? Your weekly report even has three punctuation mistakes."

Liu Yang chuckled but didn't respond to that, and said seriously, "The interface does need to be changed. We don't have a ready-made solution for the VGA system, but it's not that we can't do it."

"The driver board needs to be redesigned, the signal decoding module needs to be replaced, and the refresh rate needs to be increased from 50 Hz on TVs to at least 75 Hz, and users in the design industry may need even higher refresh rates."

Lin Ying nodded: "I've thought of all of that. Is the workload heavy?"

Liu Yang thought for a moment: "The workload is considerable, and it's not starting from scratch. The underlying logic of the panel driver is sound; the main changes are to the signal input, timing control, and color calibration. TVs aren't as demanding in terms of color accuracy, but monitors are, especially for designers. If the color is off too much, people will complain."

"Call Sister Liu over, I'll talk to her together."

Liu Yang's voice came from the other end of the phone, calling for help. A few seconds later, Liu Ya took the receiver: "President Lin, Liu Yang just told me about the monitor business."

What do you think?

Liu Ya's answer was straightforward: "I'm not worried about reliability. Monitors are smaller than TVs, so the heat dissipation pressure is actually lighter. I can modify the existing aging test plan and add a burn-in test with a long static image."

What about color decay?

"It depends on what phosphor solution is used," Liu Ya said. "Engineer Li may need to select new materials. Small-sized panels have different requirements for the particle size distribution of phosphors, so we can't just use the batch from the TVs."

Lin Ying quickly scribbled in her notebook: "Is Li Jia next to me? Let her say a few words too."

Li Jia took the phone: "Boss, I heard you. I'll ask the supplier about the materials and phosphors. We haven't ordered small-sized panel materials before, but the supplier should have the finished part numbers. I'll check and give you a quote. The glass substrate is simple; the supplier has the 24-inch size ready-made, so we don't need to make a mold."

Lin Ying went through the main issues, and there were two core bottlenecks: one was the redesign of the driver board and signal interface, and the other was the improvement of the panel refresh rate.

She asked Liu Yang, "Can you modify the driver board?"

Liu Yang hesitated for a moment: "Boss, I still have the optimization task for the second-generation TV to handle. If I add a monitor project on top of that, I'm afraid I won't be able to manage both."

"Then who can answer?"

Liu Yang blurted out, "Chen Jian."

Before Lin Ying could speak, Chen Jian's voice came from the other end of the phone, clearly indicating that he had been eavesdropping for a long time.

"Boss! I can do it!"

Liu Yang chimed in from the side, "Do you have antennas in your ears? The neighbors can hear you!"

Chen Jian completely ignored him and brought his voice close to the microphone: "Boss, I worked for two years at that company in Nanzhou on the production line control of computer peripherals. I've seen the monitor driver board, and I've also studied the VGA signal protocol."

"You were doing production line control before, not drive design," Lin Ying reminded him.

Chen Jian: "Production line control is indeed my job, but the line I was in charge of was for assembling monitors! Although I didn't design the driver boards, I had to perform functional tests on every board that passed through my hands, and I had seen all the circuit principles."

Are you confident?

"Give me two months! I'll get it done for you within two months!"

Hearing his enthusiasm, Lin Ying thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of support do you need?"

Chen Jian spoke quickly: "First, I need an oscilloscope. The one in the R&D center is currently occupied by Liu Yang, and I have to wait three days."

Liu Yang protested from the side, "That's public property!"

Ignoring him, Chen Jian continued, "Secondly, I need to buy two monitors from different brands and take them apart to see how other people's solutions are done."

"Third, I need to purchase the VGA interface chip separately. Good ones are not available domestically, so I may have to import them from abroad."

Lin Ying wrote down the list one by one: "I'll have Manager He buy you a new oscilloscope. You can pick out a monitor yourself at the electronics market. Use the emergency channel for chip procurement, and Li Jia will assist you."

"There's another one. Boss, this job can't be done by me alone. I also need to keep up with the hardware verification on Engineer Sun's side and cooperate with the reliability testing on Sister Liu's side. We need several people to work together."

Lin Ying revealed her hand directly: "Here's the deal, if you guys get the monitor out and the prototype passes the test, I'll give you an extra 150,000 yuan bonus."

Then Liu Yang shouted out first, "How much?! 150,000?!"

Lin Ying believed that a generous reward would surely attract brave men: "150,000, you guys go down and divide it yourselves; Chen Jian will take the lead, and you can discuss the distribution ratio yourselves. If you succeed, you get it; if you fail, you don't. It's that simple."

Chen Jian immediately swore, "Boss, you just wait!"

Liu Yang immediately chimed in, "Me too?"

"Have you finished optimizing your second-generation TV?"

Liu Yang hesitated for half a second: "It's over, it's over, it's about to end!"

Lin Ying said helplessly, "Liu Yang, your skin is thicker than the driver board you made."

Liu Ya took the microphone from the side and said, "Don't worry, President Lin, I'll keep an eye on things here and won't let them cause any trouble."

After explaining the situation, Lin Ying concluded by saying, "Two months is the minimum. Don't make a fuss before the prototype is ready. This project is not to be discussed with outsiders, including the sales department."

Several people responded in unison.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ying leaned back in her chair, picked up a pen, and drew a box in her notebook. Inside the box, she wrote three words: Monitor.

If this path proves successful, Ingenic's product line will extend beyond just televisions. Televisions target the home market, while monitors cater to the commercial and professional markets; combining these two lines would double panel procurement volume and increase bargaining power with suppliers.

More importantly, the computer monitor market is booming; global PC shipments are increasing year after year, and every computer needs a monitor; this market is much larger than the television market and is growing much faster.

She closed her notebook and stood up to stretch her wrists.

The sound of Zaozao babbling came from the living room. Lin Ying walked out of the study and saw He Dazhu holding Zaozao and spinning her around in the living room.

"Old Dou, slow down, she just finished drinking milk."

He Dazhu immediately stopped in his tracks: "Oh, I almost forgot."

Lin Lanying poked her head out from the kitchen: "Aying, how long did you stay on the phone again?"

"Half an hour."

Lin Ying walked over and took Zaozao from He Dazhu's hands. Looking down at her daughter, she saw that the little one had grown even prettier than before, with chubby cheeks and her mouth opening and closing as if she were chewing something.

"What are you chewing if there's nothing in your mouth?"