Planar Systems founded by Jim hurd, chris King and John laney in 1983. Acquires electroluminescent (El) rights from tektronix and becomes the first U.S. Manufacturer of commercial El displays. Establishes headquarters and first manufacturing plant in beaverton, Oregon. In 2015, planar become a subsidiary of leyard optoelectronic Co., Ltd. Lanyard was founded in 1995, is headquartered in beijing, China and is traded on the shenzhen stock exchange. Lanyard is a global leader in the design, production, distribution, and service of digital displays, video walls, and visualization products worldwide.