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Research Team Develops LCD Display That Fits on Contact Lens

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December 11, 2012
  • Researchers at the Ghent University Centre of Microsystems Technology in Belgium have developed a new contact lens that displays letters and symbols on its lens.
  • “Prior to this point, researchers have only been able to create a LED lens that displays a single pixel,” notes Digital Trends.
  • “However, the technology behind this new development offers the ability to display a large range of pixel sizes as well as a significant volume of pixels on a LCD display.”
  • “Normally, flexible displays using liquid crystal cells are not designed to be formed into a new shape, especially not a spherical one,” explains Professor Herbert De Smet, head researcher on the project. “By using new kinds of conductive polymers and integrating them into a smooth spherical cell, we were able to fabricate a new LCD-based contact lens display.“
  • Conceptually, the lens tech could be used to display scrolling text messages or emails sent to a smartphone, even GPS driving directions. The technology could also enable adaptive lenses that lighten or darken, similar to glasses that feature light-transitioning material.
  • Medical applications might include limiting light access after eye trauma or allowing more light to a damaged eye during the healing process following surgery.

NICT Demonstrates Largest Full HD Glasses-Free 3D Display

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October 25, 2011
  • NICT, working with JVC Kenwood, has developed a 200-inch autostereoscopic full HD 3D display (the world’s largest), that shows video from 57 different angles. The unit was presented at CEATEC Japan this month.
  • According to the presentation, “no matter which angle you’re viewing from, you can see a Full High Definition resolution image. With an ordinary display, the viewing range is basically around 180 degrees, but with this one, it’s 13 degrees, which is very narrow.”
  • “To show such a large range of viewing angles, the display uses 57 projectors in an array, with each one specially tuned to create uniform levels of brightness and color balance across all viewpoints,” reports DigInfo TV.
  • ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld comments: “With 57 projectors(!) this is an interesting brute-force approach to autostereo 3D…”

Samsung Plans Retina Display for Future Tablet PCs

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March 29, 2011

Engadget reports that Samsung Semiconductor has revealed plans to drastically increase the pixel density of the company’s tablets. Samsung projects that it will have tablet PC displays with 300 to 400 pixel-per-inch (ppi) resolutions as early as 2015.

Samsung’s current Galaxy Tab has a seven-inch, 1024 x 600 panel (about 170ppi), but the company suggests that similarly sized tablets may go beyond 1080p as pixel density increases (while still maintaining 8-10 hours of battery life). Samsung also said it would consider a glasses-free tablet display, based on consumer adoption of stereoscopic 3D.

The iPad 2 was originally expected to come with a Retina Display like the iPhone 4 screen from LG, but it didn’t happen. Rumors have already begun circulating about a Retina Display for the iPad 3 if the cost remains competitive.

As tablets go well beyond 1080p resolution, what will that mean for content producers?

Sony Announces Professional OLED Monitors

By
March 6, 2011

Sony announced it will soon offer a professional monitor aimed at TV and film production industries that contains the largest commercial organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen yet produced. OLED is a flat-panel technology that rivals liquid-crystal display (LCD), with pixels that contain an organic material that emits its own light when energized, so screens can be made thinner and more efficient. OLED also displays brighter and richer images than LCD panels.

Despite recent tech advances, manufacturers have had a difficult time getting OLED production to the point where it can create reliable larger screens. Smaller screens designed for cell phones and portable devices have not been an issue, but larger screens have remained problematic. Despite earlier prototypes and announced plans from the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG, we have yet to see OLED TVs larger than 11-inches on the consumer market.

Sony is positioning the new Trimaster EL professional OLED monitors for use in editing bays, satellite trucks, and broadcasting control rooms. Expect to see the 25-inch screen ($28,840) by May 1 and a 17-inch model by July 1.

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