Technology Review: A New Competitor to LCD — Hmm, what does this have to do with software? Hey, whatever works.
The new telescopic pixels switch completely off and on within 1.5 milliseconds. Michael Sinclair at Microsoft Research says that the ultrafast response time translates to simpler, low-cost color displays. In LCDs, a pixel is made of three subpixels–red, green, and blue–that are lit up simultaneously at different intensities to create, say, yellow. Each subpixel is controlled with a separate transistor circuit, which makes the circuits complex. Because the telescopic display switches so rapidly, you could put red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes behind each pixel, Sinclair says, and have them sequentially light up to create a color shade. “This would reduce the complexity and cost of today’s LCD,” he says.
BSOD in full colour!
You know you’ll have to upgrade the software every few days, the drivers will be all fucked up and if you attach it to another computer you’ll have to pay for it again. The shipping box can only be opened with a chain saw and the documentation will be on 2 DVDs. It will require a new $350 cable that no one has ever seen before and Monster Cable will sell the digital version of the cable for $700. Since MS fucked up Vista so bad they will try to cover it up with this new display, just like a cat covering shit in a kitty litter box. The virus packed with the product will be 2 girls, 1 cup with a Rick roll.
[HAR! – ed.]
Too Late !!! OLEDs about to replace LCDs and Plasmas in the Direct View category …. Sony and Samsung already have shown prototypes and Sony was selling that 11 inch unit … OLEDs take the least power and are the thinest display technology going …
Love the competition. Great for everyone. As long as windows isn’t put on a back burner by hardware there’s no losers here..
Are you going to trust anything from Microsoft? Ever? Me neither.
Red, green, adn blue can be combined to make yellow? Really?
Yes, red – F, green – F, blue – 0. (hex)
Mirror, mirror on the chip… wonder where they got the idea.
#7 – hhopper
#FFFF00 😉 #FF0 is the short version in CSS.
#2
Of course, if Apple made it you would get something that would cost three to four times more, you’ll have to plug it to a power outlet specifically designed by Apple, the Electricity also has to be provided by Apple which also costs three to four times more, the only HDTV content will be PPV only via iTunes, the batteries on the TV’s remote will be rechargeable but are solded into it.
AND if you think that a small dent on the frame can be fixed think again, you’ll have to replace the entire unit. Don’t expect free firmware updates but instead expect to pay a premium for minor patches coded with a pussycat nickname.
And just for the record, if it were done by Apple it’ll be just an average LCD screen with a sexy plastic casing.
3,
You are correct that there are many different technologies now, JimD. However, none can compete at this point with LCD’s low cost. Don’t forget, LCD technology had a free ride from the public during its entire development because it was the only game in town at the time. We’d have jumped at OLED in its current state in a second over LCD, even with its short operational lifetime without color drift, if we had that tech when the first PowerBook came out. Today a competing technology has to spring out like Athena from the forehead of Zeus, completely commercialized and able to ship in quantity.
Telescopic Display Panel (TDP) technology involves essentially an array of light valves, using MEMS instead of liquid crystals. That means it is a mechanical solution with several advantages over LCD, provided it can commercialize easily (or quickly). TDP tech will not have to use polarized light, as pointed out, and if the spaces between the valves can be made opaque it can use existing (and developing) backlight technology, so integration would be swift if you could make large enough panels in enough quantity to fill serious orders.
It wouldn’t be smart work on a display with an LED at each pixel, because the high cost of individual LEDs is what’s holding that tech back from being more prevalent in display backlight units (BLU) now (forget about the work of assembling or growing LEDs in pixel arrays, that is also currently prohibitively expensive). Since the tech (assuming the panel is or can be made opaque) can use developing backlight tech, it would be a significant enabler for the budding LED backlight industry, as companies like Global Lighting Technologies already have very bright BLU panels made of arrays of RGB LEDs embedded along the edge of a lightguide. This approach is very efficient and relatively cheap, and would be very well suited to illuminate TDPs.
I must admit I’m surprised a company known for its software made such a breakthrough.
It also tracks your eyes movements to check if your reading ads on the screen.
M$ initially got the patent to make sure students using ad subsidized school computers were indeed doing “what they should” – reading ads.
#9 – Vistard!
Softs stock is a barking dog.
Ballmer has to go.
No one cares what the bald fat guy has to say anymore.
Sounds wonderful! Where can I buy one? Oh, they aren’t actually making these things yet?
This thing may never hit the market.
Wait a minute – isn’t this just the Texas INstrument’s DLP chip?
Has MS ever invented ANYthing?
16,
No, it’s not. It is a MEMS replacement for the liquid crystal used currently as a light valve in displays.
See my comment above (sorry about the formatting, I wrote it in Word and forgot to check if the line breaks came over in the C&P).
#10 – SmartAlix …
Here is a link disclosing a few flies in M$s Ointment:
http://www.hdtvinfo.eu/news/hdtv-articles/telescopic-pixel-displays-better-then-lcd.html
And the relevant part:
“The only drawback of this new technology would be the contrast-ratio. Experimental measurements conducted with non-collimated light showed a very low contrast-ratio of 20:1. Simulations indicate that contrast-ratios of up to 800:1 may be possible, which is also possible with current LCD technology. Plasma & OLED have much higher contrast-ratios, so a lot need to be done to compete with these technologies.”
I find it hard – maybe impossible to believe Microsoft can invent anything. Past history – Microsoft will either acquire (buy the company), reverse engineer some else’s invention, or just “borrow” and forget to pay for or return (Stacker anybody).
However, credit where credit is due; Microsoft can market. Hail to the bean counters and pointy haired bosses.
#12
The sad thing is, Vista outperforms OSX in bootcamp.
18,
Yup, no good contrast ratio, no great display.