Display Technology News Roundup 9.25.2013

Image via Bot & Dolly

Visually stunning art performance using cutting edge display technology "'Box' explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection-mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents a live performance, captured entirely in camera. Bot & Dolly produced this work to serve as both an artistic statement and technical demonstration. It is the culmination of multiple technologies, including large scale robotics, projection mapping, and software engineering. We believe this methodology has tremendous potential to radically transform theatrical presentations, and define new genres of expression." via Bot & Dolly

South Africans Develop ‘Digital Laser’ ""Our digital laser uses the LCD as one of its mirrors that is fitted at one end of the laser cavity. Just as with LCD televisions, the LCD inside the laser can be sent pictures to display. When the pictures change on the LCD inside, the properties of the laser beams that exit the device change accordingly," said professor Andrew Forbes, leader of CSIR's mathematical optics research group, where the work was done. Forbes, who in March became the first South African inducted as an SPIE Fellow, led the team, supported by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Igor Litvin and doctoral students Sandile Ngcobo and Liesl Burger. " via Photonics.com

Tetrapod quantum dot LEDs could lead to cheaper, better HDTVs "Manufacturers are seeking to "print" tetrapod quantum dots onto backplane films in liquid crystal displays (LCD) for brighter images, larger screens and a wider gamut of colors to deliver a new visual experience in image technology. Thinner, lighter, brighter and less expensive QD-LED displays, including portable and flexible devices, will offer almost infinite contrast levels, deep black levels and high light output with no motion blur or field-of-view issues." via Engadge

LCDs enter the fast lane "The molecules in a nematic liquid crystal do not line up perfectly with one another, resulting in a finite distribution of orientations around that of the director. The magnitude of this variation affects the phase of light passing through the liquid crystal and as a result its intensity. Since an applied electric field changes that magnitude, it also changes the amount of light passing through. Physicists have known for decades that such an effect ought to exist. What Lavrentovich and co-workers have done is to prove experimentally that it does exist and that it takes place over much shorter timescales than the relaxation of molecular reorientation in conventional LCDs." via Physics World

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E-ink display adds a second screen to your iPhone "An 'always on' e-ink display has been created for the iPhone that turns the back of the device into a second screen. The 4in display, as demonstrated in the video below, combines Plastic Logic's plastic OTFT backplane with reflective frontplane technology from leading electrophoretic display (EPD) provider E Ink." via New Electronics

Comparison of Display Polarizer Technologies "The Moxtek® wire grid polarizer technology provides a consistent, highly durable solution to high quality LCoS display technology with a perfect polarization match to the LC imager. Latest improvements in the polarizing beam splitter (PBS) technology enable a 10% improvement in efficiency. This technical article offers a comparison between imaging needs and how Moxtek is improving its products. It explains how competing technologies in LCoS projectors compare in terms of brightness, performance, durability and reliability." via Azom

UCLA creates flexible OLED display that can be stretched to double its normal size, folded in half "The material functions in this way thanks to a novel layered construction. The light comes from a single layer of electroluminescent polymer, which is held between two transparent elastic composite electrode layers. The electrodes themselves are a notable advancement. A lack of stretchable electrodes has been one of the problems holding this kind of display back." via ExtremeTech

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The PenTile RG-BW LCD display on the new Note 10.1 consumes 30% less power "The problem is a lot of the backlight is absorbed and turned to heat, and thus wasted. To allow more light through, Samsung added a “white” subpixel to the arrangement, though a better term would be “clear”. This subpixel doesn’t absorb light like the other three types and serves to increase brightness, especially when it comes to displaying the white backgrounds that are prevalent on the Web." via Android Authority

LG, Samsung Display feel heat from little-known Chinese LCD makers "While the Korean giants were busy developing next-generation organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs, little-known Chinese companies have started selling a type of display that are sharper than the standard LCD and cheaper than OLED. Say hello to ultra high-definition (UHD) displays. ...As Korean display makers work on their response to this growing menace, Chinese UHD makers are enjoying the fattest margins in the industry." via Reuters

Filthy touchscreens carry more germs than toilet seats "Firms like Apple actively discourage users from using detergents on their touchscreens because they can damage them. The presence of the germs simply shows that touchscreen users fail to wash their hands properly, while few people bother to clean the devices and keyboards." via Business Report

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Touchscreen displays cost how much?!?! "If your boss or client is still clinging to the idea that a cheaper option would suffice, perhaps we should move onto the issues of design and usability. Touch overlays, although seemingly a lesser investment, actually introduce more costs and opportunity loss due to several factors. ...The best integrated touch displays are designed to be beautiful and compact. Each monitor should have its own metal design to ensure the best fit, form and function." via Digital Signage Today

Movable Display is Made of Paper "Human organs shimmer in red on a sheet of paper displaying a longitudinal view of the human abdomen. The spinal column and pelvic bones form contrasting yellow islands. As the sheet of paper is bent downwards at the ends, the bones appear to come into the foreground while the soft tissue recedes. What appears to be science fiction at first glance, is the result of the “Flexpad” research project developed under the leadership of Jürgen Steimle in the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S. and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, in cooperation with Kiel University. " via Laboratory Equipment

Wonder Material Ignites Scientific Gold Rush "One factor holding graphene back is cost. Some U.S. vendors are selling a layer of graphene on copper foil for about $60 a square inch. "It needs to be around one dollar per square inch for high-end electronic applications such as fast transistors, and for less than 10 cents per square inch for touch-screen displays," estimates Kenneth Teo, a director at the Cambridge unit of Germany's Aixtron that makes machines to produce graphene." via The Wall Street Journal

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