Mirasol Display Technology Could Be the Screens of the Future

[acku]

Hopefully display tech will catch up with the rapid advancement that we're seeing in chips.

Mirasol Display Technology Could Be the Screens of the Future : Read more

 

[outlw6669]

This tech looks quite promising!
How does it work under low-light conditions though?
Is there some sort of front light to keep it visible?

 

[burnley14]

[citation][nom]outlw6669[/nom]This tech looks quite promising!How does it work under low-light conditions though?Is there some sort of front light to keep it visible?[/citation]
Did you even read the article? It has reflective subpixels that not only allow you to view it in daylight, but it looks even better in bright light (according to this article anyway).

 

[outlw6669]

Yes, reflective.
As in it needs an external light source (like e-ink) or a front light to see in low light situations.

 

[delazaren]

[citation][nom]burnley14[/nom]Did you even read the article? It has reflective subpixels that not only allow you to view it in daylight, but it looks even better in bright light (according to this article anyway).[/citation]
Can you answer outlw6669 question?

 

[TeraMedia]

While reading the description of how the technology works, I couldn't help but start to think about an etch-a-sketch, and wonder whether shaking one of these upside-down would similarly clear its display...

 

[randomstar]

Did you read the question? the reference is for LOW light, and I have the same question.. Like the Kindle, is it requiring an external light to read at night / low light?



[citation][nom]burnley14[/nom]Did you even read the article? It has reflective subpixels that not only allow you to view it in daylight, but it looks even better in bright light (according to this article anyway).[/citation]

 

[JamesSneed]

Did you even read the article? It has reflective subpixels that not only allow you to view it in daylight, but it looks even better in bright light (according to this article anyway).

No reason to be a douche burnley14. In which one of those examples you mentioned are low light conditions? Neither! What you quoted was why the first poster asked, reflective subpixels in low light conditions are going to be reflecting what again?

Anyhow the Mirasol displays do have an issue in low light conditions if they do not integrate some form of illumination.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]burnley14[/nom]Did you even read the article? It has reflective subpixels that not only allow you to view it in daylight, but it looks even better in bright light (according to this article anyway).[/citation]
He was asking about low-light, not bright light.

 

[Guest]

Hmmm, there's some weird screen displacement due to lack of vsync in the first video. Hope they get rid of that asap

 

[GreaseMonkey_62]

This tech looks quite promising!
How does it work under low-light conditions though?
Is there some sort of front light to keep it visible?

That's my first question as well.

 

[Guest]

its probably a combination of both, it had a backlight but on top of that its actualy CREATING a surface that physicly reflects light like a magazine would, if it was backlit.

 

[gpj]

[citation][nom]GreaseMonkey_62[/nom]That's my first question as well.[/citation]

From the article:

Meanwhile, the application of a voltage can be used to adjust the alignment of the reflective elements to create and image or clear the display.

Poorly written, but what I interpret this to mean is that by applying voltage to the reflective subpixels, you can display a specific image or prevent the pixels from display anything. I would imagine this is how low-light situations would work.

 

[back_by_demand]

Reason cost is so high is lack of uptake, once this hits the volume markets of smartphones, tablets, ereaders and laptops you will see prices tank the same as they did for all other flatscreen technologies.

 

[burnley14]

[citation][nom]JamesSneed[/nom]No reason to be a douche burnley14. In which one of those examples you mentioned are low light conditions? Neither! What you quoted was why the first poster asked, reflective subpixels in low light conditions are going to be reflecting what again?Anyhow the Mirasol displays do have an issue in low light conditions if they do not integrate some form of illumination.[/citation]
My condolences, I misread his initial question. Sorry for being douche-y.

 

[trandoanhung1991]

I think for low light conditions, your eyes would be adjusting to let more light coming in. So I think the reflection might be sufficient in low-light conditions.

If it's pitch black, however, then you probably shouldn't be using a tablet in the first place

 

[CaedenV]

While it may be more efficient than e-ink on a page per page change basis, I doubt such devices would use less power overall. e-ink devices like the kindle do a page change every 3-5minutes (however long it takes you to read a page), while video ranges from 15-60fps. Assuming 30fps (which is the normal standard) then you would have 9000 'page turns' in a 5 minute period, compared to 1-2 page turns on the e-ink display... there is no way that is going to take less power overall in most situations. Granted, it will be way less power than a traditional display, but this is not designed to compete with e-ink on the types of devices it would be used on.

All that said, the tech looks really awesome! Can't wait to have it in my future Atom based WP9 phone in 2-5 years from now lol

 

[CaedenV]

To clear up some of the other questions:
Yes, this is a reflective style display like e-ink. It is quite visible in low-super bright light, but the lower the light, the less contrast, and just like a normal picture or magazine, you can only go so dim before you cannot see anything because there is no back-light. This means that you will not see it in home-theater use any time soon (but why would you when there are better display technologies for such uses?), but it will be great for mobile devices where you are normally in a lit room, or car, or outside where there is light easily accessible. Personally I would love this type of display on my Garmin because it gets really hard to see when I have that morning and evening sun glare

If all else fails you could use your traditional phone as a flashlight and see what you are doing on the device in a pitch black room

 

[DaddyW123]

I was going to say that it I wouldn't think it would rely on reflected light to be seen, only that it helps because of reflection - using your car as an example. New shiny paint looks fantastic in the sun but you can still see the color just fine on a cloudy day... but thinking about it more, you do have a hard time accurately telling the color of a car at night. So I suppose this would need some sort of led strip lighting around the bezel for night time / low light viewing?

 

[shin0bi272]

This is sort of what I was hoping for in an e-reader. Dont wanna pay 300 bucks for it but at least you can do FMV in color with it if you wanted to surf the web as well as read a book. Sort of that almost there but not quite perfect tech.

 

[pacioli]

[citation][nom]outlw6669[/nom]How does it work under low-light conditions though?Is there some sort of front light to keep it visible?[/citation]
so what you are really asking is - What happens when you stick it where the sun don't shine?

 

[mcd023]

That's cool. I wonder how the gamut compares to the other displays.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]To clear up some of the other questions:Yes, this is a reflective style display like e-ink. It is quite visible in low-super bright light, but the lower the light, the less contrast, and just like a normal picture or magazine, you can only go so dim before you cannot see anything because there is no back-light. This means that you will not see it in home-theater use any time soon (but why would you when there are better display technologies for such uses?), but it will be great for mobile devices where you are normally in a lit room, or car, or outside where there is light easily accessible. Personally I would love this type of display on my Garmin because it gets really hard to see when I have that morning and evening sun glare If all else fails you could use your traditional phone as a flashlight and see what you are doing on the device in a pitch black room[/citation]I have the lighted cover for my Kindle. Even that low power LED light illuminates the screen quite nicely. I am not certain that this mirasol display would be quite as reflective as an e-ink display, however, so you might need a brighter light. Color is nice too, but they have color e-ink displays now too.

So the main advantage of Mirasol to me is speed. E-ink is too slow for anything but reading text. If they can combine the speed of an LCD with the low power and reflectivity of an e-ink display that should be perfect. Especially for a tablet or laptop. But wait... wasn't Pixel Qi supposed to do this also? Why isn't that technology in a bunch of tablets?

 

[classzero]

[citation][nom]caedenv[/nom]... but it will be great for mobile devices where you are normally in a lit room, or car, or outside where there is light easily accessible. Personally I would love this type of display on my Garmin because it gets really hard to see when I have that morning and evening sun glare ...[/citation] You never drive at night I take it.

 

[Guest]

Why are people so worried about low-light? Use a lamp, same as you would to read a book.

For me, being able to use a display out in the sun is big. When will these be available in laptops? I don't give a damn if they're only mediocre for videos/picture viewing; reasonable update speed and some colour representation is plenty enough to get work done.