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Printing Out A New Monitor

wackypak writes: "Seiko / Epson have developed a new technology which allows it to print out a video screen onto paper! Believe it or not, they've even demoed the technology, and hope to use it for mobile phones! This may be the death of paper as we know it -- imagine being delivered an electronic video newspaper every morning, then *recycling* it. Or even delivering your speech as a multimedia piece of paper! Or having walls and walls of video wallpaper!" Or ending more sentences with exclamation points!

54 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. OK, so here's a flaw... by signe · · Score: 3
    Until now, a major problem with semiconducting polymers has been that they oxidise and become discoloured when exposed to light. CDT has previously only been able to make green monochrome video displays. Now, CDT claims the red, green and blue LEPs in its new display are the first to have lifetimes long enough for use in consumer products. CDT's red LEP will work for 100 000 hours, green for 30 000 hours and blue for 1000 hours. But the company isn't saying how it has achieved these improvements.

    "Seiko's research in Japan shows that a cellphone will only actually get 200 hours use per year," says Burroughes. "People replace their mobiles well before the current blue polymer lifetime of 1000 hours is reached." And further improvements in LEP lifetimes are expected, Burroughes says.


    OK, so the display's only good for 1000 hours. I don't know about the rest of the world, but I keep my cell phone turned on 24 hours a day. So, if I do the math...

    1000 hours / 24 hours per day = 41 1/3 days.

    So it looks like I'll have to replace my cell phone every month and a half if it uses one of these displays. Doesn't seem that useful to me. Maybe they could have a red "screen saver" mode that would just use the red display elements unless you needed full color. That would at least give it a little better lifetime, since then their assumption that a cell phone is only "in use" 200 hours a year would be a little more valid.

    However, I still think that a display that is only good for 1000 hours of use is probably not going to be that widely used at all. I mean, sure, the rest of the crowd here is talking about a lot of neat things:

    paper thin TVs - How many hours of TV do *you* watch a day? More than 3? Then this display is dead in less than a year.

    digital wallpaper - Do you really want to re-wallpaper your house every month and a half?

    If the technology is cheap enough, then sure, it can be used for things like an electronic newspaper. I would really like to see that, actually. I'd pay $100 a year (assuming non-continuous usage here) for a thin, flexible display that gave me up to the minute news. Of course, you still need something to drive the display, and then you might be getting into something bulky. But the ideas are there. I just think that someone needs to worry about the 1000 hour lifetime of this technology, rather than just dismissing it.

    -Todd

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    --
    "The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
    1. Re:OK, so here's a flaw... by signe · · Score: 2

      Okay, now this would suck. You'd have to really like decorating in red :) Give the technology a few more years though to settle itself, and maybe this will be a reality.

      This is my hope as well. Blue has pretty much always been a difficult color for LEDs and the like. And the fact that they can do something like this in blue at all is a big advancement. So hopefully we'll see some rapid development on the lifetime of the blue LEPs.

      -Todd

      ---

      --
      "The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
  2. Other implications: by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 3

    Because PPV molecules contain benzene rings, which allow electrons to move through the molecule, the polymer can act as a semiconductor--and form the basis of a light-emitting diode.

    Or a transistor. (Even with only one type of semiconductor you can make a FET.)

    Now think about what you can do once you can print transistors with chemical inks.

    Then remember you can also print wires, resistors, capacitors, small inductors, and antennas. (You can do a large inductor with a capacitor and an amplifier.)

    Densities will likely be too small for a really smart computer. But a slow RISC machine should be trivial. Analog will be easy.

    Hybrids on paper from an ink-spitter... Brings a whole new meaning to "printed circuit". B-)

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  3. Re:Something sounds wrong by iCEBaLM · · Score: 3

    The problem is the blue pixels only last for 1000 hours. so about every 3/4 of a year you'd have to replace it if you used it for 5 hours a day.

    This will more then likely change, the blue pixel lifetimes will rise, when they do then it would be easier to impliment them as screens.

    -- iCEBaLM

  4. Mix this with a DumbUser, and: by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 3
    Oh, that's what you meant by "bookmark that webpage for me"...
    (sorry).
    If they have switch rates like 'normal' LEDs (which I expect), it it should be possible to redraw screens at normal video rates.. it will also be possible to build portable 'books' with multiple physical pages....

    Hold on... This stuff goes on a SILICON substrate. They may still need a WHOLE lot of work to fit it onto a flexible backing.

    Nontheless, it still does mean that we can start to look for nearly-throw-away monitors. -- I mean, who's going to mind that their 19" monitor only lasts a year if the replacement panel only costs $15? (I'm presuming that, by the time they get to market, the green LEPs will have a somewhat longer life.
    `ø,,ø`ø,,ø`ø,,ø`ø

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  5. Re:Not onto paper by Syberghost · · Score: 3

    No one said anything about creating a display on a sheet of paper, or even if the substrate was flexible (which would be a most iteresting feature).

    Actually, they did, over a year ago when this was covered in detail in relation to the electronic ink stories here on Slashdot.

    Or this one from last week.

    Or half a dozen others I found when doing the 30 seconds of research that could have been done before this article was posted as if into a vacuum...

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  6. Quantum Dot Displays? by hey! · · Score: 2

    I read recently about the use of quantum dots in photovoltaic cells. People are using quantum dots to absorb a band of light and to reemit the light at a single wavelength. This could be allowed to tune a photovoltaic cell's sensitivity to match the solar spectrum better.

    I'll admit I don't understand the relevant physics, but I wonder whether this technology could be adapted to displays. People working in photovoltaics are also developing cells that use quantum dots to absorb photons and emit electrons, and it seems to my quantum physics naive mind that this process might be reversable to convert free electrons into photons.

    People have tried similar things with photovoltaic polymers, but the quantum dots have the advantage that they are highly stable in direct sunlight. It would be cool if the technology could be adapted for displays, because at one stroke it would make the display application cheaper by longer lifespan, and the photovoltaic application cheaper by letting a larger market bear much of the development costs.

    I'd like to have a car that has a computer customizable paint job, and that uses the paint job to recharge the battery when it's parked.

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  7. Ummm... by Kris_J · · Score: 2
    It sounds like a wonderful manufacturing technology, but don't expect to be able to peice together a 42 inch widescreen using your old cannon bubble-jet and a few pages of Reflex
    Seiko Epson can deposit individual pixels of red, green and blue LEPs directly onto a silicon substrate. The PPVs are electrostatically charged and sprayed onto the base, which has an opposite charge. Electrodes are then laid down so that voltages can be applied to light up individual pixels. But this process requires conventional chip-making technology.
    !
  8. Won't work!!!!! by samael · · Score: 2

    Not a chance. Imagine that the side of the tank is displaying what you'd see if you were at right angles to the tank and looking straight at it.

    Now, move through 30 degrees. The display is still showing the old picture, but you're seeing it from the wrong angle, so you're seeing a distorted version of the wrong image. It would stand out like a sore thumb.

    Now, a pseudo random image would porbably vanish under your notice a lot faster

    1. Re:Won't work!!!!! by istartedi · · Score: 2

      Yep you're right; I guess you'd need holographic chameleon cloth then. It'll be a *while* before we have any kind of decent holographic display.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  9. Printing out on paper? by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 3

    Where in the article does it say that the screen is printed on paper?

    "Seiko Epson can deposit individual pixels of red, green and blue LEPs directly onto a silicon substrate."

    Um, silicon != paper... It sounds like they're working on other substrate possibilities, but right now, they can't print on paper. It just happenes that in order to deposit the LEPs on silicon they're using the same techniques people use to put ink on paper.

    Trust me, while it's not as nice as being able to print on paper, it's a LOT nicer than current LCD/silicon tech - It looks as if this particular manufacturing tech won't need the stuff to be in a vacuum at all, while most silicon processing techniques require all air to be removed from the chamber. (Either a vaccum or an inert gas of your choice depending on the process... Or a reactive gas for CVD.)

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  10. Finally ... by psergiu · · Score: 2

    I can now finally print out those damn animated gifs (or MNG's).


    +++ATH0

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  11. Re:There's nothing new about this by Accipiter · · Score: 4
    Um, No.

    Did you bother to read the article above?

    You refer to two different technologies in your post, both of which are TOTALLY different in design, and implementation in comparison to the one that was posted on Slashdot today.

    One of the technologies that you are speaking of uses tiny balls - One side is black with a certain charge, and one side is white with an opposing charge. Depending on the electric charge hitting the paper, the balls flip over displaying the white side, or the black side.

    The other technology you're talking about uses a capsule filled with tiny balls. the capsule is a transparent dark color, and the tiny balls inside are white. There are electrodes on the top and bottom of the capsule. Depending on which electrode is powered, the tiny balls in the capsule either go up (making the 'pixel' white), or go down (making it dark blue). It works like a Magic 8 Ball. Kinda.

    Now, the technology that was reported today is very different. It actually uses a polymer that emits light when voltage is applied to it. By coloring the polymer red, green, and blue, and spraying it on a base with an opposing charge, you have a color display. It's a solid-state deal. No moving parts, with the exception of the electrons moving through the PPV.

    Next time, you might want to read a little more closely. You might learn something.

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

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  12. Re:Can't think of good subject by azteca79 · · Score: 2
    I don't think this technology can be used with monitors, because the article says that the LEP's have a very short lifetime, and I think they are not very useful with this short lifetime of 1,000 hours (that's 41.66 days). Only if they get the blue LEP to work for the same time as the red LEP (100,000 hours or 11.41 years) maybe it could work for monitors.

    I see it as a good technology for phones and some devices you don't use for a long time and maybe some advertising, until that lifetime hurdle can be jumped.

    --

    --
    EHC
  13. Wallpaper? Guess which room... by [Dilbert] · · Score: 3
    If this tech is ultra cheap and such, can be used like, say, wallpaper, there is but one question remaining:

    Can you wipe it clean with a wet sponge and/or a mild detergent?

    think of the possibilities for the single male's bathroom...

    "Wow Tom, you've got WALLPR0N!!!!"

    you all know this should be "Score +(bignumber):Funny"

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  14. Re:Instant Billboards... or Why they won't work. by RedWizzard · · Score: 2

    There is also an issue with the size of the screen. Currently they've only managed a 6.5cm (2.5inch) model. All this inkjet talk has made people think in terms of what is currently done with paper (books, newspapers, billboards). Don't forget that they're printing onto silcon substrate. So far there's little to indicate they'll be able to make these screen any larger than they can make LCD screens.

  15. Something sounds wrong by Zaffle · · Score: 4

    Ok, so the procedure can produce a piece of paper that can act like an LCD screen. This sounds really great, but why didn't they mention it can be used to replace TVs, or even screens.

    According to their values quoted (270,000 pixels on a 6.3cm screen) it works out to about 64 pixels per square millimeter. Now that sounds like much better than TV quality, and sounds to me like its Screen quality.

    So why haven't they mentioned this ability? What is wrong with the technology that it can be used as a screen for your computer. They mentioned using it in Wireless Internet applications, but never once as a replacement for your TV.

    So what did I miss? Either I missed something, or they have really sucky marketing. (People don't care *THAT* much about their cellphones screen quality, but tell them you can make their TV screen as thin as a piece of paper, and much much better technology, and they'll come in the droves if you have the product made).

    Its a damn nice product, but I want to know why I can't use it as a replacement for my TV.

    ---

    --

    I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
    1. Re:Something sounds wrong by Zaffle · · Score: 2
      1000 hours of blue isn't as bad as it sounds, as someone else pointed out if its $10/sq meter, 1000 hours (41 days of continuous use) is damn cheap.

      Even $10/month is pretty damn cheap to have a screen that is plastered onto your wall.

      The only other thing I can figure is the refresh may be slow (like LCDs use to be), so you'd end up with bluring. I'd just like to know what the capibilities of this technology are.

      As to the person questioning my statement about people flocking to *real* flat screen TVs. Have you seen the price of the Sony flatscreens recently? From what I can gather, this technology will be very cheap, the only reason everyone isn't getting a plasma screen is not everyone needs a second mortgage. :) If this paper is as cheap as they claim it will be, then I'd say many many people will be throwing out their old TVs, even if they need to replace the paper every 2 months.

      ---

      --

      I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
  16. What I'm waiting for by speek · · Score: 2

    But perhaps the most tantalising development on the horizon for LEP technology, says Burroughes, is the possibility of creating video displays for, say, wireless Internet access, that can be rolled up.

    This is what I've been waiting for forever. I don't want a laptop, I don't want a palm-pilot - I want a piece of paper I can take out of my pocket and start computing/surfing/etc. I figured I'd have to wait at least 5 years though, so I'm excited.

    --
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  17. Re:A flight of fancy... by pdxChris · · Score: 2
    I agree that all of these things could come about if there was a way to print displays onto fabrics. But despite the Slashdot headline, I didn't see anything in the article about printing onto paper or fabric. The article was just about using inkjets as part of a manufacturing process onto a silicon backing, which currently can only be a rigid backing.

    Even if the flexible, weatherproof substrate is perfected, it would still be a manufacturing process that requires a significant factory, not a special cartridge for your $99 printer that lets it hook up to your sewing machine.

    The article also described displays a few inches across with TV resolution, and a 1000 hour usable life. While cool, that technology is a long ways away from what "fudboy" rhapsodized about. What's the inverse of FUD - Glee, Uncertainty, and Premature Raving?

  18. Ultra Hi-res displays. by be-fan · · Score: 2

    Is it just me, or does anybody see the opportunity here for some seriously hi-res displays. What I'd like to see, personally, is one of these monitors as printed out by an Epson 1440. Think of it, a 1440dpi monitor! X probably couldn't handle it though...

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  19. Re:Not onto paper by be-fan · · Score: 2

    You're kidding right? They print out a screen onto a silicon substrat. As for resolution, printers run upwords of 1440dpi in some models. Compare that to the 75-100dpi in you monitor.

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  20. Re:Oh, so THAT'S the big deal by corniche · · Score: 2
    I don't know very much abount monitors or TV's.. but I know a little bit .. A conventional monitor uses EXTREAM amounts of light to go through lots of magnets and such to bend the light to hit the monitor/TV in the right places to do different colors, etc...
    conventional monitors dont use light, they use electron beams. the electron beams (three usually) then hit a phosphorescent screen which is excited and emits light.(magnets dont bend light). The brghtness is controlled by the initial acceleration of the electrons and so different (theoretically infinite) brightness can be achieved. i dont know a lot about the new technology, but having read the article, there is of course the possibility that the more potential you apply across the ink, the brighter it is. (some electroluminescent materials work this way) remember, TFT screens are already alomst this thin, and veiwable under most conditions...


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  21. Re:Instant Billboards... by e7 · · Score: 2

    Coupled with "netcasting" and GPS, a cellular or narrowband radio could be used to even SHOW YOU where you are on a map, accurately, and quite visibly. Traffic delays and accidents could come up in realtime as coloured areas to avoid if possible.

    Cool! You could even see a MAP VIEW of yourself HAVING AN ACCIDENT in real time!! ;)

    I plan to invest in UI research that keeps people's eyes on the road as much as possible while still giving them the information they need...

    --
    Corollary to Moore's Law: The IQ of new computer owners is declining.
  22. Re:Oh, so THAT'S the big deal by BJH · · Score: 4

    First of all, DON'T USE CAPS SO MUCH, IT PISSES ME OFF.

    Second, let's take a look at your supposedly "Interesting" post point by point...

    I don't know very much abount monitors or TV's..

    That's obvious.

    A conventional monitor uses EXTREAM amounts of light to go through lots of magnets and such to bend the light to hit the monitor/TV in the right places to do different colors, etc...

    Did you ever take elementary physics at school? Did they teach you that light can be bent by the kind of magnets you'd find in a TV? If so, take your teacher out back and shoot them. TVs fire electrons at a phosphor-painted screen which produces photons of the appropriate frequency when the electrons give up their energy.

    THIS technology would basicly make it so that your monitor could be as thin as a piece of paper and the wires which connect all the dots back to the computer.

    Well done. You read the article.

    a. How BRIGHT will these monitors be? Would they be viewable in broad sun light or in an office with bright lighting? Or just in the dark?

    Since they produce their own light, rather than utilizing reflected light (standard LCDs) or light passing through the substance (backlit LCDs), I presume they'd show up well in the dark, and reasonably well in an indoor setting, but we'll just have to wait for ACTUAL PRODUCTS before finding out, won't we?

    b. How FAST can these color dots light up and turn off?? I mean nothing worse than seeing trailers on your mouse when you don't want to. Or you minimize a window but you have to wait for the "dots" to loose their charge ...

    I don't think you're going to be using a mouse (or minimizing windows, for that matter) on your cell phone.

    c. How "WELL" do these things respond to electricity? Can you give them a "little" juice and have them light up a little, and MORE JUICE to light up more? Otherwise you taking back to the primary colors for monitors.. back to 8 bit graphics..

    ALL color monitors are made up of "primary colors" (actually red, green and blue, ehich are not the traditional primary colors, but oh well...). In addition, if you couldn't vary the luminance (i.e. of the pixels had only two states, "on" and "off") that would be TWO-bit color, not EIGHT.

    d. Why couldn't you just do this with conventional LED type things? Like a "Light Bright" .. =) I mean have a bunch of TINY R,G,& B LED's wired all together, when charged the R, G, B, light up accordingly.

    You're a genius! I'm sure this has never occurred to any engineer anywhere ever!
    For a start, show me how you're going to make those LEDs so small, how you're going to bring power to them, what substances you're going to use for the various colors, how you're going to avoid black gaps between them........I could go on.

  23. It's a fab process by Animats · · Score: 2
    This isn't a printing process. It's another way to do IC fabrication. Flat-panel displays are usually made by processes that are too much like semiconductor photolithography. That's an expensive process per unit area, and for displays, you want area, not density. For a display, you want large area and low density, so printing looks attractive.

    It looks like Epson is on the right track, but is still having trouble with the blue LEDs. If they're concentrating on cell phone displays, they probably have a high cost per unit area. (If they'd cracked that problem, they'd be showing wall-sized TVs.)

    Another company making displays by printing is E-ink. Their process is different, and involves tiny balls in fluid moved by electrostatic drivers in the substrate. Writing rates are slow; this is for signs, not TV. The site is heavy on hype; skip the irrelevant Flash animations and go for the data sheet.

  24. Re:There's nothing new about this by Spider-X · · Score: 2

    Agreed, the main things that should stick out in the article are:

    1) blue only lasts 1000 hours
    and
    2) no backlight is needed

    ok so 1 means that its only real use would be cell phones, pagers, anything that doesn't get used very much or is disposable. Number two means that this technology has an edge above all other technologies mentioned above in that those require some form of illumination, where this produces its own, which is a huge savings in cost.

    --
    witty sig goes here
  25. A flight of fancy... by fudboy · · Score: 5

    Interesting... What other uses might a screen like this have?

    First off, I expect rapid development of resolution, blue LEP lifespans, modularity, chip embedding, wireless broadband(streaming), and physical properties like flexibility, elasticity, heat and cold resistance, waterproofing, etc.

    Ten years after something like this comes to market, it will seem like the blink of an eye, a couple product generations go by and wham! this tech is now ubiquitous and has amazing, undreamed of applications.

    One thing people will probably do is wallpaper everything in it: house, car, tennis racket, shoes, shirt, bathing suit area. This technology will also lend itself to vandalism nicely. imagine slapping a 40" square sheet, looping video of pr0n or subversive images on the back of a bus? on the side of a politicians limo? all over a building!

    But what to play on these displays? The trippy nebulous winamp plugin style would get old quick. Anything curvy like clothing would distort video, making video look surreal, and making surreal movie footage that much stranger. Looping footage of stars, fire and clouds are likely to be popular. But that still won't be enough. Designers will embrace it, and produce some wonderful combinations of color and tone, but that still won't be enough.

    Fairly quick into this, I expect the military to adopt this into cheap and easy mimetic armor systems. This might lead back to consumerville in the form of very sophisticated mood clothing, that matches both your mood and the room you are in. Through practice you could learn to manipulate the clothing to convey subtle accents or advertise a specific mood. this would eventually add another dimension to human interaction. Perhaps a more polite and subtle culture would blossom around this...

    There will obviously be styles that come and go, but certain things will remain relatively constant. If displays like this are adopted as the de facto standard for building adornment, there will be a pronounced change in architectural styles, marking the shift in epoch clearly.

    Off the top of my head, I imagine buildings would become bland and featureless, possibly made of raw concrete with smooth sections prepared for the display coating.

    After a collapse in our civilisation, future generations would think of our's as a hard and ugly era, though in reality everything will be flamboyent to the point of overstimulation and madness!

    damn, I should write this stuff down!


    :)Fudboy

    --

    :)Fudboy

    I guess I'm only a Fudboy, looking for that real Transmeta
    1. Re:A flight of fancy... by istartedi · · Score: 2

      Fairly quick into this, I expect the military to adopt this into cheap and easy mimetic armor systems.

      You must mean "chameleon cloth". It's been a goal for a while, and this will bring it closer to reality. A few tiny cameras on one side of the tank feed pictures to the cloth on the other side, and vice-versa. Presto! a huge armoured vehicle has a visual profile the size of the camera openings, which could probably be pinholes.

      You need some real sophisticated intelligent image processing and projection technology to hide shadows and depressions in the soil. If your tank is rolling across the desert, you can't hide the dust either.

      Another difficulty will be getting it to hold up under fire. If the enemy suspects armoured vehicles on the field, they can spray random fire and damage the surface. Then there are other detection techniques--thermo, radar, etc...

      In short, build better camo, and the enemy will build better detection.

      --
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  26. Re:Oh, so THAT'S the big deal by Johan+Veenstra · · Score: 2

    Although I agree with must you said, especially the 'I don't know very much abount monitors or TV's..: That's obvious.'-part.....

    But, well there's always a but...

    ALL color monitors are made up of "primary colors" (actually red, green and blue, ehich are not the traditional primary colors, but oh well...). In addition, if you couldn't vary the luminance (i.e. of the pixels had only two states, "on" and "off") that would be TWO-bit color, not EIGHT.

    This doesn't make a lot of sense. Two state pixels are ONE-bit. Pixels made from three two state pixels are THREE-bit (ie. 2^3=8 colors).

    Johan V.

  27. Recyclable? by otis+wildflower · · Score: 2

    Are these things recyclable, or at least break-downable? At 1000h, I can see lots of these things getting tossed and stocking up landfills...

    Or would you be able to feed the sheets back into a printer and reprint the blue "ink"?

    Your Working Boy,

  28. Re:There's nothing new about this by signe · · Score: 2

    Um, Yes.

    The way I read the article (the /. article, not the linked article), the poster thought that the concept of "electronic paper", so to speak, was the new technology. It is not. I provided links to stories about this technology. Yes, there are different implementations. Yes, the colors are a new thing. Yes, applying the polymer with an inkjet-like technology is neat. But that's beside the point.

    Now, if you read the /. article differently, yay for you. Just goes to show how interpretation makes a difference.

    Next time, you might want to be a little more tactful. You might be taken more seriously.

    -Todd

    ---

    --
    "The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
  29. Re:Maybe this will help me get what I want Sooner. by Raven667 · · Score: 2

    Everything besides the speech recongnition sounds right on the money. Probably more realistic would be a pen-and-paper like interface. Point and draw, select from menus and checkboxes, hopefully without a "windowing" interface (everything fullscreen) with forward and back buttons.

    --
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  30. Re:There's nothing new about this by Accipiter · · Score: 2
    The way I read the article (the /. article, not the linked article), the poster thought that the concept of "electronic paper", so to speak, was the new technology. It is not. I provided links to stories about this technology. Yes, there are different implementations. Yes, the colors are a new thing. Yes, applying the polymer with an inkjet-like technology is neat. But that's beside the point.

    Oh get real. Now you're saying the technology is 'neat', but in your original post you downplayed it with sarcasm:

    Oooh, it's color. I bet that's just a *huge* accomplishment.

    Part of your first statement also alludes to the fact that you had no idea what you were talking about:

    Develop the technology in black, then change it to RGB and overlay them.

    WRONG. You were still believing that the technology you were referring to was the same as the technology that was just posted. They're not overlaying anything. The technology isn't starting out as black. This is NOT the MicroBall technology. It's a totally DIFFERENT technology that wasn't originally developed in black, wasn't changed to RGB, and was not overlayed. Your facts are incorrect and you're trying to throw your mistake on me.

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  31. very old news by oliverthered · · Score: 3

    this has been about for at least a year now, and green for a couple of years. heres an artical from december 98 Cambridge claims blue light emitting polymer and heres a good one from feb 98 it clames that Seiko-Epson and Cambridge Display Technology were working on a momocrome version.
    want to find out more .

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  32. Actually licensed from Cambridge Display Technolog by pjc50 · · Score: 3

    Who have a press release here

  33. This is a change I don't think anybody thought of. by VWswing · · Score: 2

    I've heard of very typical solutions for printing replacements.. webpad devices which clone the "newspaper" device written of in arthur c. clarke's book 2010.. So I'm guessing as a printer you'd "print out" a screen, and then connect a eeprom chip to it that has your content stored? I wonder if these could be expanded in size.. say to the size of a newspaper or a billboard?

    Just to think.. a screen on your t-shirt that you can say "hey baby.. I read slashdot and I'm single.. yeah ok maybe i'm ugly but i'm 50% vested" .. and then have a glamour shot-video of you running?

    this could be great for the whole wearable computing crowd..

    --
    "And how can this be? For he is the ..."
  34. Watches by Th3+D0t · · Score: 2

    If this proves truly inexpensive, it should make for some really great gimicky watches! I can't wait!!1!!!!1 :)
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    I am the dot in slashdot.org
  35. Instant Billboards... by krystal_blade · · Score: 5
    A technology such as this will certainly increase the number of "electronic billboards" people see while driving through major cities. Selling ad-space on such a device will be almost too easy. A simple encrypted cellular device and a couple seconds of download time will make billboards (along with other devices, to be sure) a BIG money maker in the future...

    On the individual side, the idea of a flatscreen TV hanging on the wall may become a reality far sooner now. And, if the technology is truly as "cheap" as they say it is, the I'd like to see embedded displays in car dashboards, or as a "heads up" display on an unused portion of the windshield. Volume controls on the dashboard may be replaced with control buttons for map displays.

    Coupled with "netcasting" and GPS, a cellular or narrowband radio could be used to even SHOW YOU where you are on a map, accurately, and quite visibly. Traffic delays and accidents could come up in realtime as coloured areas to avoid if possible.

    Hell, the possibilities of this are pretty much endless, so I'll stop here.

    krystal_blade

    --
    It will be easy to motivate our fellow man; there is hardly anything people treasure more than not being annihilated.
  36. Re:Not onto paper by be-fan · · Score: 2

    You do realize that's 100 dots per INCH, right? Not total resolution! 100 dots per inch works out to a res of around 1600x1200 on a 19" monitor.

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  37. Re:Impressive... by carlos_benj · · Score: 2
    I read about something like this months ago in a magazine (I forget which.)

    I read about it in whatever took the place of PC Computing (can't remember the new name). is a link to a related story I posted in an earlier discussion. Additionally, is a link showing some of the LEP displays.

    At first I was under the impression that these two articles were covering differing technologies since they both came from the same source just a month or so apart, but then I thought about double posting of stories here on slashdot a month or so apart.....

    carlos

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    As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.

  38. Re:NOT by jovlinger · · Score: 2

    Nah, that's not a showstopper. After all, laptops have been getting 2 to 9 hours of autonomous use and people are happy with it. All you have to do is provide screen covers and tell the implementors to not use too much blue in their graphics. That's not a problem.

    Alternatively, you might sell it cheap enough to let people replace them often -- replacing your screen could become just as run-of-the-mill as replacing or charging a battery.

    It's just a marketing issue. Eventually, the technology will have caught up and the replacements become less and less frequent.

  39. Re:Impressive... by carlos_benj · · Score: 2
    Darn. Broke my own links! I read about something like this months ago in a magazine (I forget which.)

    I read about it in whatever took the place of PC Computing (can't remember the new name). Here is a link to a related story I posted in an earlier discussion. Additionally, This is a link showing some of the LEP displays.

    At first I was under the impression that these two articles were covering differing technologies since they both came from the same source just a month or so apart, but then I thought about double posting of stories here on slashdot a month or so apart.....

    carlos

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    As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.

  40. Modulation by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    c. How "WELL" do these things respond to electricity? Can you give them a "little" juice and have them light up a little, and MORE JUICE to light up more?

    If not, you could always excite them with a variable-width pulse, or print them in sections and turn on variable numbers of sections.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  41. Maybe this will help me get what I want Sooner... by skinklizard · · Score: 2
    The ultimate solid state IT device...

    It will be all screen with an area the size of an A4 piece of paper and be perhaps ½" thick.

    It will run on a hydrogen fueled power cell and require, at most, monthly refills.

    It will have enough CPU power and local solid-state storage to be capable of using speech recognition as the primary interface. This will work flawlessly for any user in any language in realtime without any training.

    It will have minimal latency broadband access that will work worldwide.

    It will have total access to every motion picture, piece of music or book ever created weather it be past, present or in the future for free.

    Lastly it will have an open source OS and an unlimited supply of free application software.

    Ideal toy hu? I'll be buying one next year!!

    Of course, Microsoft might volunteer to release its source code and the RIAA might go easy on Napster. You never know....

    Then again maybe not. At least the screen part of my ideal device seems a bit closer!

  42. Print out video screen? by gravis777 · · Score: 5
    Seiko / Epson have developed a new technology which allows it to print out a video screen onto paper!

    Um, excuse me, but I think Apple invinted this back in the early 80s. Its called a laser printer and WSYWIG. =-)

    1. Re:Print out video screen? by jilles · · Score: 4

      I've had a print screen button on my keyboard for years!

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      Jilles
  43. Re:What about MTBF?? by warmcat · · Score: 3

    I should imagine these quoted lifetimes are for active pixels, otherwise they might die in the warehouse before they ever get to you. Your phone display will be blank, or the phone powered off for the vast bulk of the time.

    My imagination also foretells an awful lot or red, green and brown menus and other on-screen display with these phones :)

    -Andy

  44. There's nothing new about this by signe · · Score: 3

    Nothing new about this. Oooh, it's color. I bet that's just a *huge* accomplishment. Develop the technology in black, then change it to RGB and overlay them.

    If I remember correctly, some researchers at MIT developed "digital ink" at least a couple years ago. Basically, a flexible thin display that you controlled in a similar fashion to an LCD screen.

    Hey look, here's a link to a story on ScienceNews about it.
    And look, it's the research papers from the IBM guys working on it!
    Wow, and here's a Company that's developing electronic ink

    Guess it's not such a new idea after all.

    -Todd

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    --
    "The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
  45. Not onto paper by Lionfire · · Score: 4

    Umm... if you read the article carefully, you'll find that they're not "printing onto paper" -- just using ink-jet technology to deposit the PPV polymer onto a silicon substrate.

    No one said anything about creating a display on a sheet of paper, or even if the substrate was flexible (which would be a most iteresting feature).

  46. A whole new arena of excuses for school kids: by bjorky · · Score: 5

    -My homework crashed.


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    --

    "Defenestration" is to throw out of a window; what's a word for throwing 'Windows' out of something?
  47. Re:Oh, so THAT'S the big deal by ryanw · · Score: 4

    Well, it makes sense..

    They found an "INK" that when it is charged with electricity it "LIGHTS UP" .. And they have it working in RED BLUE AND GREEN...

    I don't know very much abount monitors or TV's.. but I know a little bit .. A conventional monitor uses EXTREAM amounts of light to go through lots of magnets and such to bend the light to hit the monitor/TV in the right places to do different colors, etc...

    THIS technology would basicly make it so that your monitor could be as thin as a piece of paper and the wires which connect all the dots back to the computer.

    I don't know.. sounds a bit FISHY to me. I mean, it should work.. but a few questions raise to my head... like ...

    a. How BRIGHT will these monitors be? Would they be viewable in broad sun light or in an office with bright lighting? Or just in the dark?

    b. How FAST can these color dots light up and turn off?? I mean nothing worse than seeing trailers on your mouse when you don't want to. Or you minimize a window but you have to wait for the "dots" to loose their charge ...

    c. How "WELL" do these things respond to electricity? Can you give them a "little" juice and have them light up a little, and MORE JUICE to light up more? Otherwise you taking back to the primary colors for monitors.. back to 8 bit
    graphics..

    d. Why couldn't you just do this with conventional LED type things? Like a "Light Bright" .. =) I mean have a bunch of TINY R,G,& B LED's wired all together, when charged the R, G, B, light up accordingly.

    ANYWAYS... Try it before you buy it.. and when you do buy it, check the warrenty and keep the receipt under lock and key..

  48. Think of the lolly wrappers and so on ... by dustpuppy · · Score: 2
    You know, things like Minties and Fantales (well Aussies will know what I am talking about) which have 'collectable' lolly wrappers.

    Imagine if you printed a video screen onto those!

    Collect the lot to view the entire Star Wars Episode 1 : The Phantom Menace movie or whatever ... :-)

  49. Re:What about MTBF?? by fishexe · · Score: 2

    Umm... Mine's been on since I got it new... 3 mths already... (that would be 2 1/2 screens already!)

    And you've used it continuously since then? What are you, a teenage girl on steroids? HTF do you pay for 2500 hours of continuous cell phone use?
    Seriously, we're talking about devices people only use for short bursts of time. It's like saying a power source is good for 20 hours in a laser gun.

    Now my question is, do they have replaceable screens, say if you were using it for like a computer monitor, could you just slide the screen off and slide a new one in? Because I use my laptop considerably more than your average user uses their mobile phone, and I would expect at least a couple years out of it. Probably twice what these screens offer, maybe 3x. I don't really know exactly, I don't have reference point for quite what 1000 hrs. is relative to how much my cmp. is on out of a day relative to how long a year is, this late at night. But I would definitely have to replace the screen over the life of my computer--if they made it doable, I would certainly consider that type of screen as an alternative to more expensive (and harder to look at) LCD but if not than forget it.

    Ever get the impression that your life would make a good sitcom?
    Ever follow this to its logical conclusion: that your life is a sitcom?

    --
    "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009