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New Substrate Tech Creates System LCDs

Posted by timothy on from the just-toss-the-cpu-in-there-too dept.

smartalix writes "Sharp Microelectronics has recently developed a new LCD substrate technology called Continuous-Grain Silicon (CG-Silicon), that enables device integration on a scale previously impossible. The technology enables the creation of System LCDs that integrate all driver and operation circuitry -- including digital logic, LCD driver, power supply, I/O interfaces, and signal-processing circuitry -- onto the glass itself. Eventually even the device's CPU will be included on the substrate. A key SLCD feature is the ability to dynamically control the resolution and color depth, providing output in multiple-resolution modes while lowering overall power consumption. A 3.7-in. SLCD created with CG-Silicon had a power consumption of 14 mW for color VGA, 8 mW for color QVGA, and 2 mW for monochrome QVGA. The first commercially available product that incorporates the System LCD architecture is Sharp's Zaurus SL-C700 PDA, recently released in Japan."

16 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Some information, good Sir by Amsterdam+Vallon · · Score: 5, Informative

    but what ever happened to OLEDs & flexible LCDs?

    OLED developments
    Flexible LCD manufacturing/selling information

    --

    Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
  2. Link to the actual article by DeadMoose · · Score: 5, Informative

    As much as I love trusting the poster to have not made up a news story...here is the actual press release.

  3. Re:QVGA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    QVGA

    QVGA is an emerging standard for Palm Powered devices. Traditionally, Palm Powered devices have featured 160 x 160 pixel screens. QVGA screens feature a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The QVGA standard was originally adopted for the HandEra 330. New products with built-in QVGA technology are anticipated within the coming year.

    QVGA-aware applications include support for a high-resolution bitmaps, additional fonts, and a collapsible 'virtual' graffiti area. Optionally, they can also support landscape and portrait screen rotation.

  4. More info on power consumption by hobbs · · Score: 5, Informative
    Wanting more info on this, I found: Sharp Slashes LCD Power Consumption which is from Feb 2001 and appears to be an announcement of the tech. I really wanted to know the relative power consumption (since my e740 pocketpc sucks power), and this articles says:
    Compared to a conventional active-matrix display, which is refreshed between 60 and 70 times per second, the ULC (ultra-low-power consumption) technology only sends signals when the screen image is changed. This results in a drop in power consumption to one-third conventional levels for moving images and one-thirtieth for still images
  5. Re:QVGA? by antop · · Score: 4, Informative

    Quarter VGA (320x240)

  6. Re:But.. by robocord · · Score: 2, Informative

    I hope you're joking. It *does* run Linux. It's the big brother to the Sharp SL-5000 and SL-5500. The SL-C700 is a clamshell version of the same gadget, and isn't available in the US yes.

  7. Here's a recent, comprehensive artice from EETimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The state of the OLED industry, with some timelines.

  8. Here's a picture... by rushiferu · · Score: 2, Informative

    Plenty more to be found on google.

    http://www.ixbt.com/short/2k2-11/sharp102.jpg

  9. The New Zaurus by yoz · · Score: 3, Informative

    One word: WANT.

    Here's the press release and spec sheet.

    It's coming to the US... ... but Dynamism have done their own English port already. (Any stories/opinions of Dynamism?)

    Keyboard doesn't look great (but at least it's better than the original tiny Zaurus one)

    I've always wanted something tiny I could carry around that would give me decent QWERTY with a landscape screen capable of displaying VT100 readably (or, better, actual graphics) that could also connect to the net when I'm out and about. This looks like it (though expansion is limited to SD & CF - that's enough for WiFi and BlueTooth, though.)

    -- Yoz

  10. getting SL-C700 Zaurus in USA by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.dynamism.com/zaurus/index.shtml

  11. Re:But.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    according to dynamism.com: (http://www.dynamism.com/zaurus/index.shtml)

    Backward compatibility:
    Most of the Zaurus SL-5500 programs that have been tested on the SL-C700 work. The SL-C700 will step down to 240x320 for older programs. However, no software has been thoroughly vetted and no guarantees can be made.

    Synchronization:
    The SL-C700 uses Samba connection via USB, so the machine will show up as a network device under Windows XP.

    Looks like it runs Linux then!
    Artaxerxes

  12. Re:QVGA? by SeanAhern · · Score: 3, Informative

    No. If the original poster is correct about QVGA being 240x320, then it's not the same.

    The Clie with the graffiti area displayed is 320x320. If you collapse the graffiti area, the display is 320x480.

    So the Clie would essentially be 2 QVGA displays stacked.

  13. Sharp Zaurus SL-C700 with the new display by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Here's a link: http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2002/1112/sharp 1.htm You speak japanese, right?

  14. Interactive Views and specs on the Zaurus SL-C700 by erlkonig · · Score: 3, Informative

    On this flashy japanese page you can look at the C700 from different angles in both the input and viewing modes, as well as see the english specs.

    OS: Linux Embedix

    CPU: Intel XScaleTM(PXA250 400MHz)

    RAM: Flash 64MB (user area about 30MB) and SDRAM 32MB (workarea)

    Screen: 640x480 ("dots") 64K colors

    Cardslots: SD, CF type II.

    ?: 4 hours, 50 minutes

    Dimensions: 120mm W x 83 mm D x 18.6 mm H

    Mass: 225g

    The front page to get to this was from http://sl.ezaurus.com/ , from http://www.sharp.co.jp/

  15. No, you don't. by LightStruk · · Score: 2, Informative

    You need 6-7W for the backlight if you're using a CCFL (cold cathode flourescent lamp) to light the LCD, and then only for laptop screens. PDAs (and the new Gameboy Advance SP) use white LEDs, which run at low voltages and draw current on the order of milliamps, not amps.

  16. a news story from Japanese site by shibatch · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here

    At Oct.22, Sharp coporation announced CG silicon technology.
    CG silicon(continuous grain silicon) has continuity at grain boundary. Movement factor of electron is 600 times of that of amorphous silicon.

    Z80 CPU implemented on a glass
    Z80 on a glass is really working on a MZ-80 computer
    CG silicon has high movement factor of electoron
    Road map of System LCD architecture