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LCD Screens Double as Speakers
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC has a story about a company who has developed an LCD screen that can produce sound as well. They claim that the sound quality is quite good, and compare it to average multimedia computer speakers. Also NEC is making and selling computers that use this technology in Japan. Hardware integration like this should make for some interesting appliances in the next few decades."
It seems like an awesome idea, but how does it handle stereo? And I'd love to hear a wav file or something of how it sounds...
I'm no LCD scientist (though, I can tell you how they're made, thanks Apple Service Training for Losers with No Fscking Life), but it seems to me like heavy low-frequency sound coming /through/ the LCD would alter its color accuracy, at the least.
:-)
Granted, I have to put a good amount of pressure on my LCD to make it change color deeply, but don't you think if heavy low-frequency sound came out of it, something would happen, at least occasionally? What about the almost paper-thin glass sandwiched in the LCD layers?
I dunno. Seems to me like sound was made for speakers, not a display medium.
Does anyone out there have more info about the crap I just wrote?
Mikey-San
Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
It would be nice for travelling presentations or training, however. The lightweight LCD is already useful for that. Not having to carry around speakers would also help with the travel weight.
"Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased. Thus we refute entropy" - Spider Robinson
Wouldn't the vibration *right on* the LCD screen do something over time? Especially at high volume. It seems like - other than laptops - this is kinda strange to marry the two techs...
i could see this really taking off in the hand-held market, where the machines are really small and would benefit from having less components to have to cram into their small encasing..
~ fuzz
http://www.digifuzz.net
NXT argues its technology has major advantages over conventional speakers. It says its SoundVU technology distributes frequencies evenly across a room, producing what audio buffs call a universal "sweet spot".
I read that as it's a speaker that fills the room with a single channel of sound. If it was in stereo, then it wouldn't be room filling if you could discern the channels. You could probably deal with it if the screen created two virtual speakers by superposition using exciters on opposite sides of the monitor. But then the sweet spot would be very small, aimed at the person sitting a few feet away. Definitely not room filling.
Plus, they go on to say how they intend to use it in mobile phones and PDAs. All single channel devices when used without headphones.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
Sure, it's interesting, but it seems like another inappropriate use of technology. Just because something is possible to do, doesn't mean it's worth doing.
Just like the combined TV/VCR units, sure, it's nice when both functions work well, but if either function takes a dive, you're left with something that's less useful than either would have been if bought separately.
Maybe it'll be fine for people who don't particularly care about sound (and/or visual) quality, but I think this is another time when discrete components are the appropriate way to do it. It's not like the world has been sadly lacking for want of a speaker-monitor.
One question: what happens when you turn it up to 11?