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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...
and what will it do to the lifespan of the LED?
I can see the music!
My patience is infinite, my time is not.
Whont having the screen vibrating cause eyestrain?
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
I don't like LCDs to have _any_ form of integrated speakers.
I have my surround sound system and don't want to pay for stuff I'll never use.
Fleur de Sel
Oh boy, soon my microwave will be playing techno, and my keyboard will be outputting a crummy rendition of Tchaikovsky. I can't wait.
-Dae
"Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.
j00 4r3 3n73r1ng l337 w0r1d.
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)
Great news - because we all know how expensive speakers are and how cheap LCD screens are! Imagine the cost savings... Jolyon
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
This is the same tech, essentially, that drives those flat-panel computer speakers, and the Soundbug over at thinkgeek.
...two great tastes that go great together!
This could be great for the laptop market where "average" multimedia speakers would sound alot better than those tin cans.
--aiee
These screens get thinner, yet they pump up the volume
..every time I crank up some Motorhead I'd be picking my display up from the floor.
Trolling is a art,
"you can't just casually mention quasi-invisibility cloaks without posting a link"
He did post a link, but he used the <quasi-invisible> tag.
Sigs are bad for your health.
Or not...
I can see the screen flickering now and then on older (or especially low refresh rate) setups, but wouldn't the screen vibrating to sound really mess with the picture? Still, it sounds like a good idea in that it would save more desk space, especially if you had a really BIG LCD on the wall that did away with really big desktop speakers.
stuff |
So, will the vibrations do pretty much the same thing as anti-aliasing and make all of your fonts look smooth around the edges? ;)
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
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
OK, I admit I'm kind of an audio snob. I have full size, full range speakers at my desk, because I like to really listen to music while I work / play / whatever.
But I don't think that *anyone* thinks that "the sound quality is quite good" coming from "average multimedia computer speakers".
I don't mean to knock this technology - if it's like multimedia speakers, it's probably great for people who just want to hear the Happy Sound when their computer boots up, and to watch some video clips from the news online. But, c'mon, Slash, you guys are supposed to be smart enough to filter this BS, and just tell us that it lets people hear their login "zing" without having extra speakers on their desk.
The coolest thing I anticipate from this technology is really cool crack patterns in LCDs from people trying to crank the bass way up (since most compact flat panel speakers have trouble with deep bass).
--Keepiru
--slashsuckATvegaDOTfurDOTcom
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
Scientist #2: "Well, you got your electromagnets all over my active matrix organic composite screen prototype!"
*blink blink*
In unison, reeling with implication: "Whooooooooaaa...."
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?
For those of you too lazy to search Google for "Japanese invisibility cloak", here is the link that started it and the project home page (with movies).
The objects are NOT truly transparent. They just appear that way due to optical tricks. Basically, they project what is behind an object to what is on the front of it using cameras, projectors, and mirrors. It's a neat idea, and he suggests some useful applications, but nothing like most were expecting upon seeing the pictures. Still, makes for some kick-ass videos.
Firstly, aren't LCDs on their way out for cheaper, better quality, and thinner OLED displays?
:)
Once those are out, there is no need for a backlight, and I seriously doubt people will want to waste space putting in a crappy ass "sound membrane" (that's what I call it) inside.
Yes they are right, this sort of speaker does create a universal "sweet spot" because it distributes the sound evenly over distance but there is a shitload more thats needed to produce good sound. The freq range of the mambrane alone is complete ass, so they would have to sell you subwoofers integrated with computer case to rattle around your HDs harmoniously
Interesting concept. The article speaks this producing "high-quality audio" -- yet I assume this must be mainly mid to high frequency sound. Any significant production of lower frequencies would certainly cause screen vibration, which might give new meaning to the term "flicker".
"The world is going to be flat going forward," said Mr Williams.
Ahhh... come on, they've been beating into my head that the world was round since elementary school, how do they expect me change my thinking now?!?!
How did this get modded Interesting?
If you go to the FAQ on NXT's website, you'll discover they use superposition principles to produce virtual channels in the sweet spot. They can do two; supposedly three (L, R + center) is possible.
Watermark, joint-stereo, give me a fucking break. Add nonsense buzzwords to a post and get modded up! A 2-step plan for slashdot success. (Unless you meant to be funny... in which case a big YOU ARE TEH 1Di07s!!! to the mods active today)
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
I thought the inside of the CRT looked more like a speaker, with a big magnet and a speaker-cone shape coming off of it going to the glass. But, alas, the CRT screens that were also speakers were made by Packard Bell or Compaq and had speakers attached to the side of the screen. It's quite interesting that the LCD beat the CRT to market with this technology, being that CRTs have been out for a while longer, ie. in everyones homes by the 1950s
In the long run, we're all dead.
Hearing through visual devices is cool but seeing through audio devices is cooler!
If you want something really cool try this:
Get this (right click link >Save As), look through your headphone jack in your cdrom, click extracted file at the same time. Enjoy! *Attention Mods* File was checked virus free, please imagine what could happen before rating.
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
Now, if anyone can tell me how to get my LCD to STOP making noises, that I'd pay you for.
There are no trolls. There are no trees out here.
Here is a non-invisible link. Basically imagine if you had a camera on your back and wore a movie screen on your front. Then you set up a projector several feet away to shine the scene from the camera on your screen. This is a 5th grade science project invisible cloak. Not sure why it made the news.
Lasers Controlled Games!
If I want to watch DVD in surround sound, I'd need 4 of these LCD screens. Too bad DVDs don't usually have multi-angled views... Imagine what that means to 3D games, you actually have to turn your head around to see what's behind you.. This technology can make some things really interesting
If they can place this membrane on the screen, they should open up to placing this membrane on other things....
...Toilet seats, window glass (windshield?), coffee cups, sneakers?.
Then again...maybe not.
I fear the day my cubicle talks to me.
is that what THEY are calling good sound is actually CRAPPY sound. I have spent my life in the audio industry serving the speaker makers around the world. This NXT and flat panel stuff pales incomparison to any 1/2 way decent speaker system. Sure for a laptop they may even make sence (keep things light and small) but if you want great sound from your laptop try a good set (or even not so good set) of headphones. But to think that you can replace your good speakers with this technology is a luaghable joke, JUST LIKE NXT's technology. Its cute and novel, but not really a practical application. It just proves that anything these 'new high tech' speakers can do, older speaker technology can do better, cheaper, and with way better results. But then again most people are happy with crappy sound, and these are the same people that purchase speakers based on Peak Music Power and not based on HOW THEY SOUND!!!! Ah ignorance is bliss, and there are lots of blissful people in this world!!!
. I love the sound of burning women and screaming rubber....
That could have the effect fo making a cell phone smaller yet making the display larger. Cooooool
- Thomas;
___ This sig is in boldface to emphasize its importance!
Hardware integration like this should make for some interesting appliances in the next few decades.
Like what? Let's hear some ideas of other integrations you'd like to see...
Refrigerator/Web browser? wow.
Watch/Telephone? uh huh.
Car/Plane? dream on.
Person/Jet pack? wake up.
You probably get all this from a speaker/LCD, right? Get down off the damn cloud. All they did was merge an LCD and speaker - flat speakers have been around for years using a variety of materials.
"Oh, you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called everyone, they meet at the bar."
Thanks - NXT is an interesting technology that came out of the military working on anti-noise for jet fighters.... As a high end loudspeaker, it works well and is meant to sound quite nice, but acts as an area source rather than a point source, so you'll get more room effect than normal (or wanted) and because the sound is quite "fast" it can be hard to integrate a woofer with the right sonic characteristics.
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Screw font anti-aliasing. Just shake the screen a little. Looks smoother already.
I like it.
My
Limekiller