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LCD Screens Almost Paper-thin
DarklordSatin writes "Nature.com has an article up about new LCDs that are thin enough to roll up and can display black and white at 96 dpi. More coverage by Wired and Scientific American. Thanks go to Arstechnica for the heads up." Wow. Let the speculation for new uses begin! Update: 05/10 14:59 GMT by CN : Whoops, this is really a dupe of an older story that slipped through because I only searched for LCDs. Ah well, it's still cool.
Anywhere you would need a thin screen. e-newspapers, bathroom walls, clothes that have a display pattern, easy to move signs/signals, etc. Read the article for petes sake, lex!
why run from Vincenzo?
A quick glance at the linked article would be sufficient to figure out they're not LCD. I'd be very surprised if they made LCD displays that could be rolled like that!
This is a dupe of a recent story. At least the articles it points to are different. Same product, though.
-Mani
LCDs allow your working space be more changable. This is the same reasoning behind Apple making desktop computers easier to carry; you don't want to be chained to the same desk. Plus, LCDs are much better on the eyes -- if you really start using them, it's painful to go back to CRTs.
From the article:
:)
The screen is less than 0.3 millimetres thick, flexible enough to be rolled into a tube just 4 mm across and can be viewed from almost any angle.
So the thickness can be given as 0.3 mm with any accuracy.
Googling for toilet paper thickness, single ply is about 0.004 inches thick, and with a conversion of 25.4mm to an inch, you get 0.010mm thickness, for a grand total of 30 times the thickness of toilet paper (minus quilting).
Also, the screens are black and white, raising and lowering white and black dots, so there is no backlighting necessary. So you just need the controller width plus enough room to move the dots.
Put some effort into your trolls
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Here is what the display is made of... And here is the last ./ story. Come on guys! Don't get my hopes up like that!
As a side note, I was at Epcot and got to see Xerox's Gyricon (now marketed as 'SmartPaper') up close and personal. The only issue was that the person at the booth barely knew how the stuff worked and did not have so much as a magnet to show it change. Someday...
why pay for a 17" mid range LCD screen over a 21" Natural Flat top of the line CRT monitor?
The ratio might come down once US manufacturers also start figuring the cost of recycling into the price. In Europe it is mandatory for computer makers to take back their old stuff, and recycle it in a reasonable way, as opposed to the US where most old computers end up in basements or landfills. Of course, it makes prices higher but in the end, everybody wins.
And recycling a CRT is much more expensive than recycling an LCD, so the price difference is smaller.
When men used to be men
I can assure you, having done practicals in Atmospheric Physics involving UV spectroscopy, that glass is opaque to UV light, by and large. Hint to anyone taking a Physics degree: you're not too lazy to throw the detector out the window, then pull it back in when the spectrograph is complete...
Around here a lot of monitors get donated to goodwill, which has no idea how to price them.
I picked up a 17 inch MAG for $5 yesterday. Even if the monitors I buy from them are bad beyond economical repair, I will usually strip the circuit boards with a torch to get the components. The HOT is a nice fast and high power transistor (assuming it isn't burned out).. Lots of nice power circuitry in the power circuits, usually a few low voltage 78XX regulators are in there too. Even if I scrap for components it usually justifies the $5 price.
The CRT itself does usually wind up in a landfill eventually though. On the plus side, most monitors are easily repaired. A lot of probelems that cause people to ditch a monitor are trivial to fix.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Basically, it is 2 XGA displays at 180dpi that doesn't require refresh, so can last a few months on 2 AA batteries. It reads contents stored on an SD card. The weight is only 500 gram. I like physical books compared to bulky PDAs with small screens, but something like this could become serious competition to them.
http://msnbc.com/news/910466.asp?0cv=CB20
;-)
;-P
it reminds me of pictures of the first transistors at bell labs- all bulky and ungainly
but in it's picture you see the future gleaming bright
oops! my post is a karma-whoring dupe! sorry!
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Is it? What if the maker is out of business since long? I've still got a vintage "Wearnes automation" monitor that I need to get rid of, but the town wants 18 Euro for recycling costs. Of course, if I was a merkin, I'd just abandon it on a street corner, or in a forest...