Transparent Screens on the Horizon?

mhesseltine writes "According to United Press, researchers in Japan are developing transparent transistors. This could bring about see-through screens like those in Minority Report. Also, I imagine would be better heads-up displays (HUDs) for vehicles, layered flat panel displays, and new methods of interfacing with information screens."

Comments

Eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Transparent screens are nothing new. Liquid crystal displays are transparent. As for glowing transparent screens-- well that's something entirely different.

HUD displays

[gtrotsky]

I actually think it'd be hard to see a full colour image behind a HUD type display. The colours in the background would blend with the colours in the HUD display. That's why HUDs always use monocrome green.

Has existed for a LONG time

[moosesocks]

Transparent LCD screens have existed for many, many years. They first appeared in the devices which were used to convert overhead projectors into a sort of ''poor man's projecter" (this was at the time when the only alternatives were 3-gun CRT projectors which were big, heavy, and expensive).

How do you think LCD projectors work? Basically, they shine a bright light through a very small, transparent LCD.

Desktop and Laptop LCDs are also transparent. Most simply have a piece of white plastic on the back of them (to reflect and evenly distribute light from the backlight. Of course, the big problem with LCDs are that they need to be backlit to increase contrast and brightness.

I believe OLEDs were intended to eliminate the need for a backlight, and I'd presume that they'd be transparent like an LCD. Whichever way you look at, we've got some amazing technology headed our way in the next few years.