Collapsible LCD Screens

Schart writes "I can't seem to find any pictures of exactly what they mean by 'collapsible LCD,' but NEC today announced a new line of low(ish) priced LCD screens that 'fold up for easy portability.'" Anyone out there who can supply visual documentation?

Comments

about time...

[LBArrettAnderson]

this is exactly what the world's been looking for.... we want smaller devices BUT larger displays. this'll be great.

Re:about time...

[Anonymous Coward]

Forget folding LCDs - a technology whose time will NEVER arrive. What we want is fold-up or roll-up screens. Remember the "electric paper" display units? These things will be in colour pretty shortly, plus they don't lose the image when you remove the power!

Imagine your laptop, which is half the size of a normal keyboard (folded in half), with a display folded like a map inside it. Remove the display, unfold it to 2 metres x 1 metre, stick it on any wall less than 6 metres away, and presto - wireless display.

The unit will auotmatically select what display mode you want, and what size, based on how you unfold it, and the display will know where it is still folded, and only display across the area intended for viewing. So you'll be able to unfold it to quarter-size while it's close to you (on a desk) but move up to the full size when you unfold all of it.

LCD - BAH!

OLED and I might be impressed... ;)

Cool,

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I can fold up my porn and put it my pocket!

Re:Cool,

[da3dAlus]

Yeah, it's called Playboy magazine, and it's much cheaper than the LCD. Think man, which would you rather have sticking together: a few pages of a $5 magazine, or the edges of a $500 folding LCD? Sheesh!

Re:Cool,

[Forkenhoppen]

Woohoo! Now internet porn can finally have centerfolds!

Re:Cool,

[pyrote]

great, first I need to encrypt, then firewall, vpn, virus scanner, and now I need a latex sheet!

When will it end!?!

why

[teklob]

whats the point in having a folding lcd monitor? it's not like portability is a huge factor when you still have to plug it into your computer

Re:why

[Shishak]

Remember the IBM laptops that had a keyboard that would open up to full size? Imagine a laptop LCD that opens up like a pop-up card to a full 23" LCD screen when in use but fold down to 15" when not in use.

Confused

[Davak]

Okay... if I want a portable screen, I'll buy a laptop.

Sure the screens come in 17 inches... but come on, I don't know why portable screens would be so helpful.

Somebody give me some actual uses... I just can't think of any that a laptop wouldn't do just as well.

The only thing I can think of would be nice to display a powerpoint presentation from my PDA -- however, a laptop would still do better.

Anyway, I think it's cool. Just give me some reasons.

Davak

The World's 1st Foldable LCD

[cloudless.net]

The world's 1st foldable LCD

Can't find a photo of it yet, but the article says "The seam between the two panels is less than 1 mm"

Found something . . .

[$calar]

http://www.etechkorea.info/articles/20020501001.ph p

Don't know if this constitutes what everyone is looking for, but you can see that there is no border in the center portion where it folds.

expandable PDA display

[SuperKendall]

What I want is a PDA with the form factor of a palm, that I can attach a portable screen for more real estate - like if I want to look at a manual or book with diagrams.

The killer app for ebooks and PDA's could well be reference material.

easy to ship as well

[stonebeat.org]

yup. they ship the monitor in the standard 3x7 envelope too. pay 35 cents for shipping and handeling.

Messed up description

[beerman2k]

From the article (emphisis mine)...

With an ultra thin-frame bezel on all sides of the screen, the new streamlined models not only reduce usersâ(TM) horizontal desktop space but their attractive design also complements home environments at all angles.

So this monintor reduces my desktop space and it's attractive? What a deal. This has to be some kind of typo, but what the hell were they trying to say?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Shame about the center

[Kris_J]

The center is so important in games -- it's where my Diablo II character always is. I'd prefer two half-sized peices either side than a fold in the middle

Re:Shame about the center

[KFury]

"what?? two half-sized peices on either side?? Isn't that the same thing as a fold in the middle?"

No. He means there is a half-size piece in the center, and two quarter-sized pieces on each side, that can fold in to cover the half-size. His nomenclature assumes that the center piece is equivalent to a 'full sized' display, and the two 'wings' are half-sized, and on either side.

Hmmm

[sbszine]

Forgive my scepticism, but looking at the picture this seems awfully similar to two adjacent screens.

Cool

[Klimaxor]

I like the idea. Some may think "well, it's 13lbs, that's not so portable" But you have to look at it this way. Whether you haul your system to and from LAN's every week, or even move it from location to location once a year, it's common knowledge that if you can the make the package smaller, it won't get harmed as easily. Even with current day LCD's, the worry of scratching the screen, or something else, makes people put them in a box, which takes up room, and is a general pain in the ass. If you can fold it up, especially so that the entire screen is enclosed, what the hell, put the monitor in your glove box and save room in the moving vehicle for other stuff (like that abnormally large chair that is just really comfortable and you just CAN'T compute without it)

20+ years too late

[Anonymous Coward]

Collapsible LCD?

Nintendo had that decades ago with Donkey Kong! :)

Re:20+ years too late

[ciroknight]

No no, nintendo gave us collaspable LSD not LCD....

Hellooo Trintron!

[SuperBanana]

1980's, Sony: "You'll never notice those two 'faint' grey lines!" 2003, NEC: "You'll never notice those three 'small' spaces between sections!"

Was I the only one reminded of...

[Moses Lawn]

Aw man, when I read the blurb about a collapsible screen, the first thing I thought of Mr. Whoopie's amazing 3-D blackboard (best link I could find - 2nd image down) from 'Tennessee Tuxedo'. That was the one that opened up from pocket size to full size and came to life with full animations of whatever concept he was trying to demonstrate. Always saved Tennessee and Chumley's asses.

Man, I really want a 3-D blackboard. Life sucks.

Some ideas:

[lpret]

How about pulling a PDA sized device out of your pocket, and then unfolding it to the size of a laptop? It'd only need to be as big as you need it.

How about a clam-shell device that would open up to a full-screen? Double the size.

Or, since it's flexible, why not just have it on your sleeve? You could look down at your sleeve and see what your schedule is for the day (kinda sci-fi, but possible).

Or, in a larger scale, a complete mockup of some new device for demoing.

Or, potentially you could have a book-like device that would allow an old school feel, but be LCD and downloadable and all.

And these are all just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are a ton of applications for this elsewhere than just consumers like the military, hospitals, research etc.

Relax....no big deal

[djupedal]

This is similar to the Samsung SyncMaster 172T, where the stand and monitor fold together (flat) for wall mounting, easy tote, NEC is just playing catch up, etc.

Doesn't mean the screen folds in half...sorry.

From Toms...

NEC today announced its first line of light-weight LCD monitors that fold up for easy portability. Attractively designed for home users and gamers on the go, the new monitors provide a protective black bezel acrylic screen with flexible silver cabinet and stand that adjust to a variety of angles including flat against its base. "Providing consumers with the freedom to easily carry their monitor around, the new units collapse into small packages that weigh only 8.6 lbs for the NEC LCD1565 and 13.2 lbs for the NEC LCD1765. Built to withstand wear and tear, the durable acrylic screen displays 88 pixels per inch on the 15-inch unit and 96 pixels per inch on the 17-inch unit for continually clear, accurate images even after years of use." Coupled with a small form-factor PC, this looks to be the ideal monitor-type for those that frequently attend LAN parties.

Press release

It really whips the Lama's ass!

It's a singularity!

[Nathdot]

This is how it works (I have my sources. Don't question me!):

* You pay your 500 clams
* You take your monitor home and out of the packagaing
* It collapses in on it self, all black-hole-like

The reason there are no photos of it, obviously, is because it isn't human viewable. And now, a word of advice: Stand the fuck back when it collapses 'cos that things has some serious gravitational pull!

This has been a public service announcement. Thankyou.

You TOTALLY missed the point

[Tensor]

... think about it this way ...

You have a laptop with a thin, ultra portable 10x12 form factor (ie 15 inch display)... and suddenly you open (unfold) the screen upwards or sideways (maybe both ? like landscape/portrait modes) and end up with a 23.5 inch Screen in a ultra-portable !!

i'd say its sweet ...

Obviously if you think about it from the desktop point of view its pretty useless, unless you travel with your desktop a lot, like to lan-parties, but that would make it an extremely small market to recoup the r&d.

do you want an opinion or a link?

[chipace]

If you want an opinion... it doesn't look like what I expected. If you want a link (like the guy asked for) here it is: http://www.nmv.co.jp/nmvisual/hardware/index.html

Here's your picture...

[Call Me Black Cloud]

Glad to be of service... Collapsible LCD

I Used to Support the Hardware

[Greyfox]

Our team could rip apart most of the Thinkpads, but if something went wrong with one of those butterfly ones, your only recourse was to send it in for service. I seem to recall that you needed a special set of tools to tear one down, just in case you were ever tempted to. That's not the real reason they stopped making them though.

The problem was, the keyboards would inevitably wear out when the machines were given to managers. Apparently the action of them folding out was even more mesmerizing than those kinetic managerial trip toys. Productivity plummeted due to all the managers just opening and closing their laptops all day long. IBM could have solved the technical problems with the keyboard with time, but there's nothing you can do about the manager-mesmerising potential.