Slashdot Mirror


Multi-layer LCD Displays

Jmo writes "Puredepth has started to produce multi-layer LCD displays. They manipulate LCD technology so that one screen can be placed behind another for actual depth. This technology has not even come close to being fully taken advantage of but it is still very interesting and has many implications for the future. Their main product right now is a seventeen inch monitor, the MLD-3000. It is mainly targeted at medical and business fields but it could be used all over."

24 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. The price by puiahappy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think is a very god piece of hardware but at that price ($1,799.00), i think that a few years will have to pass until we`ll start using it at home.

    --
    Think like a hacker, act like a hacker, but never become a hacker !
    1. Re:The price by SimonShine · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It appears like really a really cool thing to have, but does any near future price compare to the $30 a KVM costs, just so that you can see two windows at the same time? You can even build KVMs yourself.

      --
      Take off every 'ZIG' !!
  2. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been wanting to purchase an LCD, but I've been waiting for one to be as big and bulky as a CRT.

    1. Re:Finally! by sagekoala06 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Their website states that it is only 3.1" deep excluding the base.

    2. Re:Finally! by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 2, Interesting
      --
      Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  3. Hmm... by deutschemonte · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It could be used all over."

    Like pr0n right?

    Come on, some one was going to say it.

    --
    The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
  4. 3D by obender · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Two layers is not deep enough for 3D, you would need hundres of layers. But I doubt the technology described in TFA even attempts this.

    Well, I'm sure this will be discussed in much more detail on Monday when the dupe will be posted.

    1. Re:3D by mattdm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Two layers is not deep enough for 3D, you would need hundres of layers. But I doubt the technology described in TFA even attempts this.

      You're mistaken. With two eyes, two layers is all you need.

    2. Re:3D by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Your right, but these 2 layers are directly on top of each other.

      They are just onion skin layers, and need to be a volumetric cube to be a true 3d display (Yes, your 1 display per eye is right, but for a group of people looking its impractical)

      I am hoping for a rotating drum with spokes made of LEDs to give a true volume area that would be viewable by all, but thats about as likely as a flying car, so I wont hold my breath.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    3. Re:3D by TheLink · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you don't mind using polarized glasses- one eye vertical, one eye horizontal, then you only need two.

      Have a screen at the bottom of the display, and one at the back of the display and a half-way mirror/beam splitter reflecting the bottom screen to your eyes.

      e.g.

      | / -->eyes
      |/__

      --
    4. Re:3D by mattdm · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you don't mind using polarized glasses- one eye vertical, one eye horizontal, then you only need two.

      You don't need glasses. I'm not sure about the actual LCD used in this thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's using the same technology Sharp uses in their laptop. I've seen the Sharp techology demoed and as someone who basically doesn't know anything about all of this, I was totally astounded.

      Luckily, Sharp conveniently explains how it works -- they use something called a "parallax barrier", which, as the name implies, basically makes it so you see one screen from one eye and the other from the other. Obviously this works best if you're immediately in front of the screen, but from the demo I saw, it worked from a wider angle than I would have thought.

      Or you can read all of the past slashdot stories about it....

  5. Not for ord. users but GIS guys maybe by Flywheels+of+Fire · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's not really good for 3D stuff. So that only means you can use it for stacked virtual desktops. But as TFA says, stacking transparent desktops on each other is quite annoying. Let virtual desktops be virtual.

    However, I do see a use in this for GIS applications. You can redefine the term overlay with this.

  6. I'm a bit curious by Timesprout · · Score: 2, Insightful

    as too all this research and product development into 3D displays. It didnt work in the cinema and personally I cant think of a compelling mainstream requirement for 3D on the desktop.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  7. You only get two layers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you have something that can be separated into near field and far field, the images could be very realistic. I have trouble imagining how this would work with a medical image. Remember the anatomy drawings with a series of plastic overlays.

    The stuff I like the best is some mechanical drawings with cutaway views. A good illustrator can totally convey a 3-d structure. I guess what I am saying is that the answer may be a little more cleverness with conventional 2-d displays. The use of user-controlled transparency might do a better job of conveying the information.

    Is anyone still working on holographic displays?

  8. pointless by cahiha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wasting two full LCD displays on getting two blurry discrete depths is not a good use of hardware. If you expend the same amount of effort on a true 3D display, you can do the same thing, and you can actually look at arbitrary 3D objects/scenes.

  9. Zounds! by back_pages · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA

    The practical applications that Puredepth advertises for its MLD displays are vast and far-reaching. In any application that would benefit from greater information density (such as backgrounds with changing overlays, work areas with tool palettes, etc.), the MLD adds true depth to what would usually be a simulated effect. The effect is truly amazing, especially when compared with a standard 2D display.

    As you can see, this device is a GREAT benefit to the vast and far-reaching applications that would benefit from it. We could name them, but we'll settle for describing them abstractly. Suppose you have an application where you need to stack crap on top of other crap so that you can't read any of it. Well, this device is exactly what you need!

    Seriously, take a look at the screenshot of this thing running:

    Stacking crap so you can't read it

    In that pic, you can read everything, but it is clear that if you use your computer for things like text, this would be a nearly unusable monitor.

    I love the article's conclusion:

    Also, the technology, once refined, could be applied to displays with many layers, allowing for even more complex three-dimensional diagrams, such as skyscraper floor-plans, or "data clouds" with more than merely two levels within the depth hierarchy.[Poster's note: HOLY CRAP A 3D DISPLAY? THAT WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD IF it wasn't 25 years old.] Yet another possibility would be to juxtapose two or more different display formats in the same manner. Using a combination of standard LCD displays with super-bright OLED displays might lead to some interesting effects, making the distinguishing factors between layers consist of more factors than merely depth.

    As innovators, I tip my hat to Puredepth, and I truly hope to see more products from them in the future.

    1. Re:Zounds! by wyldeone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In that pic, you can read everything, but it is clear that if you use your computer for things like text, this would be a nearly unusable monitor.

      While I won't comment on the practical applications of this monitor, your comment shows a lack of understanding about photography. Since the camera taking the picture can only take one in 2 dimensions, the true dimensiality of the monitor cannot be grasped through a photo.

      I would look at this monitor in person before making any cracks about its usability.

      --
      In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and is widely considered as a bad move.
  10. Alternative Lenticular LCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    by Philips uses more conventional technology. You just interleave the pixels of the alternate views.

  11. what a great idea by Hrrrg · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmm, I think I will file this story under:

    "Sounds Cool"
    subfolder "Probably Useless"
    subfolder "What Moron Thought We Needed This?"

    Thanks!

  12. eye focus by spectrokid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    this could be interesting if the depth between the 2 displays was enough so you could "switch" between them by refocussing your eyes, like wathing through a fence.

    --

    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  13. not quie ready for general use by icepick72 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The poster of the article says "It is mainly targeted at medical and business fields but it could be used all over"

    However the article says: "Several quirks related to the product's design make it somewhat impractical for generalized use."

    Slashdot has reached a new level of article posting. Now the poster doesn't have to RTFA anymore.

  14. Yet another company makes a monitor... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Why is it news when another company jumps on the 3D using parallax bandwagon?

    Sharp has done it, Toshiba has done it. All three are using the same layered LCD technology. Slashdot has covered each one now

    BB

  15. Most of these assumptions are too direct by marcsiry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seems like most of the naysayers are just assuming you'd use this screen to simply overleave two 2D displays.

    This is linear thinking- sort of like assuming that the powerful GPUs in video cards would only ever be used to render chrome spheres floating over checkerboard floors. Instead, different, more clever uses (like Quartz and Core Image) have emerged for that seemingly extravagant and surplus capability.

    Similarly, I fell like somthing like this will be used to add an intangible quality to the dry 2d display- 'life' or 'vibrance.'

    Imagine two displays that render the exact same image, except in the areas where it's tracking your eyes or mouse, the images are more in phase while the rest of the screen goes out of phase.

    It could literally help focus your attention on the important info, where today's screens are limited to color, 'boldness' and opacity.

    I think we won't see the real usefluness of this until it's had time for creative people to tinker with working examples of it, which is the case for most technology, really.

    --
    Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
    1. Re:Most of these assumptions are too direct by back_pages · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Imagine two displays that render the exact same image, except in the areas where it's tracking your eyes or mouse, the images are more in phase while the rest of the screen goes out of phase.

      Ok, and now let's imagine paying for 1 display and an API function that does a blur effect on areas that are not near the mouse. Your method requires a $1800 display. My method requires an API function and existing graphics hardware.

      I think we won't see the real usefluness of this until it's had time for creative people to tinker with working examples of it, which is the case for most technology, really.

      Ok, fair enough. This is just like the way the world changed when someone put TWO CD-ROM drives in ONE computer, except you had two independent, functional, useful CD-ROM drives. This looks like an $1800 way to have almost 1 useful display.