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Multi-layer LCD Displays

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the screw-alpha-channel-transparency dept.

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."

2 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. 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.

  2. 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.