New Entrant In the Race For Wafer-Thin Speakers

Smivs notes another technology aiming to become the ubiquitous flat, flexible loudspeaker in public and private spaces. This one comes out of the University of Warwick, in the UK, and may reach the market before year's end. We've discussed other attempts on this problem over the years, including a touch-sensitive display that is also a speaker, and an approach based on nanotubes. "The arrangement also allows for highly directional and accurate sound, say the researchers. The speakers would be ideal in public places such as passenger terminals since the sound quality does not deteriorate as much as conventional speakers... The flat speakers are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, say the researchers, and can be printed with design or concealed inside ceilings."

Comments

I have listened to these

[Anonymous Coward]

They have no bass whatsoever and require high voltages. They are also not that inovative as as far as I could tell they are just another electrostatic speaker. Also they are very directional only having about 25 degrees of good sound and are not very loud. Admitedly I did hear them 2 years ago but I cannot see how they overcame these problems.

Re:I have listened to these

[pod]

Actually, they are definitely NOT directional.

I've had the flat speakers on my desktop a few years ago, and it really does not matter which way you point them, as long as the surface is 'roughly' facing you. In that sense, they don't really have a 'sweet spot'.

The shortcoming is that to reproduce a full spectrum of sound, or close to it, they have to be paired with a subwoofer, because the surface can't displace enough air to generate low frequencies. This is not an issue with a PA-type system; voice and dings and bleeps come through just fine, and would be good enough for AM talk radio.

NXT, anyone?

[tygerstripes]

may reach the market before year's end.

NXT was (is) a viable and versatile speaker technology with many of the revolutionary properties ascribed to this one. Not as flexible or cheap, but certainly a significant step up from the paper cones of yore.

Yet, in spite of being a sound technology (sorry), it took years before it finally reached consumer products. Even now the uptake is slow.

The strongest hurdle was poor bass-reproduction, because it didn't have the physical ability to shift sufficient volumes of air - exactly the same issue faced by this new tech - so NXT speaker systems often have to be augmented with sub-woofers - see the Hitachi AX M133 for an example. This doesn't affect the fact that it is ideal for public-address systems, however, since it is a diffuse source rather than a point, and that whole "sweet spot" nonsense becomes a non-issue.

In spite of this, it never made a noticeable entry into the PA market. I can only hope this new technology delivers the cheapness and flexibility promised, and we can finally stop bolting big ugly boxes to the walls in every public space.

Re:Tinny and pitchy

[afidel]

I was thinking about surround sound, having the surround being an actual field instead of a point source with simulated field effects would be awesome. You could have front and rear subwoofers for the low end and LFE.