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Samsung Develops a Transparent OLED Laptop Screen

Posted by Soulskill on from the harder-to-hide-your-mmo-habit-from-the-boss dept.

Dyne09 writes "The Design blog has posted an entry on Samsung's new laptop with a transparent OLED screen. The photos show a dark-tinted and dimly-lit screen that is fully see-through. While the utility of a see-through laptop probably isn't that high for the average user, several medical and industrial industries could greatly augment design work or frame 3-D models over real life in real-time."

11 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Realistic Uses by teeks99 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I had two ideas come to mind on ways to use this technology (laptop screens don't really seem like a killer feature).

    - Glasses. It would be great to get a screen on the lenses of my sunglasses, most of the time they'd be clear like normal, but info could pop up throughout the day as needed. Or I could sit back and watch a video, and just turn it off if I needed to see something.

    - 3D Displays. If one would take many layers of this together, it would be possible to create a 3D display a couple inches deep that would be able to be viewed without any need for glasses. It would be quite limited to the amount of depth available, but even a small amount could be revolutionary.

    1. Re:Realistic Uses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      It would be great to get a screen on the lenses of my sunglasses

      Uh? Move your face next to your screen as close as you wear sunglasses. Do you see anything? Your eyes just can't focus on a screen this close. For this to work you need retinal projection, not a screen.

    2. Re:Realistic Uses by Artifakt · · Score: 3, Funny

      Do I see anything? Yes, I'm THAT damned nearsighted, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Who is John Cabal?
    3. Re:Realistic Uses by VinylPusher · · Score: 3, Informative

      You noticed the depth of those head-mounted displays? Needed due to all the optics focussing the image into your eyeball (because you're eyes can't manage it due to aforementioned closeness).

  2. How about a tablet/laptop by Sepodati · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How about using this on a hybrid laptop/tablet? Instead of having an mechanical swivel for the screen that can break, just have a transparent screen like this. Open it up and it's a laptop. Shut the laptop and the screen mirrors so it's a tablet now. This is assuming you could get the outside (or back of) the screen to have touch capabilities.

    -John

  3. Re:cool, absolutely. but... by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    there certainly is some geek coolness in having a transparent display on a laptop, although I question the usefulness of it; particularly when one is playing back pr0n on said laptop.

    If you have a gf with a pretty face but an ugly body...

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:It's not transparent! by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's translucent. It if were transparent then it would be clear, instead it's like a dark tinted piece of glass which isn't that easy to see through if you ask me.

    No, translucency prevents seeing details through the medium, such as the glass you'd use in a bathroom window which allows light to pass through but scatters the photons preventing seeing detail. Transparency is a sliding scale, which can allow various levels of light through or even only certain wavelengths (colors) from 100% clear transparent to nearly opaque.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  5. Nook2 by eightball · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Instead of having LED below the e-ink, put it on top of the e-ink. With no current applied to either, you see the e-ink. When you need to use the faster more colorful tech, make the e-ink whitish and turn on the OLED.

  6. yep by itomato · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heads-up display, much like the system used in Cadillacs.
    http://cars.about.com/od/cadillac/ig/2008-Cadillac-STS-gallery/2008-Cadillac-STS-HUD.htm

    viewing a map with turn by turn superimposed over the windshield would be killer app

  7. We all know the first profitable use will be... by BlueBoxSW.com · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Porn.

  8. 1995 calling... by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Informative

    IBM ThinkPad 755CV had a transparent LCD display (VGA resolution) around 1995. It could be detached from the laptop, and placed on an overhead projector, for making PowerlessPointless-style presentations. This was in the days before projectors were common.

    --
    Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire