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Hands-on With Pixel Qi Screens In Full Sunlight
griffjon writes with this drool-inducing bit, describing a "side-by-side comparison of the OLPC's screen and an Acer with the new Pixel Qi screen installed, both of course sharing Mary Lou Jepsen's screen technology: 'The XO's dual mode screen still rules in terms of pixel resolution at 1200 x 900 vs. the Acer's 1024 x 600. It was amazing to see Windows 7, Amazon Kindle software, the New York Times web site and a QuickTime video in direct sunlight. Shades of gray and some color tints are visible. Besides the XOs and e-ink based Kindle ereaders, no other color screen device I own can be seen as clearly in sunlight. Not even the famed iPad. In the video, you can see that at a certain angle where line of sight and sun are aligned, the new Pixel Qi screen glows as if backlit!'"
i will buy one when they come out with a netbook like that standard. not because i want to replace the screen, but because of the cost. after a few months of competition, the sunlight screen netbooks will become reasonably priced.
also, it would be nice if it had one of those fancy middle hinges so you can truly read it like an ebook reader. and, of course, a touch screen version of this would be too awesome for words.
Those of us who think they know everything annoy those of us who do.
This is mostly true. However, I have had legitimate uses for a laptop while in a bright outdoorsy environment. For instance, I've worked on rovers of various sorts that I drove using a laptop. Even when they operated autonomously, I would still trail along behind with a laptop for data collection purposes, or to just keep on eye on what they were doing. This was especially difficult when the rovers were working out in the middle of a snow/ice field. Between the sun shining overhead and the glare of the snow, the laptop screen was almost unreadable.
Pixel Qi + Cortex + Android + MeeGo + Open-Source Hardware + XO Laptop + Arduino
Mentioning all of the above at least once will guarantee submission of your story to Slashdot and/or rampant circulation among hobbyists who think tacking a few wires to an already-built PCB while following a "how-to" guide makes them a "hacker". Even if your design doesn't incorporate any of the above, it's still good to mention them for street cred.
If you're outside, you should, you know, be outside, doing outsidey kinds of things.
Man , please look at the potential rather than just immediately pigeonholing these type of devices as things that cross social boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. I for one read books in the park and maybe in 20 years time I won't need to lug around a 1000 page novel when I'm only going to be reading 1 or two pages in a lunchtime; this device will suit me down to the ground.
Like relaxing on a beach while reading a book?
I have an eeePC, and because of the screen-rotation feature, found it an ideal little book reader. It is lighter than many books of the same size, it can be cradled comfortably in my off-hand (left, in my case), and the arrow keys end up in about the location where I'd naturally reach to turn a page. Beyond casual reading on a beach, that little laptop is great for caching offline web pages for bird and plant identification, and for a variety of other field references. Its only weakness is viewing the display in sunlight, so I, for one, welcome this innovation.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
You seem to only see the how people will use the computer instead of doing "outsidey things".
I see it as the opposite. If I work with a computer anyway, and assuming I'm not confined to the company's office, why shouldn't I at least be able to do it outside, enjoying the sun and fresh hair?
If people are "nerds" they'll be using a computer anyway. Preventing them from using it outside won't result in people spending more time doing sports, it'll just result in more people being in the darkness of their houses.
Dilbert RSS feed
Damn, just noticed it. Sorry!
Dilbert RSS feed
"no other color screen device I own can be seen as clearly in sunlight. Not even the famed iPad."
is the ipad a particularly good screen in direct sunlight, or was it just an excuse to mention your "famed ipad" ?
I'd like that screen on my mobile phone. That's where I'd need a sunlight-readable, battery conserving display most. Most GPS functions only work outside due to feeble GPS signals, but at the same time the display become almost unreadable.
There are plenty of business opportunities and markets for Mary Lou to explore !
Markus
If you're outside, you should, you know, be outside, doing outsidey kinds of things.
You mean like: masturbating, having sex with animals, anal sex, sex, peeping, ... things like that?
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
For once, I see the standardized parts working as they are meant to be. Swapping components on a netbook is hard to say the least, but to see someone just grab a part & shove it into a netbook, tells me that this could very well turn out to be one of the "optional" features for people when ordering off their favourite supplier.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
I really want one for my HP mini 311, but the screen is 11.6" compared to this DIU kit. I've searched for details, but couldn't find any.
Every time I buy a laptop, I take a look at what my laptop is lacking and put that into a list of what I want in my next one. Being able to use it outside effectively has been on the list since my first one (after all, it's a laptop, it's portable, I want to use it outside). My current one converts into a tablet, which is definitely nice; I can now use it while walking, but the display is not up to snuff and in bright daylight it is unreadable. Depending upon how things play out with OLED displays (still 5 years away nearly 10 years after I heard about the technology), a transflective screen may be what I end up looking for in my next portable computer.
Tell that to the UPS delivery person.
"If you're outside, you should, you know, be outside, doing outsidey kinds of things."
Such as reading vehicle manuals when I work on them outdoors, ordering parts with the help of online catalogs, looking up welding consumables so I can email the part number and pick them up later... :)
With a display I can read in sunlight, I could comfortably speed up much of the work I do. Even inside, squinting to see detail sucks, and being able to stand back from a screen and read it easily is a plus.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
"Shades of gray and some color tints are visible."
No thanks.
I want video-capable screen update times, full and vibrant color under all types of lighting conditions that I could otherwise comfortably read a normal book in, and not have the requirement that under any of them I might have to feel like I'm reading while staring into a flashlight.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
The rebadged clevo laptop I bought 3 years ago behaves very similarly in direct sunlight. It's great cause I can turn the backlight right down (unfortunately it can't be completely disabled) and use the direct sunlight to illuminate the screen. doubles my battery life (or it would if it didn't overheat in the hot sun and sit revving up the fan to full whack the whole time! you can't have everything)
I see it as the opposite. If I work with a computer anyway, and assuming I'm not confined to the company's office, why shouldn't I at least be able to do it outside, enjoying the sun and fresh hair?
Exactly. There's a nicely landscaped grassy area outside my office. If I was doing something paper based I could go out there and work on a fine day. With a suitable screen and WiFi, I could work on my laptop out there.
With my current standard laptop screen, I can't do that. I can't even sit and work in my conservatory at home if the sun's out.
Why did you have to trail behind the car, why not just sit in the passenger seats?
How long before this screen makes its way into e-readers? I would imagine that being able to play content at that high frame rate would be a boon to the e-reader as a multi-use device. The kindle already has limited internet capability; this screen would greatly increase the utility of the device.
yep. no reading outside. If/when you work at home, no taking your laptop poolside instead of locking yourself up.
Half-full vs Half-empty: do while outdoors things we would normally have to be indoors to do, or start doing indoor-sy things when we have to be outdoors. Oh wait, when do we HAVE TO be outdoors ?
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
This is just great. So much for telling my kids to go outside to play to get them off the video games.
TFA compares the 1.5 to an Acer. When the hell did the 1.5 start shipping and where can I get one? Or even just the motherboard? :(
--- Do you believe in the day?
If you have ever used a decent navigation system before, it works just like this. The OEM navigation system in my car might possibly be more readable in direct sunlight than any other time (my BMW is better than my Acura in this respect). It's about time someone put the same technology to use in laptops.
or was it just an excuse to mention your "famed ipad" ?
Stand down there soldier! I know you Apple Haters just go wild at any mention of an Apple product, so you probably overlooked the fact that "famed iPad" was heavily sarcastic! He dislikes Apple as much as you, no need to attack him.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Do these words of wisdom also apply to people who work outside?
Now, it isn't like I have to sully the purity of my untanned pastiness by facing sunlight on the clock; but I've heard persistent rumors of people who make vocational use of computers, among other tools, in the merciless company of our nearest star...
which are indoor / outdoor viewable.
The problem is finding units which have them --- picked up a Fujitsu Stylistic ST-4121 w/ one and it's perfectly readable in direct sunlight --- I use it as a map display unit on long trips.
Not many new units being made w/ such displays though.
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
If you're outside, you should, you know, be outside, doing outsidey kinds of things.
Laptops are only an "indoorey" thing because their screens are pretty crap in the sunlight. This fixes the problem, thus why shouldn't computers be an "outsidey" kind of thing?
I use my XO outside all of the time. It's great to sit on a quiet bench in a park, have some lunch, feed the ducks and hack on some Python :)
So far the early OLED cell phones are worse than LCDs. The need to try to overpower the sun for visibilty which isn't a great idea.
Transreflective solutions will win in these circumstances.
Move here to Munich! you won't have any problem about full sunlight, but maybe you will need a weatherproof notebook...
Because he didn't want to end up dead?
I have an XO-1 and its screen is fantastic in the sun. Of course Pixel Qi screens will excel there.
What I'm curious about is whether they fixed the reflection angle (reflective mode indoors only works if you bounce light off a wall, otherwise you just get a point of reflected light somewhere on the screen.) Also, when you go backlit, there's color, but everything looks fuzzy, and you get a diagonal line effect across the screen. I'm wondering if they've fixed those yet...
I'm cheering for their efforts though. Some day hopefully I have a laptop that's visible outside AND performs better than my desktop in 1998.
no other color screen device I own can be seen as clearly in sunlight
The ancient GameBoy Color has such a display. Although horrible indoors, it shines outdoors due to a highly reflective display that lacks back-lighting. And the kids love 'em like the Zune! Plus, none of those messy downloadable games. Just pure cartridgy goodness.
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
> Laptops are only an "indoorey" thing because their screens are pretty crap in the sunlight.
Also: heat, humidity, dust, and bugs.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
He said rover, not car, so the vehicle was either too small for him to sit in/on without breaking it, or it was full of stuff (batteries) to operate.
Don't put words in the mouthes of others to make them look stupid.
No one's played an original Game Boy? (or even the Game Boy Advance...) It used to be that for most LCD screens, you ~needed~ to be in direct sunlight to see anything at all. There was a mirror where we expect the backlight to be today. It worked pretty well, really.
So now nerds have a display specifically for those occasional moments in the sun. Nobody else knows or cares about these devices.
iPad works great in sunlight. Sorry that Apple's super bright IPS screens are fucking up people's OLED, eInk, and Qi reviews, but lying about iPad to give these other devices some marginal utility is truly lame. Try to have an iPad in front of you before mentioning it in your review you starfucker. A good tip is to review tablets and readers without saying "iPad" and see if there is anything to say. It's like every Android phone review should above all else not say "iPhone." For example, tell me why a 4-5 inch screen is advantageous on a phone, don't tell me "it has a bigger screen than iPhone." I can see from the fucking marketing materials that 5 is bigger than 3.5. Does it provide any advantage that is worth it not fitting in my jeans pocket?
I reread what you wrote: "No thanks". This is diminishing the accomplishments by cavalierly dismissing it as completely unworthy of consideration. At no point did you point out any accomplishments, so the only thing you've said about it was effectively "GTFO".
P.S. Actually, I did say "no thanks"... i was initially just looking at the subject heading and had forgotten the exact words I used in the original post. However, I still don't think that what I wrote was particularly rude.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Steve, shouldn't you be working on fixing iphone reception, proximity sensor and itune hacking problems instead of posting on slashdot? nice username, btw!
Rover is/was a car manufacturer.
doesn't have direct sunlight, you insensitive clod.
ACTUAL SIZE!!!
Remind me not to go camping where you live.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
If he meant the car manufacturer he probably would have spelt it with a capital R, as the manufacturer's name is a proper noun.