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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!'"
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.
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.
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.
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"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
"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."
Pixel Qi + Cortex + Android + MeeGo + Open-Source Hardware + XO Laptop + Arduino
Oh god, I thought you were describing an actual device for a minute there. I think I just had a nerdgasm.
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.
Tough. I want a neural interface. This is here now, though.
This is just great. So much for telling my kids to go outside to play to get them off the video games.
perfect now shove it all into an ipad body and sell it for $399 and i will buy it.
the ipad is a nice form factor I just have to wait 2-3 years for anyone else to make something similar, as for what I want it for I will want features apple won't approve.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
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.
And I want a pony. Well, no, actually, I want a Maserati, but the outcome is still the same. I don't get what I want, so I have to live with the best that I can afford.
Pixel Qi screens are not perfect, but they are still a major step ahead compared to contemporary display tech, in that they blend some of the best qualities of normal and eInk screens with practically no downsides. That is already a big deal - if I can have a general-purpose tablet that can also work as non-eye-straining ebook reader with great battery life, well, that's awesome!
More will come in due time.
It doesn't make sense to make a dedicated e-reader with such a screen, as it would be capable of much more. For example, you could actually have usable web browsing and video playback on it. At which point you call such a gadget a "tablet" - and, yes, there has been a bunch of those announced with PQ screens. I, for one, am waiting for Adam.
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?
Like these? http://www.mirasoldisplays.com/
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 :)
Move here to Munich! you won't have any problem about full sunlight, but maybe you will need a weatherproof notebook...
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.