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'Invisible Glass' Solves Screen Reflection Problems

An anonymous reader writes "The days of dealing with very reflective glass panels may soon be behind us. Nippon Electric Glass has used the FPD International 2011 conference in Japan this week to show off its new 'invisible glass' panel. What NEG has done is added anti-reflection films to both the front and back of the glass that are only nanometers thick. Look at a typical sheet of glass and you will see about 8% of the light reflected off of it. With NEG's anti-reflection film in place, that is reduced to just 0.5%."

27 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. But Apple by John+Bresnahan · · Score: 5, Funny

    has told me that I want a highly reflective screen!

    1. Re:But Apple by LinksAwakener · · Score: 2, Informative

      They promote it as a feature, yet offer an upgraded anti-glare screen? Your anti-Apple bias is showing...

    2. Re:But Apple by Idbar · · Score: 2

      You silly, this is not for Apple devices. This is for banks' doors.

      "Occup..." -BOING/CRASH!-

    3. Re:But Apple by taylorius · · Score: 3, Funny

      You silly, this is not for Apple devices. This is for banks' doors.

      So the banks can blame the special glass when their employees fail to be visible in reflections?

    4. Re:But Apple by JazzLad · · Score: 2

      This is because Apple leads all innovation.

      There goes my karma ...

      --
      "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
    5. Re:But Apple by scot4875 · · Score: 2

      It used to be that a matte screen was the *default*. Then Apple started making everything with a glossy screen and sold it as a "feature". In the showroom, glossy screens look better, so everybody started selling glossy screens to look sexy. Now, matte is an upgrade -- if it's even available *at all*.

      Thanks Apple!

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    6. Re:But Apple by fluffy99 · · Score: 2

      Although, Apple is the only manufacturer that promote highly reflective glossy screen as a feature. That joke at Apple expense was funny and deserved.

      Most of the laptop manufacturers advertise it as a feature, but they use their particular trademark names like TruBrite or Color Shine, Ironically, Apples trademark name is "Glossy Display". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossy_Display_Branding (Is the Ahtec brand really this feature calling it "Glare"? Seems appropriate if true.)

      The glossy screens sell well as the colors do look sharper in the store, but I think most people end up hating the glare and just think that laptops should not be used outdoors or with the lights on.

  2. Cool, how durable is it? by jandrese · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's a really cool coating, but will it be destroyed the first time you have to wipe off dust/fingerprints/etc...? I've had this problem with anti-reflective coatings in the past, especially when they get wet for some reason.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
    1. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by gurps_npc · · Score: 2

      The coating goes on both sides of the glass. You might wipe off the top layer, but I bet the bottom one will stay. So at the very least, I would expect a reduction from 8% glare to 5% glare, as opposed to 0.5%. 8 to 5 is still a over a 37% percent reduction.

      --
      excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    2. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by djmurdoch · · Score: 2

      It's not just durability. Anti-reflection coatings also fail when someone touches the display and leaves behind a fingerprint: the oils in the fingerprint are thick enough to make it reflective again, so they really show up.

    3. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by gparent · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have anti-glare coating on my glasses and I have none of the problems you describe. My glasses aren't scratch anywhere noticeable, and cleaning it with a lint-free cloth is ridiculously simple.

      Hopefully your glasses aren't as old as your UID; this may explain the problem otherwise as I change mine rather regularly.

    4. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Funny

      but will it be destroyed the first time you have to wipe off dust/fingerprints/etc

      No problem! Just put a thin coating of glass over it to protect it!

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    5. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      That's like saying that since you started working somewhere with automatic doors you keep walking into your houses door instead of using the f#@%ing doorknob.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    6. Re:Cool, how durable is it? by kid_wonder · · Score: 2

      Then just put a piece of glass over the coating

      oh, wait....

      --

      "Oh, you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called everyone, they meet at the bar."
  3. Phones/tablets by markdavis · · Score: 2

    Oh, I can't wait for this to show up on phones and tablets! It is probably my #1 complaint about modern capacitive touchscreens. For example, I could use my Xoom as a mirror, before applying an anti-glare film on it. And films are hard to apply, sometimes not pretty, and sometimes reduce the touch sensitivity.

  4. Can I get them in gloss finish ? by craznar · · Score: 3, Funny

    After all - existing screens aren't that shiny until they put TruBright(TM) or Ultrabright(TM) or AmazaView(TM) or BlindUView(TM) coating of crap on them.

    --
    EMail: 0110001101100010010000000110001101110010 0110000101111010011011100110000101110010 0010111001100011011011110110
  5. No one will buy this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am typing this from a 13" glossy Macbook Pro, and I think there's a misunderstanding about why people buy glossy screens. The glossy screen is the perfect Apple screen because I can simultaneously see the two most important things in the world: the blog I'm reading, and myself. Always myself.

    1. Re:No one will buy this by uncqual · · Score: 2

      Isn't Jobs going to get lonely in iHeaven if it's so exclusive?

      (Too Soon?)

      --
      Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  6. Evolution of screens converges to a perfect mirror by Twinbee · · Score: 4, Funny

    We all know that the perfect monitor screen resembles (or should resemble) a highly polished mirror, and that the viewing of films, games, software or the web is a secondary effect that some people find occasionally useful.

    So with that in mind, how is this technology a step forwards again?

    --
    Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
  7. Re:The birds are going to be angry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought they collided into pigs and blocks.

  8. We've been visited by the future... by genghisjahn · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and they brought us transparent glass. What's next, non-floating bricks?

    --
    Sorry about the mess.
  9. Re:Why do we need protection screens at all? by jank1887 · · Score: 2

    no.

  10. Re:iPhone by Feyshtey · · Score: 2

    Either that or file suit because of it.... 50/50 odds.

    --
    "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,..." - Nancy Pelosi
  11. News? by pz · · Score: 4, Informative

    This isn't news, this is an advertisement.

    1. AR (anti-reflection) coatings have been available on photographic lenses for decades. Even the ultra tiny lenses in your iPhone/Blackberry/Android phone have AR coating. AR coatings are *always* nanometers thick, by their very nature.

    2. AR coatings have been available on eyeglass lenses for nearly as long. Most people these days get some sort of AR coating on their lenses.

    3. AR coatings have been available on framing glass to protect valuable paintings, photographs, and other items in picture frames for the same scale of time. Drop by your local framing / art supply store and check out what's usually called museum glass.

    4. AR coatings were used on nearly every CRT by the time sales started to plummet in favor of the LCD. I use a couple of them in my lab to this day.

    5. AR coatings are already available on some laptop screens (eg, by Sony and Samsung, no doubt among others).

    So, news about a new technology ("Solves Screen Reflection Problems")? No. Product announcement? Yes.

    --

    Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    1. Re:News? by Jay+L · · Score: 4, Informative

      I have a painting with AR glass. It's a big improvement over regular glass, but it's way, way more reflective than the glass seen in the photo.

      Also note from the WP article you cited:

      It is possible to obtain reflectivities as low as 0.1% at a single wavelength. Coatings that give very low reflectivity over a broad band can also be made, although these are complex and relatively expensive.

      TFA claims broadband 0.5% reflectivity.

  12. Re:Bad idea for glass doors by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

    People would be more likely to fail to see a glass door if it has anti-reflective film, resulting in them walking face-first into it and hurting themselves and possibly also damaging the door.

    Not to mention rendering it reflective do to the smudging from the person's face.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  13. Knowing basic high school chemistry would help by _0xd0ad · · Score: 3, Informative

    Coal is mostly carbon. Carbon weighs about 12 g/mol *.

    To burn, coal requires oxygen. Oxygen is found in the air. Oxygen has an atomic weight of about 16 g/mol and is found in the form of O2, which weighs twice as much, 32 g/mol.

    1 mol C + 1 mol O2 => 1 mol CO2 *

    CO2 weighs about 44 g/mol, or about 3.66 times the weight of carbon.

    How could burning 1 pound of coal result in 3 pounds of CO2? Well, apparently the coal was only about 82% pure carbon.

    * The mole, abbreviated "mol", is just a number of atoms or molecules. A very large number. It's a constant. As a matter of fact, it's exactly defined to be the number of atoms of C-12 in 12 grams of pure carbon-12. So that equation is perfectly balanced; there are equal numbers of molecules of C and O on both sides.