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Even Tinier SVGA Color Display

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the its-so-cute dept.

erlkonig writes "For those intrigued by tiny displays, Colorado Microdisplay crams 800x600 into a 1.2cm diagonal, under 1g device. Jump straight to the blurb or just look at the pretty pictures. Remember, to get the little chunk of connectors out of the way, you can always mount it (or them) upside-down in your hat brim :-) " How close can the eye reasonably focus on things? That looks pretty nifty, but 800x600 at 1.2cm is gonna have to be real close to those retinas. Still nifty looking.

9 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Viewfinders for digital cameras by upper · · Score: 2
    The application that comes to my mind right away is viewfinders for digital cameras -- with these things, you could have an SLR style through-the-lens viewfinder. (They're certainly the right size, anyway.) And perhaps they use enough less power than the usual 2" LCD that that the batteries would last a while.

    Really, though, is there any point to continuing to make screens smaller after they need a magnification system larger than they are?

  2. Practical Applcations? by gavinhall · · Score: 3

    Posted by DonR:

    Great. Before lusers could talk on their car phone while driving. Soon they'll be able to look at their porn while driving. Darwinization at its best.


    ---
    Donald Roeber

  3. More useful than it might seem by irongull · · Score: 4

    Check out the specs on the webpage - its actually kinda cool. Lenses in the viewer make a larger virtual image than the screen. The eye can't focus on anything that close without these lenses. It has a 26 degree field of view - that corresponds to a monitor 11 inches in diagonal viewed from 2 feet away. Not great, but certainly useful. And very readable. Additionally, each pixel transmits different levels of red, green, and blue, rather than having three separate pixels for each color. That probably makes for very good image quality. As far as only seeing it through one eye...while this is not ideal, it is also very doable. Microscopes have been like this for years. Of course, stero microscopes are more popular these days, as they allow more detail and reduce eye strain, but it is possible to see very well through just one eye. The trick is to keep the other eye open and focused like the eye looking into the eyepiece, but focus your attention on the image. It is even possible to shift your attention between the two images - useful for taking notes and looking at a magnified image without moving your head.

  4. Not a repost! by TrentC · · Score: 2

    Before people jump in and flame, this is a different product than the other article Taco posted.

    As for the products themselves, I dunno -- maybe I'm not enough of a geek to be thrilled by this (although the applications for military HUDs on soldiers' helmets is kinda science-fictiony...)

    Jay (=

  5. Higher Resolution by Bryan+Andersen · · Score: 3
    Microdisplay has 1024x768 displays and just introduced an evaluation kit for $2000 on their 800x600 display that can be operated for three hours from AA batteries. See their press releases for further detials.

    Displaytech has reflective LCDs with 1280x1024 resolution. Originally designed for projection systems, but they are small enough to be used in a HUD system. PDFs can be found off of their products page. They also have developers kits.

    Things are really heating up in the microdisplay industry. Especially as there was a conference SID last week San Jose, CA.

    I persoanlly want to incorporate a couple of the 1280x1024 displays into a hat to provide a 3D headsup display. Placing the display above the brim with focusing lenses, and a flip down 1 way reflective mirror should provide a good useable display.

  6. Lenses by TwoSticks · · Score: 2

    It doesn't have to sit directly in front of your eye. Lenses work very well for magnifying things.
    Fiber optics and mirrors can move images around.

  7. This is cool, but... by PhoboS · · Score: 2

    This is very impressing, and also very interesting, but I really think the Laser-based Virtual Retinal Display seems to have a better sollution for the virtual reality systems of the future. But I guess what we all want is a way to interface the computers directly into the brain. It will come, but it might take a few more years. 2 or 3 or something like that :=).

    --

    Phobos - Greek word for fear or flight

  8. aka color private eye by Killer+K · · Score: 2

    I think these are the same people who invented the technology 7 years ago with the private eye ...

    I have used those devices and they work excellent.
    no eye strain and such ... it basically will give you a virtual floating screen that looks like it s about 12 inches away so you dont have the eye strain and because it isnt blocking your entire vision you can see "though it" onto your work area.

    this device will be cool when released ... I hope I can buy one that plugs into a standard vga output.

  9. Ants are gonna have HDTV before humans do by Cptn+Proton · · Score: 2

    This product is not quite finished. They need to curve it to the shape of contact lens so I can stick it in my eye. All patent rights are pending and reserved by me, Phillip Kennedy. Please contact me for licensing. (pun coincidental).

    Also, at this time I would like to announce virtual reality goggles for lab rats. This will will greatly increase the versatilty and quantity of experiments that researchers can perform on them.