We know you were probably delighted by Asahi Kasei's
Rain Sensor, but
Sharp is taking its sensors to a more sophisticated realm with its latest LCD. The 2.6-inch panel has been primarily designed for use in mobile / portable applications, and aside from sporting a 640 x 480 resolution, it also "incorporates an image sensor in the drive circuit." The sensor, which boasts a frame rate output of 30Hz, would allow companies to offer up "touchscreen input and biometric capabilities" in mobile devices, and although other firm's have offered up somewhat similar offerings -- not to mention thrown down a eerily similar
patent application -- Sharp's rendition claims uniqueness by integrating the image sensor with the drive circuit of the panel and by using a "one transistor, one capacitor (1T1C) circuit structure" to boot. No word on when we'll see these fingerprint reading screens in cellphones or PMPs, but there's always the
vibrating kind for those who just can't get enough functionality out of their mobile display.
