eMagin's SXGA OLED-XL microdisplay: perfect for night vision goggles, HMDs

eMagin's no stranger to the head-mounted display game, and it's showing a bit of experience by playing up a new technology that could revolutionize the way you and two other people on the planet watch videos on the subway. You know, just how Geordi La Forge would have it. All that aside, the company is using the Night Vision Conference in London to showcase its next-generation SXGA (1,280 x 1,024) OLED-XL microdisplay, which offers up "digital signal processing in a compact package (0.77-inch diagonal active area) requiring less than 200 mW of total power under typical operating conditions of 100 cd/m2 in full-color." Whether or not you're geeked out on the specs, eMagin's hoping to catch your attention by cramming this stuff into night vision apparatuses, thermal / medical imaging applications and of course, all manners of simulation devices. Samples are set to ship next month.

[Via I4U News]

[chrisp @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:23AM]

What about VR headsets, I've been waiting for them since i was like 12...well that and the flying car.

[synapticrapture @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:48PM]

Flying cars? Do you not see how people drive on the roads?
Do you really want drunk teens texting in their flying cars?

I can't think of anything worse that you could give the morons I see on the road everyday than a flying car.

[chrisp @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:29AM]

"...all manners of simulation devices"

Oops, didnt see that. Though I think I would rather be blind than wear a VR set with SXGA resolution.

The minimum for VR devices should be in the 33 Megapixel range (per eye). Like the UHDV standard exept stereoscopic. Then I think VR might actually kick off.

[SuperDre @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:06AM]

Uhm.. 1280x1024 per eye for VR is already extremely kicking.. I would love to see a 'cheap' VR-helmet having a resolution like that.. 640x480 per eye is already good looking, so twice the resolution is awesome (some people think more pixels is better, but there is a limit ofcourse, your computer should be able to handle 2x 1280x1024 with everything set on high, and that's a showstopper for most computers as they can't handle that...

[gad get @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:06AM]

Why 33 megapixels? Is that equivalent to the resolving ability of human sight?

[gad get @ Oct 23rd 2008 4:09AM]

Sorry, I was so taken aback that I stopped reading at 33 megapixels, so I missed the "UHDV standard" part.

[wai law @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:32AM]

Sounds cool. Where's my HUD for pocket computers? I remember seeing a commercial for that 10 years ago.

[chrisp @ Oct 23rd 2008 5:03AM]

Other than the fact that it's the UHDV standard, I dunno, 33 megapixels just has a nice ring to it. The way i understand it, the lower the resolution of the output devices the less of you 'visible field' (dunno the exact term) can be occupied by the virtual images.

"640x480 per eye is already good looking"...Um I dont think i can agree with you on that. At such a low resolution the images would be focused in such a way that it would only occupy a very small percentage of the area you eye could perceive. A bit like viewing a 19" screen from several feet away...not very immersive if you ask me. IF you focus the image to occupy a larger percentage of your 'visible field' you will see the individial pixels. Not a good thing...

[esecasco @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:19PM]

while I very much applaud what eMagin has attempted to do, I am still unhappy with the direction that it is being take in.

I can understand the need to stick with common resolutions and common technologies. 1280x1024 is 4 times the res of 640x480, and it is the next logical step. The key issue is that human vision is not limited to a square, it is an oval. What eMagin should do is develop a display that can the equivalent of 3 640x480 micro-displays that are set side to side, per eye.

We catch lots of information out of our periphery. Just take a camera and try to look through the viewfinder as your primary vision and you will see just how limited a 4:3 square can be.

[Wwhat @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:51PM]

me wants :)~

[Kris Lee @ Oct 23rd 2008 7:42PM]

I want my full hd video glasses. Damn it, how long I should wait?

[polymath @ Oct 23rd 2008 8:41PM]

This would be great for fire fighters, search and rescue, pilots, police or any one else who needs an extended picture of their situational awareness. Sort of like the sight aperture used by the gunner in Apache Helicopters. Motorcycle riders could have a HUD in their helmet, fire fighters could have a thermal camera mounted inside their breathing apparatus mask, civilian pilots could have the same thermal or night vision capabilities as combat pilots; the uses for this tech are too numerous to name. If you could set the transparency of the image that wold be even better that way you could look through the image when necessary. When I get my hands on one I plan to build my on UAV.

[my_ema_name @ Oct 24th 2008 7:55PM]

>Waiting for VR Headsets

There have been several resonably mature designs released for sale in the last 4 years. They all have positives and negatives, and you get what you pay for.

eMagin's own first retail complete headset system is the Z800, based on the 800x600 display. Keep in mind that eMagin is primarily in the business of making the displays that make a full heaset possible. I tried this out in 2005 and was impressed by the immersion and the detail in the image. Even at SVGA level, there were awards and flattering comments from the people who used these displays in military remote bomb disposal robots, etc. Firefighters have had a product with these displays for years now, and a picture can be seen on the eMagin website.

Note to the suggestor of the 1x3 array, In reality the head tracker method of turning your head to see around your environment is an easier solution (lower cost per performance) with less processing overhead than driving signal to farther off axis points of Field of View all the time. If you really need that additional very little bit of extra performance, the great part though is that eMagin is primarily in the business of making the individual displays, which you can buy and use to make your own HMD to suit your own needs and/or resell.

When the Z800 came out there were people using it for web browsing and office work, etc, but the consensus seemed to be that at 800x600, it was a nice addition to, not a replacement for a traditional monitor. There is every reason to believe that these 1280x1024 displays in a suitable headset will be able to compete as a replacement for a traditional monitor thereby changing the cost/benefit equation.

Disclosure: Former eMagin shareholder (years ago), so I've done the research, but no other ties.