Samsung's transparent OLED laptop could hit retail, IceTouch PMP will get the ball rolling
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 5th 2010 2:01AM
posted February 5th 2010 2:01AM
posted February 5th 2010 2:01AM
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The only question I have is - why would you want a transparent display?
@Yankee
The question I only have for you is - why not?
@Yankee Exactly. It looks slick at first but I'm scratching my head thinking this would turn my eyes to mush staring at it for more than 30 minutes. I always chuckle when I see transparent display in movies... because theoretically it would just be adding noise to what I was concentrating on. Is there some scientific study somewhere that I missed?
@Yankee
So you can write an essay while checking out the hot girl sitting in front of you in history class.
@Yankee
a HUD on your car windshield maybe?
@Yankee
Laptop + Desk littered with papers?...thats what I'd use it for.
@Yankee
So you can tell your friends (if you have any) that you own a laptop with the worst contrast ratio ever created, won't work outside and best if used while facing a black wall in the corner of a dark room.
@Yankee If you redesigned the OS to be like that on a tablet in Avatar, or a screen in Minority Report, then you'd just look cool. And that's a pretty fricken good reason.
@Yankee This looks so damn cool. I can't wait to replace every single window in my house with these.
@Yankee
Augmented reality,
Info and maps interface integrated into the car windshield,
some kind of 2 side games or creative collaboration (i am thinking in the class room),
@Yankee
Also, I just want to say that the past few days, post iPad glut, have been awesome on Engadget. New litho process info, new software (this post), Symbian going open source, and cyber warfare posts are why I started reading Engadget in the first place. Thank you for renewing my faith in this site. Keep up the good work.
@Yankee Knowing habits in the US:
So you can drive and type without getting into an accident.
Honestly, why a laptop? Why not put this tech onto car windshields?
@Yankee Just like Avatar!!
@Yankee Indeed, why would you want a display that if you can see through? If you can see through it, then everyone else on the other side can see what you are doing as well. Glass works two ways people. Say goodbye to doing anything you don't want other people to see.
@jtb
I agree about integrating transparent OLEDs into windows, tables maybe and other surfaces, not sure if I'm on board the windshield HUD as you should keep your eyes on the road, not the windshield, but I was asking particularly about a laptop / PC displays. It's more a con than a pro, especially with laptops, because then people can see what you're doing from every angle
@NikAmi
I would like to add that there wasn't anything wrong with engadget's iPad coverage, it was the best there was. It's all the haters out there that ruined engadget. Now that those attitudes aren't here (or are being moderated) this place is almost more +4 informative that /. comments.
@Yankee
This is bad, because, as someone already mentioned a long while back, you can no longer do naughty stuff on your computer without the person on the other side noticing. TOO BAD!
@Yankee
I'd love to have a transparent display.
I find myself many times facing a person on my desk and needing to show images on my display... The thing is the display is facing me, so the other person only sees the back of it. I could turn it around, but the I would be the one seeing the back of it. Making the display visible to both of us is a neck hurting low-fi experience.
A transparent screen would solve it for me (this situation is central in my line of work) as the image shows both ways. Flipping the image horizontally is just a simple software achievement. It would be perfect!
@Yankee
The idiots who buy this will be taping black piece construction paper to the back after the novelty wears off. Then it will be really snazzy.
@Yankee I don't know about you, but when I read a book, I photocopy all the pages on to transparencies. Then, I stack the transparencies on top of each other and read. It saves me from having to turn pages.
@youngluck
But what if a zombie comes at you, and you have your laptop screen up and the headphones on? That strongly reflective screen prevents the zombie from the rear attacks, as well.
You need this anti-zombie screen.
@Yankee I have to agree, it's sexy as all get out, but why?!
@Yankee
So you can put an e-ink screen on the other side of it that's off when the OLED screen is on ;)
10. It's easier to wave at the geek sitting next to you.
9. So your parents can bug the shit out of you.
8. Never have to fear an attack from your 'blind side'
7. Watch gay episodes of the Jersey Shore while surfing.
6. Never fear missing that hot chick that just passed you by in the coffee shop.
5. Looking to truly distinguish yourself from other nerds.
4. Because you were robbed as a child from those supposedly 'real' x-ray vision glasses that allowed you to see people naked.
3. Three words... Hello pretty kitty, guys you know what I'm talking about..
2. Did I mention it's transparent?
and the number 1 reason.....
So you don't have to describe the hot porn chick your watching to your friends....
@Yago Bal and with multitouch it would be very intuitive to swipe to flip the image around for the people on the other side to view, then swipe again to flip it back to you...
I could also finally see a good use for the aquarium screensavers... put a big one of these in a wall between two rooms... especially if the touch input were on both sides... ok maybe not...
There are plenty of good applications for a screen that's transparent like this.
A laptop is not one of them!
The advent of affordable, smallish OLED screens will bring a new era of color reproduction to laptops. So why would you want to RUIN that by making the thing see-through!? Goodbye, color accuracy. For that matter, goodbye privacy! It's a great concept demonstration, but it is not practical.
But now we know how the main window on the new Enterprise worked lol.
@Yankee : You could play battleship.
@Yankee
Its just for novelty. Same reason anyone would buy an IPad.
It's useless, but hey "doesn't it look cool?"
@jtb Exactly. I think a HUD would be a great application. I'm not convinced (yet) that it's a great idea for laptop screens though. It seems like it would just make everything that much more distracting.
@Yankee Agreed
@Ahmed Alzayani Well that wouldn't work when you look at something off-angle I think
@Yankee
Think about it....
1. HUD on vehicular windscreen
2. Using bathroom mirror as monitor
3. Using fixed shower/bath screen as monitor
4. Using windows as monitors or screen
5. Lessen unseen area covered by road signs
6. Using tabletop as monitor (like MS Surface)
7. Visually adding more space to a cram workspace.
@Yankee
I think this would make the most sense in settings where you need to face a customer on the opposite side of the desk.
Eye contact is not lost, and the person on the other side can also see what you're doing, without having to flip it around a thousand times.
In fact, it'd make a lot more sense if you could flip the screen orientation in the opposite direction.
@revoltracers
this would be perfect for schools....
@GadgetGeeks
Number 6 says it all! I'm in line for one of these though.
Cool
I want a transparent sat nav in my life. Any gadget I can see through is instantly better than its opaque counterpart.
@jin and guice
Edit: Not if it is transparent both ways. In the video from CES, it looks like you can partially see what is on the other side.
First everyone turns their LCD into a vanity mirror, now the opposite extreme. xD
No thank you.
Yeah, i can see the guy's hand, but I also see the keyboard in the reflection!
@HotDog i don't see the keyboard in the reflection
Transparent SatNav; yes, because you're moving whilst operating it thus you need to see through it.
Transparent laptop? How distracting and tacky.
My first question would be how well I can see the screen if I'm sitting out on the quad doing my CS or MUS work in the summer.
This is a great example of putting something into production (using material and energy) that isn't developed enough to be useful. By useful I mean worth the resources put into it. The monetary system slows technologic growth far more then it motivates it.
Transparent tablet is where this needs to go. Fit all the electronics in the bezel and maybe throw in some of that smart glass technology to turn it opaque with the flick of a button. I'd drop a grand on something like that when it comes out in 5 years.
@Atkins
actually, as a tablet it makes far more sense. it could be useful in applications where being able to do a virtual overlay is useful. Mapping comes to mind easiest, surveying as well, this could also be good for plastic surgery, medical imaging....like any hardware it just needs to be applied to the right application.
even without being able to fit all the hardware into the bezel it could work as a wireless display.
as a laptop display it's more candy than anything, but that's certainly not new.
I felt a great disturbance in the Net, as if millions of desktop wallpaper designers suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced
@RikF
Flawless victory!!!
@RikF
Comment of the year. Right here.