Pixel Qi DIY kits will be out in Q2, 'slightly more difficult than changing a lightbulb'
By Paul Miller 
posted March 7th 2010 8:50AM
posted March 7th 2010 8:50AM
posted March 7th 2010 8:50AM
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this means more new laptops coming out with them standard right?
@futurerheza
Yes, in the future, ugliness will not exist.
@futurerheza
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/pixel-qi-displays-hit-production-lines-in-january-multitouch-4/
obviously you've missed the point of pixel qi
@futurerheza
you still miss the point of pixelQI...
@futurerheza Is this guy even trying to understand what this screen does?
@Atkins well first I gotta buy a new laptop so I was thinking maybe I could just wait a year or so and they'd have this pre-installed
@scots79 I don't think he even read the article. The purpose is to make the screen visible even in sunlight OLED is the exact opposite and even worse to see than is LCD in sunlight.
There's a problem with Pixel Qi's thinking: Not all laptops use the same connectivity for their panels.
If they're using something like an LVDS-compatible panel, then fine, but else they may be in a bit of a jam.
@dragonfli And most stuff since at least 2000 has used an LVDS panel.
The pinouts sometimes slightly vary, but most 13.3" and larger laptops use a 30-pin connection plus a connector for the CCFL.
Most netbooks use a 40-pin connection - and netbooks all share the same panels, so they have to be compatible.
@bhtooefr
Pixel Qi uses LVDS but we had a heck of a time getting it integrated. It is not a drop-in replacement.
1024x600 only?
@mikaelj are you talking about under sunlight or not?
@blland The full-color-mode. 10" at 1024x600 is too limiting; I need 1366x768 (at least).
It's an interesting strategy for Pixel Qi -- could open a very broad market for people looking to upgrade their existing machine, which could provide some critical money for the company as it gets going. But it's going to be very dependant on price, and from what I can gather Pixel Qi's tech isn't going to be as cheap as they have promised. The recent announcement of the Notion Ink Adam suggests that the possible $300 entry price won't actually include a Pixel Qi screen, so it's really anyone's guess at this point how much the screens will cost. How much will people be willing to put in to a screen upgrade on their $300 netbook? My guess is that optimistically these screens are going to cost $150 retail, perhaps closer to $200. And at that price I just don't see a lot of people buying them. Personally, as interested as I am in the screen, I'd rather wait until I can get a netbook or tablet with one included.
@weatherman
Actually it costs $200.- at low volume prices - I would expect it to be lower cost at retail pricing if the demand picks up.
The reason why the XO comparison by Mary Lou is invalid is coz the XO does not have its antenna in the bezel....a lot of normal laptops do - makes it more difficult to just switch screens. On top of that even though PixelQi uses LVDS - it requires a custom cable right now. Maybe they will ship the DIY with a convertor board of sorts.
Nigerian schoolgirls fixing laptops. I've seen that email before...
so this is just a transreflective LCD?
the Nintendo GBA SP used that technology years ago (and yes it had optional background light)
http://gbamedia.gamespy.com/gba/image/article/654/654407/backlit-game-boy-advance-sp-hands-on-20050928102243226.jpg
@FCells
I think the main differences are that it is cheaper than the old transflective way to make screens and can be turned off to allow for better color reproduction.
@FCells Pixel Qi is much better than the existing transflective you may have seen. Look for the videos of Pixel Qi on Youtube.
@FCells The difference between that transflective display and this is where the color filters are.
All LCDs have monochrome pixels. On a traditional color LCD, there's three "subpixels" per color pixel - three monochrome pixels per color pixel.
Those subpixels have color filters immediately in front of them.
Now, when the backlight is working, great. The color filters filter the light coming from the backlight into the appropriate color, and you have a color display.
But, when the sun is too bright, or the backlight is set too low for the conditions, the sunlight has to go through the color layer once to get to the reflective layer, and then go back through again. This means that you get a harder to read, dark display in the sun.
On this, the color layer is behind the pixels. So, when you turn off the backlight, ambient light only has to go through the pixels to get to the reflective layer, and you get an extremely good image - remember when color laptops (or later, PDAs, and then cell phones) first started coming out, and you ALWAYS had to have the backlight on to read the display, and how that killed battery life?
So, this setup is the best of both worlds. When you have the backlight on, you have a color display. Turn the backlight off, and you have a monochrome display with ridiculously good contrast, and almost no power consumption - as good as what a modern monochrome display would have. (Remember, there's been a lot of work done on contrast on LCDs in the past 15 years. So, what's effectively a monochrome LCD with modern technology can have amazing contrast.)
I changed my Eee 1000H's screen last week. It wasn't difficult at all. Just unscrew the bezel and pop it out.
@DestrictoEnse I've been holding off on swapping out my EEEPC 1000Hs screen because I was hoping PixelQi would sell the screens separate. It looks very simple to swap out the screen on the Youtube videos so I don't think it'll be a big issue for most people. The hardest part will be to drill a hole or something for a switch as was shown in the early PixelQi laptop videos. I'm all for it though, I'd rather just swap out the screen than have to buy a whole new device
@budice4ever No need to build a hole for the backlight switch. I think you may be able to update the firmware and just hit a keyboard combination like Fn+F5 or something like that to switch the backlight on or off.
@DestrictoEnse Thanks for the input guys. This is definitely something I'm interested in doing with my 1000H.
I'm still wondering why Dell stopped really building to order. These days, with any upgrade/options on their site being way overpriced, it seems Dell is the same as HP, only you've got to pay shipping and wait a few days.
Offering a choice of screen (glossy, mate, PixelQi) for each screen size seems like a great way to diferentiate from retailers' premade stuff.
Funny. A month of two back I used the email link on their page to ask about something like this. Now they're doing it. Cool.
@aeiluindae "Hi, my name is aeiluindae and PixelQi was my idea!"
I thought that one of the advantages of run flat tires was that I nio longer needed to jack up my car. Why then would I wish to change my laptop screen?
@rederikus What has this to do with your tires? And u dont need to jack it up anymore 'cause of runflat? Seems like u dont know what runflat is/does...
Hello Mary Lou, goodbye heart.
I wonder if there is any chance the Microsoft Courier will get a Pixel Qi display...That would really put it over the top.
Oh yes! This plus my tablet pc from 6 years ago = epic win! :-) Next up I want that resistive pressure sensitive multi-touch panel and I'll be laughing!
Call me when someone hacks this into an iPad. I know it's a longshot but it'll get done. It would be cool to see a version that would be the right size and resolution, and be operated by an app. But that is less likely than me winning the lottery tonight...and I don't play. Perhaps a hack and a jailbroken app may come through though.
@jedidove Probably won't happen:
1) How do you open an iPad without permanently damaging it and close it again without using hot glue and duct-tape :P
2) I doubt it will be an easy task to hack the OS for the 1024x600 (more like 16:9) resolution instead of iPad's 1024x768 (4:3) resolution.
3) It will break 'the ultimate user experience' and it's not what apple intended for the device to be. Steve will get mad.
@jedidove
As far as I know it has view angle issues.
I will wait when the fix it , and by that time it must be optional or even default screen for notebook and even iPad.
I am not a geek to hack hardware, call me when they hit the mainstream.
I simply don't want to beta user. :)
i'd be game for this but the question is are the multi-touch features built into displays now a days or is it still digitizer type hardware? I might invest in one of these when they make a convertible netbook tablet with the nvidia ion2 chipset.