Samsung develops USB-powered desktop PC monitor, plans 2011 street date
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 29th 2010 8:31PM
posted May 29th 2010 8:31PM
We've seen more than our fair share of USB displays as of late, and on the whole they're usually tiny -- say, around 7-inches. Sure, they're well-suited for someone who wants to get that Tweetdeck or their IRC window off of their main desktop, but that's about it. It looks like Samsung's poised to take the whole affair to the next level with its new 18.5-inch LCD display. By "improving the transmittance of the panel and the luminance efficiency of the backlight," Tech-on! notes, the company was able to keep power consumption down to 6.3W -- low enough that a forked USB 2.0 cable is sufficient to power the thing as well as supply data. The only drawback? Apparently the device uses an edge-lit backlight that limits the device's lifetime to 30,000 hours compared to 50,000 for existing LCD monitors). According to the company, you can look forward to seeing these things hit store shelves sometime in 2011.
Buy a laptop already.
@Becauseitsnotgoogle2 I use Pinnacle Studio 12 on my laptop and it runs fine.
@Becauseitsnotgoogle2:
I video edit and encode with AVISynth and VirtualDub on my laptop and it works darn well.
@wemustcontrolpeople
You mean those slow expensive computers that have tiny screens with poor image qulaity, fake keyboards, and a repetitive propensity to somehow physically break? I'd rather pack a PC into a suitcase and roll that around. No I'm actually not kidding.
@dicobalt
So you don't use a cell phone?
@dicobalt Soooo... You are that stupid?
@wemustcontrolpeople
That must suck. Even on a dual 22 setup I could imagine situations where having one of those monitors be a 27 would be helpful.
@dicobalt
Amen brother. I absolutely hate having to use my laptop. I miss being away from my Customizer 104 too much. Nevermind my 24" and 17" displays.
@Vaio
Реально пиздато
I thought it was a black Wii.
@Becauseitsnotgoogle2
Depending on the laptop, I don't see why you couldn't do video editing with it. USB display adapters, on the other hand, are definitely NOT suited for video editing; I use a Diamond BVU195 at home to drive a 20-inch (1600x1200), and I can tell you it's not pleasant for anything video. Maybe when USB 3.0 gains more traction...
@dicobalt
Seems like you have never used a ThinkPad.
@Mr Blurrycam
They are still expensive, have small fake keyboards, and small poor quality displays which is par for all laptops. Though I will admit I have never seen a broken Thinkpad case.
@ryan420
Yes I use a cell phone but I have never had one break. I only use very basic phones, not phones with touchscreens and all that fancy stuff. I do much on my phone, it is mostly to receive notifications and of course make phone calls. I will get an iPad sized tablet when they finally have color e-ink screens. I really have no tolerance for faint displays, they give me headaches.
@ManjyomeThunder Once you go multi-screen it's incredibly difficult to go back. At home my primary machine has 17-23-17 monitors, and at work I actually have two work spaces on two different floors, one has 17-24-17, the other 15-19-15. Now I'm working off-site 2 days a week with one of our vendors and using a 15" laptop. It's maddening. I keep trying to drag windows onto the monitor of the fellow who sits next to me...
The nice thing is I only paid full price for 3 of the 9 monitors in question. The rest I either got cheap because they were used (though in good condition) and older (lower resolution, refresh, etc), or basically abandoned at work as people got new stuff. Since I don't really do anything super graphic intensive, basic displays are fine, it's just all the screen real estate that helps...
Doesn't it take a large amount of your CPU to send all that data through USB? If so: no thanks.
@PervertRyan
I want to say that's the graphics card, but I'm not really sure. When things get a little over the top for my old-ass CPU, ill usually unplug the MIMO monitor. I don't know if its the budget GPU or the old-ass CPU, anyone have a bit more insight?
@dez USB can be cpu intensive when it is transmitting a lot of data. I remember back when I had a pentium D 2.8ghz (dual core) and I put my mouse at 1000hz, one core would spike to 80% if I ran it around the screen a lot.
@PervertRyan
If it works anything like the current DisplayLink technology, it won't be cpu intensive at all and will vary with the information being transferred.
Excellent
@WinniThePooh
Agreed! Now we can all buy our surge protectors with only 5 plugs instead of 6! I'm always looking forward to the future!
@Sean Connery
oh no. We'll just buy some other cool new thing to occupy the 6th one
Are you watching this Intel!
Lightpeak needs to be able to do this day one it's released.
Do not "forget" to include those two power wires with the optical cable or a sufficient current to run a display spec. This has the tremendous potential of eliminating all that wasted stand-by power of computer monitors.
Make it so.
Nice to see samsung pushing the envelope again. For some people, the fewer the cables, the better, so good news all around.
Finally, a multi-monitor solution sans the wire clutter.
@furquanatique
So will it run over wireless USB
/joke
Is it USB 3? will it manage to play full screen 720p video (since it won't do 1080p due to pixel count). Its all well and good having a USB monitor but I'd suspect the limitations on USB 2.0 would be pretty steep.
@bp968
really? couldn't even read the post?
did you figure that writing your reply and waiting for someone to reply would take less time?
@BrianH It says it used a forked USB 2.0 cable. Not if it was 2.0 or 3.0 compatible. The original article wasn't very specific either. did you dick get bigger bashing someone on the interwebs? Go upstairs and tell your mom how awesome you are and maybe she will pack you an extra twinkie tomorrow.
@bp968
The article says 2.0. The source said 720p
@Vman I hadn't refreshed to see some one had already said something
That's awesome!
Wouldn't USB3 be ideal for this tech?
I just don't see many applications for a monitor like this, If its hooked to a desktop, theres' sure to be many plugs around, but on a laptop? wouldn't it draw to much power to get much done?
I mean its nifty, but the applications for it seem very limited if even existent.
I don't even understand how this is possible. Is the USB better in some way to the standarrd graphics out? I guess if everything used the same interconnect life would be much easier.
@bob e
Since it is also powered from USB, it allows for an integrated power-data connection that is easy for the tech-ignorant to install and use.
Believe it or not, something as simple as installing a DVI or HDMI monitor can be a nightmare for some people. This would be perfect for them.Of course, an all in one PC would probably be even better/easier for them, but, I guess it doesn't hurt to have other options.
@paul34 I Imagine a laptop in an area with no mains you simply whip out your USB monitor and off you go. I can't see this as an alternative for a desktop monitor.
WOW. I'm already nervous enough about replacing with DVI connection with USB 'cause of how shitty USB is and now they expect us to power our monitors with it too?
I mean seriously, USB power surge then blank screen... hmm.. how the hell do you fix that one geniuses?
@E71 USB power surge? Obviously you aren't buying enough Monster Cable.
@E71 I'm gonna say you are not the target audience, if you already have a monitor running via DVI, this would be a step in the wrong direction. (3.96 - 7.92 Gbit/s vs 480 Mbit/s) And since when is USB shitty? I am completely okay with having one method of interface than 50 thousand other proprietary "solutions". It's worked pretty good for the past 15 years I've used it.
MIMO is an example.
What do you mean how is this possible? It's usb dude. It can do anything. Seriously though I don't think Sammy is trying to REPLACE a current standard as much as trying to create one. Usb for a monitor has never been done. I give it 5 years after launch before this becomes common practice. We'll be at Usb 11 by then....hopefully that will stream1080p!
Exactly what I need. except, it has to come in at under $100 or else I'll just buy a cheap 17" LCD.
No, Thank you. I'd like to keep those 2 USB ports free for my external HDD.
@sabby
buy
a
hub
This is pretty nice. As cool as it is, I don't see what a practical use for one of these would be. If you can carry around an 18 inch monitor, you can probably carry around a power cord.
So a usb port can power a monitor, but not an iPad?
@forHim247 Yeah it bugs me too, I even tried it with USB3.0 and it doesn't work :-/
@Kaemon USB 3.0 can Give 10 watt power so it should power the iPad. You usb 3 ports might be damaged. ;(
@trentryan
No, the assPad is just crap.
^_^
@forHim247
No, a USB port can't power a monitor. This monitor uses TWO USB ports, and even then, breaks spec.
Monitor requires 6.3W. iPad consumes 2.5W. Max output of two USB ports is 5W. Where is this prototype getting the extra 1.3W? An overdriven pair of USB ports.