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.
why not use DVI/HDMI for image, and one single USB 3.0 for power if possible?
@Gaurav42
I guess the whole point of these kind of displays is that they _are_ the graphics card -- maybe it could be useful for video editing to not use your existing GPU (free up cycles for rendering?) and gets you a nice preview screen for your project -- I don't really see any other uses for it though...I doubt it could handle gaming or anything serious.
@Gaurav42 While I'm sure it's possible, it kinda defeats the purpose since you are using just as many cables. That said, DVI/HDMI has a +5V pin, so maybe that could be used instead (I don't know what the current on the +5V pin is so maybe it's not possible, but if it is the same/higher than USB 2.0 then presumably it could be used instead).
@Gaurav42
That is still two (2) cables. Not one. Try again, kthnxbye.
"on the whole they're usually tiny -- say, around 7-inches"
My girlfriend said that seven inches is pretty average size. =*/
Why not just use USB3.0 for this? By 2011 I hope its common. I mean, I have two ports, they're just sitting there doing 2.0 stuff, I'd like something that does 3.0... and I know 3.0 has more power..
Frankly its a waste of time to use 2.0 from here on out.
@Kaemon
MASSIVE waste of time considering 99.99% of the world currently has USB 2.0 and not 3.0...
@Almo Yes right now most people have USB2.0... but that doesn't mean you give up on the new technology. If people don't start putting out stuff for it people will never use it.
And its already showing up in motherboards and stuff so its not like its hard to get.
@Kaemon
True, some MB manufacturers have started including USB 3.0, but that's only for the people building custom rigs and even then there aren't alot of USB 3.0 peripherals yet. Your major manufacturers probably won't be supporting USB 3.0 until Intel does, which won't be until late 2011 (think the ETA for support was late 2011, check me though)
that's a great idea and samsung makes nice monitors
This is probably released in time for Windows Multipoint Server, which really only works with USB displays, and single cable USB displays would be perfect.
by 2011 you say. Just the time intel says it will be releasing light peak. Which should remove leave only the need for one cable from the computer to the monitor and nothing else. If only we could used a WIDI plus wireless power, but I only dream.
@dds1043 Sorry for the typos on that one. *should leave* and *used*
So the monitor has its own graphics processor?
This could be really handy, particularly in commercial and IT applications.
I love the flexibility PoE brought us, and things like this just end up being useful in certain circumstances. Power source options = good!
oh no, I can sit at the same monitor for ONLY 30 000 hours. Thats nearly 3 years and a half... and 50 000 hours, 5.7 years... my computer chair is comfortable but not to the point of sitting for years worth of time in it...
why not oled? then no back light is needed, ya its expensive but that would change if ppl tried putting it in larger things, the price of manufacturing would drop, kinda like plasma, and lcd after it
1,366 x 768 on a 18.5" display = historicity epic fatality FAIL.
@John Doe Historicity...also know as historically for those who aren't up at oh god thirty in the morning and can type...geesh.
6.3W is far to much for a normal usb port, usb 2.0 supports 5V*0.5A=2.5W 3.0 supports 5V*0.9A=4.5W
I would rather have an LCD monitor last longer than not to have a power cord. It's not like monitors are very portable anyway.
@Wallyum They already make an identical looking one that's either USB or VGA, and has a power cord.
@Wallyum
It still last for 3.5 years, do you really need it that long to be on?
Sorry Samsung, Apple already invented this in 2013 and will sue you in 2014 for infringing on the patents that it filed for it in 2015.
Shame.
Anyone else remember back in the days of the 8086 when you used to plug your (frequently amber) monochrome monitor directly into the computer's power supply ?
What was old has become new once again (albeit with the advantage of using one less cable)...
Uhm, portable console screen for those lonely nights in a hotel (and yea, sadly most hotels only have crappy CRTs? Yep, that would be my use for it.
Other then that, I'm sure Someone needs a porti-monitor for their tiny laptop.
@Merikov
I wonder how would you connect it to any console....as far as I know, no console supports usb displays.
Then a USB cable would have to provide much more than 500mA of power, as 5V*500mA = 2.5W max, and that display uses 6.3W, so the amperage would have to be around 1260mA, much more than any USB port can deliver(except ones on special chargers,like the one for ipad).