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Hitachi displays a capacitive screen capable of accepting stylus input (video)
Can someone ring up Lucifer and check that his heating's still working? Hitachi has achieved the unthinkable in bringing together the high precision and input flexibility of resistive touchscreens with the finger friendliness of capacitive panels. It's graced this year's FPD trade show with a new prototype that offers the capacitive functionality we're all used to by now, augmented with the ability to recognize input from a stylus or, perhaps more importantly, gloved hands. We're sure we can hear the sound of cheering coming from the chilly shores of Scandinavia right now. If all goes well, Hitachi should be able to bring them (and you, and the rest of the world) this finger-saving innovation at some point in late 2011, after production gets going in the second half of that year. Video demonstration after the break.
10.1-inch Galaxy Tab teased with prototype panel?
Does that look like a 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab to you? Sure does to us though Tech-on! is calling it an "electronic book reader" prototype from Samsung. Thing is, when was the last time you made a 3G video call using a dedicated ebook reader? The 10.1-inch panel is a 1.8-mm thick LCD prototype on display right now at the FPD International trade show in Japan. It features a 1,024 x 600 pixel panel resolution, 250nits brightness, 1,000:1 contrast, and covers 50 percent of the NTSC color gamut. Oh, and it's said to be unbreakable thanks to the new 0.44mm / 28g resin panel (excluding the backlight unit) that replaces the typical 1.26mm / 130g glass LCD panel. And while this particular slim panel won't be ready for commercialization for another two or three years, there's nothing stopping Samsung from bunging a production-ready LCD into the 10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011. Check the new LCD in profile after the break.
Samsung 7-inch Super AMOLED panel showcased on 'next gen' Galaxy Tab
We were promised a 7-inch Super AMOLED display at FPD 2010 and Samsung has duly delivered. What's less predictable about this yummy new hardware's debut, however, is the fact that it was built right into a Galaxy Tab. Yes, our postulations that Samsung intends to spruce up its "pocket-friendly" slate with a 1200 x 600 resolution and an extra lick of hyper-advanced screen technology seem to have been spot on, as OLED-Display reports the device on show was indeed the company's "next generation" Tab. We only wish there was more than just that one image -- we'll be hounding the internet for more, rest assured! Update: Samsung's official note on the matter lists a WSVGA resolution (i.e. 1024 x 600 as on the current Tab) and some amateur geometry applied to the image does indeed show the prototype screen above has a smaller ratio than the requisite 2:1 for a 1200 x 600 pixel display. Ah well, we still want one. Also, check out Netbook News below for more images. Update 2: Been eyeing that dualscreen clamshell in the back there? Turns out it's another AMOLED prototype with two 4.5-inch displays! Hit the break for a closer look at it on video.
E Ink shows off Triton color ePaper, touts faster performance, readability in sunlight (video)
E Ink Triton. That's the name we should all start getting used to as E Ink Holdings has just officially announced its first color electronic paper display. It was only yesterday that we learned Hanvon would be the first to bring the newly colorized e-reading panels to the market, so today the eponymous E Ink display maker has seen fit to dish out its own press release, catchy title, and even a handy explanatory video. The key points are that the new Triton stuff will offer 20 percent faster performance, sunlight-readable imaging, and up to a month's battery life. That would suggest there's almost no sacrifice in endurance relative to E Ink's monochromatic screens already on offer in things like Amazon's Kindle, which sounds all kinds of righteous to us. Skip past the break to get better acquainted with the Triton.
Hanvon to be first with color E Ink reader, sizes it at 10 inches, makes it a touchscreen
While Amazon and Sony are still hemming and hawing about taking their ebook-reading adventure into the color E Ink realm, China's Hanvon is plunging straight in. The New York Times is reporting that the company intends to grace this year's FPD International trade show with the news that a 10-inch touchscreen e-reader, equipped with the first color-displaying panels from E Ink Holdings, will be arriving in the Chinese market in March. That's a little later than the originally promised "by the end of 2010," but it's not like anyone else is beating Hanvon to the market. Pricing in China is expected at around $440, and though there are no plans to bring it Stateside just yet, we imagine Hanvon would do so quite willingly if it can reach the volume necessary to offer up a more palatable price. And we'd be very happy if it does, the Nook Color's been looking a little lonely in the color ebook reader room.
3M optical film for greener LCDs making an appearance at FPD International 2009
Not happy with the green TV movement so far? 3M promises its latest Vikuiti Optical Film technology will save 32% more energy in LCD screens under 40-inches, without cutting into image quality, while enhancing the viewing angle and color uniformity. Checking it out before this film makes its way into the latest LCDs will require a trip to the FPD International show next week in Japan, where the it will also show off film intended for autostereoscopic (no glasses) 3D handhelds, but just a note, tearing off a piece and sticking it on your VIZIO at home won't help, we've tried that.
AU Optronics' miraculous LCD Panels can read fingerprints or UV levels
Female? User of LCD panels? Have fingerprints that need read? Worried about skin cancer? If you answer "yes" to any or all of these questions, we have news that is sure to knock your sun-lovin' socks off. Among the items on display at this year's FPD International Exhibition in Yokohama are two exciting LCD panels: they're both 2.8 inches, and they're both manufactured by AU Optronics (a company that knows a thing or two about liquid crystal displays). The first panel functions as a fingerprint scanner -- it boasts a pixel count of 320 x 240, each pixel is equipped with four optical sensors, and sends its output to a 640 x 480 monitor. The other panel uses similar technology to measure the intensity of UV rays, numerically displaying the results on a scale of 0 to 11. According to the company, the UV reader "is targeted at female users who are concerned about the amount of UV light outdoors." There's no word yet on a UV reader for men, but you'll know as soon as we do.
Samsung titillates with transparent and 0.05mm 'flapping' OLED panels
Samsung's all up in Sony's OLED space this morning at the FPD International 2008 show. They started by trotting out that 40-inch OLED TV again, with a Full HD resolution, 8.9-mm depth, and contrast ratio so high they just call it 1,000,000:1. Then they upped the ante while dialing down the dimensions to a 4-inch, ultra-thin 0.05-mm OLED (pictured above) with 480 x 272 pixel resolution, 100,000:1 contrast, 200cd/m2 brightness -- so thin that it was displayed flapping in the wind. Take that Sony and your 0.3-mm OLED chubster. Sammy then reached deep into its bag of tricks with a transparent AMOLED display (first hinted at around these parts in early 2006) with an appropriately clad model presumably meant to invoke your pubescent fantasies of x-ray vision. Or maybe that's just us. Click through to see what we mean.[Via OLED-Display]
E Ink shows off front-lit, flexible e-paper displays
E Ink Corp looks to have rolled into this week's FPD International show with a fair bit of new paper-replacing gear, including a number of prototypes that it's developed with some of its partner firms. In addition to the E Ink watch we've seen before (and given away), the company showed off a new front-lit e-paper display developed by Alps Electric, which promises to let you get in some paper-less reading even in complete darkness. Also on display was a 9.7-inch e-paper display with an integrated flexible TFT substrate although, judging from the picture after the break courtesy of Tech-On, it doesn't appear to be completely flexible. It does boast a decent 1200 x 820 resolution, however, and it should actually be available relatively soon, with mass production reportedly set to get underway in the second quarter of 2008.
NEC announces four "system-on-glass" LCDs
NEC announced its new "system-on-glass" LCDs, a relatively newish tech we've been hearing about for a while which can be used in PDAs and GPS devices. The company says that because the circuitry is built into the glass, these new displays will cost less to produce and can be built faster. There are four new models, including 2.7- or 3.5-inch screens that can be transflective or transmissive, so device makers have options if their device needs to be used outside or not. NEC will demo the displays at Flat Panel Display International 2006 to be held from October 18 to 20 at Pacifico Yokohama, Japan, and will begin mass producing them by February 2007. So if that means next year we'll get at least a few cheaper, thinner, better PDAs and other handhelds, we're all for it.[Via Reg Hardware]
