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Rumor: Dark Souls 2 screens show what's going to kill you
All Games Beta has posted leaked screenshots and a trailer it says are from Dark Souls 2. See 12 minutes of gameplay right here.
Lego Legends of Chima screens show Laval's journey
These screens for Lego Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey offer a taste of the action in the totally original adventure from Warner and TT Games. The game will be coming to 3DS and Vita this Summer and to DS this Fall.
Arma 3 arms itself with cover art and screens
Bohemia Interactive posted the cover art for Arma 3 to its official Facebook page. We have a higher res version of the art available in the gallery below, along with a handful of screens from the game's site.You could say we're "up to our armas" in Arma 3 images, but we can't put our fingers on what that pun really means. The Steam-exclusive shooter is entering its closed alpha phase this coming Tuesday. %Gallery-180297% %Gallery-180298%
New Ghost Watch screens live among us
We don't know much about Ghost Watch (known as Youkai Watch in Japan), but these new screens show the game's Sakura New Town as being a pretty normal place to live, according to a Siliconera translation. That's if you don't count having monster neighbors as being out of the ordinary, and not the type that leave bags of garbage on their front porch in 90-degree weather, but actual monsters.The game has Keeta, the boy in the red shirt, wearing a ridiculously large watch that allows him to see the apparitions and befriend them. Ghost Watch is the latest 3DS game from Level-5, though no release date has been announced yet. %Gallery-174337%
Dark Souls 2 screens are a little shy
Okay, so maybe we wanted to believe that there are adult Shy Guys in Dark Souls 2. At least, that's what we thought when viewing the announcement trailer during the 2012 VGAs a few nights ago. That's our mistake, but when you look at these screens from said trailer, can you really blame us?Not much is known about Dark Souls 2, besides From Software's unswerving commitment to making the game incredibly difficult. We can say with certainty that Shy Guys first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2. Dark Souls 2 has the number two in it as well. "Shy Guy" is also two words. None of that is a coincidence, right? %Gallery-172917%
NPD study finds average display sizes continuing to rise in all areas but laptops and tablets
Not exactly a huge surprise here, but a new study out from NPD DisplaySearch today has confirmed that the trend towards larger screens in continuing at a steady pace in all but a few key areas. The big exception is "mobile PCs," which NPD defines as laptops and tablets for its purposes. That area dropped from a 13.6-inch average in 2010 to 12.1-inch in 2012 (with an ever so slight increase to 12.2-inches projected for 2013), a drop that represents a ten percent decrease overall and is largely attributed to the growth of tablets . All other areas have seen small to significant growth in recent years, with LCD TVs growing 9 percent, mobile phones increasing 38 percent, and portable media players jumping 29 percent. The biggest growth, by far, comes in OLED TVs, which have gone from a mere 15-inch average in 2010 to an average of 55-inches today -- a growth of 267 percent.
Sharp begins production of 1080p smartphone displays: 443ppi crammed into a 5-inch LCD
Layoffs and loans may be dominating our Sharp coverage at the moment, but that just makes this type of news all the sweeter. The company has announced its LCD panel type 5 -- a 5-inch full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display packing a Retina-busting 443ppi (just trumping LG's similar 440ppi LCD). An outcome of its layer-reducing CG-Silicon technology, the smartphone-targeted screen goes into full-scale production this month and will be shown off at CEATEC Japan this very week. We'll try to give it eyes-on treatment at the show, but you can rub your hands together sinisterly in the meantime and just think about the glorious devices which will bear it.
Samsung asks for South Korean injunction against LG for allegedly stealing OLED tech
LG and Samsung have had to live with each other as cornerstones of the South Korean economy, but that uncomfortable balance might just have been knocked off-kilter through an escalating legal battle. Samsung has filed for an injunction against LG for supposedly coercing 11 Samsung researchers (already indicted in July) into leaking the secrets behind its OLED screens, including 18 pieces of technology and 21 related documents. The accuser wants 1 billion won (about $879,771) in compensation for every piece of technology that might have slipped out. Suffice it to say that LG isn't happy with being labeled as a thief -- it notes that LG screens use white OLEDs instead of Samsung's RGB technique, reducing its incentive to swipe anything Samsung makes. LG even contends that Samsung is just trying to hide its embarrassment at losing OLED TV demo units that were headed to IFA 2012. Without a clear resolution in sight, there's every indication the legal dispute could become very ugly.
Apple gets patent for in-cell touch display with impeccable timing
So Apple could be working on an iPhone with a thinner display, you say. Look what we have here, possibly in the nick of time: it's a newly granted Apple patent for a screen with in-cell touch, where the LCD and touch recognition are integrated into one panel instead of stacking up in separate layers. Apple's implementation would slim things down by either having electrodes share duties, both driving the display and taking finger input, or stuffing two electrodes into each pixel to accomplish the same goal. The net effect isn't just one of squeezing a device into a thinner chassis; the company also envisions costs coming down by reducing the number of parts and streamlining the manufacturing process. As envisioned, the screen looks like an ideal fit for a significant revamp of Apple's mobile display technology, although we'd be careful about assuming that this or any in-cell touch implementation is a lock for potentially imminent iOS hardware. Apple first filed the patent in early June 2007, before the original iPhone had even marched into a retailer -- display technology has come a long way since then.
Colloidal Display uses soap bubbles, ultrasonic waves to form a projection screen (hands-on video)
If you've ever been to an amusement park, you may have noticed ride designers using some non-traditional platforms as projection screens -- the most common example being a steady stream of artificial fog. Projecting onto transparent substances is a different story, however, which made this latest technique a bit baffling to say the least. Colloidal Display, developed by Yoichi Ochiai, Alexis Oyama and Keisuke Toyoshima, uses bubbles as an incredibly thin projection "screen," regulating the substance's properties, such as reflectance, using ultrasonic sound waves from a nearby speaker. The bubble liquid is made from a mixture of sugar, glycerin, soap, surfactant, water and milk, which the designers say is not easily popped. Still, during their SIGGRAPH demo, a motor dunked the wands in the solution and replaced the bubble every few seconds. A standard projector directed at the bubble creates an image, which appears to be floating in the air. And, because the bubbles are transparent, they can be stacked to simulate a 3D image. You can also use the same display to project completely different images that fade in and out of view depending on your angle relative to the bubble. There is a tremendous amount of distortion, however, because the screen used is a liquid that remains in a fluid state. Because of the requirement to constantly refresh the bubbles, and the unstable nature of the screen itself, the project, which is merely a proof of concept, wouldn't be implemented without significant modification. Ultimately, the designers hope to create a film that offers similar transparent properties but with a more solid, permanent composition. For now, you can sneak a peek of the first iteration in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-162176%
AUO, LG, Toshiba pay $571 million to settle LCD price fixing lawsuit, broken record keeps skipping
The way LCD price fixing lawsuits keep popping up and settling in short order, you'd think they were going out of style. The latest motley group to face a reckoning includes AU Optronics, LG and Toshiba, the combination of which has agreed to pay a total of $571 million to eight separate American states to either avoid the legal wrath of a class action lawsuit or to pay an outstanding fine. Allegedly, the trio kept LCD prices artificially high between 1996 and 2006, hiking the prices of PCs and TVs in the process. There's a slight twist here: while keeping the display builders honest is the primary goal, the class action status will net some direct rewards for the public. Americans who claim to have been wronged in the scandal can get "at least" $25, which goes a lot further towards buying an LCD than it did six years ago.
Winscape virtual window makes the leap to Kinect in 4K-capable, 6-screen glory (video)
RationalCraft brought its surreal Winscape virtual window to market when the Wii was virtually the only game in town for affordable motion tracking. Microsoft's Kinect has certainly changed the rules of the game since then, so it's almost natural that a fourth-generation Winscape has just launched to make use of the much more sophisticated sensor. For a start, there's no need to dress like Flavor Flav anymore: the camera can recognize anyone, even passers-by, without an oversized necklace. The larger-than-life footage used to generate the window effect has been given its own bump, too, and the app can now handle 4K video as long as the Mac underneath (sorry, Windows folks) is powerful enough to drive it. For those who truly want to be disconnected from reality, there's even six-display support provided it's all hooked up to a Mac Pro and a pair of three-output Radeon HD 5770 video cards. RationalCraft's software is free to try out now, although the requirement for at least two big TVs, a Kinect controller and a fast Mac should say all there is to know about the practical cost of pretending the Golden Gate Bridge is visible from inside a living room in Cleveland.
University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)
There are waterfall screens, but what if you'd like your display to be a little more... pristine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a display that hits soap bubbles with ultrasonic sound to change the surface. At a minimum, it can change how light glances off the soap film to produce the image. It gets truly creative when taking advantage of the soap's properties: a single screen is enough to alter the texture of a 2D image, and multiple screens in tandem can create what amounts to a slightly sticky hologram. As the soap is made out of sturdy colloids rather than the easily-burst mixture we all knew as kids, users won't have to worry about an overly touch-happy colleague popping a business presentation. There's a video preview of the technology after the jump; we're promised a closer look at the technology during the SIGGRAPH expo in August, but we don't yet know how many years it will take to find sudsy screens in the wild.
iFixit tears down the new MacBook Pro's Retina display, finds a minor marvel of engineering
We've already seen them go to town on the body of the MacBook Pro with Retina display, but the staffers at iFixit have seen fit to disassemble the 2880 x 1800 panel at the heart of the new beast. As they've since found out, it takes no less than a rethink of LCD construction to make that kind of resolution work in a laptop screen that's thinner than its ancestor. The unibody aluminum casing acts as the frame for the display, and the LCD becomes its own front glass; even the wireless antennas are threaded through the hinges to eke out that last drop of space. Combined, Apple's part layouts do make repair near-impossible -- the teardown gurus at iFixit ended up cracking the glass despite their knowledge. The team is nonetheless a little more forgiving on the lack of repairability here than with the computer underneath, noting that something had to give for Apple to have its high-resolution cake and eat it too. That just won't be much of a consolation if your MacBook Pro faceplants and requires a whole LCD swap.
Sharp reportedly getting cozy with Hon Hai Precision, helping to make phone and tablet LCDs in Chengdu
If we believe Japan's Nikkei, the decision by Hon Hai Precision Industry (that is, Foxconn's daddy) to buy a stake in Sharp was really just the start of a long, torrid love affair in LCD production. While Hon Hai is getting the rosy side of the deal for Sharp's TV-oriented Sakai plant, it's now thought to be paying Sharp for display technology that would go into a new factory in Chengdu for small- and medium-sized LCDs used for smartphones and tablets. If all dovetails as nicely as the two would like, the joint venture would see advanced mobile displays manufactured on the cheap -- the best of both worlds. Suffice it to say that there's a few companies that might be interested, as clients like Apple are no strangers to Chengdu. Before you let visions of IGZO-based LCDs on every iPad and iPhone dance through your head, though, remember that neither Hon Hai nor Sharp has confirmed anything -- and that the plant wouldn't be up and running until 2013 at the earliest, even if everything's in sync.
Project Copernicus 'racial' screens leak from 38 Studios
While 38 Studios remains in dire straits, fans are getting a bittersweet treat of Project Copernicus reveals. It's sweet because we've been dying to see more information on this game, but bitter because its fate is still up in the air. Today fan site 38 Watch posted a trio of official-looking screens straight from Copernicus' world. In the screens, three races are revealed: the human-looking Almain, the dwarven Dverga, and the orcish Jottun. The game's art style and lush color palette are on full display, opting for more of a stylized than realistic approach. We recently heard that Project Copernicus has a possible June 2013 launch window and got our first look at the game in a flyby video. You can scope out the new screens in the gallery below. %Gallery-156060%
Samsung considering a 13-inch, 1080p, PLS panel, display snobs get their hopes up
It's a ritual: we publish a review of a laptop with a 1366 x 768 display, the best-rated comment is from someone crying out for 1600 x 900 -- nay, 4K resolution. If you're in the latter camp, you're going to be disappointed by even this article, but for those of you who've merely been craving something, anything crisper than mere HD, we have some hope: Samsung is mulling the idea of a 13-inch, PLS display with a 1920 x 1080 pixel count. Earlier today a company rep told a group of reporters that the PC division is considering a 1080p panel of that size, which would be unusual, to say the least. The outfit isn't ready to make any promises, much less commit to an ETA, though we can't say we'd be surprised if the company made such a display for its 13-inch laptops first -- after all, for instance, some of its 13-inch panels make use of IPS-like PLS technology, whereas its 15-inch ones don't yet. We'll let you decide if that's even necessary -- both the 13- and 15-inch Series 9 already have 1600 x 900 resolution -- but suffice to say, the company has a good track record of squeezing in extra pixels when other ultraportable makers don't.
Samsung exec admits the 15-inch Series 9 could benefit from better viewing angles
When we reviewed the 15-inch Samsung Series 9, we found very little to complain about, save for the narrow viewing angles and the fair-weather trackpad. Turns out, Samsung at least agrees with the first part. In a show of candor, Raymond Wah, VP of PC product strategy, told a group of reporters, "We can make improvements in terms of the viewing angle." That's not surprising, given that Samsung's homegrown 15-inch display doesn't currently make use of the same IPS-like PLS technology as the panel used in the 13-inch Series 9. It would seem, then, that it's occurred to Samsung to develop one, though company reps declined to say when we might see a 15-inch Series 9 with such a panel in tow. For now, anyway, the outfit is giving itself some credit for the laptop's relatively dense 1600 x 900 pixel count (and rightfully so!). Interestingly, Wah's comments come at a time when MacBook Pro rumors are starting to flow fast and furious, and a Retina display is looking like a fair possibility. As to whether Samsung will ever produce a 4K laptop display of its own, Wah declined to comment, but he did note that right now there isn't enough content optimized for that higher resolution, and that such screens would be costlier to produce. Until all that changes, we have to admit we're pretty pleased with the Series 9's resolution too -- after all, anything's better than plain old HD.
Plastic Logic demoes flexible color display for e-readers (video)
Plastic Logic has getting by with some eastern love since last year, when RUSNANO's $700 million investment helped the e-reader maker land its Plastic Logic 100 in Russian schools. The latest fruit of that partnership is a prototype of its first flexible color e-reader display, which delivers 4,000-plus hues at a resolution of 75 ppi. The screen contains some 1.2 million plastic transistors, and it's able to bend without distorting images thanks to a top filter and a 150-ppi display below that flex at the same rate. Skip past the break for a demo clip of the tech in action, appropriately featuring some Matryoshka dolls.
MIT develops fog resistant, glare-free glass, it's clearly amazing (video)
It sounds like it's not just us that spend half our sweet time with lint-free cloth in hand. Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of glass that "virtually eliminates" reflections, and is also water-repellent. By using techniques from the semiconductor industry, conical nano-textures etched into the layered surface that give the wonder-glass its fog, glare and self-cleaning properties. The hope is that the technology will find its way into our many daily screens and even windows. It's not all about gadget vanity though; solar panels lose efficiency over time through residual surface build up, and using the new glass could go some way to eliminate that issue. If they can just remember where they put the ultra-clear test sample that is.
