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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.
Apple patent application reveals an LCD with switchable, privacy-protecting viewing angles
Don't you hate it when the guy next to you on the subway is looking over your shoulder, watching you screw up in Fruit Ninja? Well, Apple could have predicted your discomfort -- back in November 2009, before the iPad was anything more than a unicorn, the company applied for a patent on an LCD display with adjustable viewing angles, explicitly designed to "shield the display away from unintended viewers." According to the filing, the display would include steering modules made of liquid crystal material, which aim the so-called scattering modules that sit on top of them. The top layer then redirects the light, making it possible to narrow down and alter the viewing angle. The patent specifically calls out cellphones and laptops, paving the way for discreet displays on MacBooks and iPhones, though the broad phrase "other portable electronic devices" leaves plenty of room for iPads and iPod Touches. No word, of course, on when or if Apple will secure this patent and if so, what devices might incorporate such screens. We may just be seeing this concept go public now, but it seems consumers could use this even more today than they did back in the fall of '09, when all they had to worry about was a stranger squinting at their 3GS' 3.5-inch screen.
Zeon display filter ameliorates backlight bleed, improves LCD contrast and viewing angles
Is your LCD TV not fulfilling your primordial need for contrast, more contrast? If so, you could do worse than to check out these so-called polarizer plates from Zeon, which promise up to ten times better contrast ratios than current LCD tech. The Japanese company's latest wares are compatible with IPS panels (yay!) and it even has a version for OLEDs on tap, though we hardly think weak contrast is the problem with OLED displays right now. Still, the expansion of viewing angles is always welcome, so let's hope the projected mass production by the middle of this year materializes, so that we can all be talking about awesome new displays come CES 2011. Onwards and upwards. [Warning: source link requires paid subscription.]
NEC works up LCD with switchable viewing angles
If Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me pretty much sums up your life, NEC apparently understands your pain paranoia. In an effort to help out, the firm has developed an LCD "that can switch between wide and narrow viewing angles without impairing image quality." This ability enables viewers to narrow the 140-degree viewing angle down to 30-degrees so that any plans to sneak a peek at what you're glancing at are immediately subverted. Furthermore, NEC's technology is said to differ from other alternatives by "not causing image quality to deteriorate," as it relies on a function of the rear plate (as opposed to the panel's front plate) to handle the switcheroo. If everything stays on track, expect these units to hit the market sometime next year in everything from ATMs to laptops. [Warning: read link requires subscription][Image courtesy of NEC]
Prototype display adjusts pixels for your viewing (angle) pleasure
We've certainly seen displays that look right back at you for interactive purposes, but a new system developed by Wayne Cheng and Chih-Nan Wu at the Photonics and Display Institute, National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan could enable the LCD to alter itself based on your viewing location. The researchers have devised a solution in which a camera tracks the eyes of the onlooker and subsequently uses software to adjust the "orientation of liquid crystals in the display and the power fed to light-emitting diodes behind each." The result is an image that remains clear and sharp regardless of how you're looking at the screen, and while the developers admit that it can only respond to one set of eyes at a time, they're hoping that "doctors and surgeons who use LCDs to view scans or X-rays" would be among the first to benefit.
Sharp to release high contrast LCD for mobile devices
As our mobile devices skew from email, voice, and web surfin' to include more multimedia -- think live television and video on demand -- nobody (big emphasis on "nobody") is going to get into live TV on fuzzy, blurry, low res screens. To save us from future misery, Sharp has announced a QVGA 2.2 inch LCD with a 2000:1 contrast ratio, a 176 degree viewing angle, and an 8ms response time. The company expects to ship samples for One-Seg mobile phones (portable Aquos?) this fall, followed by a rollout into its other mobile handsets and cameras shortly thereafter. Japanese shipments of One-Seg compatible devices is expected to reach 10 million this year alone, so this could become a seriously hot item -- though, as usual, don't get your hopes up that this will be hittin' our shores anytime soon.[Via Mobiledia]
DS versus PSP: the battle for the best LCD
PC Magazine got a "display expert" from DisplayMate Technology to evaluate the screen performance of the DS Lite and the PSP. To a casual observer, both have stunning displays. But how do they fare when they're analyzed by the same methods used on high-end HDTVs? The report is incredibly thorough, so I'll just give you some key highlights:
