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Byton adds an additional touchscreen to its upcoming SUV
Concept cars always undergo changes before they become production vehicles. Maybe the styling is adjusted or a crazy pie-in-the-sky tech feature is removed. Even the yet-to-be-produced wares of automotive startups end up with something being adjusted, removed or added. At CES 2018, Byton showed off its first vehicle, the pure-electric M-Byte. In a change from last year, the SUV's 40-inch "Shared Experience" display is getting another, smaller sidekick.
LG Display unveils an 88-inch 8K OLED screen with built-in sound
It wouldn't be CES without a few exotic screens from LG Display, and the company is keen to deliver this year. To start, it's offering a dramatic upgrade to the Crystal Sound screen technology it unveiled back in 2017. The new version is an 88-inch, 8K OLED display (not pictured yet) whose panel produces 3.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos audio -- you'd not only have a great picture, but good-enough sound that you might not rush to buy your own speakers. LG Display hasn't outlined plans for the screen, but there's little doubt this would be most relevant for a future TV set.
E Ink display lets you write on it as if it were paper
You can already get e-paper notepads that come close to replicating the feel of writing on dead trees, but E Ink thinks it can do better. The company has unveiled a new film, JustWrite, that promises more natural scribbling. It doesn't require a backlight or another display layer, and there's "almost no" lag. You won't have to strain your eyes or second-guess your drawing. The technology is also bendable, works with virtually any size and shape, and needs just a basic stylus as well as some basic electronics -- it shouldn't carry a significant premium.
Dell's 49-inch ultra-wide monitor is built for extreme multitasking
Dell is about to make you very happy if you're into heavy-duty multitasking. The company has unveiled the UltraSharp 49 Curved Monitor, billed as the first dual QHD (5,120 x 1,440) ultra-wide curved display at its size. The allure, as you might guess, is the no-compromise productivity -- you can run two typical full-screen apps (or two PCs) side-by-side without a drop in resolution or overall size. It's also using an IPS panel that covers 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut, so it should be helpful if you're a photo or video editor who wants as much space as possible for palettes and timelines.
Samsung ships its curved QLED monitor with Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 3 displays are still quite rare in the PC world, let alone curved ones, but Samsung is ready to supply both at once. After a preview at CES, it's releasing its CJ79 curved QLED monitor worldwide. The 34-inch screen mates an ultra-wide 3,440 x 1,440 quantum dot screen (including a 125 percent sRGB color gamut) with two Thunderbolt 3 ports that provide 85W of power, a display signal and data through a single cable. Samsung pitches it as a productivity hub for MacBook Pro and Windows laptop owners who want a vast workspace without straining their eyes looking at a flat screen.
Samsung's 'unbreakable' display survives UL scrutiny
Phone makers have promised unbreakable phone screens for years, but they tend to involve awkward compromises like soft, scratchable surfaces. Samsung Display might just fulfill that promise, though. Underwriters Laboratories certified an "unbreakable" Samsung panel (not yet pictured) as capable of surviving military-grade durability tests without damage. This included dropping it 26 times from a height of four feet and subjecting it to extreme temperatures. It even survived a drop test at 6 feet without any battle scars. Update: Samsung Display posted a video of its new screen, showing how its lightweight plastic cover compares to traditional glass. In the video it survives several strikes from a hammer with no damage to show for it.
Philips' extra-bright 4K HDR monitor is now available for $1,000
If you've been salivating at the thought of Philips' (technically, EPI's) ultra-bright HDR monitor, you can now do more than clean up the mess you've left on the floor. The Momentum 43" 4K HDR Quantum Dot Monitor is now available from Amazon and Best Buy for a cool $1,000. That's a lot to pay for a computer screen, but it's also charting new ground -- this is the first PC monitor to support the DisplayHDR 1000 spec, promising 1,000cd/m2 brightness in scenes that call for it (say, staring at a bright sky) without crushing low-light detail. EPI also touts a wide, accurate color gamut that's particularly good at tackling dark reds and greens.
Sony's portable projector tech displays perfect images on curved surfaces
The future of portable projectors just got a whole lot clearer, as Sony launches two bits of tech that will give gives portable projectors both HD capabilities and the ability to provide a distortion-free picture even on curved surfaces. This means you could whip out your device anywhere and enjoy an almost crystal-clear picture, no matter what background you're projecting it onto.
Sony's new mirrorless camera EVF is 60 percent sharper
Sony has unveiled an OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) display with a resolution of 5.6 million dots and a record 6.3 micrometer dot pitch. That's a significant boost over the 3.69 million dot EVF on its flagship A9 and A7R III mirrorless cameras. It also boasts a refresh rate of 240 fps, double that of the previous model. Once it starts shipping later this year, you can expect to see mirrorless cameras with much sharper and more responsive displays, further closing the gap on DSLRs with optical viewfinders.
LG G7 ThinQ will come with a super bright display
LG, as per its tradition of teasing its upcoming flagship smartphones, has yet again dished out some tidbits about the G7 ThinQ ahead of launch next month. Specifically, the latest tease is all about the device's display, which will come in at 6.1 inches large with a QHD+ (3,120 x 1,440; 19.5:9) resolution -- part of which will indeed be occupied by a notch, as shown again by a recent @evleaks tweet and now confirmed by a couple of official screenshots. What's more interesting is that you'll be able to crank this LCD up to 1,000 nits -- beating the 400- to 700-nit brightness peaked by most other smartphones -- thus making it easier to read under bright sunlight.
Even genuine replacement Apple displays can mess with iPhones
Following the news that the latest iOS update can break phones with non-official replacement screens, repairers are encountering a different, more subtle problem: If you put a genuine Apple replacement display into an iPhone 8, 8 Plus or X, it'll no longer be able to adjust its brightness automatically. If Apple or one of its authorized partners were to put the same display in the same phone, though? No problem. The aftermarket repair community has verified the behavior in phones from the US all the way to Australia. It's confirmed to be an issue with phones running iOS 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3, which led sources to suggest it's been a problem since the launch of the latest batch of iPhones last fall. I was able to confirm that even swapping the displays of two brand-new iPhones causes the ambient light sensor to stop working, despite it not being altered or touched in any way. Experiments have shown that the sensor is disabled by iOS during the boot process.
Tesla puts Model 3 Autopilot controls on the steering wheel
Tesla has rectified one of the biggest Model 3 issues that cropped up during early reviews from Engadget and others. Until now, operating key vehicle functions like the Autopilot required tapping on the center display, effectively pulling the driver's eyes off the road. With a new update, however, drivers can adjust the Autopilot's cruise speed and follow distance via the steering wheel scroll buttons.
Samsung's first 3D Cinema LED screen launches in Swiss theater
Want to watch 3D movies at the theater without the picture quality limitations that come with projectors? You'll want to plan a trip to Switzerland. Samsung's 34-foot 3D Cinema LED screen has premiered at Arena Cinemas' Silhcity theater in Zurich, promising moviegoers 3D without the usual drawbacks (and, hopefully, a few perks). It promises 10 times the peak brightness of projectors while retaining the full 4K resolution and consistent picture quality, avoiding the usual problems with dim, low-resolution 3D images that vary based on where you're sitting. HDR video support and JBL Professional audio help, too.
Apple reportedly invests in its own MicroLED screens
Apple quietly acquired a company called LuxVue in 2014 that was working on low-power MicroLED display technology. A report by Bloomberg indicates that development has continued and that Apple is making a "significant investment" in the new technology with an eye toward including them in devices like the iPhone or Apple Watch in a few years.
Samsung patents a flying screen that could be used for hovering video
Samsung was awarded a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office last week for what it's calling a "flying display device." The patent, spotted by LetsGoDigital, was filed for in 2016 and describes a drone-like device with a screen that could be capable of streaming video, like, for example, broadcast television, but, as The Verge points out, it could also presumably be used as a hovering advertisement display. According to Samsung's patent, the flying screen would be supported by four propellers and could have features like voice recognition, a vibration system, an obstacle detection unit with a camera or a sensor as well as gyro, motion and accelerometer sensors. And the display could be a range of devices, including a tablet, a laptop or a mobile medical device.
HP's new 4K display lineup has USB-C connectivity
HP made its focus on its business audience clear with its latest range of laptops, and now the brand has rolled out a new lineup of 4K displays, and a multiple display dock, to further reinforce its commitment to professional users. The collection includes the new EliteDisplay S270n, plus three Z-series displays in sizes from 27 to 43 inches.
Samsung is the latest to try modernizing the whiteboard
Samsung isn't just limiting its CES launches to your home -- it wants to spruce up your meetings, too. It's releasing a Flip digital whiteboard (or "interactive digital flip chart" in Samsung speak) that can take on collaborative screens like the Google Jamboard. The 55-inch 4K display lets up to four people draw or add content at once, whether they're using their fingers or a dual-sided pen. And as the name suggests, you're not locked to a landscape view. You can flip the display vertical if you're writing a list or just don't have room for a wide screen, and it can be wall-mounted if it's going to be a permanent fixture.
LG shows off the world's first 88-inch 8K OLED display
Just as 4K and HDR are finally going mainstream, the ambitious folks at LG Display have also been busy pushing their OLED technology to 8K. Come CES, the Korean manufacturer will let attendees get up close with its new 88-inch 8K OLED display (can we just call it the "Triple 8?"), which is both the largest and the highest-resolution OLED panel to date. But as far as specs go, that's all we have for now. Previously, the largest OLED screen size was 77 inches, and it "only" came in 4K. While this combination is currently offered to consumers by the likes of LG Electronics, Sony and Panasonic, they all source their large OLED panels from LG Display.
Some iPhone X displays have a nasty green line
The iPhone X's design revolves around its all-encompassing OLED display, so you can imagine the heartbreak when that display is glitchy... and unfortunately, it looks like a handful of owners are going through that pain. People on Apple's forums, Reddit and elsewhere are reporting a glitch where a green line runs down the left or right edge of the display, regardless of what's happening on-screen. This doesn't appear to affect the functionality, but it's clearly annoying.
BenQ’s 4K HDR monitor for graphics pros has a glare hood
It's easy and cheap to go buy yourself a 4K HDR TV with billions of colors these days, so why the heck is it so hard to find a PC monitor that can do the same? Benq's latest professional monitor, the SW271, shows how the economics of the PC business has a lot to do with it. The 27-inch, 4K monitor can accurately render 10-bit, HDR images for professionals working on photos, video or graphics, and is actually pretty cheap in its category at $1,100.
