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Samsung shows off 55-inch glasses-free 3D TV prototype
Samsung hasn't exactly been as big on glasses-free 3D TVs as some other manufacturers in recent years, but it's now showing one off at the FPD China trade show -- or a prototype of one, anyway. According to Tech-On!, the 55-inch display is able to accommodate nine different viewpoints for glasses-free 3D viewing, and it can be switched into a 2D mode at any time, which works by changing the optical refraction index of an LCD panel that sits on top of the main LCD that's actually used to display images. Right now, the prototype is also relying on a direct-lit CCFL backlight, although Samsung notes that would likely be replaced with an LED backlight before it actually hits the market -- something that's still a good three years away.
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.
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.
AUO's 65-inch 3D HDTV panel headed for the conveyer belt in 2H 2010, boasts polarized specs
While it might have been a pipe dream back in '09, Taiwanese display manufacturer AU Optronics is firmly committed to blasting our eyeballs in 2010, with a monstrous 65-inch HD LCD panel ready for all the 3D and pseudo-3D content (we're looking at you, G-Force) you have on offer. AUO isn't hedging its bets on this one, either; at FPD China 2010, the company announced that they're using a polarized solution with cheap, $2 to 3 glasses to generate the 3D effect. Sure, polarized is the preferred method for most theatres, but it's often more expensive than active shutter tech for an in-home user -- and can come with some serious visual tradeoffs like permanent ghosting or halved vertical resolution. We won't know for sure until we get hands-on, but either way, expect to see AUO's panels in a branded 3D HDTV near you early next year, or just a few months before HDI drops a 103-inch monster of its own.
LG roadmap predicts 'OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016'
Speaking at the FPD show in Japan, Won Kim, VP of LG Display's OLED sales and marketing group laid bare its OLED plans for the future. Pretty significant as LG is one of only two players currently manufacturing production OLED TVs; though unlike Sony, LG has yet to ship anything -- that bit of consumer magic begins in November. So here's the deal: LG will release 20-inch and larger OLED panels in 2010, 30-inch and larger in 2011, and 40-inch and larger OLED panels in 2012. While 40-inch OLEDs will still be "fairly expensive" in 2012, Kim predicts that "OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016." We'd love to believe that but it sounds overly aggressive to us considering the enormous investment panel manufacturers have made in LCDs (they'll be milking profits just as long as they can) and new push towards 3D televisions. Besides, LG's been all over the map with its OLED dates so let's not go carving anything in low-temperature polycrystal silicon just yet. [Via OLED-Display.net]
LG's transparent 15-inch AMOLED display is amazing, possibly useless
Look at that, just look at it will you. It's another in a latest trend that's bringing transparent displays to consumer electronics. However, this pup is in color and livin' large at 15-inches unlike those tiny transparent displays we've seen in handsets. Unfortunately, all we can do is look for the moment because the concept on show at FPD 2009 in Japan is accompanied by very little in the way of detail.
Samsung's 30-inch 3D AMOLED TV won't make you dizzy, will leave you poor and silly
Feeling that 3D craze yet? No? Well what if we told you that Samsung was bringing stereoscopic 3D to its magnificent AMOLED panels touting a million-to-1 contrast? Today in Japan it's showing off its 30-inch AMOLED 3D television with Full HD panel measuring just 2.5-mm thick. Although much is lost in the Korean language press release, Sammy is claiming that itd panel plus shutter-glasses technology helps to reduce the dizziness felt by some 3D viewers. The set's just a prototype at the moment but its price will certainly invoke financial vertigo whenever it might hit the manufacturing lines. One more very serious picture after the break.
AUO previews lots of fancy displays, clownfish-approved 1080p 14-inch OLED monitor
FPD International 2009 is nearly upon us, and as we've seen in years past it's a time of wondrous innovation and gratuitous side-shots of impossibly thin displays. Leading off the pack this year is AUO, teasing a number of new panels and technologies that may or may not rock your living rooms sometime in the next two to four years. Chief among them is a 14-inch, 1080p OLED display with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and 16 million colors. There will also be a range of switchable and glasses-free 2D/3D displays ranging from 8- to 65-inches, a ridiculously wide 58-inch 2.35:1 TV with a 2560 x 1080 resolution, and, naturally, a skinny LCD -- in this case the 65-inch beauty pictured below that's just 7.9mm on the Z plane despite pumping out a claimed 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Good stuff? Yes. The craziest displays we'll see this week? Not a chance.
Samsung concept phone unfolds to hypnotize onlookers with flexible OLED
Cellphones are caught in this awkward spot where they've got to be small -- like pocketable, doesn't-look-ridiculous-on-your-face small -- and yet somehow big enough to pack an expansive, pretty display that's capable of displaying a lot of stuff at once. That's a paradox that has forced manufacturers into some curious form factors over the years, but ultimately, if you want to somehow cram the desktop viewing experience into a device the size of a pack of cigarettes, you're probably going to need something that projects, rolls, or folds. That's where Samsung's new concept phone shown off at the FPD International show in Yokohama comes into play, opening like a book to reveal a flexible OLED big enough to handle those cute puppy videos that no plain-vanilla, 2.5-inch display can do justice. There's no word on when a so-equipped handset might see production -- but we think it's appropriate that it's being shown off in Japan in all places, if you catch our drift. Follow the break for a video of the display in action.
Samsung SDI shows off 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma
There's a slight possibility that you haven't noticed, but Samsung SDI is on fire. Like, seriously burning down FPD International 2008. After treating onlookers to a flexible OLED, a 40-inch Full HD OLED display and an assortment of other eye-enticing panels, the outfit has one-upped itself once more with a 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma. Sure, actually finding 4k x 2k content will be a challenge, but who wouldn't want to be ready for the inevitable worldwide domination of Super Hi-Vision? Most of the other specs (contrast ratio, luminance, where it's being stored with loose security, etc.) were sadly absent, but with a native resolution like this, the rest takes a back seat anyway.
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]
FPD International: yeah, we're there with Samsung's 1-cm thin 40-inch LCD
See that? No, not the panel on the wall, the 1-cm thin 40-incher standing in profile. That's the new Samsung we told you about yesterday all unwrapped and on the floor live at the FPD (Flat Panel Display) International show in Japan. More good news: although yesterday's press shot featured a Photoshopped display, this functional prototype is flaunting a true video feed. So head on over to Engadget Japan who's doing it up live if you just can't wait for our English translation.
Samsung's 40-inch 1080p LCD TV panel -- just 0.39-inches thin
With Sharp, Hitachi, and LG.Philips all announcing ultra-thin LCDs we were beginning to wonder, where's Samsung with their world's first / biggest / thinnest boasting? No more. Meet the 10-mm (0.39-inch) thin, 40-inch LED-backlit, Full HD LCD TV panel which covers 92% of the NTSC color gamut while consuming less than 90 watts of power. That profile easily bests the crazy thin measurements we've already seen. At the moment, however, no price or production run details are available. That could change on Wednesday when the panel goes on display at FPD International in Japan.
