Saw this article on Wired.com about the recent advancements in producing flexible displays. If you think LCDs and plasmas are cutting edge then you need to check this out. We are taking a display that can be rolled up into your pocket that won't break and consumes almost no power...pretty amazing.
That technology could become reality in two to three years, thanks to U.S. Army-backed research being done at Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center. According to Army researchers, the displays could be in field trials with soldiers as early as 2010 or 2011.
These flexible displays have been the dream of science fiction authors, wearable-computing enthusiasts and the display industry for nearly a decade. LG Philips, Fujitsu and Sony have shown off prototypes of flexible-display systems, while startups such as Plastic Logic and E-Ink have talked about the possibility of putting their digital ink displays onto bendable backings. But so far the idea has remained more in the realm of Minority Report than the real world.
The Army is interested in small displays that can be folded up, have very little weight and won't break. They will allow the military to send greater information to soldiers and replace many of the bulky devices that they carry currently.
Flexible displays — when they arrive — will be a big leap from today's liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and even organic light-emitting diode-based displays (OLEDs).
Consider the difference in power consumption. The flexible displays will consume 100 times less power compared with LCDs. Even OLEDs, which are two to three times more efficient than LCDs, can't match that kind of efficiency.
The center is focusing on electrophoretic ink-based displays that are extremely low power and flexible, says Raupp.
The displays have thin-film transistor arrays on specialty polymer and thin stainless-steel substrates and use electrophoretic ink (E Ink), among other technologies, to render the characters. [Wired Gadget Lab]
1 comment:
This is absolutely remarkable. Loved the Esquire cover, which was e-ink.
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