Updates to this story
Samsung has announced that it will begin the mass production of what we must admit are rather impressive sounding transparent LCD screen displays.
Though other firms such as Sony and LG have also been playing around with transparent displays, this is the first time that the technology is going into mass production.
The panels will come in both black and white and colour versions, with a contrast ratio of 500:1 and WSXGA+ (1680*1050) resolution.
The colour panel will have a transparency rate of 15 percent with the monochrome version will reach rates of 20 percent, a marked improvement on the five percent of tradition back light unit LCDs.
Basically this will mean that a viewer will be able to look right through the glass as if it were a clear window, with potential for overlaid images.
Samsung says the panels will consume 90 percent less leccy than a normal BLU set, as well as potentially costing less, in the long run at least, due to the fact that the back lights are not needed.
But before everyone rushes out to replace all their windows with transaparent screens it should be noted that the 22-inch model being released is, according to display expert Bob Raikes at Meko, very much a first step into the market with what will likely be a very small volume of production.
“This is really a new concept and an innovation by the panel makers,” he told TechEye, pointing out that people are only really just beginning to play around with the possibilities at the moment.
And of course there are plenty of exciting uses for the panel, although the first instances are likely to be in advertising rather than in living rooms.
“Early applications are likely to be in shop windows,” Raikes believes. “For example, data could be overlaid through the window of a clothes shop with products and sizes on show and so on, with customers even interacting with the screen.”
Raikes also noted that “one company has even been trying out the use of the displays in freezers at the supermarket, with price information flashing up on the freezer door,” offering a more contemporary way for Asda to flog their special offer fish fingers if nothing else.
Essentially this seems to be a technology that is really still in its infancy as far as its potential uses are concerned.
However, as Raikes points out, while that it is certainly an intriguing novelty at the moment, it is one that is likely to offer substantial possibilities in the realm of augmented reality in the future.
Have a look at the below video for glimpse of what could be offered in the future.
Hello, what is this? I believe that the driver behind me is wanting to "poke" me. Be a love, dear, and search for the definition of "bowdlerize".
Yes... Same to you madam and in a pig's ear!
its just a foil over some light source...
we made 20$ projectors with the old overhead projector and used 1024x768 lcd's.. needed just a but cooling :)
The panels, which measure 22 inches across the diagonal, support resolutions up to 1,680-by-1,050, have 500:1 contrast ratios, and are available in both color and black-and-white models.
Samsung claims that the panels offer the world's highest transparency rate: over 20 percent for the black-and-white variety, and over 15 percent for color. (The company says that conventional LCD panels with a backlight unit have only 5 percent transparency.)