Competing technologies - Page 42

Engadget has posted a review of Apple's new iPhone 4 phone. They love the IPS-LCD display: "to our eyes, there has never been a more detailed, clear, or viewable screen on any mobile device...Because Apple is using IPS and LED technology for its screen, the iPhone
4 is mercifully visible in full sunlight, and performance in low light and at extreme viewing angles are favorable. Overall, you simply won't find a better display on a phone, and that's not just lip service."

CNet has posted an interesting video in which they test whether AMOLED displays are better than LCDs. The conclusions? The AMOLED provide better colors, but also less accurate ones. They also suffer under sunlight (although the new Super-AMOLEDs are quite good). See for yourself: (update: the video is no longer available)

TechBlog has done an interesting test, putting a Super-AMOLED vs a 'regular' AMOLED and an LCD in direct sunlight. They used 3 phones for the comparison: Samsung Galaxy S (4" 480x800 super-AMOLED ), HTC Desire (3.7" 480x800 AMOLED) and a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (4" 480x854 TFT LCD).

It seems that the best display is still the LCD, but the Super-AMOLED (which is a lot better than the regular AMOLED) comes close - and most of the times the difference is negligible.

Here's an interesting comparison, a Pixel-Qi transflective LCD technology (with a touch layer) against the Google Nexus-One AMOLED display. The Pixel-Qi behaves much better than the AMOLED display... It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the new Super-AMOLED displays.

When Apple announced the iPhone 4, Steve Jobs said that the IPS-LCD display (which they call a "retina display") is better than an AMOLED. Now Samsung replies, saying that the display is nice, but AMOLED is better. Samsung says that the iPhone sharpness (960x640) has only a 3-5% advantage over the Galaxy-S's Super-AMOLED (800x480), but it draws 30% more power. Samsung also believes that AMOLED provides better viewing angles and contrast. Samsung concludes by saying that "structurally, IPS LCD technology cannot catch up with AM-OLED display technology".

Apple has announced the new iPhone 4. The display is a 3.5" IPS-LCD (960x640, 800:1 contrast ratio), which Apple calls a "Retina display". Why "Retina"? Because the dpi is 326ppi - "beyond the human eye's limit of distinction". Steve Jobs says that it's better than an OLED display. Even if they wanted to use OLED, no one can make enough panels...

iPhone 4

Other than the new display, the iPhone 4 is still a 3G (UMTS) phone based on the new A4 processor. It's thinner than the 3GS, but has a bigger battery (it's rated at 7 hours of 3G talk). Other features include Wi-Fi (802.11n), gyroscope, new front-facing camera, 5MP back camera that can record HD video (720p @30fps). The iPhone 4 will be available in white or black, will cost $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB, and will go on sale June 24th.

Canon has officially abandoned the SED TV technology - they just couldn't bring the cost down to make this a viable alternative to LCD TVs. Canon still plans to use SED panels for industrial and medical displays (high margin businesses).

Researchers say that exciton quenching and photon loss processes limit OLED efficiency and brightness. Organic light-emitting transistors (OLETs) are alternative, planar light sources combining, in the same architecture, the switching mechanism of a thin-film transistor and an electroluminescent device.

Trilayer OLET device and chemical structure

OLETs can be used to replace OLEDs in both display and lighting applications. According to new research, they are more than 100 times more efficient than equivalent OLEDs, and over 2 times more efficient than optimized OLED with the same emitting layer. There are still challenges for OLETs (the major one is operating voltage).

Liquavista has developed a new type of display technology that can operate in transmissive, reflective or transflective modes, has a great optical performance and is very efficient. Liquavista's display are based on the principle of Electrowetting (when a voltage is used to modify the wetting properties of a solid material).

E-Ink-Info has posted an interview with their CTO, in which he gives more information on the technology and the company. They are currently targeting the e-reader market, but in the future these displays can be used in mobile phones, laptops and even TVs. It'll be interesting to know how a EWD based TV compares to an OLED TV.

Researchers from Sweden and the US have produced a new transparent lighting component that is made from Graphene. They say it is cheap to make and fully recyclable, and might be an alternative to OLED Lighting. The new device is called an Organic Light-emitting Electrochemical Cell, or LEC. The Graphene is used for an electrode. LECs can be made using a roll-to-roll process, because all of its parts can be made from liquid solutions.

There's very little info on that new device (such as what is the actual light-emitting material, what's the efficiency of it, etc.).