I’ve gotten some information on Lenovo’s Superview screen technology from our contacts that is worth sharing, especially from an expectation factor. From what I’m hearing there are several folks thinking that SuperView adds Indoor/Outdoor viewability. Well the answer to that is yes and no. The reality is this. Superview will enhance outdoor viewability but only as compared to screens that have not been treated with this technology.

Here’s how it works. The Direct Bonding technique essentially bonds an anti-reflective filter or coat element directly onto the LCD that does improve readability in sunlight. In addition, Lenovo, added an anti-glare coating that was “tuned” in their direct bonding process for both indoor and outdoor viewing.

Here’s some more info on Lenovo’s approach to Direct Bonding quoted from our source:

Traditional designs not only use multiple surfaces that increase reflectivity but also are thicker and have increased weight. In addition, there are air-gaps between display and overlay covers. With bonding to reduce thickness and removal of the air-gap, the X61 Tablet is thinner, weighs less, and is brighter then the previous X60 Tablet SXGA+. This also makes for a sturdier and more rugged screen, any condensation issues between layers is gone as is “screen parallax”, (bending), often found on pen input devices. The more rigid screen handles repeated deflections of the glass much more effectively; the removal of the air-gaps handles the point loading of the stylus in a much more durable way. One of reasons why we chose direct bonding for SXGA+ is to minimize "Parallax" by pen input.

This confirms much of what I’ve already written. Yes, the SXGA+ is definitely brighter. In my opinion, if you are doing a lot of work outdoors, the Superview technology will make it easier to see your screen in direct sunlight, but it should not be considered an outdoor screen.

UPDATE on the UPDATE: According to eagle eyed GBM Forum member lorentz who picked up a comment on the Lenovo Inside The Box Blog from Tim Supples, there is a typo on the Lenovo site that lists the SXGA+ unit as only SXGA. Read more about it here in the GBM forums or on the Inside The Box Blog.