Hardware
Pixel Qi Screens Shed Light on the Future
I’ve been waiting to see some of my fellow bloggers take a hard look at the Pixel Qi screens that are debuting at CES2010 and well they have. Pretty much unanimously they seem to be saying that Pixel Qi is onto something. Here’s a quick round up:
- jkOnTheRun The Future of Netbooks and eReaders?
- Engadget calls it an e-Ink Killer
- Gizmodo calls it amazing and also an e-Ink Killer.
- Brad Linder says Pixel Qi makes LCD displays that are unlike any you’ve ever seen
- and jkkmobile gushes so much over the screen that I think his wife should be worried.
What’s so exciting about the Pixel Qi screens? The fact that the with a touch of the button you can move from a backlight LED screen eating up 2.5w of power to the transflective non backlight screen that is e-Ink light. This only chews up 0.5w of power. This is also supposedly easily viewable in sunlight or brightly lit areas. Check out the video from jkkmobile after the jump for an example of that.
The power savings for small mobile devices are always a key, and the viewability is certainly a plus as well for those who like to be outdoors. But from what I’m reading we’re still a ways off from seeing Pixel Qi screens start to infiltrate our devices. What was I saying about 2001?
Joel
01/08/2010 at 5:33 pm
Youtube user “Charbax” seems to have healthy relationship with the company behind the technology. He’s visited their office and has some videos from 6 months or so ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8WoItVRn0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSR-m6o4ML8
The research behind the technology is very exciting. The business forces that will drive the widespread availability and adoption is something to be more wary of. It’s worthing noting that industry relationships and partnerships can become somewhat entrenched, and there’s that Catch-22 of consumers not clamoring for something that they don’t know about. The most exciting prospects for this display are in technologies for the “other 90%” (i.e. the One Laptop Per Child project as well as other initiatives to create and provide technology for the benefit of people on our planet who are not in the wealthiest 10%).