Friday I posted some satirical like ads from the folks at Microvision, you know the ones building the ultra small Pico projectors to be used in cell phones. Well, it looks like 3M has emerged as a contender in the ultra-ultra portable projector market, although they’ve yet to name the outsourced company to build it. This bite sized LED projector can display an image up to 50-inches, diagonally and is intended as an add-on to the cell phones, computers and cameras. It’s expected to cost $300 - 400, but come on, who really knows how much these things are gonna go for.
By now we’re all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Pico, a projector small enough to fit into a cell phone. Even though the product has yet to be unveiled that hasn’t stopped their marketing team from releasing a set of commercials promoting it…well promoting the stand alone product. The ads are pretty cheesy with the silliest one featuring 30-something hipsters displaying images at a bar to pick up on a guy.
Samsung introduced a whole new slew of monitors in their BX line today, capable of displaying in a landscape or wide angle mode (16:10 or 10:16). Sizes range from 17″ to 22″ and include a fully articulating stand for height and angle control. Additionally, they feature an ‘ultraslim’ bevel at a mere 15mm allowing for multiple monitors to be placed together for one giant viewing experience. Other features include an 8000:1 contrast ratio, DVI outs, and buttonless touch controls. Prices start at $239.
A company called SIScreens is claiming that their new screen technology, called Black Diamond, will achieve ‘blacker blacks, whiter whites’ and greater color accuracy. You’ll notice the difference is most significant in a well lit room, where as with a dark room it’s harder to discern between true contrast and color difference. The above picture is a snap shot I took from their video presentation - you be the judge. If you look closely (during the dark room scenario), the whites are darker, but there isn’t a drastic night and day difference in colors or contrast. From what I can tell it’s just a darker screen that reflects less light in well lit situations and hence why it looks better. Available for $2600 in a 100″ model.
By the way, I really like the inserted clapping sound effect at the beginning of the video.
NEC unvelied an ultra bright projector today called the NP3151W - the W stands for Widescreen. Weighing in with up to 5000 lumens (that should read ’super bright’) this LCD tighten of a projector is intended for boardrooms and conference room, and can display a 40 to 500 inch screen depending on which lens is installed. Setting up a connection between computer and projector is quick and easy as the device can wirelessly connect to the network - a new feature to me, but apparently requires Windows Vista. Available March ‘08 for $5000.
Bang and Olufsen, long known for their illustrious line of visual/audio equipment, introduced the Beovision 4 plasma TV today. They’ve laid claim to having the best looking plasma on the market, but ‘how so’ you ask? Included in what is a probably an uber expensive set, is a small camera that emerges from the TV’s inner workings every 100 hours to measure picture quality and adjust accordingly. Engineers and marketers must work in the same department because they’ve inserted a dedicated center channel at the base of the TV insuring that you’ll purchase the matching BeoLab 10 home theater system. Comes in a 50 inch and 65 inch setup.
The EMS, or E-Paper Music Score eliminates the need to carry books of sheet music. Using a single flexible display matched with E-ink technology the device can display sheet music transmitted via Bluetooth. Included in the package is a foot pedal so you don’t have to take your hands of the instrument to change pages.
ADTI (yeah, I’ve never heard of them) announced the Skynet display (I’m thinking “Terminator”) today. Made up of thousands, if not millions of LEDs, the display can be wrapped around any building, is light weight, transparent, can be viewed in direct sunlight and is only 3 centimeters thick. It will withstand all sorts of weather conditions (up to 115 degree F) and is limitless in size. Boy, I’d like to get my hands on the remote to this thing.
The video above is an example of a building wrapped in LEDs found in Barcelona, Spain. The graphics displayed seem pretty rudimentary. Let’s hope Skynet’s are more detailed.
What if your cell phone was no bigger then a pack of cigarettes, but sported a screen that measured 5″ diagonally? Coming later this year, Polymer Vision plans to release a cell phone that includes a 5″ rollable display. Dubbed the Readius, the device will boast all the features of a standard Smartphone, such as high speed Internet, email, MP3 player and more. The E-Ink type display can fold up, requires little juice to operate and can usually be viewed in any type of light. The first iteration of the device will include 16 shades of gray with a color version to be rolled out in 2013. The display won’t be touch screen, but I’m sure we can expect a touch version in the coming years. It measures 4.5 x 2.25 x 0.8 inches, weighs 4oz and because of the low power screen it should enable 30 hours of reading time. It includes an SD memory card slot allowing the user to increase capacity to 8GB.
Vista. Available March ‘08 for $5000.
