Samsung 22-Inch Transparent LCD Displays Hit Production
Samsung has announced that it has begun mass-production of 22-inch transparent LCD displays, with two models – capable of either black & white or color images – in the first range to be offered. Rather than a traditional backlight, the 1680 x 1050 displays (which have 500:1 contrast ratios) use ambient light to illuminate them; Samsung has boosted transparency to 15-20% (over 5% in normal panels) so that sunlight is enough to make the picture visible.
Inputs include HDMI and USB, and Samsung reckons that power consumption is down by 90-percent over traditional displays as well. Users can look straight through them, like glass, and while it envisages advertising and "interactive communication" uses initially, there are also some very appealing transparent notebook prototypes floating around.
No word on pricing at this stage, nor when the displays – which only went into production this month – will actually go on sale.
[via OLED-Display]
Press Release:
Samsung Electronics Becomes the World's First in Mass Production of Transparent LCD PanelSEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that it began mass production of a 22-inch transparent LCD panel in March this year.
"Transparent displays will have a wide range of use in all industry areas as an efficient tool for delivering information and communication. With the world's first mass production of the transparent LCD panel, Samsung Electronics plans to lead the global transparent LCD market by developing various applications."
The panels come in two types, the black-and-white type and the color type, and they have a contrast ratio of 500:1 with WSXGA+ (1680*1050) resolution.
Compared with the conventional LCD panels that use back light unit (BLU) and have 5% transparency, Samsung's transparent LCD panel boasts the world's best transparency rate of over 20% for the black-and-white type and over 15% for the color type.
The transparent LCD panel has a high transparency rate, which enables a person to look right through the panel like glass, and it consumes 90% less electricity compared with a conventional LCD panel using back light unit. It's because a transparent LCD panel utilizes ambient light such as sun light, which consequently reduces the dependency on electricity for generating power.
Also, Samsung's transparent LCD panel maximizes convenience for not only manufacturers but also consumers by incorporating the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.
Transparent display panels have endless possibilities as an advertising tool, which can be applied to show windows and outdoor billboards or used in showcase events. Corporations and schools can also adopt the panel as an interactive communication device, which enables information to be displayed more effectively.
Younghwan Park, a senior vice president of Samsung Electronics LCD Business, said, "Transparent displays will have a wide range of use in all industry areas as an efficient tool for delivering information and communication. With the world's first mass production of the transparent LCD panel, Samsung Electronics plans to lead the global transparent LCD market by developing various applications."