3Qi Screen Technology Shipping in Time for Apple Tablet?

The youtube vid was shot in Taiwan in summer, just about as bright day as you'll find anywhere on Earth. You see the camera struggle between the shade and sunlight. It is impressive that the camera can 'see' any display on the screen in the bright light. It must look great to human eyes so wonder she looks so happy.

She was there to talk to LCD manufacturers since they can use existing machinery to make these screens.

I'm sure Apple have known about this for years. If they don't use it then they may envision their tablet only being used in the shade. A tablet's battery life may not be as crucial as a laptops.
 
This screen technology looks very promising. I hope Steve Jobs uses these, or something similar, in many upcoming technology devices. It would be great to extend battery life too. I am very happy to hear about this development.
 
skate71290 said:
if apple use this ugly screen i aint buying one... i want to see an iphone/ipod touch glass screen!!! :eek: :mad: :apple:
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Read up about the technology first. This is some seriously clever stuff, capable of producing perfect black and white text and limited colour at _very_ low power usage, and perfectly readable in glaring sunshine. And at the same time your normal higher powered screen when indoors and not trying to safe batteries.

And I think Apple will survive if _you_ don't buy one.
 
Good news, but who cares? It's gonna be gen/dev 1! Double...

So...

What are the pitfalls? Do they have to manufacture half a million to improve the design, to make colours nicer?

With this new technology (despite the 'ancient' manufacturing methods they use for these panels, it's a new use), it is wise to wait until the manufacturing process have reached a certain level. With Apple's products, so many first generation items were dodgy, that I will never buy anything 'untested' from them. So, in this case, two 'firsts' meet - the tablet and the display. Great potential for poor battery life, overheating, noises and so on. I suppose, the cracking plastic will be just a nice touch from Apple just to keep up with the tradition.

But I accept that without matte screen, Apple should not even try to promote a portable e-reader, gaming, media- and internet device.
 
Kilamite said:
"Well under" doesn't mean it will be $200 like you said. It means it will be under it, possibly significantly. So around $140 maybe? Plus, if Apple was to put an order on a huge amount of these, they'd probably end up paying under $100 per screen.
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In the youtube video Arn posted she talks about the figure of $200 per screen as an exaggeration from some bloggers. She specifically says they were thinking more of seeing the screen in *devices* costing $200. Look at this link at 11:30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8WoItVRn0
 
What is interesting is that Pixel Qi [http://www.pixelqi.com/] has been scrubbing their pages a bit. On their FAQ page they talk about using this product in $75 laptops and the OLPC. About a month ago they were talking about an entire e-reader that cost $200 to make. If this were the vaunted Apple "Slate" then Apple might be able to release this tablet for $400.. and before any subsidization for 3g/4g.

If you check out their other videos it looks like this is a simple retrofit of existing LCD technology. (Page white transflexive backing + configurable back-light + high contrast GUI.) I expect this to be cheap to implement and to considerably increase battery life.
 
This screen tech was originally designed for use in the OLPC project, so it was initially very cheap. I can't imagine that it is a lot more expensive now, even though it will be improved.

It is a compromise between the quality of an LCD, and the power consumption of ePaper, with the response time of LCD (maybe not the best LCD, but usable for video), the colour capability of LCD (although the original OLPC displays had a lower colour resolution than B&W resolution, but that works well for media that is either text or images, like a magazine/websites/etc).

I can see Apple using it, however I don't know if the compromises they will have to take will be desirable for them.

However other devices will certainly use this technology.
 
V-e-r-y i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-k!

Now that is some good investigative research. If Apple do make a daylight readable device that has the power to augment most laptop functions, this is going to change the world. Why? No device yet available on the market can be used outside. Even Apple used to show people sitting on top of mountains working on their PowerBooks, but that was all make believe. You cannot see ANY non mobile phone screen in daylight without having to squint or sit under a tree.

The office is about to die.




crazor said:
Dr. Carlin Vieri - VP of Engineering

Carlin Vieri joined Pixel Qi from Apple Computer where he engineered new generation display electronics for the iPhone and other devices. Previously he pioneered liquid crystal on silicon electronics backplanes, drive schemes and interfaces with the MicroDisplay Corporation, where he was Director of Electronics. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and BS in Electrical Enginerring from UC Berkeley.
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(When I say 'non mobile' I mean...

...non cell/mobile phone display. Alll said, even the iPhone, Nokia E71 and other devices with screens that can be viewed in daylight are still not good enough for elongated reading of fine text, such as eBooks.



Oflife said:
Now that is some good investigative research. If Apple do make a daylight readable device that has the power to augment most laptop functions, this is going to change the world. Why? No device yet available on the market can be used outside. Even Apple used to show people sitting on top of mountains working on their PowerBooks, but that was all make believe. You cannot see ANY non mobile phone screen in daylight without having to squint or sit under a tree.

The office is about to die.
Click to expand...
 
The ebook reader web site, Mobileread, has been talking about this product for over a year while it was going through development. It's more a in-between product for people who want a full service ebook reader/computer. We are used to our readers last for days on a charge but want color for all our magazine/comic/illustrated book needs. To us, cutting our battery life in half for color is worth it. We don't expect the crisp look of a full service Notebook or Desktop computer. We do expect it to last at least 10 hours, be light and have the ability to read/download all types of text format, highlight, make notes, etc...
 
A very Apple design like "protoype" on their Website

Very intresting technlogy, would really fit into an imaginary Apple Tablet.

Also the 10" screen size and the low power technology and also the date available seem quite match the past rumors...

... but have you seen this image from their Website

color_stripes.155134929.JPG


That aluminium bezel and that round corners literally look very familiar to me.
 
FReigM said:
That aluminium bezel and that round corners literally look very familiar to me.
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I see what your saying but i hope to god apple's tablet isn't that..... Plain. although i'd prefer the brushed aluminum to chromed out aluminum any day for a tablet.
 
This display would be the perfect hybrid between Kindle style e-ink and LCD. A perfect match for a tablet.

BTW, two days ago I heard a non-retail Apple employee say they were hiring for tablet developers. I'm pretty sure she was joking but why joke if it wasn't true, hmm.
 
pavenger said:
I see what your saying but i hope to god apple's tablet isn't that..... Plain. although i'd prefer the brushed aluminum to chromed out aluminum any day for a tablet.
Click to expand...

I just thought for a moment that if Apple had set up any prototype to say "test" the 3Qi Screen technology they would have come up with such an enclosure...

I saw it and thought Apple! Unlike the other setups they have on the same page this looks really Apple like.

Not that I'm saying this is by any means "the" tablet or nothing even close to it...
 
Vandam500 said:
So true! Hope the Tablet is under $1,000!
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I'm expecting a $699 "base" model.

mac1984user said:
I'm so tired of having itchy eyes after hours of LCD screen use.
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I get major baggage under my eyes, lol. I HATE it.

dernhelm said:
A tablet's battery life could be MORE crucial if it ends up being used in a hospital setting (like many, many tablets are being used in these days
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Yes, our department in the ER just purchased a few, unfortunately, they came standard with good ol' XP. Ugh. I wish they had Vista or 7. I hate the fact that we have to use the pen to use it though.
 
valanchan said:
The youtube vid was shot in Taiwan in summer, just about as bright day as you'll find anywhere on Earth. You see the camera struggle between the shade and sunlight. It is impressive that the camera can 'see' any display on the screen in the bright light. It must look great to human eyes so wonder she looks so happy.

She was there to talk to LCD manufacturers since they can use existing machinery to make these screens.

I'm sure Apple have known about this for years. If they don't use it then they may envision their tablet only being used in the shade. A tablet's battery life may not be as crucial as a laptops.
Click to expand...

A tablet's battery life could be MORE crucial if it ends up being used in a hospital setting (like many, many tablets are being used in these days). If this is just a device to read books and play movies, then poor battery life is only an inconvenience. But if Apple wants this tablet used for more than just entertainment, they need to get battery life way, way up.

Done right, this could be a _killer_ device for use by nurses and techs in a hospital (or similar environments).
 
and maybe Apple would be interested to see how to better the LCD monitor. I thought of this when the tablet rumored before. a monitor that does both regular and e-ink.
 
Peace said:
You forgot an important part of her quote :

"Pixel Qi will be at CES in Las Vegas in early January supporting our customers. We can’t yet announce with whom we will be showing but hope to shortly."

Betcha Steve Jobs is a last minute speaker at CES.
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I think you called correctly it again! Just like when you said the new iMacs were coming the day after the conference call! :D:)
 
i thought those screens were not nearly as vibrant as regulay LCD's.

with the tablet rumored to be a video watching device i can't see apple using them.

apple usually uses the best screens for watching video (within reason, within price).

those screens certainly would disappoint many who are used to the MBP screens and expect a similar experience.
 
Shine On

Oh please. Apple using any kind of technology that's doesn't reflect it's glossy, blingy, shiny screen in your face for 7 hours? Doubtful.
 
FReigM said:
Very intresting technlogy, would really fit into an imaginary Apple Tablet.

Also the 10" screen size and the low power technology and also the date available seem quite match the past rumors...

... but have you seen this image from their Website

http://pixelqi.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/color_stripes.155134929.JPG

That aluminium bezel and that round corners literally look very familiar to me.
Click to expand...

Holy crapoli! That's it! Someone put this on the main page so they ask us to take it down, and take it down themselves, thereby falling into our trap and PROVING that it's the Tablet!

*slaps self* sorry. need a second cup of coffee today.
 
what's the DPI of this display?

one of the main advantages of digital paper for a quality reading experience is the high resolution...
 
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