Researchers ease LCD viewing angle woes
Taking a different view of the problem
Researchers at a Taiwanese university have developed an LCD that tracks a viewer’s movements and then adjusts its settings to give the optimum display. It’s claimed the design can therefore overcome blurred or distorted images when viewing the screen from an angle.
The prototype display, developed at the National Chiao Tung University, is connected to a miniature camera that tracks the viewer’s head position in front of the screen. Specialist software then helps to alter the orientation of the display’s liquid crystals and the power supplied to LEDs, which its researchers claim results in a much clearer image from a variety of angles.
The Taiwanese researchers have also claimed they are already working on improvements to the system by replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor that tracks a user’s eye movements instead, and which could be incorporated into handheld devices. Further development of either technique could have positive implications for the global LCD market.
COMMENTS
RE: A telescreen?
Your comment was along the lines of my first thoughts. However, I was soon reminded of the recent news regarding Bush signing a bill into law that broadens the federal government's electronic eavesdropping powers. I then realized that the only reason we don't already live in such a scenario is that there hasn't been a corporation insightful enough to realize the profit potential in first creating the device for US consumers, then secretly selling software to the US govt. that allows them access to these devices via the internet.
Or is this what this article is really about?
@Anon
"It's tracking head movement, not eye movement. It won't be able to tell which portion of the screen you're looking at - just where your head is in relation to the screen. They're two entirely different things, and serve two entirely different functions."
From the article:
"The Taiwanese researchers have also claimed they are already working on improvements to the system by replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor that tracks a user’s eye movements instead"
Read first. Comment later.
Why bother?
The LCD screen is a monstosity that deserves to go the way of parallel port and the floppy. Park it right next to the super drive.
Re: Sony Bravia's
I just got a KDL40-V2500, which isn't even the latest generation, and the image is still viewable in brightness/contrast terms long after it becomes unwatchable due to perspective.
Eh?
mmm... I don't get it. Why would you want to view the screen at an angle? The keyboard is right in front and presentations are usually done via a connected projector, so why
I just can't think of any scenarios where I'd have to view at an angle.
Technology for technology's sake me thinks.
