Researchers ease LCD viewing angle woes

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.