Sony Shows Off Paper-Thin, Bendable Video Display

[Aaron]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275514,00.html#

TOKYO — In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all — a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.
Sony Corp. (SNE) released video of the new 2.5-inch display Friday.
In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. The display shows color images of a bicyclist stuntman and a picturesque lake.



Although flat-panel TVs are getting slimmer, a display that's so thin it bends in a human hand marks a breakthrough.
Sony said it has yet to decide on commercial products using the technology.
"In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing," said Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. "Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper."

Tatsuo Mori, an engineering and computer science professor at Nagoya University, said some hurdles remained, including making the display bigger, ensuring durability and cutting costs.
But he said the display's pliancy is extremely difficult to imitate with liquid crystal displays and plasma display panels — the two main display technologies now on the market.
"To come up with a flexible screen at that image quality is groundbreaking," Mori said. "You can drop it, and it won't break because it's as thin as paper."
The new display combines two technologies: Sony's organic thin film transistor, which is required to make flexible displays, and organic electroluminescent display.
Other companies, including LG Philips LCD Co. and Seiko Epson Corp., are also working on a different kind of "electronic paper" technology, but Sony said the organic electroluminescent display delivers better color images and is more suited for video.
Sony President Ryoji Chubachi has said a film-like display is a major technology his company is working on to boost its status as a technological powerhouse.
In a meeting with reporters more than a year ago, Chubachi boasted Sony was working on a technology for displays so thin they could be rolled up like paper. He had predicted that the world would stand up and take notice.
Some analysts have said Sony, which makes Walkman portable players and PlayStation 3 video game machines, had fallen behind rivals in flat-panel technology, including Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and Sharp Corp. of Japan.
But Sony has been marking a turnaround under Chubachi and Chief Executive Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head Sony, by reducing jobs, shuttering unprofitable businesses and strengthening its flat TV offerings.
Tatsuo Mori, an engineering and computer science professor at Nagoya University, said some hurdles remained, including making the display bigger, ensuring durability and cutting costs.
But he said the display's pliancy is extremely difficult to imitate with liquid crystal displays and plasma display panels — the two main display technologies now on the market.
"To come up with a flexible screen at that image quality is groundbreaking," Mori said. "You can drop it, and it won't break because it's as thin as paper."
The new display combines two technologies: Sony's organic thin film transistor, which is required to make flexible displays, and organic electroluminescent display.
Other companies, including LG Philips LCD Co. and Seiko Epson Corp., are also working on a different kind of "electronic paper" technology, but Sony said the organic electroluminescent display delivers better color images and is more suited for video.
Sony President Ryoji Chubachi has said a film-like display is a major technology his company is working on to boost its status as a technological powerhouse.
In a meeting with reporters more than a year ago, Chubachi boasted Sony was working on a technology for displays so thin they could be rolled up like paper. He had predicted that the world would stand up and take notice.
Some analysts have said Sony, which makes Walkman portable players and PlayStation 3 video game machines, had fallen behind rivals in flat-panel technology, including Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and Sharp Corp. of Japan.
But Sony has been marking a turnaround under Chubachi and Chief Executive Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head Sony, by reducing jobs, shuttering unprofitable businesses and strengthening its flat TV offerings.

[samsung hd]

very interesting what may come next from sony
future and beyond
___________________
Samsung LN-S4095D (1080P) HDTV
Sony PS3 60gb
Blu-ray games & movies 15

[SixAxiS]

What about connectors? XD either way it looks cool. Just imagine covering an entire wall with one of those if they ever do get that big. That would mean the end of Movie Theaters.

[The Don]

yeah, this is what I was talking about in the other thread ....I thought I read it here...

apparently I didn't..

[movies3]

i think this has already been posted a few days ago. but still neat

[IamNhobdy]

So some day I can be super mega ultra lazy and watch my morning news paper or interact with a magazine article. I can't wait to wall paper my rooms and see outside 360 degrees around my house...like a reverse Predator effect.
Peter Griffin says "Yeah!"

[Filterlab]

Originally Posted by IamNhobdy

... and watch my morning newspaper ...

Minority Report.

[onanie]

Next stop would be a pair of active organic contact lenses, with full-view 3d vision. Darn, it can't come soon enough.

[Filterlab]

Originally Posted by onanie

Next stop would be a pair of active organic contact lenses, with full-view 3d vision. Darn, it can't come soon enough.

Man, I really want a pair of those now!