flexible paper thin computer screen

[Newz2000]

Here's an interesting product: It's called "Polymer Vision" and it's a computer screen that's built on plastic that can be rolled up and is as thin as paper. It is very text-like in its readability. Here is the page where you can see pictures and a short WMV movie demonstrating it.
www.polymervision.nl/Technology/downloads/Index.html<p>It looks like the screen doesn't change very fast but it would be fast enough for reading onscreen text or using PDA-type functionality.<p>Looks nifty.

[rshayes]

It looks like an interesting idea for some rather specialized applications. There may be some inheirant limitations, namely contrast and speed.<p>I would not consider 10:1 a "high" contrast ratio. That display reminds me of an early liquid crystal TV receiver that Radio Shack sold. It really wasn't very good, but it was a novelty at the time. There may not be much room for improvement, since 100 percent reflective white is hard to find, as is 0 percent black. An anti-reflection coating on the surface might cut the reflection down to a percent or two. Without such a coating, a 25:1 contrast ratio might be the limit.<p>Speed may not get much better. It took liquid crystal displays years to reduce the lag in response to levels that gave good results for television. This technique requires moving particles distances on the order of microns. The motion required in a liquid crystal display is closer to nanometers and they still have marginal switching speed.<p>Gray scale would be a problem. This could possibly be overcome by using a distribution of particle sizes and varying the width of the pulse used to move them.<p>Color displays might be limited to low contrast. With red, green, and blue pixels, the reflectance of the active particles would be limited to about 33 percent. A surface reflectance of 4 percent (uncoated) would result in a contrast ratio of about 8:1.<p>There would definitely be a power advantage for static displays. Once set, no additional power would be needed. Liquid crystal displays require constant charging and discharging of capacitances, and this can consume a fair amount of power. It might be very good for static displays on cell phones.<p>It might work quite well if it were scaled up to a large size and used as a programmable sign. The low static power would be a real advantage here. Possible uses would be things like route signs on busses and arrival/departure signs in airports. It would probably be both lower power and cheaper than the present devices.

[thesprocket]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by stephen:
...It might work quite well if it were scaled up to a large size and used as a programmable sign. The low static power would be a real advantage here. Possible uses would be things like route signs on busses and arrival/departure signs in airports. It would probably be both lower power and cheaper than the present devices.<hr></blockquote><p>
The applications you mention can be done with traditional flat panel displays, if you are producing enough power to move a city bus you can probably also spare enough to power a traditional LCD. many of the elevators I ride in have a info screen in them now.<p>i think it would be pleasant in the portable reader mode, but could it replace a PDA, as i dought they can incorporate input to the product. <p>best bet would be to look for portable email reader, but who wants to read only with no reply capability? or maybe a rebirth of the e-book?<p>that extendable product seems neat, but how long might it survive in the field rather than the lab.

[jollyrgr]

In Sci Fi books they referred to transparent steel. Then in Star Trek IV (the Whale one) they refer to transparent aluminum. <p>A friend told me about an experiment performed in the early eighties. It was with some sort of very powerful explosive that was more powerful than expected. One of the side effects was the explosion turned a small portion of steel semi transparent. Could never "prove" this one. The so called SciFi transparent aluminum from Star Trek is now a reality. It is not as big as a wall (yet). But is a semi transparent aluminum crystal discovered by German scientist and then mass production techniques developed by 3M. In reality it is MOSTLY transparent and is not pure aluminum but an aluminum oxide. But to have something transparent and be three times stronger than steel is a decent invention.<p>Now there is this polymer screen. Many years ago I read a "prediction" about this very type of product. The plan was to make an "electronic newspaper" from such a creation. I can't recall if this was in Poplar Science, Poplar Mechanics, or even Radio Electronics. If I recall correctly this would roll up into a pen type device and go in your pocket. When you wanted to read the paper you pulled out the pen and unrolled the screen. But even though I love technology I don't think I'd get one of these. <p>As a super thin display to replace LCDs, fine. I've had those flake out on me in extreme cold and hot weather. I've seen a number of dropped laptops and PDAs (ouch). While probably a couple of years away from laptop quality, I would expect to see these in data watches, credit cards, and so on. <p>Could you imagine a credit card with a built in solar panel, and a uP with an image on it? I'm thinking of a "theft proof" credit card where to get a number on the front it has to be activated. Once used the number becomes useless. (Sort of like the temporary numbers you generate for online purchases.) Each time you want to change the number, run it through an ATM type device and you've got a new credit card.

[Newz2000]

My interest in the paper-screen is this:<p>I don't want to carry pockets full of gadgets. I need to carry a cell phone as one of my work responsibilities. In 2001 I traded my large paper day-planner for a nice small palm pilot. I like the idea of carrying my music and large files around on something like an iPod (I don't have one though). <p>There is not yet a device that can do all three of these tasks well. It would be cool to have something small, like an iPod nano or motorola Razr that could be all three. It will be cool when they can get a device the size of an iPod nano that is pretty much all screen and serves the function of those devices and probably more.

[Chris Smith]

Metalized plastics have been around for a while. <p>Aluminum into plastic was one of the first. <p>Nickel and copper also are quite popular for things like RF shielding. Chrome was done for aesthetics purposes, as plastic doesn’t need any rust proofing. <p> One of the patented processes we made at the chrome plant was how to get the metal into the plastic using chemical action rather than heat and pressure. Unfortunately the materials used both in the experimental stages and the process stages killed off all of our chemical engineers.<p> Quite a trade off for a patent?

[plachert]

My concern would be the end use of the product. Too many times engineers are building these great products but then we wind up with a junk pile full of toxic chemicals leaching into the ground. What are the implications of the fiber-metal for disposal or recycling?

[Chris Smith]

Most of the toxicity is in the making. The thousands of gallons of materials needed to make the product all have to be treated or disposed of in some way. The final product in some cases can be recycled. As long as they are forced like we were to have a treatment plant on site, things are not so bad, but once the formulas are made, these companies are shipping their plants to third world countries that don’t have regulations and basically don’t give a damn about the people or the land they lay to waste. China is slated to be the most polluted country in the world in the next 50 years. Will they wake up to the almighty buck or crumble to its powers of destruction?
The oceans will suffer the most, and hopefully the rich will be eating that fish.

[sofaspud]

I remember seeing a story about these "roll-up" video screens on a TV show several years ago. There must be issues with them gaining widespread application. But I don't think trashing the planet is one of them.

[peter-f]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by plachert:
My concern would be the end use of the product. Too many times engineers are building these great products but then we wind up with a junk pile full of toxic chemicals leaching into the ground. What are the implications of the fiber-metal for disposal or recycling?<hr></blockquote><p>... reminds me of the 'tree' that was bred to absorb lead... think of the reduced exposure to lead... until someone gets the idea to use those unwanted trees for Firewood!

[Chris Smith]

Trashing the planet is a Secrete. <p>If you don’t hear it, it must not be happening? <p>............and all for the buck. <p>Selling the country to the highest bidder is also a secrete, but you only get to hear about it from your boss who tells you there is good news and bad news. <p>Good news is your job profits are up.<p>The bad news is it happened in India.