Low Cost, High Definition Transparent Display Developed Through Nanotechnology

Researchers from MIT and Harvard departments of Physics, and the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center have teamed up to develop a low cost, scalable, and high resolution display system using nanoparticles that can be displayed on transparent glass.

The system works by applying silver nanoparticles on a transparent glass screen. Like a filter, this allows other colors to pass through leaving the color used by the laser projector to show up on the display. The nanoparticles interact with a single color and lets others go through just like regular glass.

As an example, the transparent display in the picture above shows the blue MIT logo on the glass screen but not on the three cups behind it. (Image credit: Chia Wei Hsu and Bo Zhen)

Applications for this technology are varied from flexible and scrollable displays, 3D transparent screens, and even peel-and-stick projection foils. Windows of buildings can be used for advertising as it only entails applying the nanoparticle layer on it.

The transparent display is scalable allowing high definition images to come up even on large displays. It is even inexpensive. The demo unit only cost less than ten dollars to develop.

3D Screens On Mobile Devices Using Tilt Displays Being Developed

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are experiencing a tremendous growth in sales. Its use in various applications are gaining popularity.

Manufacturers vie for attention and market share by developing features and technology guaranteed to catch the consumer's eye. Apple alone sold 172 million of its mobile devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod) last year, 2011.

One notable feature users look at is the display screen. Screen size is important since bigger screens can display more data and bigger images. A standard smartphone range from 3.5 inches to 5.5 inches (Samsung Galaxy Note II). An iPad screen stands at 9.7 inches.

There are also different types of screens. They range from the often used TFT-LCD screens to the various flavors of Super AMOLED screens. Even Apple has marketed its display screen naming it "Retina Display" which is basically a high density screen that does not pixelate at all.

But aside from screen size and screen type, it seems another screen feature for mobile devices may be in the horizon; 3D screens.

3D screens are already being featured in high definition LCD screens. To capitalize on this, there are movies released in blue ray and DVD formats that support 3D viewing. Most require the use of 3D glasses to fully appreciate the experience.

3-D display screen on mobile devices could be on the horizon

Imagine a mobile device that visually displays a street map and whose screen physically mutates to show the hilly terrain and buildings. A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, have developed a new type of screen display that not only moves but also physically tilts.

Researchers from the University's Department of Computer Science will present the display, called Tilt Displays, at MobileHCI 2012, the world's leading conference in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), held in San Francisco, USA.

Tilt Displays is a display surface about half the size of a standard tablet, such as an iPad. It consists of a collection of individual display components each of which can tilt along one or more axes and move vertically up and down. This ability to tilt along multiple axes distinguishes it from previous actuatable displays.