The LCD display is typically the most power-sucking device on a notebook computer, but it’s a technology that’s required for the whole package to be useful.
The display isn’t something that can be trimmed or shrunken to save on power, so we’re going to need a new technology to make screens more efficient. Enter the 3qi screen from Pixel Qi, a company founded by former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, which look like it could quickly change the ways we view our notebooks – literally.
In order to view our displays outdoors or in bright conditions, normally the user has to crank up the brightness on the LCD, thus further draining the battery. Pixel Qi’s technology allows for the display to operate in a backlight-free mode much like the e-ink displays on book readers.
“What you're looking at is a screen that's entirely reflective,” said John Ryan, chief operating officer at Pixel Qi, in a PC World story. “It's just running like e-paper so that it's running on the ambient light. It's not fighting the office light , it's not fighting the sunlight. That makes it better for reading but it also cuts the power consumption. The backlight in the screen is typically the largest power drain in any notebook computer.”
The company today released a couple of photos of the display in action.
“By popular demand here is the first picture of our new screen. In the above picture, two 3qi screens are shown side-by-side: one of our screens is in full color saturation with its backlight on, the other of our screens is shown in its epaper mode with backlight off. These screens will be available this fall in netbooks and ebook readers. Size: 10.1″ diagonal.
PS: I’ve had many requests for a peak at the 3qi screen outdoors: I took the snapshot below yesterday, on my iphone (sorry, it’s just not a great camera) outside in the hot tropical sun. The laptop is on top of a shrub. Apologies for the glare from the metal bezel of the screen; this will of course be covered up in a real product. Nonetheless, we think its a stunning screen.
We can’t wait to go eyes-on with these at Computex next week.
