3 ms·

Actually, it can just turn the backlight off. The B&W mode isn't e-ink at all, it's still basically an LCD screen that can be illuminated by external light. S

by jmcqk6 16y ago

Actually, it can just turn the backlight off. The B&W mode isn't e-ink at all, it's still basically an LCD screen that can be illuminated by external light. So the effect should be the same, but this is the reason I want to wait for reviews to come out before I purchase it. It seems like a perfect compromise to me between e-ink and LCD screens. Sometimes, I want a backlight. If I'm reading, though, I probably don't want it activated.

ubercore 16y ago
It doesn't have the same energy-saving properties as e-ink (no power to display, only on page changes). E-Ink also looks different at the pixel level: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/pictures-kindle-and-ipad-screens-under-microscope/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/pictures-kindle-and-i...
jessriedel 16y ago
>Actually, it can just turn the backlight off. There has to be more to it than that, right? It would be trivial to allow LCD screens to turn off the back light. Their blog (pixelqi.com) suggests that it has to do with some sort of reflective properties of their special LCD. I still don't get it.
- jonhendry 16y ago
  Perhaps there is a partially-reflective film on the back of the LCD, but in front of the backlight diffusor, that lets the backlight through (with some attentuation).
- gvb 16y ago
  The screen is described on the OLPC site: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display As I understand it, it is a standard(?) trans-reflective (like half silvered mirror - it reflects front lighting, but also can be back-lit) black & white LCD. In color (backlight) mode, the backlight shines strips of color, so the pixels gate the colored light rather than having a white backlight and color filters on the pixels. In B/W mode, the backlight is turned off (saving quite a bit of power) and the LCD uses the reflective qualities of the LCD to reflect the front light for the lighting source. The interesting thing is that front lighting will overwhelm and wash out the color from the backlighting as the front lighting gets stronger. I have an OLPC, which is the predecessor display, and it works quite well. My opinion of the display is that the compromise was visible but not bad: the color definitely isn't as vibrant as a traditional color LCD or OLED, but the daylight view-ability was very good vs. a traditional backlit LCD that becomes poor or unreadable in bright sunlight. There are some pictures on the Groklaw article, although I was focusing on size rather than the display when I took the pictures. In retrospect, I should have focused on the display more than the size. :-/ http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080128171935946 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080128171935946

by jmcqk6 16y ago

ubercore 16y ago

It doesn't have the same energy-saving properties as e-ink (no power to display, only on page changes). E-Ink also looks different at the pixel level: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/pictures-kindle-and-ipad-screens-under-microscope/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/pictures-kindle-and-i...

jessriedel 16y ago

>Actually, it can just turn the backlight off. There has to be more to it than that, right? It would be trivial to allow LCD screens to turn off the back light. Their blog (pixelqi.com) suggests that it has to do with some sort of reflective properties of their special LCD. I still don't get it.

jonhendry 16y ago
Perhaps there is a partially-reflective film on the back of the LCD, but in front of the backlight diffusor, that lets the backlight through (with some attentuation).
gvb 16y ago
The screen is described on the OLPC site: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display As I understand it, it is a standard(?) trans-reflective (like half silvered mirror - it reflects front lighting, but also can be back-lit) black & white LCD. In color (backlight) mode, the backlight shines strips of color, so the pixels gate the colored light rather than having a white backlight and color filters on the pixels. In B/W mode, the backlight is turned off (saving quite a bit of power) and the LCD uses the reflective qualities of the LCD to reflect the front light for the lighting source. The interesting thing is that front lighting will overwhelm and wash out the color from the backlighting as the front lighting gets stronger. I have an OLPC, which is the predecessor display, and it works quite well. My opinion of the display is that the compromise was visible but not bad: the color definitely isn't as vibrant as a traditional color LCD or OLED, but the daylight view-ability was very good vs. a traditional backlit LCD that becomes poor or unreadable in bright sunlight. There are some pictures on the Groklaw article, although I was focusing on size rather than the display when I took the pictures. In retrospect, I should have focused on the display more than the size. :-/ http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080128171935946 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080128171935946