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This is the same type of screen used as in the pebble smartwatches[0], right? Honestly, I wonder why that technology hasn't been used for anything like the Thi

This is the same type of screen used as in the pebble smartwatches[0], right? Honestly, I wonder why that technology hasn't been used for anything like the Thinkpad in the video - I'd love to have such a device! [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_(watch)#Hardware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_(watch)#Hardware

Woung1938 5y ago
The most plausible explanation is that the tech is patented to such a degree that producing this kind of solutions is just not economically viable.
- mbar84 5y ago
  Considering how long ago the OLPC project was, hopefully the patents are running out soon.
  - Qwertious 5y ago
    Patents aren't the main problem here; the lower refresh rate and resolution mean not many people want it. Fewer people wanting it means lower economy of scale and higher prices, which means even fewer still.
- AshamedCaptain 5y ago
  Always with this excuse, but I really doubt it. There's just a million manufacturers of this or technology similar to this. Many of them have failed and people usually would only notice and care _after_ they failed.
- Qwertious 5y ago
  The most plausible explanation is that it's expensive because there's no economy economy of scale, and that there's no economy of scale because people don't want to pay extra for a worse quality screen even if it has a slightly better battery life.
pareidolia 5y ago
No, the Pebble used a Sharp Memory LCD, a different transflective technology. It can only do greyscale while pixelQi uses prisms to separate the colors. That's why you get color with backlight and greyscale out in the sun.
- ryukafalz 5y ago
  > It can only do greyscale Eh? My Pebble Time has a color screen, and it sure is transflective.
  - amiga-workbench 5y ago
    "transflective" is just a broad description of displays which take in light and reflect it back, implementations and drawbacks vary.
  - corgihamlet 5y ago
    The pebble time has a display like an old Game Boy Color
    - AshamedCaptain 5y ago
      And so does Pixel Qi. They're both LCD, after all.
    - kiririn 5y ago
      I can speak only for the Pebble Time Steel, but it is leaps and bounds better than the gameboy color. I would kill for an equivalent display in a laptop - saturated colours and eink readability in direct sunlight with 30hz refresh

Woung1938 5y ago

The most plausible explanation is that the tech is patented to such a degree that producing this kind of solutions is just not economically viable.

mbar84 5y ago
Considering how long ago the OLPC project was, hopefully the patents are running out soon.
- Qwertious 5y ago
  Patents aren't the main problem here; the lower refresh rate and resolution mean not many people want it. Fewer people wanting it means lower economy of scale and higher prices, which means even fewer still.
AshamedCaptain 5y ago
Always with this excuse, but I really doubt it. There's just a million manufacturers of this or technology similar to this. Many of them have failed and people usually would only notice and care _after_ they failed.
Qwertious 5y ago
The most plausible explanation is that it's expensive because there's no economy economy of scale, and that there's no economy of scale because people don't want to pay extra for a worse quality screen even if it has a slightly better battery life.

pareidolia 5y ago

No, the Pebble used a Sharp Memory LCD, a different transflective technology. It can only do greyscale while pixelQi uses prisms to separate the colors. That's why you get color with backlight and greyscale out in the sun.

ryukafalz 5y ago
> It can only do greyscale Eh? My Pebble Time has a color screen, and it sure is transflective.
- amiga-workbench 5y ago
  "transflective" is just a broad description of displays which take in light and reflect it back, implementations and drawbacks vary.
- corgihamlet 5y ago
  The pebble time has a display like an old Game Boy Color
  - AshamedCaptain 5y ago
    And so does Pixel Qi. They're both LCD, after all.
  - kiririn 5y ago
    I can speak only for the Pebble Time Steel, but it is leaps and bounds better than the gameboy color. I would kill for an equivalent display in a laptop - saturated colours and eink readability in direct sunlight with 30hz refresh