Sony Develops New Small Screen Technology

I think it's important to note that Sony screens are used in more handhelds than just Clies, heh, some QVGA (320x240) screens are even found in some PPCs. ;-)

What this new component may offer is smaller size and (hopefully) reduced cost for device manufacturers. Until further details are available, we also hope for lower power requirements and increased contrast.

If the screen delivers on these fronts, it may help pave the way to broader availability of HVGA (you can call it "hi-res+" if you must) and virtual Graffiti on more Palm OS devices. Yum! :-)

- Dan Royea

"I think it's important to note that Sony screens are used in more handhelds than just Clies"

Right you are. I was suprised at the number of screens from non-sony devices made by Sony. Of course, my biggest surprise came when I started fixing 505's that were out of warranty, and found that THAT screen was also made by Sony! This new screen looks promising and I hope it finds it's way into other Palm OS devices soon.

I believe the new T-Mobile smart phones uses Sony screens. Previous iPaq models used to use Sony screens. Not sure if that's still the case.

This happens a lot. I've seen Casio digicams with Canon lens and I'm sure if you crack open any consumer electronic device you'll see that they have "competitor's parts" in them.

If you think that's impressive, Samsung make 1/2 the worlds computer chips.

filtronic

How close are you to purchasing a NX70V? It hasn't been released yet either :)

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

You will probably be waiting for some time to see this make its way into a new handheld.

>> Sony plans to start volume production of the
>> screens in early 2003.

That's just the screens themselves, and then they will have to work it into a pda. You may see NX models with thinner screen portions or very slim models in a t-series body with virtual graffiti. This is all just speculation of course.

-Ryan
webmaster@palminfocenter.com

So for those whom have been waiting for this "compromised" model of a NX70, how now? argh! I'm in the same dilemma. Been stuck with a IBM C3 for 4 years.

Wish list. : Clamshell evolution : new screen : 2 MS slots : Universal CF or PMCIA slot : hardware graffiti option : built in bluetooth like the T68i : 1042 x 768 camera.

That's the only thing I am (potentially) worried about. The drain on battery life, whish has never been stellar on Sony units thus far, and of course the ubiquitous Memory Stick complaints.

IMHO we've seen the last new greyscale device released by Sony. Now that the OS and the CPUS have caught up (mostly) to what Sony originally envisioned for their Clie lineup, they will hopefully start doing some heavy duty R&D work on screen and battery improvements like this.

That's the question I was thinking of too. Will it reduce battery life? Might it actually improve battery life??

The last thing Sony wants to do is introduce a new PDA screen technology that reduces battery life. I would be willing to bet that this development will be heralded by reducing screen power consumption by more than 50%. We'll just have to wait to see about that, of course, and it probably won't be as great an improvement if the screen is changing dynamically, like when playing an mpeg.

According to the press release, this display consumes 110mW. How this compares to Sony's current HVGA displays I do no know.

110mW. Wow!

Visor Prism at minimum Brightness: 469mW
Visor Prism at medium Brightness: 982mW
Visor Prism at maximum Brightness: 1548mW

Visor Edge, no backlight: 125mW
Visor Edge, backlight: 216mW

I don't know if the 110mW is the avg, min, or max. But if it really uses that little power, then there will be no point on making black and white devices anymore, as far as battery life's concerned. Lets just hope this thing is cheap to make too.

Love isn't about becoming somebody else's "perfect person." Rather, it's about finding someone who helps you become the best person you can be.

I would imagine it's 110mW without a backlight at all.

Thomas

Check out Computer Talk: www.comp-talk.co.uk

I'd have to agree that it's probably 110mW without a backlight at all. The backlight does not seem to be included with this part. Their sales point here is reduced size and integrated components. If there was a significant reduction in power requirements, I'm sure we'd hear about it.

LgLator @ 10/16/2002 11:50:19 AM wrote:

> 110mW. Wow!
>
> Visor Prism at minimum Brightness: 469mW
> Visor Prism at medium Brightness: 982mW
> Visor Prism at maximum Brightness: 1548mW
>
> Visor Edge, no backlight: 125mW
> Visor Edge, backlight: 216mW

Those figures for the Prism and the Edge are for the entire handheld. The 110mW is just for the display. Though for the Prism, the largest chuck of those figures is for the display.

Hmm, the Prism and the Edge have roughly the same insides (save display, battery and connectors) so one could assume that the difference between the Prism's and the Edge's power consumption would all be towards the Prism's display. Therefore the Prism's display consumes at least:
At minimum Brightness: 355mW
At medium Brightness: 875mW
At maximum Brightness: 1423mW
The correct figures would be these plus the power that the Edge's display consumes with backlight off.

The original Sony webpage does say the new screen will consume less power.

One way to reduce power comsumption is to put more of the functionality internal to a device, as signal connections between components use a lot more power than a connection internal to a chip.

This technology looks pretty promising. Way to go, Sony!

--
Ben Combee, CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
Programming help at www.palmoswerks.com

This screen technology is nothing new. Toshiba will be using it in its latest Pocket PC to be released at the end of the year. Toshiba's supplier will be Toppoly Ltd. based in Chu-Nan, Taiwan. Toppoly is the only all LTPS TFT-LCD screen company in the world.

Samsung and others have also been using this technology, but unlike Toppoly the other companies continue to produce the older a-Si TFT (amorphous silicon) screens.

LTPS (Low-Temp Poly Silicon) has two major advantages over the older amorphous silicon. 1- Lower power consumption. 2- The electrons move faster in LTPS displays. This allows for faster response times.

The short answer to your question is: The screens will use less power, not more.

Yet Palm still leads the marketshare by a large enough margin to be comfortable. Sony is innovating and producing good things, but Palm is still in the lead by a lot. Don't expect that margin to decrease anymore, too. Soon, PPCs will offer no advantages over POS devices from Palm or Sony.

---
Beer is living proof that God wants us to be happy. -Benjamin Franklin

It's not new, and it's not proprietary Sony.

No, we'd prefer not to find a flaw in it(Like a blue tint) and force everybody to buy a new one, instead of a return or repair. Besides, although it's better, it probably costs more as well...

I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're in space.

Palm will probably take a year or so trying to figure out how to break off the bottom third of the screen to fit into the Dungsten, and then the next year trying to add the non-virtual graffitti pad in.