MOST AV INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS HAVE BEEN TO CES, NAP, OR SID, AND MOST RECENTLY, OUR ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO THE INFOCOMM TRADE SHOW IN LAS VEGAS. THOSE OF US WHO ARE DISPLAY GEEKS WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED WITH WHAT WE CONSIDER TO BE GENUINE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

LONG LIFE, LOW POWER: LPD

Let’s start with what was considered by most to be the display technology “hit of the show,” known as a Laser Phosphor Displays, or LPD for short. Chances are we will have to get used to the acronym because the technology has a good deal of promise. In basic terms, LPD utilizes a screen covered in rare earth phosphors, not unlike a traditional CRT, but instead of a scanning beam of electrons those phosphors are excited by a series of lasers. According to Joe Viola of Prysm, the manufacturer of LPD, “The display technology is able to be created in any shape or size, and has a long lifespan and low power consumption.” For those who want a look under the hood from a more technical point of view, here is how it all works.

The phosphor panel itself is constructed of a pattern of phosphors layered in a rigid glass or polymer structure. When excited by the laser engine, the phosphor panel emits red, green, or blue pixels extremely close to its surface, with no image filtering to waste power. Translated, this means that more light output is capable with less power consumption in LPD compared to other flat panel technologies. This emissive display technology has the highest possible viewing angle (typically twice that of LCDs or LEDs) with no pixel burn-in or failure, according to the folks at Prysm.

The buzz word in LPD is laser. Everyone is interested in the lasers that are used, especially since other technologies are also beginning to employ new laser technologies. The LPD lasers are built from reliable solid-state laser diodes “similar to a Blu-ray player”. According to Prysm, “the laser engine generates a fan-shaped array of modulated laser beams that energize or excites the phosphor panel. To completely cover the display area the beams are directed by mirrors creating the necessary number of image lines. When this is combined with a fast refresh rate of 240 Hz, it results in high-quality, flicker-free video with no motion blur.”

The “secret sauce” of the display, is the laser processor that precisely turns the laser on and off, and varies its intensity. This increases the display’s efficiency by turning the lasers off where the display is dark; it also defines the color and placement of each pixel.

The potential of LPD goes beyond the “gee whiz” factor of the integral workings of the display. It will allow the architect, designer, and integrator to build any size or shape display for their project. It incorporates what Prysm calls their EdgeBoost technology to reduce the affect of the mullion areas where the screens meet and a narrow .25mm bezel creates a near seamless display for video wall applications. We might add that LPD is also a relatively bright technology that, according. to Prysm provides 800 nits as their standard brightness. LPD also incorporates “built-in intelligence” in their image processor automatically scales video and images to best possible resolution for a given display configuration. LPD screens can also be used for touch screen and multi-view applications for both indoor venue and retail digital signage.

We would be remiss if we did not bring the topic of environmental impact into the picture. LPD is designed to operate 24/7/365 with an effective lifespan of more than seven years.

Since we have already focused on lasers (pun intended), let’s take a look at the new Green Slim portable projectors from Casio with their unique LED/Laser Hybrid light source. Their popularity is easy to understand. They are super thin, only 1.7 inches, and weigh approximately five pounds, a size that will easily slip into a briefcase. And with a reputed 20,000-hour life of the light source this means there is no cost of replacement lamps down the road. These are the first truly higher brightness projectors that do not operate on high pressure lamps.

For those who need a little more information, the “genius” in this is not the size or even the light output but that Casio has created an original mercury- free hybrid light source capable of generating high brightness by combining a laser, a fluorescent element and an LED. Casio has achieved a high output of green light, which has been considered difficult with conventional semiconductor light sources, and they have done this by efficiently converting blue laser light into green light, using a fluorescent element.

No report of advances in display technologies would be complete with a look at the new emergence of 3D. At InfoComm this year we even had a full 3D Pavilion. Developers are on the cusp of 3D teleconferencing, and the technology for 3D TV without glasses is in the works.

While the entire topic is certainly on the forefront of the minds of the industry, perhaps the most interesting developments are coming in the use of autostereoscopic 3D, aka 3D without glasses. Several companies showed us what they had to offer but Alioscopy USA merits a more detailed look.

Alioscopy is a 3D technology provider who has been in development of 3D technologies for the past fourteen years. Alioscopy’s 3D display product, the 3DHD, features a highly specialized lenticular lens over a flat panel display that results in a true immersive 3D experience for the viewer without the need for glasses. At InfoComm, Alioscopy USA and Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, a Germanybased research institute, announced a strategic partnership that will offer digital signage as well as creative and production companies specializing in trailers for motion pictures, one of the first services that will “unlock the long standing barrier of converting stereoscopic (two-view) 3D footage and content into Alioscopy-ready, auto-stereoscopic ‘no-glasses’ 3D.” Both organizations understand that two of the largest barriers for B2B markets such as entertainment venues and digital signage for tradeshows and events have been the need for a glasses- free stereoscopic 3D medium and a solution for converting existing stereoscopic 3D footage to a multi-view format for playback on autostereoscopic 3D displays.

The issue with most auto-stereoscopic 3D has been the need for the viewer to be in the “sweet spot” of the display at specific distances and be situated at narrow angles of view. Much research is being conducted on this limitation and it appears that camera tracking of the viewers may well be a solution. In short, a camera looks that the viewers and orients the image to the variable viewing locations and not at a static position. Companies like Alioscopy are on the forefront of auto-stereoscopy and others are sure to follow shortly.

It’s also worth mentioning developments in OLED, which will begin to see the light of day in a more commercial sense in the coming year. We will see a proliferation of use in cell phones but the big guys like Samsung are spending a lot to bring large flat panel display OLED to the market at an affordable price. We are already seeing a proliferation of LED backlights for LCD flat panels but LED is being used increasingly for DLP projectors and LCD projectors in the sub-2,000 lumen output range addressing lamp life issue as well as the environment.

Some interesting technologies that you may not have heard about are in development. How about Mirasol, Unipixel TMOS, Carbon Nanotubes, and my favorite, Electro wetting technology? Perhaps the most exciting in the near term is something called Pixel Qi. Their lowpower displays that can switch between color LCD screens and e-reader-like black-and-white displays were labeled vaporware in 2009. But the company silenced its critics by offering some hands-on time at the Consumer Electronics Show with the screens that are already in production. Conventional LCD screens offer bright, glossy images but consume too much power. The images they display are also not visible in sunlight. It’s one of the reasons electronic paper, a low-power black-and-white display that can be seen clearly outdoors during the day, has become a rage among e-book readers. Pixel Qi promises to bridge both worlds. Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display operates in three modes: a full-color LCD transmissive mode; a lowpower, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a transflective mode, which makes the LCD display visible in sunlight. We have seen it and it is incredible to view. They just relieved developer kits and they sold out in 24 hours.

So many display technologies to cover, but the bottom line is that new developments will render our lives more livable from a viewing perspective. From the cell phone to the video wall, a June article in the New York Times stated that on average, we are in front of a display of some type for eight hours a day. This is proof positive that we need as much improvement in display technologies as possible.

ALIOSCOPY: alioscopy.com
CASIO: casio.com
PIXEL QI: pixelqi.com
PRYSM: prysm.com

Since it appears that autostereoscopic technology will become are part of our technological lives, here is a short tutorial on how it all works. Most of us understand that 3D is based on binocular vision. We see slightly different images in our left eye and right eye. The brain processes this information and this slight disparity in images is what creates depth of field in our vision. For traditional 3D to work, we need glasses to give us a different right eye and left eye view of the 2D images. The glasses may be passive of active and each has benefits but the result is that we can see 2D images in immersive 3D. The problem or better said the constraint is of course the need for glasses.

Auto-stereoscopic 3D attempts to solve the “problem.” It produces the same sensation of depth as described above, but without needing cumbersome eyewear. Most auto-stereoscopic displays are equipped with an array of lenticular lenses in a type of film or panel, casting different images onto each eye, instead of combining two views as we would see on a consumer television set.

In the case of Alioscopy, they begin with standard Full HD LCD display. As we know, each pixel on the panel combines 3 colored sub-pixels (red, green, and blue). An array of small cylindrical lenses is positioned on the panel on a slant. Each cylindrical lens completely covers eight sub-pixels on the LCD display. In the case of Alioscopy, they manufacture their lenses with a precision of 1/100th of a micron. Each sub-pixel on the display is used for a different point of view providing both color and disparity information. At Alioscopy, each lens overlaps 8 different points of view and works as a magnifying lens, allowing for only one image to be seen through the lens from any given angle. Because both eyes are not in the same place, they actually see two different points of view. This 3D effect produces a sensation of depth as in normal vision or viewing 3D with glasses.

Alan C. Brawn, CTS, ISF, ISF-C, DSCE, DSDE, is principal of Brawn Consulting, LLC, and an adjunct faculty member of InfoComm.