Pixel Qi Reveals iPad 3 Display Rival with Massive Power Savings

Pixel Qi's idea for a screen that can absorb ambient light is not a bad one, but there aren't perfect implementations of it yet, hence why the technology is relatively unknown still.

Some time ago, Pixel Qi promised that higher-resolution and even more power-efficient displays were on the way.

The company seems to be delivering on that promise, according to the blog written by founder Mary Lou Jepsen.

Jepsen is actually very blunt, saying that a panel better than the iPad 3's Retina is on the way.

“We at Pixel Qi loved the Apple iPad3 screen, but were shocked by the overheating reports and the massive power draw (8Watts?!). The battery of the iPad is dedicated driving the display – about 90% of the battery seems to be used for this one purpose,” she wrote.

“We at Pixel Qi are dedicated to low power screens – our screens are the cornerstone of thinner and lighter devices that will work inside and in direct sunlight. We can now announce that we can match or exceed the image quality of the screen in the iPad3.”

The resolution is as high as on the Retina itself (2,048 x 1,536 pixels) and there is a chart available, showing the difference in power consumption between the two. The retina is the red bar, while the Pixel Qi is in green.

“We added a very low power mode that runs at a full 100X power reduction from the peak power consumed by the iPad3 screen,” Jepsen said.

“We have a new architecture that matches the resolution of the ipad3 screen, and its full image quality including matching or exceeding contrast, color saturation, the viewing angle and so forth with massive power savings.”

The reason for the power advantages is that the backlighting can be turned down, or completely off, when ambient light is abundant. The transflective nature of the panel absorbs light and, thus, actually seems cleared under direct sunlight.

Pixel Qi only needs to finish scoring deals with its partners. There may or may not be other screen sizes besides 9.7-10 inches.