Researchers Invent New Ultra High Definition Display Technology

Though current display technologies can be said to enable fairly high image sharpness, detail and color quality, a new technology developed by a team from the University of Michigan apparently uses pixels that are eight times smaller than those used by iPhone4, which is an order of magnitude smaller than those on a regular PC display.

The new color filter that the technology uses is made of nano-thin sheets of metal with precisely spaced gatings.

These gatings trap and transmit light of a particular color because they are sliced into metal-dielectric-metal stacks.

Basically, the level of detail enabled by this new solution exceeds those of current technologies, and the team behind it even managed to create an image of their on logo that is just nine microns in height.

"Amazingly, we found that even a few slits can already produce well-defined color, which shows its potential for extremely high-resolution display and spectral imaging," said Jay Guo, an associate professor in UM's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Only about 5% of the back-light from conventional LCDs actually reaches the human eye, according to Guo.

This is because, in addition to the LCD layer, they use two layers of polarizers, a color filter sheet and a pair of layers of glass laced with electrodes.

This new technology, however, has less layers, because the color filter acts as a polarizer as well, and this should also drive manufacturing costs lower than they are now.

The immediate uses for this invention are projection displays, compact screens, bendable screens and military applications (funding came from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and DARPA).

The university has already applied for a patent and is looking for commercial partners, but there is no way of knowing how long it will be for actual products to adopt this UHD solution.