14 DAY TRIAL // Though LCDs are the most popular display technology currently on the market, they have a certain drawback that has so far prevented them from becoming a truly ideal solution. Their greatest bane is their loss of visibility when exposed to sunlight. Even anti-glare screens can only reduce this effect, not remove it completely. This has led to a growing desire to see a truly sun-proof display come out, and Pixel Qi seems to have finally achieved this goal.
Pixel Qi demonstrated some dual-mode 3Qi LCDs with switchable backlights at this year's Consumer Electronics show. Later, in March, it also revealed a series of screens that could have their backlights switched off and absorb ambient light instead. Essentially, this meant that no amount of sunlight could affect visibility, which was a huge step forward. Now, at Computex, the company has made not a step, but a leap.
Engadget is on site in Taipei and was able to make a stop at Pixel Qi's booth. What they found was even more than one may have hoped. Displays unveiled in the past, while quite noteworthy, were not exactly seen as perfect because they didn't have support for touch input. They also hadn't completely optimized the viewing angles. Now, an Intel Atom Morrestown 10-inch slate and a Wacom digitizer, among other things, proved that both issues had been tackled. Not only that, but even the power efficiency was supposedly enhanced by 30%. Combined with the ability to completely shut the backlights off, these screens should allow for a significant battery life boost.
Unfortunately, there is also a less fortuitous side to this story, namely the fact that there are still no Pixel Qi-enabled mobile devices in the works. That or they haven't been made public yet. PixelQi founder Mary Lou Jepsen did, on the other hand, say that work with major manufacturers had started.