14 DAY TRIAL // While having two displays instead of one is in theory pretty awesome, using them at their maximum potential is something that’s harder than you think, mostly because a dual-screen device needs to make the gap between the two panels as seamless as possible.
As one of the companies currently developing foldable devices, Microsoft is looking into ways to minimize the content break that could happen due to the area where the two displays come together.
And while others have tried various approaches, Microsoft thinks it can do this by simply using one screen for displaying only the most relevant content for a specific task.
Patent proposes a whole new idea
A patent spotted by WL and called “Selectively Displayable Multiple Display Mode For A GUI” details how Microsoft’s foldable Surface could automatically move specific content, which the device considers to be the most relevant for what you’re doing, to a separate display.
“When displaying the GUI in the multiple display mode, the primary view on the primary display may include all or a subset of the content of the launch window of the GUI, i.e., the main content of the GUI, and the secondary view on the secondary display may include a subset or none of the content of the launch window of the GUI, i.e., relevant information related to the main content,” the patent reads.
“Typically, the main content and relevant information are different from each other, and also each is different in a respect from the originally presented content in the launch window for the application program. The main content and relevant information may alternatively be referred to as first content and second content.”
As usual, there’s a long way from patent to mass production, so don’t hold your breath for this idea to get the go-ahead anytime soon. The foldable Surface laptop is projected to go live at some point next year with two 9-inch displays, so it remains to be seen how Microsoft will deal with all the challenges of this new form factor.