Comments on: Why I favor Mary Lou’s OLPC screen tech over E Ink—at least for MY purposes http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:52 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Cerebus http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683633 Cerebus Mon, 07 Jan 2008 04:31:21 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683633 No. The Toshiba is a straight transflective screen. You can tell by noting the slight color apparent in the Toshiba screen when the backlight is off. Because the reflective layer is *below* the color filters, the reflected screen remains in color mode. The difference is in construction. Transflective screens have the reflective layer above the backlight but behind the color filter layer. The OLPC dual-mode screen moves the reflective layer above the color filter layer, just behind the LCD layer, so reflected light is monochrome. In addition, each pixel of the OLPC screen is single color, vs. three sub-pixels of three colors. These may seem like minor differences but the result is that the OLPC screen can leverage higher native resolution when viewed under reflected light. This, when combined with the lower resolution color coming through the backlight, gives the visual impression of higher resolution. The OLPC screen is 1200x900 monochrome (reflected light only, backlight off), but instead of being ~700x500 as you would expect with normal pixel grouping it appears as 800x600 (backlight only, no reflected light) or higher (with backlight *and* reflected light). Yeah, it doesn't make sense, but when you *see* it in operation all becomes clear. :) No. The Toshiba is a straight transflective screen. You can tell by noting the slight color apparent in the Toshiba screen when the backlight is off. Because the reflective layer is *below* the color filters, the reflected screen remains in color mode.

The difference is in construction. Transflective screens have the reflective layer above the backlight but behind the color filter layer. The OLPC dual-mode screen moves the reflective layer above the color filter layer, just behind the LCD layer, so reflected light is monochrome. In addition, each pixel of the OLPC screen is single color, vs. three sub-pixels of three colors.

These may seem like minor differences but the result is that the OLPC screen can leverage higher native resolution when viewed under reflected light. This, when combined with the lower resolution color coming through the backlight, gives the visual impression of higher resolution. The OLPC screen is 1200×900 monochrome (reflected light only, backlight off), but instead of being ~700×500 as you would expect with normal pixel grouping it appears as 800×600 (backlight only, no reflected light) or higher (with backlight *and* reflected light).

Yeah, it doesn’t make sense, but when you *see* it in operation all becomes clear. :)

]]> By: Mike Cane http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683433 Mike Cane Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:45:38 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683433 Well, this is interesting. OLPC wonders if a Toshiba notebook I covered uses the same screen tech! OLPC: http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/screen/toshiba_portege_r500_display.html My old blog (you must scroll waaaaay down in the pics to see the Toshi): http://mikecane.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/photo-album-digitallife-expo-2007/ Well, this is interesting. OLPC wonders if a Toshiba notebook I covered uses the same screen tech!

OLPC:
http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/screen/toshiba_portege_r500_display.html

My old blog (you must scroll waaaaay down in the pics to see the Toshi):
http://mikecane.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/photo-album-digitallife-expo-2007/

]]> By: Will New eBook Readers Finally Change The World? « http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683413 Will New eBook Readers Finally Change The World? « Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:11:01 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683413 [...] Finally Change The World? David Rothman over at the esteemed Teleread blog has finally given his opinion of the unique screen being used by the One Laptop Per Child XO [...] [...] Finally Change The World? David Rothman over at the esteemed Teleread blog has finally given his opinion of the unique screen being used by the One Laptop Per Child XO [...]

]]> By: pond http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683386 pond Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:04:54 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683386 David, I look forward to a post from you after a long day's binge reading. I have more trouble with the back-lighted LCD displays than those without the backlight. I suspect that it's a question of flickering CFL lights strobing with flickering CCFL backlights at a frequency too high for me to recognize consciously but somehow bothersome and eye-strainy. ("eye-strainy"?) Congrats on your new device. David, I look forward to a post from you after a long day’s binge reading. I have more trouble with the back-lighted LCD displays than those without the backlight. I suspect that it’s a question of flickering CFL lights strobing with flickering CCFL backlights at a frequency too high for me to recognize consciously but somehow bothersome and eye-strainy. (“eye-strainy”?)

Congrats on your new device.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683166 David Rothman Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:45:16 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683166 Thanks, Cerebus. What I found especially interesting is the reminder that the effective res even in color is higher than widely circulated stats would have you believe. Exactly. I'm happy with res in both monochrome and color even if the former is better. David Thanks, Cerebus. What I found especially interesting is the reminder that the effective res even in color is higher than widely circulated stats would have you believe. Exactly. I’m happy with res in both monochrome and color even if the former is better. David

]]> By: Cerebus http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683052 Cerebus Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:19:36 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683052 Oops. Meant to add this link about the display controller: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/DCON Oops. Meant to add this link about the display controller:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/DCON

]]> By: Cerebus http://www.teleread.org/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/comment-page-1/#comment-683051 Cerebus Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:17:57 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/01/05/why-i-favor-mary-lous-olpc-screen-tech-over-e-ink-at-least-for-my-purposes/#comment-683051 Details of the OLPC display are here: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display Interesting stuff, IMHO. Details of the OLPC display are here:

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display

Interesting stuff, IMHO.

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