Posted on 09/06/2005 9:16:13 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
A few months ago Philips Polymer Vision, a company backed by Philips promised a rollable, paper-like display in two years - and took then only a few months to have a prototype ready. Philips Polymer Vision is showing its Concept Readius during an international exhibition in Berlin, Germany.
The Philips Concept Readius is a prototype of a connected consumer device for business professionals. The device implements a pocket-sized e-reader withouth sacrificing readability, mobility, performance, or weight.
The Readius is the worlds first prototype of a functional electronic-document reader that can unroll its display to a scale larger than the device itself. With four gray levels, the monochrome, 5-inch QVGA (320 pixels x 240 pixels) display provides paper-like viewing comfort with a high contrast ratio for reading-intensive applications, including text, graphics, and electronic maps.
Using a bi-stable electrophoretic display effect from E Ink Corp., the display consumes little power and is easy to read, even in bright daylight. Once the user has finished reading, the display can be rolled back into the pocket-size (100 mm x 60 mm x 20 mm) device.
Based on Philips Polymer Visions PV-QML5 rollable display reference design, the Readius was created in order to demonstrate the viability of the rollable-display concept in mobile applications and to gain customer feedback at the IFA 2005.
Polymer Vision does not intend to commercialize this concept as a product in the market. Instead, it is demonstrating the fitness of its rollable displays for use in future mobile devices.
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Kool!.....
Boot Hill's Map viewer;
From a Stargate SG-1 episode, but there used as a moving photo album. It looked pretty cool when retracted, too.
Ernest, thanks for the ping!
swordmaker: Mac ping?
Thanks for the ping. Pretty cool.
BYOMG
(bring your own magnifying glass)
Reminds me of the mini telephone book distributed last year.
Even good eyes couldn't read the fine print.
will iScrolls replace books??? This technology has the potential to be the first portable reading format that COULD replace the paper book.
Will Apple be the first to do something "COOL" with it?
PING!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Nothing will replace the paper book imho. Having said that, I'm sure I'll buy one of these anyway :o)
Hm, looks like those "Earth: Final Conflict" commo devices.
Ideally, the faux paper could be made into something like, say, a spreadsheet, so writing the figures makes calculations start, that kind of thing. :')
If something were available in about the same size and weight (or lighter), used reflected light instead of a backlight (with backlight optional), and had an easy to use user interface (like flipping pages in a real book), and allowed highlighting and marginalia, then I think a modern version of the e-book COULD replace the paper book...
On the other hand, Nothing looks quite as nice as a bookshelf full of leather bound books...
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