Initially, LCD designers took for granted that people may be, at some point, viewing the panels at anything other than straight on. In fact, recent studies showed that between digital camera displays and laptop monitors, the average viewer studies the LCD at an average of 40 degrees off-center or more. Many early developers made LCD panels so that the Pixels pointed straight out towards the viewer, however Cheng and Wu hope to change that.
The prototype features a small camera that sits beside the LCD and tracks the position of the viewer's head. It then makes tiny adjustments to the liquid crystals themselves and pivots toward the viewer for the best possible picture quality. Future developments of the new LCD display will miniaturize the camera by implementing infrared sensore instead of standard lenses. This will allow the display to Track the position of the viewer's eyes to fine tune the display even more. This would also enable this technology to be integrated into devices that use much smaller LCD screens.
Of course, the obvious drawback is that this current system is only being developed with a single viewer in mind. This technology would not be viable right now for HDTVs where the potential to have multiple viewers is much higher. Cheng and Wu will work on one thing at a time. Currently a concern is hospitals that use digital X-ray machines, this technology could benefit doctors and surgeons by allowing clearer viewing for a better diagnosis.
Source:
DailyTech
Written by: Dave Horvath @ 7 Aug 2007 19:17
