We’ve heard a lot about how OLEDs are poised to change everything from televisions to smartphones. But a group of researchers at MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces Group are applying OLEDs too more mundane objects, too—like plain old rulers. And the results are surprisingly cool.
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I’ve had the opportunity to try out a number of head-mounted displays over the years, and most of them have been pretty underwhelming, either from a display quality or comfort perspective. And while many users are waiting to see what the consumer version of the Oculus Rift has to offer, there is already a very capable head-mounted display – with a head-tracking option – on the market today.
The Zeiss Cinemizer display is by far the most comfortable head-mounted display I’ve ever worn. The glasses weigh only 4.2 ounces, and place less than 3 ounces of weight on the bridge of your nose, which makes them comfortable for long viewing sessions. Inside the Cinemizer’s white goggles, it packs a pair of 870 x 500 resolution OLED displays. These tiny 8mm x 5mm displays provide an insane pixel density of 2500 ppi, and extremely rich colors.
The displays themselves offer a sharp, noise-free picture to each of your eyes, and pixel structure is virtually indistinguishable to my eyes. That said, small text is definitely harder to read than on a true 1080p display, but gameplay and movie content looks great. I encountered no motion blur to speak of, though I did see a little bit of a “blooming” effect which is a typical side-effect of self-illuminating displays. There’s also a small amount of blue fringing around high contrast areas of the image, such as white on a black background. But these issues are minor, and I still found the displays to be on-par or better than other HMD screens I’ve used before. They’re definitely sharper than the displays in the current build of the Oculus Rift, and nearly as good as the displays in Sony’s HMZ-T2 – a competing display with higher resolution OLED screens that’s major downfall is a lack of portability and its very poor comfort. Comfort is definitely not an issue with the Cinemizer.
The Cinemizer offers diopter adjustments for each eye, so they’re easily tweaked to your individual vision, so you don’t wear your glasses while wearing them. While watching content, the displays simulate a 40-inch widescreen display, viewed at about 6.5 feet away from your eyes. While this isn’t as immersive as the Oculus Rift, or going to watch a movie in IMAX, it’s certainly more immersive than playing games on most computer monitors or watching movies on your laptop or tablet screen. By design, you can still see outside of the glasses a bit, so you can occasionally look at your keyboard, mouse or game controller, but there’s also an optional rubber eyeshield which can plunge you into movie theater darkness.
One big advantage the Cinemizers offer is that they’re battery powered. The included USB-rechargeable battery pack is good for anywhere from 2.5 hours to 6 hours, depending on whether you’re feeding it with a digital or analog video source. I only tested it with an HDMI input, and got enough battery power to watch the entirety of Avatar. And speaking of Avatar – the Cinemizers support stereoscopic 3D. Since each eye views an independent image, there’s no flicker, and no decrease in brightness like you get with displays which require 3D glasses. I found the 3D image quality to be quite good – though the depth isn’t as impressive as the 3D I get from my Samsung plasma display or from an IMAX 3D theater. That said, the 3D is definitely a nice bonus.
I tested the Cinemizers with their optional head-tracker module, a small USB device which replaces one of the adjustable ear pads. This gadget emulates the movements of a standard USB mouse, so any game that uses a mouse to look around can be used with the Cinemizer’s head-tracker. This worked seamlessly on all of the FPSes I could throw at it on my Mac and my PC, and it definitely made looking around in games more intuitive and immersive than with a mouse. That said, to use the head-tracking feature on a PS3 or Xbox 360, you’ll need to pick up a third-party adapter, such as the Penguin Eagle Eye, which sells for about $60. There’s also support for full X/Y/Z axis tracking when using the appropriate SDK.
In addition to playing games and watching movies, I could also imagine the Cinemizers working well for first-person view piloting of remote-controlled vehicles and drones. There’s also an optional $79 adapter for plugging in iOS devices, which replaces the standard HDMI output module of the Cinemizer, but only works with devices with a 30-pin connector. This could definitely come in handy for watching movies on long trips.
There are just a couple of minor complaints I have with the Cinemizer. One, they come with built-in earbud jacks and a pair of earbuds for privacy. That’s all well and good, but the audio quality is weak and tinny. Thankfully, there’s a headphone jack on the battery pack so you can use your own headphones. My other complaint is that the cabling is a bit bulky when using the head tracker. It would be nice if there were a single molded cable that carried both HDMI and USB signals, but instead, you end up with a pair of cables sticking out of the glasses, and then another cable sticking out of the battery pack to connect an HDMI cable into. I also wish the rubber eyeshield were included. When you’re spending $800 or more on device, you’d think they could throw those in rather than charge you another $39 for those. And while they throw in a handy carrying case, it’s not quite big enough if you’re trying to cram in the glasses, the head-tracker and all of its cables.
Overall, I was impressed with the Cinemizer. It’s a nifty device, and is portable enough that you could take it on the road to really enhance your private video viewing experience. It’s lightweight and comfortable and is compatible with standard video sources. Plus its optional head-tracker is great for playing FPSes and racing games. The biggest thing standing in the way of the Cinemizer is its price. The goggles themselves list for $799(USD), and the head tracker will add another $229. $1000 will buy a you any of a number of good LCD and plasma TVs these days, so unless you really need privacy while playing content, it’s tough to justify the expense. Hopefully, the price will be driven down with time as the cost of components comes down.
Well, it looks like LG won’t be the only option available this month for those in the market for a 55-inch curved OLED TV. According to CNET, Samsung’s similar TV set, already on sale in Korea, is headed to “select dealers” in the US as early as this week. At least one of those, NY-based Value Electronics, says that its shipment is already on the way, and that it will run the same $14,999 that LG’s TV demands at Best Buy. To be clear, that is $15k per TV. One TV. Fifteen thousand dollars. Slightly curved.
Filed under: HD
Source: CNET
Both LG and Samsung seem to be doing some direct battling with their new OLED displays, which isn’t surprising at all and quite expected really. Samsung will begin selling its new curved OLED HDTV in the US starting sometime this week, with LG barely beating them out with theirs releasing today. The best part is, Samsung’s offering also has the same exact price tag.
Samsung’s OLED TV will sell for $15,000 in the US at some point this week, according to a listing on Value Electronics. The retailer says that shipments of the new curved OLED television from Samsung are on their way, and they believe they’ll be the first retailer to sell the TV, with availability coming later this week.
We caught Samsung’s curved OLED TV at CES 2013 back in January when the company began showing off the display, and it was obviously something impressive to look at. OLED technology provides a much better picture than LED and Plasma, thanks to the even darker blacks and vibrant colors, not to mention the low-power capabilities.
Samsung will offer two versions of the new OLED display, one which is curved and the other which is a flat design, the latter of which hasn’t been detailed yet as far availability is concerned, but we’re guessing that model may be a bit cheaper than its curved brethren.
No word on what other retailers will be selling the new television, but we’re guessing many of the big stores will carry the new curved display. $15,000 is a hard pill to swallow, but there’s bound to be some HDTV enthusiasts out there willing to spend that kind of money for the best picture possible.
VIA: CNET
Samsung curved OLED TV arriving in the US after Korean release is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The curved television era has officially begun, with LG announcing US availability for their new Curved OLED HDTV, which is the first of its kind to reach the US. LG’s 55-inch class model is going on sale starting today at select Best Buy locations. However, you’ll want to save up and go through your piggy bank to make sure you have enough cash, because these things aren’t cheap.
The new television from LG will cost you $15,000, a price that isn’t too surprising and one that we were expecting, but it’s certainly not in the category of an impulse buy. The curved OLED TV was initially put on sale in Korea, but Americans are now finally getting their chance to own one of the newest pieces of technology.
The TV is exclusively launching at Best Buy’s flagship store in Minneapolis, but availability will begin to spread over the coming weeks, including locations in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, and San Antonio. Availability at all Best Buy locations is expected to hit later this summer at some point.
The new TV is only 0.17 inches thin at the edges, and it weighs just 38 pounds. On top of the OLED technology (which is known for better image quality and low-power state), LG’s proprietary WRGB technology is being used in this new model, which features white sub-pixels on top of the traditional RGB color scheme. It’s also the world’s first OLED TV to achieve THX Display Certification, but we’ll let the buyers be the judge of the television’s quality, if anyone is up for buying it, that is.
LG Curved OLED HDTV rolling out in the US is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Back at CES we were floored
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Flexible circuitry is frequently a one-way affair — we’ve seen bendy displays and touch layers, but rarely both in one surface. UC Berkeley is at last merging those two technologies through a plastic skin whose display reacts to touch. By curing a polymer on top of a silicon wafer, the school’s researchers found that they could unite a grid of pressure sensors with an OLED screen; they just had to remove the polymer to create a flexible skin. As the film-like material can be laminated on just about anything, it maylead to touch displays in places where they were previously impractical, or even very thin blood pressure sensors. It could also be easy to produce — since the skins use off-the-shelf chip manufacturing techniques, commercial products are well within reach.
Filed under: Science
Via: Phys.org
Source: UC Berkeley
We’ve seen LEDs, OLEDs and even frickin’ lasers used in automotive lighting, but Audi‘s just cranked things up a notch with the world’s first 3D OLED tail lights. The prototype system was developed in collaboration with Philips, Merck and the University of Cologne, and the research was funded by the German government. What’s 3D OLED about, exactly? It’s the application of OLEDs to curved glass surfaces, which enables complex shapes with multiple layers and transparency. For the project, Philips invented new manufacturing techniques to produce OLEDs on formed glass using wet chemistry, and Audi then designed tail lights for a TT Roadster to validate the technology. While there’s no word yet on the longevity or efficiency, we figure it’s only a matter of time until 3D OLED lighting comes to production vehicles.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: OLED Display, OLED Info
Samsung has launched its first curved OLED TV on the market, a $13,000 slab of 55-inched flexed entertainment, which the company claims will unlock a new market of premium picture quality chasers. The set also debuts Samsung’s “Flawless TV” promise, which commits to zero bad pixels on each screen. Samsung first showed off its curved
Just as the rumors foretold, Samsung has announced Korean availability of a 55-inch curved OLED HDTV. Priced at 15 million Korean won (around $13,000) Samsung claims its “Timeless Arena” design eliminates potential for defective OLED pixels. It also reiterates the claim LG made when it launched its own curved OLED model earlier this year that keeping all parts of the screen an equal distance from the viewer makes for a better viewing experience. It also supports features found in other Samsung TVs like multi-view that lets two people watch different things at the same time thanks to 3D glasses, and the Evolution Kit CPU upgrade. There’s no word on US availability for its flat OLED HDTVs, but the company also launched its new 65- and 55-inch 4K TVs at the same event.
Gallery: Samsung ‘world’s first’ curved OLED
Update: According to Reuters, Samsung says it has no plans to offer a flat OLED HDTV in 2013, and this curved model will ship outside Korea in July.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Source: Samsung Tomorrow
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