Hasta La Gadget!

Pixel Qi, a company that promises inexpensive, low-power displays that could potentially rival E Ink screens, has been talking about its product for months.

But Thursday Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen posted the first pics of the display on her blog. The pictures are a little fuzzy but they show the display in two modes and also running on a netbook.

We wrote about Pixel Qi earlier this month and talked to Jepsen. Pixel Qi’s displays called 3Qi will operate in three settings: a full-color, bright, conventional LCD mode; a very low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a low-power, basic color transflective mode. The screens are initially expected to be available in 10.5-inch and 7.5-inch screen sizes.

If successful, the 3Qi displays could effectively bridge the high-speed, full-color benefits of traditional LCDs and the low-power, reader-friendly qualities of electronic ink displays.

In one photograph on her blog, Jepsen shows two 3Qi screens side-by-side, one in full color mode with its backlight on and the other in a black-and-white electronic paper mode with its backlight off.

The screens will be available this fall in netbooks and e-book readers, says Jepsen. Netbooks might be an easier market for Pixel Qi to enter. The Cambridge, Massachusets-based E Ink has a near monopoly on the e-books reader market. Earlier this week, E Ink announced that more than 1 million e-book readers use its display.

Photo: Pixel Qi’s Screen/Mary Lou Jepsen