Hasta La Gadget!

We’re sure that it’s a quirk of the site’s ordering service, but TechRestore’s new option to replace your MacBook Pro’s glossy display with a matte one is listed as a “repair.”

For many, that’s just what it is. The glossy-only option on the 13” annoyed many because of excessive reflectivity, although it does bring some punchy colors, and deeper blacks than you can get with a matte screen. It also has the rather excellent glass cover that runs right to the edge of the entire top lid, and protects the screen as well as adding stiffness and an easy-to-clean coating.

TechRestore’s process costs $200. Send in your MacBook and it will rip out the screen and replace it with a matte one, and because the screen no longer has the glass panel, you also get a matte-black bezel, complete with holes for the iSight camera and LEDs. It takes just 24 hours, and TechRestore will hold on to your old screen, too — not that you’ll be needing it anyway.

The one advantage we see over the Apple-provided option (other than the fact that Apple only offers a matte screen on the 15” and 12” models) is that you get a black instead of a silver bezel. But the loss of that stiffening glass panel is a worry, plus Apple’s option is just $50.

Product page [TechRestore via Rob Galbraith]

You know, Microsoft Research isn’t just about prototype tablets and the occasional multitouch mouse. No sir, it’s also about designing work environments that are so impractical that you can bet you’ll never see one in real life. For today’s example we have a sort of Microsoft Office: no, not the productivity suite, rather a room that integrates interactive wall displays, Surface, and video conferencing. There is even an assistant / avatar for issuing voice commands, and while this demo has it played by a human being we have hopes that Clippy might be making a comeback. Ready to check it out yourself? Of course you are! The video is after the break.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Microsoft’s office of the future features interactive walls and Surface but, sadly, no Clippy

Filed under: Displays

Microsoft’s office of the future features interactive walls and Surface but, sadly, no Clippy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Neolux badges bring e-ink technology to trade show vendors, sweaty rock dudes

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Neolux badges bring e-ink technology to trade show vendors, sweaty rock dudes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the the big 3D push coming in 2010, I planted my eyes on three types of 3D technologies displayed at CEDIA (home theater expo) that you may have in your next TV…and passed some judgments without pulling any punches.

It should be noted, all designs require glasses. (More technical background on the types of glasses here.)

Panasonic’s 3D Plasma Concept
The Tech: Plasma with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
As a baseline reference to get our bearings, I took yet another look at Panasonic’s 103-inch plasma display that we’ve seen twice before. My original impressions stand. It’s decent—and definitely the best technology of the three that we saw at CEDIA. Why? There’s virtually no flicker in the image because of plasma’s instantaneous response times/ability to push legitimate high frame rates. Plus, it probably helps that we’re talking about a 103-inch display (that has its own trailer). The bigger a 3D display, the better the illusion. But glasses aside, it’s not what I’d deem a perfect experience. You see ghosting around some objects. And…OK, I still can’t ignore the damned glasses. It creates an inherent distance from the image inducing an unintentionally ephemeral viewing experience.

Sony’s LCD Concept
The Tech: 240Hz LCD with Active Shutter (alternating left eye, right eye progressive frames)
Even Panasonic will tell you that 240Hz is the baseline speed needed for an LCD to pull off 3D. But you know what? 240Hz isn’t enough. Watching Pixar’s Up, the color and sharpness are both great, but there’s an absurd level of flicker that’s nominally better than on old timey crank projector. And on this normal-sized LCD, it’s incredibly obvious when 3D objects break the illusion by reaching the TV’s frame. Granted, we’re not talking about a final product here, but the specs seem pretty much identical to what consumers can expect to see in the high-end display market next year.

JVC’s GD-463D10 LCD
The Tech: Polarized filter (two images are interlaced on the screen, each eye sees half the data, glasses don’t need power)
Of the three technologies here, JVC’s is the only final product that’s actually available now. And it costs $9,153. It’s also easily the worst of the three—completely unwatchable, in fact. The interlaced 3D means that the resolution takes a huge hit. But it’s worse than just a 1080i picture. Your brain can almost make out these lines. I could say more about the tech, but I honestly couldn’t stand to look at the screen for more than 10 seconds at once. Oh, and the kicker? For nine thousand bucks, you still only get two pairs of the cheap, polarized glasses. Sorry kids, Mommy and Daddy are watching TV tonight.

There’s no doubt that some home theater enthusiasts will go out and plop down $5k or more on a commercially available 3D display when they enter the TV lines of major manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic in 2010. But I’m hoping, really hoping, that the public can resist the gimmick until the technology is perfected. To me, that means when we don’t need to deal with these silly glasses at all. But for whatever it’s worth, plasma is definitely looking like the clear front runner in execution. [Image]

LG is set to show a 15-inch OLED TV that is striking in both its luminosity and design.

The TV is expected to be introduced at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show in Berlin in September and launched at the end of the year, says the website, OLED-Display.net.

LG hasn’t revealed the pricing for these beauties but it is not likely to come cheap. Sony’s 11-inch OLED TV costs $2500.

The new LG OLED display looks much like a photo frame with its controls and ports tucked in behind the screen. The screen can be wall mounted and tilted for best viewing angle.

OLED (organic light emitting diode)-based displays are taking off in a big way with companies such as Samsung and Nokia offering mobile phones with small OLED displays. The displays are attractive to consumers because they offer extremely vivid colors and high clarity. But so far the high cost of these screens has meant the technology hasn’t become widely used in consumer products.

The new LG 15-inch OLED TV could be a sign that these displays may now be ready to take the place of LCD and Plasma in HD TVs. With mass production and high sales volume, prices of these TVs could come down rapidly in the next few years. LG is also reportedly working on a 40-inch OLED TV.

More pictures of the LG OLED TV