Kodak OLEDing the Way Again

Kodak, once the leading light in the photography biz were famously caught by surprise by the speed at which digital photography took. Despite launching some useful digicams, it has never really come close to regaining its former status. Now, however, they’re leading the way once again, this time with the world’s first consumer photo frame using OLED or Organic Light Emitting Diode technology.

OLEDs, in case you didn’t know, are super thin, and unlike LCDs, do not rely on a backlight. They also offer superior contrast ratios and although not a factor in this application, can be made to be flexible. The display used in this frame is 7.6 inches (measured diagonally); it’s a widescreen format with 800 x 480 pixel resolution and it boasts a contrast ratio of 30,000:1. The viewing angle – another OLED advantage – is 180 degrees. Read More »

What makes LCDs shine light

Unlike typical cathode ray displays that produce images on a screen by bombarding electrons into a layer of phosphorous, liquid crystal displays can’t actually produce their light while functioning. This is because the pixels on an LCD are basically like little shutters that vary their opacity accordingly to the amount of electric current they receive.

This disadvantage is especially visible in the case of old-fashioned monochrome liquid crystal displays, which can be read only when they are lit with light coming from the environment, and become totally useless in the absence of it. In this case, light coming from the Sun or reflected by the environment enters the LCD, passes through all the layers of the display before encountering a reflective surface that sends the light back to the viewer. Read More »

Is My LCD OK? Well, Is it?

Here’s one way to find out, a small freeware program called, you guessed it, IsMylcdOK. It’s a simple LCD monitor checker program that displays a series of solid colours, gradients and horizontal and vertical lines that will show up most of the common faults on flat screen monitors. These include dead or ‘hot’ (always on) pixels, faulty backlights and incorrect video phase setting. The program download is tiny, around 15kb, and it doesn’t even need to be installed, it runs from the zip/exe file, or from a pen drive. It is really easy to use; though watch out for the intro screen, it’s in German, so click the English button to continue (unless you are, or speak German, of course). Read More »

Canon Prints on the Move

It might look like something you would use to keep your sandwiches and a cold drink in, but what you are looking at here is the new Canon Selphy CP770 ‘home photo lab’ dye sublimation colour printer. The integrated carry-pack makes it easy to transport and it also provides storage space for paper and consumables, and an optional battery pack. Features include a bright, angled 2.5-inch LCD, it has a memory card reader for direct printing, there’s auto image correction with face brightness compensation, auto red eye correction, infrared data link and big, easy to use controls. Prints take around 52 seconds and Canon reckons they should last upwards of 100 years, we shall see…

Top Ten Notebooks You Couldn’t Do Without

Mobile computing has conquered both the high-end and the mainstream markets and analysts claim that the number of sold notebooks will outpace desktop systems by 2010. Mobile gaming is still a niche market, dominated by bulky notebooks with significant price tags, but most of the general-purpose laptops deliver optimal performance at a reasonable price tag.

The first entry in the mainstream notebook line-up is the Acer Aspire 5920 model, that comes rigged with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 chip running at 1.6 GHz. The system also packs 2 GB of DDR2 memory and runs Windows Vista Home Premium. The 15.4-inch LCD display sports anti-glare technology that boosts the video output and offers a comfortable computer experience. The system sells for about $910 via the company’s retail outlets. Read More »

Get Free PS3 With Bravia HDTV Purchase

It’s one of those super-pricey deals that makes every consumer drool- for our lucky Aussie friends, Sony will be giving away a 40GB PS3 with every purchase of a Bravia full-HD 1080 LCD TV. This promotion runs between December 21 and January 28, and applies to the current XBR, X, and W Bravia series models. How’s that for a package?

“Our Full HD BRAVIA range shows the phenomenal detail possible with high definition, and what better way to experience this than through the Blu-ray-enabled PS3,” said Sony Australia senior product manager, Graham Keogh. “Sony is as much about content as we are about hardware. Now, consumers will get the best of both worlds with this Full High Definition combination.” (source- Smarthouse) Read More »

End of the Line for Back Projectors

Once, not so long ago, the only way to pack a really big TV screen into your living room was a back-projection TV. In their heyday there were some real monsters from the likes of Toshiba and Sony, but now it looks as though their days are numbered, with the announcement from Seiko Epson that it is to stop production of the projection gubbins that many manufacturers used to use.

You don’t have to look far to see why it has happened, these huge boxes, which were mostly filled with air, have been killed off by big screen plasmas and LCD flat screens. Read More »

Sharp and Thin

Congrats to Sharp for producing what is claimed to be the world’s thinnest liquid crystal display. Most of us are blissfully unaware that there’s a right old battle going on in the world of LCD panel manufacturing, to see who can make the thinnest screens, and until last week that honour belonged to AU Optronics, with a screen just 0.69mm thick. But now Sharp have taken back the lead with a 2.2–inch panel that measures, wait for it, only 0.68mm. Now this is clearly a big deal for those involved and probably came about as a result of all sorts of clever technical developments but it’s unlikely that 0.01mm is going to make a lot of difference to the rest of us, but it’s nice to know it can be done…

Laptop Has Lots Of Screen Real Estate

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Lenovo Goes For Cheap Laptops

The mobile computing industry is currently on an ascending path and more and more computer users are seeking to get rid of their desktop systems and switch over to notebooks and laptops. Traditionally, the mobile side of the computer industry was accessible with only some serious spending as some time ago a modest level laptop or notebook came with a price tag that was at least double when compared with a similarly equipped desktop.

In order to attract more and more users to the mobile side of the fence, notebook manufacturing companies are now adopting a different strategy as they release both very expensive and affordable solutions that are aimed at attracting users without big financial possibilities. Read More »