Toshiba Gigabeat prototype points to Zune with OLED

Both Microsoft's Zune and Toshiba's Gigabeat Gigabeat player could have a much better display than most players on the market, the company revealed with a new prototype. Rather than use an LCD, Toshiba's unnamed example Gigabeat would use a wide OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display. The technology would provide much higher contrast ratios than with today's screens and would eliminate the ghosting and color shifting effects that often occurs in fast-moving scenes on LCDs. At 3.2 inches, the screen would also display a relatively sharp 427x240 without consuming much of the extra space demanded by larger displays.

Information is currently unavailable as to when a finished device using the technology would ship. However, the test design appears to be closely based on Microsoft's first-generation Zune player and includes both the rounded directional pad and side buttons for play/pause and backtracking through menus. An earlier Gigabeat was the foundation for the first Zune, which is to be updated soon with a new model that shares many of the same design influences. [via Akihabara]