LG intros 14.1-inch notebook LCD lit up by sunlight
updated 10:40 am EST, Mon December 22, 2008
LG sunlight-lit laptop LCD
LG Display announced on Monday it has introduced a prototype 14.1-inch LCD screen that reduces power consumption by as much as 75 percent when used outdoors on a sunny day. Users will have to manually switch between the conventional backlight unit mode and the new outdoor reflective mode by pressing a button. LG says visibility outdoors has also been addressed, as the new LCD has a 9:1 outdoor contrast ratio instead of the 2:1 or 3:1 usually found on conventional notebooks when they are placed outdoors.
The sunlight-illuminated LCD will make its official and physical debut at CES this January. It uses the company's Backlight Data Signal Switching Technology that includes reflection plates in backlight panels to switch from a reflective mode for outdoors to transmissive mode for indoors.
There is no indication of when the display would make it into commercially-available notebooks or what they would cost. [via Akihabara]
