Product category: Other OEM Display Modules and Meters
News Release from: ZBD Displays | Subject: ZBD displays
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 23 January 2003
Making Microsoft's smart watch even
smarter
Smart watches will not reap their full potential if manufacturers' display technology does not address the issues of power consumption and readability, warns Henri-Luc Martin, CEO of ZBD Displays.
Smart watches, heralded by Bill Gates at this year's International Consumer Electronics Show to be the next generation PC, will not reap their full potential if manufacturers' display technology does not address the issues of power consumption and readability, warns Henri-Luc Martin, CEO of ZBD Displays As part of Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative, the watches use wireless technology and FM frequencies to beam context-sensitive information, such as text messages and weather and traffic reports, to the user
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 19 Feb 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The watch even automatically resets itself in different time zones.
Wearers can select the information services they wish to receive by registering on the manufacturer's website.
Martin explains, "A conceivable drawback of this extraordinary innovation is the power consumption of the watch.
Further reading
ZBD - the zero-power display
Zenithal bistable technology is a significant evolution in liquid crystal display technology.
Zero-power LCDs go wireless for PoS duties
Retail product information and promotions will be transformed with the launch of the epop (electronic point of purchase) solution from ZBD.
Point-of-purchase display offers colour option
The e-paper quality of the EPOP 300 display is achieved by incorporating a patented nano-grating into the design of the bistable LCD.
Designed with the business traveller in mind, the ability of such a device to go for months without needing to recharge or replace the batteries could become crucial to the business traveller accessing important information.
The more information displayed, the more power consumed".
Martin continues, "For a SPOT watch to be commercialised the manufacturer must find an LCD display technology which can display sophisticated images with high visibility for extended periods of time, without constantly needing to be recharged and without image degradation".
ZBD Displays, the world's leader in zero power, high quality displays for portable devices, has developed a passive matrix LCD that retains high quality images without using any power - the zenithal bistable device.
Traditional LCD technologies, such as supertwist nematic (STN), require the image to be rewritten 30 times or more each second, even if the image remains unchanged.
In contrast, the image on a ZBD display only uses power when it is changed and the information stays visible even when the power is turned off.
As well as power savings, this allows manufacturers to use a smaller battery and so make fashionably smaller, lighter and less expensive watches.
ZBD technology also delivers superior readability, with three times the contrast and 150% of the brightness of an STN display, not to mention very wide viewing angles, making ZBD displays ideal for viewing information in all environments from dimly-lit rooms to bright sunshine.
Combined with their ability to display very high resolution images, ZBD displays offer the foremost solution for displaying data for extended periods, as required by Smart Watches, without image degradation.
In addition, ZBD displays also provide the resilience and toughness essential for a device carried on the person.
A ZBD display can withstand mechanical shock without losing its image.
ZBD displays have also been made in plastic, taking advantage of the wide manufacturing tolerances afforded by this unique technology.
This will make the manufacturing of complex displays on flexible or standard plastic substrates easier than ever before, and allow zero-power watch displays to be produced in a curved manner appropriate to the wrist.
Martin concludes, "The superior readability of a ZBD display is much more akin to the performance of a high-price TFT display than to that of a traditional low cost STN display, with the added benefits of ultra-low power and image storage.
ZBD is the only passively addressed technology to rival active matrix LCD displays, offering equal performance, lower power and image storage at roughly half the cost".
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