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Researchers Improve the Color Peformance of Reflective Displays
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology developed an ultra-thin, flexible material that reproduces a full color display, while requiring only a tenth of the energy that a standard tablet consumes. But the colours on the reflective screen did not display with optimal quality. Now a new study, published in the journal Nano Letters takes the material one step further. Using a previously researched, porous and nanostructured material, containing tungsten trioxide, gold and platinum, they inverted the design to cause the colours to appear much more accurately on the screen.
By placing the component which makes the material electrically conductive underneath the pixelated nanostructure that reproduces the colours -- instead of above it, the colours are clearer. Reflective screens use less power and are less tiring for the eyes compared to OLED and LCD displays.
The new approach uses rare metals, such as the gold and platinum, but because the final product is so thin, the amounts needed are very small. The researchers have high hopes that eventually, it will be possible to significantly reduce the quantities needed for production.
Reflective screens are already available in some tablets and readers, but they only display the colours black and white well, which has limited their use. In addition to smart phones and tablets, it could also be useful for outdoor advertising, offering energy and resource savings compared with both printed posters or moving digital screens.
The limitation in reflective devices is that the luminance can’t be greater than the ambient level and the response time is much slower than OLEDs or LCDs. But use in an outdoor setting with an external light is clearly a possibility.
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology developed an ultra-thin, flexible material that reproduces a full color display, while requiring only a tenth of the energy that a standard tablet consumes. But the colours on the reflective screen did not display with optimal quality. Now a new study, published in the journal Nano Letters takes the material one step further. Using a previously researched, porous and nanostructured material, containing tungsten trioxide, gold and platinum, they inverted the design to cause the colours to appear much more accurately on the screen.
By placing the component which makes the material electrically conductive underneath the pixelated nanostructure that reproduces the colours -- instead of above it, the colours are clearer. Reflective screens use less power and are less tiring for the eyes compared to OLED and LCD displays.
The new approach uses rare metals, such as the gold and platinum, but because the final product is so thin, the amounts needed are very small. The researchers have high hopes that eventually, it will be possible to significantly reduce the quantities needed for production.
Reflective screens are already available in some tablets and readers, but they only display the colours black and white well, which has limited their use. In addition to smart phones and tablets, it could also be useful for outdoor advertising, offering energy and resource savings compared with both printed posters or moving digital screens.
The limitation in reflective devices is that the luminance can’t be greater than the ambient level and the response time is much slower than OLEDs or LCDs. But use in an outdoor setting with an external light is clearly a possibility.
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