Startup display developer Pixel Qi has posted the first images of its upcoming 3Qi display, which combines a black-and-white mode, full-color mode, and an e-paper mode intended for e-book readers. The image shows two 3Qi screens side-by-side, one using its e-paper mode with no backlighting, and the other showing a full color image with its backlight on. Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepson has also posted an image of the display outside in full sunlight, although the test unit’s metal bezel and quality of the iPhone photo make it difficult to evaluate the display’s quality, it’s certainly readable.
On the photo you can see two identical displays with a diagonal of 10.1 inch (25.7 cm), one of which is included in a color mode with backlight, while the other is using the e-paper without lights. Then there is the photo of a display under direct sun rays.
It is rather difficult to overestimate the usefulness and usability of these displays. In addition, the information displayed on them would be perfectly visible in any light, they can significantly save battery power (in the e-paper it is only required when changing the picture). The 3Qi display isn’t targeting future OLPC devices, although Pixel Qi says it is continuing to work with the OLPC project on future designs. Mary Lou Jepson has also extolled both touch and multitouch technologies as key to the future of display, although for now Pixel Qi is focusing on pulling low-cost, sunlight-readable displays into products aimed at developing markets. Mary Lou promises that by fall, we will be able to see these displays in the new netbooks and readers.
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