Plasma panels and LCD screens have not surprised anyone for a long time, having taken their place in everyday life. The technology of creating a stereoscopic image using 3D glasses, which has taken its niche and is actively developing, has become familiar in recent years. Most experts are of the opinion that the next stage of development display technologies will be the appearance of a holographic projection screen, which is quite logical, since modern 3D television is an intermediate stage on the way to the formation of a three-dimensional image, since a three-dimensional image on such screens is visible only at a certain position of the head. Holographic displays can be seen as the next step in the development of 3D technologies.
Modern cinemas and TV use 3D technology, which is based on deceiving the human eye by presenting slightly different images to the eyes, which ultimately creates a three-dimensional effect. Optical focus is widely used in 3D technology: for example, the illusion of depth and volume of an image is created using polarized glasses that filter part of the image for the left and right eyes.
The disadvantage of this technology is that the three-dimensional image is visible only at a certain angle. Despite the fact that home TVs with 3D effect and without glasses are on sale, the viewer can watch them only if he is exactly opposite the display. The three-dimensional image begins to disappear when slightly shifted to the right or left relative to the center of the screen, which is the main drawback of all 3D displays. Holographic screens should solve this problem in the near future.
Today, pseudo-holographic screens based on a translucent grid or film are very popular. Panels are attached to the ceiling or shop window. With proper lighting, the panels are invisible to humans, and if an image is projected onto them, it creates the impression of a hologram through which the viewer can look. In comparison with liquid crystal screens and plasma, pseudo-holographic screens have a number of advantages: a bright image, originality, and the ability to install in any room.
The projector that projects the image may be hidden from the viewer. The advantages of such equipment are wide viewing angles, high contrast images and the ability to create holographic screens of a certain size and shape. Displays on translucent film are used to give an unusual effect and charm to the room, decoration of television studios and retail spaces. Transparent panels are produced by many companies and are used for advertising and marketing purposes.
One of the most popular are Sax3D holographic screens from a German company, created using selective light refraction technology, due to which the system ignores any light in the room with the exception of the projector beam. The display itself is made of durable transparent glass, on top of which a thin film is applied, turning the screen into a hologram and displaying the contrast image projected by the projector. Such a holographic screen allows you to view both digital images and videos. Transscreen displays work on a similar principle, created from a polyester film with special layers that delay the light coming from the side of the projector.
Residents are more interested not in specialized screens, but in solutions that can be used in tablet computers, TVs and smartphones with a holographic screen. It should be noted that in this area in recent years there has appeared a large number of original solutions, despite the fact that most of them work on an improved 3D effect.
InnoVision at CES 2011 presented to the public a prototype TV with a holographic screen called HoloAd Diamond. When creating a TV, a prism is used that refracts the light coming from several projectors and creates a full-fledged hologram that the viewer can view from different angles. During the demonstration, visitors to the exhibition and journalists were able to make sure that such a hologram significantly exceeds the images created by classic 3D devices in terms of color saturation and depth.
HoloAd TV can play FLV images, photos, and videos as a hologram. At the exhibition, the company presented two TV models based on a similar principle: the resolution of the first is 1280x1024 pixels, the weight is 95 kilograms, the resolution of the second is 640x480 pixels. Despite the fact that the TVs are quite large, they are convenient and comfortable to use.
HP's Palo Alto labs have attempted to fix the age-old problem with 3D screens. To reproduce a three-dimensional image visible from any point of view, the researchers proposed to show the image from different sides, sending for each eye of the viewer a separate picture. This technology involves the use of a system with laser systems and rotating mirrors, however, Californian scientists resorted to the components of a conventional liquid crystal panel, inflicting a large number of round grooves on the inner surface of the screen glass. As a result, this made it possible to refract light in such a way as to create a three-dimensional hologram in front of the viewer. The screen, created by HP specialists, shows viewers a static three-dimensional image projected from two hundred points, and a dynamic picture from sixty-four.
Relatively recently, the event expected by many finally took place - a smartphone with a holographic display was officially presented. Used in Red Hydrogen phone one technology display is expensive, but will be used on many mobile devices in the near future.
Red primarily specializes in the production of professional digital cinema cameras, but now it has turned its attention to a new industry with the development and introduction of the Red Hydrogen One holographic smartphone.
Red said that the screen installed on the smartphone is a hydrogen holographic display that allows you to instantly switch between 2D content, 3D content and the holographic content of the Red Hydrogen 4-View application. Despite the fact that exact information about the principle of this technology has not been published, the smartphone allows you to view all the holograms without the use of special glasses or additional accessories.
The demonstration of the Red smartphone with a holographic screen took place in June 2017, but no details have yet been disclosed by the manufacturer. However, there are a few lucky bloggers who managed to hold two smartphone prototypes in their hands: one is a non-functional mock-up showing the finish and appearance phone, the second is a working device, which the company still keeps secret.
Holograms are the future. At least that's what Hollywood filmmakers are convinced of, filling their fantasy films with translucent interfaces floating in the air. Like the ones on the spaceships in Passengers and Avatar.
True, so far we can only see three-dimensional graphics on movie screens using 3D glasses or. But Brooklyn-based startup Look Glass has created a device that takes us one step closer to a full-fledged 3D reality without the need for additional gadgets.
Take a look at this. It may seem that in front of you is just a glass aquarium, in which there is an incomprehensible red contraption. But in fact, this is a display, and the object inside is a picture drawn by it. The Looking Glass uses innovative technology: it creates 45 different images of the same three-dimensional object rotated at different angles, and then combines them by passing through a special holographic lens. As a result, it seems as if you are seeing a real three-dimensional object.
A device like this would be incredibly useful for 3D creators, game developers, industrial designers and engineers. The Looking Glass is compatible with programs such as Maya, Zbrush, Blender, Tinkercad and Solidworks. It allows you to view the results of your work right in the process. And besides, you can interact with the image, as with an ordinary material thing. To do this, you can connect a Leap Motion Controller handheld tracker, an Intel Realsense camera, or a game controller such as Nintendo's Joy Con.
In the future, this technology may become popular among both gamers and ordinary consumers of digital content. Agree, it would be interesting to play something or watch movies on such a screen. With Looking Glass, in order to view the action from some angle, it will be enough just to move to another corner of the room.
The display requires a computer with at least a processor Intel Core i5, 4 GB and graphics card Nvidia GTX 1060 minimum, as well as an HDMI port for displaying pictures and USB-C for power. The display will be available in two sizes: an 8.9-inch model for $600 and a 15.9-inch model for $3,000.
You can get a smaller version of The Looking Glass on Kickstarter for $400. Estimated delivery time is December.
The German company SAX3D was founded in 1998. The development center is located in Chemnitz. In the manufacture of holographic optical elements, SAX3D uses a patented system selective refraction of the light flux, which allows you to ignore any light in the room, except for the beam of the projector. This technology formed the basis for the development of SAX3D holographic screens.
SAX3D screens are an excellent alternative to the usual display tools that carry an advertising or informational function. The manufacturing technology of these screens was developed several years ago by German engineers from Sax3d GmbH with the sole purpose of attract the attention of the audience and the screens have already been found in this capacity wide application in European countries.
Sax3d is technically a projection screen that almost completely transparent(its base is made of durable glass) and at the same time displays a bright and contrast image created on it by a conventional projector. Himself behind the screen, thanks to which the audience does not notice him and the main intrigue is created: how does the image appear, because there are no wires going to the screen!
The content for the screen can be a regular video clip or a selection of photos running on a computer connected to the projector. At the same time, the only wish for the displayed materials is their location on a black background, which will further emphasize the transparency of the screen.
Currently, no major office, shopping mall or an event is not complete without plasma panels or LCD monitors. They have become such a common and integral element that one might be surprised by their absence rather than their presence. In this regard, many companies are looking for new means of attracting the attention of customers and technological equipment.
Glass holographic screens have become an ideal solution for such tasks. Transparent screens can be suspended from the ceiling, fixed to the floor, or fixed directly to the storefront glass (the projection film is only a few millimeters thick).
The translucent picture attracts the eye, and the screen itself does not disturb the space, as it allows you to look through the image. Holographic screens allow you to give the room a special charm, create a unique image and attract the attention of potential customers.
The image is projected onto transparent holographic film, which is printed on the surface of the screen. In addition, the film can be applied to almost any transparent surface - for example, to a shop window.
The film size allows for seamless application on screens up to 60".
The image is projected at an angle of 20, 38 or 55 degrees, which allows you to hide the projector from the eyes of the observer based on the characteristics of the room.
Unlike standard projection solutions that require screen space dimming, when using screens Sax3d The strength of ambient light has little to no effect on image quality. This is possible due to the fact that the holographic film transmits only the light of the projector beam, ignoring other light fluxes coming from other angles.
The holographic screen can be used as interactive panel. This is achieved thanks to an additional touch layer.
SAX3D holographic screens can be presented both as a standard pseudo-holography and as a holographic touch display. Each solution has its own technical features and intended for various purposes. The manufacturer distinguishes three main groups of SAX3D screens:
SAX3D Glass (glass)- a finished screen with a glass base. It can be suspended with a thin metal cable in the interior of the room.
SAX3D Touch Glass- an analogue of Sax3d Glass, equipped with an additional touch layer that provides the "Touch" function - feedback finger touches. With the help of interactive coverage, information will become tangible and “alive”, which will make an indelible impression on those present.
SAX3D Foil (film)- the film screen intended for drawing on the transparent bases, including show-windows of shops. Interactive holographic film SAX3D - Touch Foil is able to turn an ordinary storefront into an outstanding marketing tool that attracts the attention of passers-by.
Optical circuits are necessary for the correct positioning of the projector relative to the screen, which is critical when creating an installation based on the Sax3d screen. The internal structure of the Sax3d screen fabric is designed to refract and scatter the light flux directed from a strictly defined angle.
The placement of the screen and projector in accordance with the optical design ensures that the audience will see the highest quality image.
Plasma panels and LCD screens have not surprised anyone for a long time, having taken their place in everyday life. The technology of creating a stereoscopic image using 3D glasses, which has taken its niche and is actively developing, has become familiar in recent years. Most experts are of the opinion that the next stage in the development of display technologies will be the appearance of a holographic projection screen, which is quite logical, since modern 3D television is an intermediate stage in the formation of a three-dimensional image, since a three-dimensional image on such screens is visible only at a certain position of the head. Holographic displays can be seen as the next step in the development of 3D technologies.
Modern cinemas and TV use 3D technology, which is based on deceiving the human eye by presenting slightly different images to the eyes, which ultimately creates a three-dimensional effect. Optical focus is widely used in 3D technology: for example, the illusion of depth and volume of an image is created using polarized glasses that filter part of the image for the left and right eyes.
The disadvantage of this technology is that the three-dimensional image is visible only at a certain angle. Despite the fact that home TVs with 3D effect and without glasses are on sale, the viewer can watch them only if he is exactly opposite the display. The three-dimensional image begins to disappear when slightly shifted to the right or left relative to the center of the screen, which is the main drawback of all 3D displays. Holographic screens should solve this problem in the near future.
Today, pseudo-holographic screens based on a translucent grid or film are very popular. Panels are attached to the ceiling or shop window. With proper lighting, the panels are invisible to humans, and if an image is projected onto them, it creates the impression of a hologram through which the viewer can look. In comparison with plasma, pseudo-holographic screens have a number of advantages: a bright image, originality, and the ability to install in any room.
The projector that projects the image may be hidden from the viewer. The advantages of such equipment are wide viewing angles, high image contrast and the ability to create holographic screens of a certain size and shape. Displays on translucent film are used to give an unusual effect and charm to the room, decoration of television studios and retail spaces. Transparent panels are produced by many companies and are used for advertising and marketing purposes.
One of the most popular are Sax3D holographic screens from a German company, created using selective light refraction technology, due to which the system ignores any light in the room with the exception of the projector beam. The display itself is made of durable transparent glass, on top of which a thin film is applied, turning the screen into a hologram and displaying the contrast image projected by the projector. Such a holographic screen allows you to view both digital images and videos. Transscreen displays work on a similar principle, created from a polyester film with special layers that delay the light coming from the side of the projector.
Residents are more interested not in specialized screens, but in solutions that can be used in tablet computers, TVs and smartphones with a holographic screen. It is worth noting that in recent years a large number of original solutions have appeared in this area, despite the fact that most of them work on an improved 3D effect.
InnoVision at CES 2011 presented to the public a prototype TV with a holographic screen called HoloAd Diamond. When creating a TV, a prism is used that refracts the light coming from several projectors and creates a full-fledged hologram that the viewer can view from different angles. During the demonstration, visitors to the exhibition and journalists were able to make sure that such a hologram significantly exceeds the images created by classic 3D devices in terms of color saturation and depth.
HoloAd TV can play FLV images, photos, and videos as a hologram. At the exhibition, the company presented two TV models based on a similar principle: the resolution of the first is 1280x1024 pixels, the weight is 95 kilograms, the resolution of the second is 640x480 pixels. Despite the fact that the TVs are quite large, they are convenient and comfortable to use.
HP's Palo Alto labs have attempted to fix the age-old problem with 3D screens. To reproduce a three-dimensional image visible from any point of view, the researchers proposed to show the image from different sides, sending a separate picture for each eye of the viewer. This technology involves the use of a system with laser systems and rotating mirrors, however, Californian scientists resorted to the components of a conventional liquid crystal panel, inflicting a large number of round grooves on the inner surface of the screen glass. As a result, this made it possible to refract light in such a way as to create a three-dimensional hologram in front of the viewer. The screen, created by HP specialists, shows viewers a static three-dimensional image projected from two hundred points, and a dynamic picture from sixty-four.
Relatively recently, the event expected by many finally took place - a smartphone with a holographic display was officially presented. The display technology used in the Red Hydrogen One phone is expensive, but will be used on many mobile devices in the near future.
Red primarily specializes in the production of professional digital cinema cameras, but now it has turned its attention to a new industry with the development and introduction of the Red Hydrogen One holographic smartphone.
Red said that the screen installed on the smartphone is a hydrogen holographic display that allows you to instantly switch between 2D content, 3D content and the holographic content of the Red Hydrogen 4-View application. Despite the fact that exact information about the principle of this technology has not been published, the smartphone allows you to view all the holograms without the use of special glasses or additional accessories.
The demonstration of the Red smartphone with a holographic screen took place in June 2017, but no details have yet been disclosed by the manufacturer. However, there are a few lucky bloggers who managed to hold two smartphone prototypes in their hands: one is a non-functional mock-up showing the finish and appearance of the phone, the second is a working device, which the company still keeps secret.
Revolution is the word of the electronics industry. Expecting a revolution from every new invention new technology or a new released model is so normal for this market that all progress here is perceived as a series of leaps into the unknown. And in fact: electronics at all times has developed very dynamically; as dynamic as any other area of technology. However, if you look at the line of its progress more unbiased, it turns out that not so many events have the right to carry the title of revolutionary change.
Displays of the Future 2: An overview of the best holographic and flexible screens
If we take for a specific example the topic of our material - displays - then only the appearance of a color image instead of a monochrome one and the transition from cathode ray tubes to matrices of liquid crystal elements really claim to be revolutionary. Everything else, such as: increasing resolution, improving color reproduction, reducing the size of the display with an increase in its area - these are just important milestones.
At the current pace of progress, the creation of the eye-Phone is much less than a thousand years away.
What can be considered the most promising today in terms of cardinal changes? In our opinion, breakthroughs can be expected from three experimental areas: these are stereoscopic displays, displays on flexible matrices and translucent displays. We will tell you about each of the groups of these developments ...
The largest 3D
The most obvious route to the next technological revolution for displays today is stereoscopy, which has received the marketing name "3D". Some time ago, a technology for creating a stereoscopic image based on the polarization of light was actively promoted on the market. We have repeatedly written about TVs and monitors equipped with it, talking in detail about the foundation of this technology in the form of human binocular vision, about the design of shutter glasses, the structure of the screen and 3D formation algorithms.
Currently, "polarized" stereoscopy has occupied its niche in the market, the volume of which, as well as the overall impact of technology on the further development of display production, do not allow us to talk about a revolutionary break.
This is what commercial mass stereo vision looks like now
Glassless stereoscopic image creation technologies look more promising today. They can be briefly divided into those that use refractive microlenses located on the display screen, and those that use a system for tracking the position of the viewer using recording sensors (video cameras). Their great technical complexity and a certain degree of experimentalism at the moment do not allow us to make long-term predictions about their fate. However, let's try and here to doubt their true revolutionary nature, capable of changing the design of future displays beyond recognition.
The fact is that both spectacle and spectacleless stereo vision technologies involve creating the illusion of volume on a flat screen. We assume that a model that somehow demonstrates a true three-dimensional image will be able to make a 3D revolution among displays. Technologies that can solve the issue of stereo imaging in this way already exist. The most promising of them are holographic and volumetric displays.
The main obstacle to development
Let's start the review with the best that is already on the market. In our opinion, these are HoloVisio displays manufactured by the Hungarian company Holografika. Since 1996, the company has been engaged in the study and development of 3D imaging technologies. In 2008, the first HoloVisio displays appeared. IN this moment The first HoloVisio displays have already been discontinued and replaced by second and third generation models. The essence of the Holografika technology is the projection of an image by two dozen narrowly directed projectors, due to which the image is laid out in the display space, as it were, in depth. Such a complex way of visualization is expensive in the literal and figurative sense: on a 72-inch screen, the frontal plane of which has a resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels, there are actually 73 million voxel elements. The cost of the display itself reaches 500 thousand dollars. Of course, it is not necessary to talk about the immediate mass application of this miracle in the households of Europe and America.
However, not only the price, but the complexity of the design itself stops the mass adoption of displays like HoloVisio. This complexity has an essential side property in the form of complexity software in particular and the reproduction of holographic content in general. That is why scientists continue to look for simpler, cheaper and more intelligent ways to recreate a three-dimensional image.
Presentation of the company Holografika
The association of three groups of Japanese scientists and engineers has been working on the creation of laser projection equipment for creating three-dimensional images for seven years. We are talking about Aerial 3D technology, created by Burton Inc, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Keio University. A practical demonstration of the Aerial 3D projector took place in November 2011 as part of the CES 2011 exhibition. Japanese developers abandoned the traditional flat screen, drawing objects directly in the three-dimensional environment of ordinary space using laser beams.
Japanese version of the holographic screenless display
Aerial 3D technology uses the effect of excitation of oxygen and nitrogen atoms by focused laser beams. At the moment, the installation is capable of projecting objects consisting of 50,000 elements (dots) at a frequency of 10-15 "frames" per second. In the future, the developers plan to increase the speed to 20-25 "frames" per second and transfer the image from monochrome (green) mode to color.
Interactive holographic complex from Southern California
The ICT Graphics Lab at the University of Southern California is also working on a technology that offers a similar picture quality. Back in 2009, its employees introduced an interactive panoramic (the image can be viewed from any point on the circle) light display (Interactive 360º Light Field Display). The display is based on the technology of projecting an image onto a rotating anisotropic mirror.
Microsoft experiments
Of the most recent projects of holographic displays, one should also recall the development of Microsoft Research Cambridge with the name Verneer. Vermeer is a combination of a holographic screenless display and a video camera that gives the system touch functionality. The display uses projection technology between two parabolic mirrors (mirascope). The laser beam draws an image at a frequency of 2880 times per second, successively passing through 192 points. As a result, the viewer sees a picture that is updated 15 times per second, hanging in space and fully accessible for contact. It is the contact with the illusory holographic image that is being processed by the video camera, which is an analogue of the well-known gesture manipulator Microsoft Kinect.
Flexible option
The idea of the possibility of creating flexible displays is the first one that is not strictly related to the issue of adapting the virtual space of the screen to the physiology of human vision. Simply put, it doesn't matter to the user whether he sees the image on a flexible or on a rigid display.
But the flexibility of displays is quite revolutionary in terms of ease of use of devices and their compactness, since it gives the screen the properties inherent in a material that has long been familiar to mankind. Paper.
The paper sheet is easily folded several times, rolled into a tube, and is resistant to falling. It is these properties that developers are trying to endow with their flexible displays - or more broadly - flexible computers. It should be noted that flexible displays compete to some extent with built-in displays. electronic devices pico projectors. The image they project already has sufficient brightness and resolution, and is also endowed with touch screen functions.
Currently, almost all major electronics manufacturers have joined the technological race to create flexible displays. Among the names of the avant-garde here are Samsung, LG, Hewlett-Packard…
Flexible "fabric" for sewing displays manufactured by HP
The latter boasts the creation of a plastic material for the production of displays, with a thickness of only 100 micrometers. Displays made from this material have minimal power consumption and are highly compatible with miniaturization technologies. random access memory and drives. Hewlett-Packard hopes to start producing flexible computers as early as 2014.
LG display: thin and quite flexible
In turn, the LG company in March, 2012 provided the sample of the flexible display, ready to production. The device shown has a diagonal of 6 inches and a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels. The maximum bending angle can reach 40 degrees. The display weighs 14 grams, has a thickness of 0.7 millimeters and can withstand a fall from a height of 1.5 meters without consequences. LG plans to launch the display on the market in mid-2012.
Screenshots of a Sony display shown on a Sony laptop display
Speaking of flexible display sizes, Sony recently announced a 9.9-inch OLED flexible display. The thickness of the display is 110 micrometers, and the resolution is 960 by 540 pixels (the density of the elements is 111 PPI). The display was unveiled at Boston's Display's Display Week 2012 as...a series of screenshots on a laptop.
Nanolumens does not save on size
Nanolumens products are much more real. The company has been producing flexible displays for home, office and outdoor space (presentation) since 2010 under the NanoFlex and NanoWrap brands. The displays are not particularly thin (the thickness of the matrix substrate can reach 4 centimeters, but, according to the manufacturers, they practically do not impose restrictions on the area and diagonal of the screen. To prove their words, they have already demonstrated a presentation flexible display with an area of 5 square meters.
Samsung is in no hurry to show all the trump cards in this game
Finally, Samsung has repeatedly stated that it is actively developing flexible touch displays on OCTA matrices (On Cell TSP AMOLED). In these displays, the company sees the potential to significantly reduce the screen power consumption of future smartphones and tablets, as well as the possibility of reducing the thickness of their case by at least 35 percent. Unfortunately, in production models with flexible Samsung display going to launch no earlier than 2013.
Perspectives are transparent
By themselves, transparent displays are a technical fact. Producing them is easy enough. True, among the areas of use, design is mainly remembered: a fashion smartphone can serve as living examples. Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness or more recent and budget Explay Crystal.
Transparent display in a budget version
However, the transparency of the display can be used much more widely. And the most interesting application here is the creation of devices that combine information on the display with a piece of space visible to a person. Currently, such devices with transparent displays are being actively developed by many companies, divided into three main types: screen systems, glasses systems and contact lens systems.
This is how Samsung sees the tablets of the future
Currently, Samsung and Microsoft are talking openly about the development of screen systems. The first sees the result of the creation mobile computer, which is a flexible transparent screen that can replace both a traditional tablet and expand data access functions information network for real life.
On which Windows will we see this?
As for Microsoft, its Microsoft Applied Sciences division is working on creating an interface for a transparent screen, thanks to which a person can manually manipulate virtual entities. operating system and programs running in it.
Project Glass
The most famous project transparent screens made in the form of glasses virtual reality is, of course, Project Glass, being developed Google. At the end of June 2012, Google held a big presentation of the current state of the project as part of the Google I / O exhibition. In its course, the functions of the device were described (calls, video shooting in the first person, working with Internet services), some specifications and describes the design features (weight, the presence of several color versions, the availability of versions with tinted glasses and glasses with diopters).
Canon connects people and realities
However, we can also mention the new experimental development of Canon - mixed reality. While the system is in the status of an early prototype and therefore does not look very presentable. It consists of virtual reality glasses worn on the head and special probes-manipulators. With the help of them, the software shell can superimpose virtual images on objects of the real environment, allowing them to be manipulated both by one person and as part of a team.
One pixel is not yet a revolution?
Finally, the most interesting and truly revolutionary topic of lens displays and lens computers is just gaining momentum. Since 2009, researchers from the Finnish Aalto University and the American University of Washington have been closely involved in it. The project is currently in the early stages of developing its first prototype, which is a contact lens with a wireless power antenna and a CMOS circuit serving one pixel at the center of the lens.
