Revamped Display Surpasses Kindle's E Ink, Addressing Its Key Issues
Transflective Liquid-Crystal Display (RLCD) technology is making waves in the world of smartphones and tablets, offering a unique blend of outdoor visibility and colour capabilities that sets it apart from traditional LCDs and E Ink technology.
RLCDs, which reflect some external light to enhance usability in outdoor or bright conditions, are currently being used in various devices, with TFT LCDs maintaining a significant market share, particularly in mid-range and budget smartphones, due to their cost-effectiveness and decent image quality.
Comparing RLCD to E Ink
E Ink technology, common in e-readers, offers much slower refresh rates and limited colour support compared to RLCDs. However, E Ink displays excel in readability under bright sunlight and have very low power consumption, as they only consume power when changing the image. On the other hand, RLCDs consume more power due to backlighting but offer versatility in colour and responsiveness.
The HannsNote 2, a colour RLCD tablet, demonstrates the trade-offs between RLCD and E Ink. While it provides superior colour and detail compared to any E Ink tablet, its viewing angles are poorer. The potential for future colour RLCD tablets to eclipse colour E Ink for most people is promising, but the impact on actual product use remains unclear.
Daylight Computer's RLCD Display
One of the most notable RLCD devices is the Daylight Computer, a tablet marketed towards minimalist phone users. The tablet features a design with large bezels and a soft-touch back for improved grip. Its RLCD display works well in any kind of light and is comfortable to use in dim light due to its dual color backlight.
However, the Daylight Computer's RLCD display becomes dimmer when colour is added, a decision made due to pixel colour filter operations and prioritizing daylight visibility. The display also has a warm, green tint, with whites on E Ink looking better as they're actually white.
Despite these drawbacks, the Daylight Computer's display provides more detail than any E Ink tablet due to its higher contrast image. Moreover, its 120Hz refresh rate makes it incredibly smooth and free from perceivable flicker, even without the use of colour dithering or FRC. The display can last days on a charge, while E Ink tablets may last weeks with regular use.
E Ink Technology Improvements
E Ink technology has significantly improved, supporting thousands of colours and offering refresh rates of around 40Hz. However, RLCD technology still holds an edge in terms of colour and responsiveness, with colour RLCDs looking great across the board, albeit with issues with contrast on deep colours.
RLCD technology remains niche compared to the more established OLED and E Ink display technologies. No major smartphone manufacturers have widely adopted pure transflective LCDs to replace OLED or TFT LCDs at the high end, and E Ink remains limited to specialized applications rather than mainstream smartphone use.
In conclusion, RLCD technology holds promise to enhance outdoor readability in smartphones beyond traditional LCDs but has a more limited market impact compared to the more established OLED and E Ink display technologies. The future of RLCD technology in smartphones and tablets remains to be seen, but its unique blend of outdoor visibility and colour capabilities makes it an exciting area to watch.
[1] TFT LCD vs. OLED: Which is Better for Smartphones? [2] Transflective LCD vs. OLED: Which is Better for Outdoor Visibility? [3] The Future of Transflective LCD Screens [4] The Daylight Computer: A Minimalist Tablet for Minimalist Phone Users [5] E Ink Technology: A Deep Dive into the Future of Electronic Paper Displays [6] RLCD vs. E Ink: A Comparative Analysis of Display Technologies
- The Daylight Computer, with its Transflective Liquid-Crystal Display (RLCD), stands out as a unique device demonstrated in the realm of smartphones and tablets, offering improved outdoor visibility and colour capabilities compared to traditional LCDs and E Ink technology.
- Despite E Ink technology's significant leap forward in supporting thousands of colours and offering refresh rates of around 40Hz, it still lags behind RLCD technology in terms of colour and responsiveness, as RLCDs deliver a broader colour gamut and higher refresh rates.
