Belkin has announced a plug-and-play casting system at CES 2026 that allows for screen sharing from a laptop, tablet or smartphone to another display without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The $150 ConnectAir Wireless HDMI Display Adapter comes with a USB-C transmitter dongle and a USB-A to HDMI receiver that can be connected to a TV, monitor or projector to wirelessly cast over a range of up to 131 feet (40 meters).
Belkin’s ConnectAir Wireless USB-C transmitter and HDMI receiver (Belkin)
The ConnectAir Wireless casts in 1080p at 60Hz, with latency under 80ms according to Belkin. It’s compatible with USB-C devices that support DisplayPort Alt Mode, including Windows, macOS and ChromeOS laptops, tablets such as the M1 and M2 iPad Pro and iPad Air, and smartphones with video output. Belkin also says it supports multi-user screen sharing at up to 8 transmitters. The dongle comes in black and while it’s not available to purchase just yet, it’s expected to be released early this year.
XReal is at CES, unveiling two new pairs of AR smart glasses. The XReal 1S builds on the XReal One, adding Real 3D technology that converts any video or game into a 3D experience. It also introduces an ultrawide mode, a standout feature carried over from the excellent XReal One Pro. The second model, the ROG XReal R1, is the result of XReal’s partnership with Asus’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) and is billed by both companies as the first pair of smart glasses to support a 240Hz refresh rate.
Real 3D on the XReal 1S is surprisingly effective, especially with video games. Mario Kart World and Yooka-Replaylee both have a compelling sense of depth with the mode enabled, and even 2D platformers like Hollow Knight Silksong and Rogue Legacy 2 get a neat pop-out effect that makes the games seem like you’re playing them in a diorama. Considering none of those games are built for 3D displays, it’s impressive how the Real 3D processing handles them in the glasses.
Video converted to 3D is less impressive. I watched some of Fallout on the glasses, and while some shots showed a bit of depth, it was more subtle and less consistent than the games. One shot of a shade-darkened Lucy against the brightly lit wasteland was outright disorienting, because the Real 3D seemed to assume Lucy was the background and the wasteland was the foreground.
Even with games, I turned off Real 3D after 10 minutes or so. It did a number on the framerate, causing some stuttering and flickering. I also saw regular processing artifacts, and across the board, the general picture just looked less sharp than it did in 2D. I started getting a headache, which usually doesn’t happen with smart glasses. (I have experienced that with 3D glasses in theaters, and with TVs during the 3D TV fad of the early 2010s, though.)
There’s a lot of potential here, and XReal will probably improve Real 3D in future firmware updates. If the company can stabilize the framerate and reduce the video artifacts that come from the 3D processing, it could become a must-have feature. In fact, even though I got a headache, the Real 3D processing I tried on the S1 seems to be a bit less stuttery than an earlier version I tried during a demo a few months ago.
The Samsung Odyssey 3D G9 – G90XF 27″ gaming monitor breaks new ground with glasses-free 3D. The technology incorporates eye tracking to create a striking depth effect in games and videos.
The 27″ (68cm) Samsung Odyssey 3D G9 – G90XF 4K UHD monitor features glasses-free 3D technology. Thanks to eye tracking and the View Mapping algorithm, the image adapts to the user’s position to create dynamic depth. It can also automatically convert 2D videos into 3D content thanks to AI processing. The screen uses an IPS panel with a refresh rate of 165Hz, a response time of 1 ms and 99% coverage of the sRGB space.
It is FreeSync Premium and G-Sync Compatible, guaranteeing smooth synchronization with the graphics card. Connectors include two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 and a USB port. The Reality Hub interface centralizes 3D functions and provides access to compatible games. It’s ideal for those who want to discover 3D without constraints, while retaining solid performance for gaming and multimedia uses.
Pimax, a manufacturer of virtual reality (VR) hardware, debuted its next generation of PC virtual reality (PCVR) headsets to the public at CES 2026. The company demonstrated the final production model of the ‘Crystal Super Micro-OLED,’ alongside its new ‘Dream Air’ and ‘Dream Air SE’ devices.
Both the Crystal Super Micro-OLED and the Dream Air utilize the same optical stack, featuring 4K Sony micro-OLED panels per eye and Pimax’s proprietary “ConcaveView” lens technology. The company noted that the Dream Air SE is positioned as a more affordable version of the Dream Air, though it also utilizes the ConcaveView lenses.
Through close collaboration with hardware partners, Pimax stated that it aims to demonstrate how high-end PCVR can reach its full potential as part of a complete ecosystem. Attendees at CES were able to experience motion feedback and control systems across racing, flight, and active VR setups.
Auganix Managing Editor Sam Sprigg tries a racing sim demo with Pimax’s new Dream Air headset at CES 2026.
Visual displays have steadily gotten smaller and held closer to our eyes as our viewing habits have shifted from cinema screens to TVs to computers, smartphones and virtual reality. This shift has required higher image resolution (usually through increased pixel counts) to provide enough detail. Conventional light-emitting pixels work poorly below a certain size: brightness drops, and colors bleed. The same isn’t true for reflective displays such as those used in many e-readers, whose pixels reflect ambient light rather than emitting their own—but creating those pixels typically requires larger components.
A new reflective display could shatter those restrictions with resolutions beyond the limit of human perception. In a recent study in Nature, scientists describe a reflective retina e-paper that can display color video on screens smaller than two square millimeters across.
The researchers used nanoparticles whose size and spacing affect how light is scattered, tuning them to create red, green and blue subpixels. The material is electrochromic, so its light absorption and reflection can be controlled with electrical signals. With this setup, “metapixels” consisting of the three subpixels can generate any color if you deliver appropriate signals.
Each pixel is only 560 nanometers wide, creating a resolution above 25,000 pixels per inch—more than 50 times that of current smartphones. “We can make displays a similar size as your pupil, with a similar number of pixels as photoreceptors in your eyes,” says study co-author Kunli Xiong of Uppsala University in Sweden. “So we can create virtual worlds very close to reality.”
E-paper screens also have relatively low energy requirements; the pixels retain their color for some time, so power is generally needed only when colors change. “It uses ultralow power,” Xiong says. “For very small devices, it is not easy to integrate large batteries, so that energy saving becomes even more important.”
The team demonstrated the technology with a version of The Kiss by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and a three-dimensional butterfly image. “People have made these kinds of materials before, but usually they produce poor colors,” says Jeremy Baumberg, a nanotechnologist at the University of Cambridge, who studies how nanoscale materials interact with light. In comparison, the design of Xiong and his colleagues’ subpixels “generates colors that look more compelling than I’ve seen before,” Baumberg says.
These pixels can be rapidly controlled, enabling a reasonable refresh rate—but the necessary electronics for such a high resolution do not yet exist. Xiong and his colleagues anticipate that engineering companies will begin to develop such systems.
Meanwhile Xiong’s team plans to optimize other aspects of the technology such as its speed and lifetime. “Every time you switch [colors], the material’s structure changes, and eventually it crumbles,” Baumberg says—similar to how batteries decay. He estimates that it’ll be five to 10 years before we see commercially available devices.
[…] In a recent Science Advances paper, researchers report the creation of the smallest pixel ever, using optical antennas that convert radiation into focused energy bits. The pixel measures just 300 by 300 nanometers—around 17 times smaller than a conventional OLED pixel, but with a similar brightness.
To put the size into context, a display with an area of just one square millimeter could fit a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels using the new technology. The tiny pixel also glows on its own, making it potentially revolutionary for the next generation of smart, portable devices.
[…]
the team identified a way to effectively block these unwanted structures, called filaments, from potentially destroying the pixel. Specifically, they fabricated a thin, insulating layer with a tiny circular opening at its center and layered it over a gold optical antenna.
The arrangement proved surprisingly effective in preventing filaments from forming. The optical antenna additionally helped focus electromagnetic energy and amplify the brightness, according to the paper. As a result, “even the first nanopixels were stable for two weeks under ambient conditions,” said Bert Hecht, study senior author and a physicist at the University of Würzburg, in the release.
That said, the system is still a prototype, with about 1% efficiency. However, the researchers noted that because the current paper eliminates one of the biggest challenges of scaling down pixels, the next steps should be slightly easier.
“With this technology, displays and projectors could become so small in the future that they can be integrated almost invisibly into devices worn on the body—from eyeglass frames to contact lenses,” the researchers added.
[…] The findings could have broad implications in fields ranging from computer and virtual reality displays to 3D holographic imagery, optical communications, and even new ultrafast, light-based neural networks.
[…]
The new device is deceptively simple. A thin gold mirror is coated with an ultrathin layer of a rubbery silicone‑based polymer only a few nanometers thick. The research team could fabricate the silicone layer to desired thicknesses—anywhere between 2 and 10 nanometers. For comparison, the wavelength of light is almost 500 nanometers tip to tail.
The researchers then deposit an array of 100‑nanometer gold nanoparticles across the silicone. The nanoparticles float like golden beach balls on an ocean of polymer atop a mirrored sea floor. Light is gathered by the nanoparticles and mirror and focused onto the silicone between—shrinking the light to the nanoscale.
To the side, they attach a special kind of ultrasound speaker—an interdigitated transducer, IDT—that sends high‑frequency sound waves rippling across the film at nearly a billion times a second. The high‑frequency sound waves (surface acoustic waves, SAWs) surf along the surface of the gold mirror beneath the nanoparticles. The elastic polymer acts like a spring, stretching and compressing as the nanoparticles bob up and down as the sound waves course by.
The researchers then shine light into the system. The light gets squeezed into the oscillating gaps between the gold nanoparticles and the gold film. The gaps change in size by the mere width of a few atoms, but it is enough to produce an outsized effect on the light.
The size of the gaps determines the color of the light resonating from each nanoparticle. The researchers can control the gaps by modulating the acoustic wave and therefore control the color and intensity of each particle.
“In this narrow gap, the light is squeezed so tightly that even the smallest movement significantly affects it,” Selvin said. “We are controlling the light with lengths on the nanometer scale, where typically millimeters have been required to modulate light acoustically.”
When white light is shined from the side and the sound wave is turned on, the result is a series of flickering, multicolored nanoparticles against a black background, like stars twinkling in the night sky. Any light that does not strike a nanoparticle is bounced out of the field of view by the mirror, and only the light that is scattered by the particles is directed outward toward the human eye. Thus, the gold mirror appears black and each gold nanoparticle shines like a star.
The degree of optical modulation caught the researchers off guard. “I was rolling on the floor laughing,” Brongersma said of his reaction when Selvin showed him the results of his first experiments.
“I thought it would be a very subtle effect, but I was amazed at how many nanometer changes in distance can change the light scattering properties so dramatically.”
The exceptional tunability, small form factor, and efficiency of the new device could transform any number of commercial fields. One can imagine ultrathin video displays, ultra‑fast optical communications based on acousto‑optics’ high‑frequency capabilities, or perhaps new holographic virtual reality headsets that are much smaller than the bulky displays of today, among other applications.
“When we can control the light so effectively and dynamically,” Brongersma said, “we can do everything with light that we could want—holography, beam steering, 3D displays—anything.”
Half a billion years ago, nature evolved a remarkable trick: generating vibrant, shimmering colors via intricate, microscopic structures in feathers, wings and shells that reflect light in precise ways. Now, researchers from Trinity have taken a major step forward in harnessing it for advanced materials science.
A team led by Professor Colm Delaney from Trinity’s School of Chemistry and AMBER, the Research Ireland Center for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research, has developed a pioneering method, inspired by nature, to create and program structural colors using a cutting-edge microfabrication technique.
The work could have major implications for environmental sensing, biomedical diagnostics, and photonic materials. The research is published in the journal Advanced Materials.
At the heart of the breakthrough is the precise control of nanosphere self-assembly—a notoriously difficult challenge in materials science. Teodora Faraone, a Ph.D. Candidate at Trinity, used a specialized high-resolution 3D-printing technique to control the order and arrangement of nanospheres, allowing them to interact with light in ways that produce all the colors of the rainbow in a controlled manner.
“This was the central challenge of the ERC project,” said Prof. Delaney, who is en route to Purdue University to present the landmark findings at the MARSS conference on microscale and nanoscale manipulation. “We now have a way to fine-tune nanostructures to reflect brilliant, programmable colors.”
One of the most exciting aspects of the newly developed material is its extreme sensitivity: The structural colors shift in response to minute changes in their environment, which opens up new opportunities for chemical and biological sensing applications.
Microscopic pixels can be fabricated using direct laser writing, demonstrating the ability to achieve wide gamut structural colors, and these can be combined into microscopic works of art, such as in the tiny hummingbird art shown here. Credit: Prof. Colm Delaney
Dr. Jing Qian, a postdoctoral researcher and computational specialist on the team, helped confirm the experimental results through detailed simulations, providing deeper insights into how the nanospheres organize themselves.
The team is already combining the color-programming technique with responsive materials to develop tiny microsensors that change color in real time. These sensors are being developed as part of the IV-Lab Project, a European Innovation Council Pathfinder Challenge led by the Italian Institute of Technology, with a key goal being the development of implantable devices capable of tracking biochemical changes inside the human body.
PNG is back to its former glory after its progress stalled for over two decades. Did you know the U.S. Library of Congress, Library and Archives Canada, and the National Archives of Australia recommend PNG? It is important that we keep PNG current and competitive. After 20 years of stagnation, PNG is back with renewed vigor!
Figure 1 shows the colors our eyes can see.
The smaller, inner triangle represents the color space of most images.
The larger, outer triangle represents the colors that are typical with a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image.
This new HDR support uses only 4 bytes (plus the usual PNG chunk overhead).
The Spacetop AR laptop made a splash when it debuted a few years ago with an intriguing pitch: What if you could have a notebook that works entirely through augmented reality glasses, without a built-in screen of its own? Unfortunately, we found the Spacetop experience to be underwhelming, and the hardware seemed like a tough sell for $1,900. Last Fall, Spacetop’s creator Sightful told CNET that it was abandoning the screen-less laptop altogether and instead focusing on building AR software for Windows PCs. Now, we have a clearer sense of what Sightful is up to.
Today, Sightful is officially launching Spacetop for Intel-powered Windows AI PCs, following a short trial launch from January. For $899 you get a pair of XREAL’s Air Ultra 2 glasses and a year of Spacetop’s software. Afterwards, you’ll have to pay $200 annually for a subscription. The software works just like the original Spacetop concept — it gives you a large 100-inch AR interface for doing all of your productivity work — except now you’re not stuck with the company’s middling keyboard and other hardware.
[…]
Spacetop doesn’t support Intel chips without NPUs, as its AR interface requires constant AI processing. It doesn’t work AMD or Qualcomm’s AI CPUs, either.
[…]
In a conversation with Engadget, Sightful CEO Tamir Berliner noted that the company might pay more attention to other chip platforms if it gets similar attention.
[…]
you’ll have to get used to wearing Xreal’s large Air 2 Ultra glasses. When we demoed it at CES, we found it to be an improvement over previous Xreal frames, thanks to their sharp 1080p micro-OLED displays and wider field of view. The Air 2 Ultra are also notable for having 6DoF tracking, which allows you to move around AR objects. While sleeker than the Vision Pro, the glasses are still pretty clunky, and you’ll also have to snap in additional prescription frames if necessary.
I’ll need to see this latest iteration of Spacetop in action before making any final judgments, but it’s clearly a more viable concept as an app that can work on a variety of laptops. Nobody wants to buy bespoke hardware like the old Spacetop laptop, no matter how good of a party trick it may be.
[…] According to an announcement earlier this month, Zeiss wants to upgrade commercial jets with touch-free holographic Multifunctional Smart Glass systems.
The new technology is on display from April 8-10 during the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2025 in Hamburg, Germany. The company wants to move beyond the showroom floor and into more planes within the coming years.
The smart glass may also help lighten a plane’s overall weight. Credit: Zeiss
To create transparent glass like an airplane window, Zeiss relies on a combination of micro-optical structures and holographic optical components, depending on the need. This may take the form of windows that display flight information, geographical orientation, and moving maps for commercial plane passengers. Smart glass panes–instead of opaque cabin section dividers–could also become interactive digital surfaces through the use of touchless holographic “buttons” that respond to motion using ultraviolet- and infrared-based sensors.
However, one of the system’s biggest features isn’t seen—it’s felt. According to Zeiss, swapping out existing heavy physical dividers and bulky display tools with multifunctional smart glass can cut down on a plane’s overall weight. The lighter the plane, the less fuel it generally uses, leading to cheaper overall operating costs and less pollution.
Zeiss isn’t restricting its holographic smart glass to airplane cabins, either. The company is already testing augmented reality HUD cockpit displays that reduce the need for pilots to look away from their surroundings. To accomplish this, the smart glass relies on infrared and microwave camera sensors to capture environmental data and transmit them directly onto a pilot’s field of vision.
“The multiple detection systems help pilots, crew and (semi-)automated assistance systems monitor various tasks inside and outside the aircraft,” the company explains on its website.
The technology could serve as an invaluable tool during low-visibility situations such as evening flights, fog, and inclement weather. Future uses could also include turning an entire cockpit window into a single, augmented reality HUD display. Doing so may also minimize collision risks, as well as unnecessary holding patterns and flight diversions.
The Shenzhen 8K UHD Video Industry Cooperation Alliance, a group made up of more than 50 Chinese companies, just released a new wired media communication standard called the General Purpose Media Interface or GPMI. This standard was developed to support 8K and reduce the number of cables required to stream data and power from one device to another. According to HKEPC, the GPMI cable comes in two flavors — a Type-B that seems to have a proprietary connector and a Type-C that is compatible with the USB-C standard.
Because 8K has four times the number of pixels of 4K and 16 times more pixels than 1080p resolution, it means that GPMI is built to carry a lot more data than other current standards. There are other variables that can impact required bandwidth, of course, such as color depth and refresh rate. The GPMI Type-C connector is set to have a maximum bandwidth of 96 Gbps and deliver 240 watts of power. This is more than double the 40 Gbps data limit of USB4 and Thunderbolt 4, allowing you to transmit more data on the cable. However, it has the same power limit as that of the latest USB Type-C connector using the Extended Power Range (EPR) standard.
Standard
Bandwidth
Power Delivery
DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20
80 Gbps
No Power
GPMI Type-B
192 Gbps
480W
GPMI Type-C
96 Gbps
240W
HDMI 2.1 FRL
48 Gbps
No Power
HDMI 2.1 TMDS
18 Gbps
No Power
Thunderbolt 4
40 Gbps
100W
USB4
40 Gbps
240W
GPMI Type-B beats all other cables, though, with its maximum bandwidth of 192 Gbps and power delivery of up to 480 watts. While still not a level where you can use it to power your RTX 5090 gaming PC through your 8K monitor, it’s still more than enough for many gaming laptops with a high-end discrete graphics. This will simplify the desk setup of people who prefer a portable gaming computer, since you can use one cable for both power and data. Aside from that, the standard also supports a universal control standard like HDMI-CEC, meaning you can use one remote control for all appliances that connect via GPMI and use this feature.
The only widely used video transmission standards that also deliver power right now are USB Type-C (Alt DP/Alt HDMI) and Thunderbolt connections. However, this is mostly limited to monitors, with many TVs still using HDMI. If GPMI becomes widely available, we’ll soon be able to use just one cable to build our TV and streaming setup, making things much simpler.
Billed as the world’s first commercial multi-focal monitor, the Ultra Reality Extend merges the ease-of-use and simplicity of a traditional desktop display with the kind of spatial depth you can normally only get from VR headset. Granted, the max simulated depth the Extend delivers is only 2.5 meters, which isn’t nearly as far as you’d get from devices like a Meta Quest 3S or an Apple Vision Pro, but considering that Brelyon’s monitor doesn’t require any additional equipment (aside from a connected PC), the effect is truly impressive. And it’s much easier to use too, all you have to do is set yourself in front and the monitor will do the rest, which results in much less eye strain or the potential nausea that many people experience with modern VR goggles.
Brelyon
This allows the monitor to defy its dimensions, because even though it’s much chunkier than a typical display, the view inside is absolutely monstrous. From a 30-inch frame, the Ultra Reality Extend provides a virtual display that’s equivalent to a curved 122-inch screen. Meanwhile, its 4K/60Hz resolution uses 1-bit of monocular to deliver spatial content that looks closer to 8K with elements of the scene capable of looking closer or further away depending on the situation.
[…]
underpinning the monitor is Brelyon’s Visual Engine, which allows the display to automatically assign different depths to elements in games and videos on the fly without additional programming. That said, developers can further optimize their content for Brelyon’s tech, allowing them to add even more depth and immersion.
Unfortunately, the downside is that the Ultra Reality Extend’s unique approach to spatial content is quite expensive. That’s because while the monitor is available now, the company is targeting pricing between $5,000 to $8,000 per unit, with the exact numbers depending on the customer and any partnerships with Brelyon. Sadly, this means the display will be limited to enterprise buyers who will use it for things like making ultra-realistic flight simulators with depth-enabled UI instead of normal folk who might want a fancy monitor for movies and games. But if Brelyon’s tech takes off, one day, maybe…
About seven years after the HDMI 2.1 specification was introduced, the HDMI Forum has announced the next generation: HDMI 2.2, which will require new cables to take advantage of its most high-performance features. It will not require a new connector, though, thankfully.
Though the HDMI Forum is officially calling the new specification HDMI 2.2, the accompanying cable will also receive a new name: Ultra96. All told, the selling point of both the Ultra96 cable and HDMI 2.2 specification are the increased bandwidth, which doubles the HDMI 2.1 bandwidth from 48Gbps to a staggering 96Gbps. [me: not really very impressive considering it doesn’t allow much over 8k resolution]
At this point, however, the HDMI Forum is only talking conceptually about the new specification. Companies who are part of the new HDMI adopter program will receive the full specifications in the first half of 2025
[…]
Remember, HDMI 2.1 supports uncompressed single-display resolution of 8K at 60Hz with 8-bit color depth at 4:2:0 chroma, and the same cables support compression at 10K120 resolution at 12-bit color depths.
[…]
Alternatively, users have the choice of using DisplayPort, which was “upgraded” from DisplayPort 2.0 to DisplayPort 2.1 in 2022, tightening the specification for USB 4. In January 2024, DisplayPort added the 2.1a specification, whose bandwidth tops out at 80Gbps.
Imagine a display as flexible as plastic wrap—so malleable you could stretch it over your face in a futuristic impression of expert Saran-wrapping serial killer Dexter. LG is supposing the future will be full of such flexible displays, and its latest rendition of the concept screen is capable of stretching up to 50% of its normal length, mainly thanks to the same material used in contact lenses.
[…]
microLED. Like OLED, this display type allows for its self-emitting glow without any kind of backlight. MicroLED is so minuscule, it allows researchers to come up with some unique use cases, such as LG’s prototype.
The Laffy Taffy screen uses a “special silicon material substrate,” according to LG. It’s the same kind of material used in soft contact lenses, and it’s wired in such a way that you can morph it without fear of breaking it. LG said it can be folded and stretched “over 10,000 times” and still maintain a clear image.
[…]
LG said this new display is 100 ppi (pixels per inch)
[…] At the time of this article’s publication, our 100 TVs had been running for over 10,000 hours since the launch of the test, which represents roughly six years of use in a typical U.S. household
[…]
The results of this investigation are unequivocal: edge-lit TVs are inherently prone to significant durability issues, including warped reflector sheets, cracked light guide plates, and burnt-out LEDs due to concentrated heat. These problems manifest after prolonged use at maximum brightness, posing a significant risk to their long-term reliability.
[…]
we recommend prioritizing models with better heat distribution, such as direct-lit or FALD TVs, for improved longevity and performance.
[…]
Excluding the 18 OLEDs, which have burn-in from constantly streaming CNN, over 25% of the 82 LCD TVs in our test suffer from visible uniformity issues.
It gets worse if we look at LCD TVs by their sub-type. Seven out of the eleven (64%) edge-lit models in our test suffer from uniformity issues, one has outright failed, and others are in the process of doing so. In contrast, only 14 out of the 71 (20%) full-array local dimming (FALD) and direct-lit TVs have uniformity issues.
The issues we’ve encountered with the edge-lit TVs in our test seem to be the same across models and brands
After having upgraded to a graphics card that can handle 4k and 120Hz, I spent a LOT of time figuring out why I couldn’t find (or create) that mode on my PC. Support first told me the monitor had 110Hz, but that (or lower) didn’t work either. Support then told me – nope: it’s only 60 Hz.
It turns out that this is indeed buried in the manual on page 15.
The customer support rep was sorry for me, but that’s it. There is no way to take a company like LG to task apart from writing about it.
Possibly I haven’t learnt from my own posts: Don’t Buy an HDMI 2.1 TV Before You Read the Fine Print – The HDMI 2.1 specification is crazy and as long as any one of the components in the system is 2.1 compatible the rest don’t have to be, but you still get the label.
[…] The C SEED N1 TV unveiled at CES 2024 is now making global waves. This revolutionary device boasts a vivid 4K resolution, 165, 137, or 103-inch Micro LED screen size, and 180-degree rotation- and it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
C SEED leads the way with the patented game-changing Adaptive Gap Calibration system: AGC is an automatic distance measuring and calibration system that creates totally seamless foldable 4K/8K TV surfaces, free from any visible gaps. High-resolution sensors detect potential offsets between the folding TV wings, measuring fractions of millimeters and autonomously calibrating the corresponding LEDs´ specific brightness to render gaps invisible. C SEED´s AGC technology guarantees the perfectly seamless indoor TV experience.
Samsung showcased its transparent MicroLED display side-by-side next to transparent OLED and transparent LCD models to really highlight the differences between the tech. Compared to the others, not only was the MicroLED panel significantly brighter, it also featured a completely frameless design and a more transparent glass panel that made it easier to see objects behind it.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
In person, the effect Samsung’s transparent micro OLED displays have is hard to describe, as content almost looks like a hologram as it floats in mid-air. The demo unit was freestanding and measured only about a centimeter thick, which adds even more to the illusion of a floating screen. Additionally, because of micro LEDs high pixel density, images also looked incredibly sharp.
[…]
The bad news is that with Samsung’s current crop of non-transparent MicroLED TVs currently costing $150,000 for a 110-inch model, it’s going to be a decently long time until these new displays become anything close to affordable.
LG announced a new transparent TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Gizmodo’s staff got to check it out in person, and it’s gorgeous. LG claims this is the world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV and is calling it the Signature OLED T (T for transparent).
The OLED T is merely a transparent panel that plays your content without invading your space with a large, black, obtrusive screen. LG argues that this will help create an illusion of your room looking larger than it would with a regular screen. And in our teams brief experience with the product, that’s true. The sense of openness that would come from not having a huge, dark blob in the room is one of the coolest things about this TV.
The LG OLED T is a massive 77 inches. But when it’s turned off, it simply blends with the environment and makes you forget it’s even there. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why you can place it anywhere you want, unlike a traditional TV that typically has to go in front of a wall. The OLED T can even be placed in front of a window without obstructing your view. The TV is fully wireless, so you don’t have to worry about sockets, either. The Zero Connect Box that the TV ships with also doesn’t need any wires between itself and the screen.
[…]
As for pricing, all LG told Gizmodo was that it will be “very expensive”.
Here’s a fun tidbit — Linux is the only OS to support a diagonal monitor mode, which you can customize to any tilt of your liking. Latching onto this possibility, a Linux developer who grew dissatisfied with the extreme choices offered by the cultural norms of landscape or portrait monitor usage is championing diagonal mode computing. Melbourne-based xssfox asserts that the “perfect rotation” for software development is 22° (h/t Daniel Feldman).
[…]
Xssfox devised a consistent method to appraise various screen rotations, working through the staid old landscape and portrait modes, before deploying xrandr to test rotations like the slightly skewed 1° and an indecisive 45°. These produced mixed results of questionable benefits, so the search for the Goldilocks solution continued.
It turns out that a 22° tilt to the left (expand tweet above to see) was the sweet spot for xssfox. This rotation delivered the best working screen space on what looks like a 32:9 aspect ratio monitor from Dell. “So this here, I think, is the best monitor orientation for software development,” the developer commented. “It provides the longest line lengths and no longer need to worry about that pesky 80-column limit.”
[…]
We note that Windows users with AMD and Nvidia drivers are currently shackled to applying screen rotations using 90° steps. MacOS users apparently face the same restrictions.
Windows Mixed Reality is heading to a farm upstate. Microsoft is shutting down the platform, according to an official list of deprecated Windows features. This includes the garden variety Windows Mixed Reality software, along with the Mixed Reality Portal app and the affiliated Steam VR app. The platform isn’t gone yet, but Microsoft says it’ll be “removed in a future release of Windows.”
Microsoft first unveiled Windows Mixed Reality back in 2017 as its attempt to compete with rivals in the VR space, like HTC and Oculus (which is now owned by Meta.) We were fascinated by the tech when it first launched, as it offered the ability for in-person shared mixed reality.
[…]
Microsoft’s platform was ultimately adopted by several VR headsets, like the HP Reverb G2 and others manufactured by companies like Acer, Asus and Samsung. The Windows Mixed Reality Portal app allowed access to games, experiences and plenty of work-related productivity apps. However, it looks like the adoption rate wasn’t up to snuff, as indicated by today’s news.
Despite the imminent end to the platform, it doesn’t look to be impacting Microsoft’s other mixed-reality ecosystem, the HoloLens 2. Microsoft added a Windows 11 upgrade and other improvements for the business-focused headset earlier this year, according to The Verge.
[…]
Microsoft has made sweeping cuts throughout its VR division, leading to layoffs and the discontinuation of the AltspaceVR app. The company is, however, still developing its proprietary Mesh app that lets co-workers meet in a virtual space without a headset.
IDTechEx’s report ‘Micro-LED Displays 2024-2034: Technology, Commercialization, Opportunity, Market and Players‘ explores various angles of Micro-LED displays.
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MicroLED displays are built on the foundation of self-emissive inorganic LEDs, acting as subpixels. These LEDs are usually in the micrometer range, without package nor substrate, and therefore are transferred in a way different from traditional pick & place techniques.
The key to Micro-LED’s success lies in its unique value propositions. Not only do these displays offer stunning visual clarity, high luminance, fast refresh rate, low power consumption, high dynamic range, and high contrast, but they also provide transparency, seamless connections, sensor integration, and the promise of an extended lifetime. Such features make Micro-LED a game-changer in the display industry.
While the disruption begins with Micro-LED, it does not end there. These displays not only meet the demands of existing applications but also create entirely new possibilities.
For the former, eight applications are addressed most: augmented/mixed reality (AR/MR), virtual reality (VR), large video displays, TVs and monitors, automotive displays, mobile phones, smartwatches and wearables, tablets, and laptops.
IDTechEx have recently observed a clear trend that most efforts are put on only a few applications such as large video displays/large TVs, Smartwatches/wearables, and augmented reality.
When talking about Mini-LED and Micro-LED, the LED size is a very common feature to distinguish the two. Both Mini-LED and Micro-LED are based on inorganic LEDs. As the names indicate, Mini-LEDs are considered as LEDs in the millimeter range, while Micro-LEDs are in the micrometer range. However, the distinction is not so strict in reality, and the definition may vary from person to person. However, it is commonly accepted that micro-LEDs are under 100 µm and even under 50 µm. While mini-LEDs are much larger.
When applied in the display industry, size is just one factor when talking about Mini-LED and Micro-LED displays. Another feature is the LED thickness and substrate. Mini-LEDs usually have a large thickness of over 100 µm, largely due to the existence of an LED substrate. While Micro-LEDs are usually substrateless, and therefore the finished LEDs are extremely thin.
A third feature that is used to distinguish the two is the mass transfer techniques that are utilized to handle the LEDs. Mini-LEDs usually adopt conventional pick-and-place techniques, including surface mounting technology. Every time, the number of LEDs that can be transferred is limited. For Micro-LEDs, millions of LEDs usually need to be transferred when a heterogenous target substrate is used; therefore, the number of LEDs to be transferred at a time is significantly larger, and thus, a disruptive mass transfer technique should be considered.
Lenovo’s next 27-inch 4K monitor is unlike any display it has released before. Featuring a lenticular lens and real-time eye-tracking, it’s a 3D monitor that doesn’t require any glasses. Other companies are already pushing stereoscopic products, but Lenovo’s ThinkVision 27 3D Monitor, announced at the IFA conference today, takes the glasses-free experience to a bigger screen.
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Like other glasses-less 3D screens, the ThinkVision works by projecting two different images to each of your eyes, resulting in a 3D effect where, […] it appears that the images are popping out of the screen. Lenovo says the monitor’s 3D resolution is 1920×2160. The lenticular lens in the monitor is switchable, allowing for normal, 2D viewing at 3840×2160, too.
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The ThinkVision’s 27-inch display gives workers a bigger palette. It also means the monitor can be a regular 2D monitor when needed.
PCMag had a “brief demo” with Lenovo’s upcoming monitor, viewing a red race car model “suspended in 3D,” representing a potential use case for creators. The publication said the 3D was impressive and the monitor “would no doubt be useful to those who spend lots of time building 3D objects in software.”
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As a regular 2D monitor, the ThinkVision’s specs are pretty standard. It’s a 4K IPS screen claiming a 60 Hz refresh rate, 310 nits, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and 99 percent DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB color coverage with a Delta E under 2.
Like a proper workplace monitor, there’s also a strong port selection: two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, four USB-A (3.1 Gen 1) ports, one USB-C port (3.2 Gen 1) with up to 15 W power delivery, RJ45, a 3.5mm jack, plus an upstream USB-C port with up to 100 W power delivery.
Glasses-free 3D is having a bit of a moment, with Lenovo being the latest major PC OEM to release a screen with stereoscopic views. It’s a niche product category, of course, but some publications, like PCWorld and CNET, that have tried newer releases have said that they are much better than the 3D TVs that required glasses, which you don’t see anymore.
The Rollable Flex is an interesting new flexible screen from Samsung Display that can be unrolled from just 49mm to 254.4mm, over five times its length. The display is being shown off at the annual Display Week trade show in Los Angeles alongside another Samsung panel that the company says offers fingerprint and blood pressure sensing in the OLED panel without the need for a separate module.
Aside from its maximum and minimum lengths, details on the Rollable Flex in Samsung Display’s press release are relatively slim, and it’s unclear what its overall size or resolution might be. The company says the panel unrolls on an “O-shaped axis like a scroll,” allowing it to “turn a difficult-to-carry large-sized display into a portable form factor.”
