LG's Digital Paper

The rumours have been floating around for a while, but now a paper thin, low energy and flexible digital display is a reality.

The 0.3mm display measures 35.9cm diagonally (similar to A4 paper) and displays at approx. 1280x800 resolution. In order to cut down on energy use the display only requires power when the image changes.

In LG's press release Chief Technology Officer Chung In-Jae said,

"This represents the next generation in display technology."

Adding that the new display will

"allow our customers to create new products that are not only convenient to use but also save natural resources."

While there have been no official statements about what these new products could be, I have a few ideas:

• real e-books, journals or newspapers
• decent, efficient digital photo frames
• dynamic product packaging

While the current release can't handle video (due to response times and the power issue) the doors really have been flung open for a whole new rang of displays. Could current LCD and Plasma screens soon be seen to be as bulky as the CRT's they replaced?

Plasma or LCD?

Contrast or clarity? Viewing angle or efficiency? Resolution or size?

If your in the market for a big screen TV these are perhaps some of the questions you have been mulling over. But instead of racking your brain, just pop over to CNET and check out their analysis of the two schools of flat panel televisions.

Their final conclusion? If you want anything over 50inch (125cm) then plasma is the only way to go. For boxes (although the term doesn't quite fit with the slim line design) up to 42inch (106cm) hedge your bets on an LCD. For anything in between it is any mans game - although if your a hard core gamer you will still be making room for the trusty, high image quality CRTs.

Media Centre Overkill?

Media Centres, high tech, LED lit, video recording goodness in a box have become the the biggest must have item in home technology. VHS is long gone, DVD recorders were (and still are) an ill-concieved idea. But media centres, with large hard drives, attractive user interfaces and power to boot are right where domestic tech should be - useful, easy to use and attractive.

Processing power however is not usually mentioned in discussions surrounding media centres. Largely because if the job gets done, smoothly, efficiently and without the blue screen of death threatening to appear most people 't really care how many processors are housed in their aluminum cases.

Valens Quin latest post over at The Gadget Guy makes some points on the contrary:

Let’s face it, enlisting a fully-fledged dual-processor Windows XP computer for recording TV, storing photos, music and video, is like stuffing an F1 engine into a lawnmower. Considering there are dedicated products such as hard disk-equipped personal video recorders (PVRs) that do just about the same thing for around $700, compared to about $2,000 for this unit, why would you bother?

The unit in question is Optiva's Vi4. The unit packs a punch with a dual core 2.8GHz processor, 1Gb RAM, 250GB HDD and dual layer DVD burner. With so much power on hand Quin's main gripe was the heat output (while her quasi-enviro warrior side harked on about energy wastage).

In my mind at least heat output falls far below the expense concern. Why, if all you wish to do is record some telly, store and display your digital photos and occasionally browse the net would you want to fork out 2,000 big ones? Surely a standard desktop PC serves as a better, more expedient platform for all the services media centres such as these offer minus the recording function.

Save you money, buy a PVR (or Xbox for that matter) and invest the savings in a decent PC that you will actually use.