Candidates For Head-Mounted Displays

Oct. 16, 2000
Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a microdisplay technology that builds upon the two mature, existing silicon and display technologies. LCoS is a low-power, low-voltage (3.3 V) reflective technology. It's likely that LCoS will be successful in...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a microdisplay technology that builds upon the two mature, existing silicon and display technologies. LCoS is a low-power, low-voltage (3.3 V) reflective technology. It's likely that LCoS will be successful in HMDs because there's no cost penalty attendant to adding pixels. The liquid crystal can be made in successively higher resolutions—SVGA, XGA, and SXGA—without a cost penalty because the cost is in the silicon backplane, not in the liquid crystal material. Significant cost advantages also arise by shrinking the size of the silicon due to the fact that more display backbones can be fabricated on a single wafer.

A variation on LCoS, Ferroelectric LCoS is championed by Displaytech Inc., Longmont, Colo. It's very fast, has excellent color and brightness, and operates in a near-eye mode. Ferroelectric LCoS uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and enables real-time video performance. Plus, it's said to be a lower-power, reflective technology.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are emissive microdisplays, rather than transmissive or reflective. The light output of the OLED is lambertian, which means equal light intensity in all directions. The lambertian characteristic is crucial for near-eye applications because it lets the image be fully visible from a wide range of pupil positions. OLEDs also are energy efficient because the only emitted light is from pixels, and there aren't any light-scattering background issues. The construction of OLEDs is simple. They don't require light to be brought in through the back, and there's no need to assemble a separate light source.

Sponsored Recommendations

Understanding Thermal Challenges in EV Charging Applications

March 28, 2024
As EVs emerge as the dominant mode of transportation, factors such as battery range and quicker charging rates will play pivotal roles in the global economy.

Board-Mount DC/DC Converters in Medical Applications

March 27, 2024
AC/DC or board-mount DC/DC converters provide power for medical devices. This article explains why isolation might be needed and which safety standards apply.

Use Rugged Multiband Antennas to Solve the Mobile Connectivity Challenge

March 27, 2024
Selecting and using antennas for mobile applications requires attention to electrical, mechanical, and environmental characteristics: TE modules can help.

Out-of-the-box Cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity with AWS IoT ExpressLink

March 27, 2024
This demo shows how to enroll LTE-M and Wi-Fi evaluation boards with AWS IoT Core, set up a Connected Health Solution as well as AWS AT commands and AWS IoT ExpressLink security...

Comments

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!