Information on the TrioLCD Transflective display

Lots of us have had questions regarding the Transflective display option from P1. Thanks to clues in an email I received from Randy at P1, I've found a few tidbits of info on the net. I'm posting links here in hopes they will be of help to others.

As for myself, I'm more torn than ever. $399 is an awful lot to add to the cost of an A8jm (or MX, in P1 terms), but this screen sounds nearly perfect!

Linkage:

http://alpincorp.com/triolcd.htm
http://www.fpdgroup.com/faq/index.php?p=default&cat=1
http://www.12vsystems.com/Tutorials...al-LCD's-and-Daylight-readable-TrioLCD's.html

I'll edit and add more links when/if I find them.

 

It's too bad none of these sites had pictures (that I could find). I'd really be curious to see some pictures comparing the same screen with and without the transflective coating. Maybe the differences would be hard to convey in a picture without very careful lighting and high quality camera equipment.

 

I've asked for pictures from P1, but doing reasonable comparson pictures would take some time. The differences shouldn't be *that* hard to show for outside use, as normal LCDs wash out completely, and the one picture that was on one of the linked sites showed a laptop in full sun with a reasonably clear display.

What I'm more interested in, and what might be harder to photograph well, is how the display looks indoors, and how the vertical viewing angle changes, if at all.

Oh, and this isn't a "coating" per se, but rather several layers added between the backlight and the LCD, replacing or augmenting the polarizer that is normally there.

 

Do we know whether the regular display has any advantages over the transflective upgrade? (other than price obviously). For instance, does the regular display do a better job indoors?

 

Near as I can tell, the transflective is all upside both indoors and out, except for the price. I still have a question regarding viewing angles, but at least one of the sources claims improvement, and I've heard nothing yet to indicate reduction.

I'm still on the fence. If this were $200-$250 more, it'd be fairly easy to go with, and any less than that would be a no-brainer. At $399, though, it's a pretty tough leap in the dark, as it were.

 

All those sites say that you get "less than spectacular" results from displays with ultra-wide angle viewing technology, which the P1 laptops have (UVA), so it seems like this might not be worth it?

 

Yeah, I saw that, but I don't think the LCD ( B141EW01, according to Goren) really counts as one of the wide angle technologies they're referring to. Granted, it's quoted as 90/65 for viewing angles, so maybe it is. On that AUO link, they say it's just a TN display. The AUO link doesn't spec transmissivity.

Ideally, of course, we'd see pictures for comparison.

 

I have not had the opportunity to compare the regular MX display to the transreflective one, but I have had the opportunity to compare a Fujitsu CV screen to one of Portableone's UX's transreflective displays side by side. Since the Fujitsu CV screen is considered by many to be one of the best on the market, I think the comparison is worth noting.

Color richness and clarity were at least comparable on the transreflective screen- it definitely retained the photo quality that draw people to the glossy screens.

Although I didn't carefully compare viewing angles they also seemed comparable; I do know that the viewing angles are good on the transreflective display and that it doesn't require slight adjustment for vertical viewing angle depending on lighting like the glossy screen.

I did notice a huge difference with both overhead lighting and when using the unit under a skylight. Whereas I had to fiddle with the Fujitsu screen to limit the glare. the UX screen was clear regardless of position on the table. Also- and this may be a personal thing- I generally hate 12" screens; I find them too small. As a matter of fact, I ordered this unit for my daughter, for whom weight was a major factor because she uses it daily for law school; I never would have purchased a 12" unit because the text on even the top of the line Sony and Toshiba 12" units was not sharp and crisp (probably because of the smaller size). I was actually amazed at how sharp and clear the text was on this screen; I used this for hours while setting it up and then playing with it and was extremely comfortable, while I was annoyed after 2 minutes in the store playing on the other units.

A lot of emphasis is being placed on viewing angles. While horizontal viewing angle is important if several people are watching a movie, the laptop probably will not be used primarily for that purpose. I don't know whether the vertical viewing angle per se is improved, but the comfortable viewing zone definitely is- that is, you don't need to adjust the angle of the display because the sun shifted position or adjust it so as not to catch the overhead lighting; you can just position it to a comfortable angle for you.

$399 does seem like a lot of money- but when you think about the extra $$'s we are willing to spend to get a little faster machine (when most of the time we don't use the extra speed) or a little better component, spending extra on the screen which is used 100% of the time doesn't seem like that much. I had the same trepidations when ordering it because of the expense, but after seeing it and seeing the difference and the eye-comfort I would not hesitate to spend the money again.

 

When you try do a search on the net for "transflective" you get a definition from
http://pcwebopaedia.com/TERM/T/transflective.html :: and the definition is exactly the same as for "transREflective" which seems to be another synonym for TruBrite, Vibrant, etc., that each computer company uses.

So, I am at a loss here. Is it just a way to make extra bucks? And how hard would it be just to get a custom screen to fit the size? I'd rather pay the extra $300 for just a plain old matt.

Not a P1, but a Mac-related discussion of the same topic, here:
http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars/2006/5/16/4004/p2

I wholeheartedly sign under the Mac screen-reviewer's opinion...

~Suspensif

 

P.S. By searching Google for transflective, I found this pic:
http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/operation/mitron/mitron5.html

Now, this is not a color display, but the prototype. But, I think, it confirms my suspicion: the content clearly visible in daylight AND you can see what's going on behind your back.

...

 

So has anyone tried to get their personal computer to have one of these displays? What I am getting at is I want to get a panasonic toughbook but it would be sweet to have the transreflective display. Do any of the links above allow you to do it for 1 computer? And if so, how much?

 

Which Panasonic do you have?

 

I wanted to get the let's note y5.

 

I think we should be able to do it for you, cost will be around $400, send an email to [email protected] if / when you want to set it up