The Swiss, They Don't Just Do Watches, Chocolate and Money
by
Randy Mears
I’ve always considered the Swiss to be world leaders in the design and manufacture of tiny mechanical things. With their tendency to gravitate toward miniscule mechanics, and more recently, miniscule electro mechanical things, it is no surprise to me that they would demonstrate innovative solutions to modern technological problems. To that end, recent innovation from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich focuses on a totally new color digital display technology.
I think that the most important aspect of this innovation is the reduction of display elements per pixel. With the CRT and LCD systems, to which we have grown accustomed, color is produced by clustering a red, green and blue element for each pixel. Other techniques, like those used with DLP systems, time slice the three colors; tricking the eye into seeing them as one blended color (by using a color wheel and some slick synchronization).
It's too early to make any assumptions about "if" or "how fast" this technology will make it to the market. It will surely take many years. Nonetheless, a color display that uses a single element for each digital pixel, and does it for all colors without time slicing, is a stunning leap and an important glimpse into the future.
