CRI听力:Dutch Company Improves LCD Technology for E-reading

Using your laptop or mobile phone outdoors is about to get easier. A Dutch company is promising to change the face of LCD screens through a new technology called "electrowetting." This technology will radically increase the brightness of LCD screens and in turn make squinting to view your computer screen or cell phone in daylight a thing of the past.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details. 



 Be it for your mobile phone, your laptop or your iPad, Dutch company Liquavista claims to have the solution for a new type of computer display that could replace the outdated LCD screen.

The new technology combines the principles of electrowetting with current LCD technology and can be displayed in reflective, transmissive or transflective modes.

Johan Feenstra, Chief Technical Officer and founder of Liquavista explains:

"Electrowetting uses electric tension in such way that can move liquids. So, liquids could be moved from point A to point B and we can do that very quickly. It's the only technology in the world that can move liquids in such a way."

Electrowetting was first explained in 1875. It works by applying an electrical current to a drop of liquid-the charge causes the shape of the drop to expand or contract. If the micro-droplet is compressed under glass and a similar voltage applied, the drop will expand to fill the space, or contract to "disappear".

Feenstra says by simply using colored oil and a different colored or transparent rear surface, all sorts of color combinations can be switched within a few milliseconds.

He claims the company holds the patent and know-how to turn this microfluidic phenomenon into a unique electronic display offering a clearer, brighter and far more energy efficient display than competitive technologies.

The first product the company is aiming to launch is the LiquavistaBright - aimed at eReaders and mobile phone displays.

According to Liquavista it will enable a smooth and fast user interface, allowing users to move and scroll content seamlessly.

Liquavista's Commercial Director Kurt Petersdorff says the display will be able to load images 60 times per second. In addition, these displays will be brighter and have more contrast than current screens.

"If we take the iPad and place a Liquavista display in it, it will have the following product advantages; first it will be much easier to read for a longer time, furthermore it will be possible to use it outdoors with no daylight limitations, and finally battery efficiency is much better and for that reason such a product could be lighter and could be used for much longer."

According to Petersdorff their devices will use 3 times less energy than current LCD screens. When the display is being used in a dark room a backlight will be turned on automatically, as in case of mobile phones.

Delft based 'E-readers' is a pioneering publisher of electronic books. Its publisher Natasja Otterloo says:

"In particular we find the loading speed of pages important. We often hear that people find E-ink very slow and for that reason they find current display technology lacking. The Liguavista display has very fast page and image load ability and that's very promising for digital readers."

But Otterloo adds Liquavista still hasn't developed a display which can challenge LCD's color intensity.

The company hopes their first e-readers will appear on the world market by the middle of 2011.