Samsung's Transparent OLED Laptop Coming Soon
Samsung's transparent AMOLED technology is hitting the market within the next 12 months.
Plastic Electronics reports that Samsung Electronics will release products using its clear active matrix OLED displays within the next 12 months. Samsung displayed prototypes using the clear AMOLEDs during CES 2010 back in January. However this is the first indication that the models on display will actually head to retail any time soon.
As we saw during the show, the laptop sporting Samsung's clear AMOLED allowed the user to see objects placed behind the screen while still offering sharp, bright images on the display. While the actual technology was quite impressive, the ability to see movement through the AMOLED screen looked to be somewhat distracting.
Plastic Electronics said that the first device to go commercial using the tech will be Samsung's IceTouch MP3 player (YP-H1). This device is a portable all-in-one that plays music, DVDs, tunes in FM radio stations, and more. The estimated price will be around $328 USD when it finally hits the market.
Reid Sullivan, VP of audio/video and digital imaging marketing at Samsung Electronics America, said that the AMOLED display should raise the bar for the next generation of portable devices. While that's all fine and dandy, where's that cool 14-inch laptop we saw at CES 2010? Apparently that should be on the market within the next twelve months too.
"We have a lab in Korea that is currently working on developing a laptop with partially-transparent screen," Sullivan said. "Soon, I imagine that all Samsung's audio-visual products will feature this technology. We want to be the first in this market."
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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schmich I can see uses for this technology but a laptop isn't one. Would be pretty cool to own one nonetheless considering how new the technology is.Reply -
loomis86 Glasses.Reply
That's the perfect use for this. TV glasses...or goggles, whatever you want to call them. -
tommyh I like this! High "ohh shiny!" factor. Would be awesome if they somehow could make you able to adjust transperancy, then it'd be usefull in addition to cool. Huge TV-windows would be amazing I imagine!Reply -
anhxeom Transparent is cool and SciFi, but what will happen to the contrast ratio? That's like a glossy coated screen, you'll have a hard time focusing on an object on the screen!Reply