Mirasol displays could greatly improve Android battery life by second half of 2012
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Qualcomm's interferometric modulator display creates various colors by reflecting lights. As Technology Review says, "The Mirasol display makes color in the same way as the wings of iridescent butterflies or peacock feathers—by being an imperfect mirror that tunes the color of incoming light before reflecting it back to the viewer." This is done by with small cavities called interferometric modulators, placed tens of microns across and a few hundred nanometers deep, underneath the glass of the display.
The power consumption would be an amazing tenth or less than that used by a traditional LCD screen. Qualcomm bought the rights to this technology when it purchased Iridigm Display Corporation in 2004. At CES this year, Qualcomm showed off Mirasol and announced that a 5-7 inch e-reader would be produced using the display. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs didn't like the product and canned it. Instead, Qualcomm is focusing on the next version of its screen.
According to Android and Me, the next version of Mirasol will support HD video thanks to faster response times; the screen also has better color reproduction and a backlight for those times when there is not enough ambient light for the screen. Technology Review's Tom Simonite visited Qualcomm and says that a factory in Taiwan will start rolling out large amounts of Mirasol screens in the middle of next year.
We could see Android devices with Mirasol screens as soon as the second half of next year, and it might come down to having to give up a little sharpness in return for a much longer battery life. Would you be willing to do so?
source: TechnologyReview via AndroidandMe
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40 Comments
1. biophone posted on 15 Nov 2011, 23:07 1 2
Yes I would battery life is always number one for me when buying a phone.
As a generel rule my wants go like this:
1.) Battery
2.) UI (Includes things like music player, app store, ease of use, and layout in genereal)
3.) Data Speeds
4.) Design
5.) Power
6.) Screen (includes sharpness and size)
7.) Thickness (flat back is a plus)
8.) Camera
So yea out of my eight most important factors 1 is battery six is screen so its worth it to me.
5. KingKurogiii posted on 15 Nov 2011, 23:31 3 1
the order of things for me would be...
1.) Power
2.) UI
3.) Battery
4.) Data Speeds
5.) Design
6.) Screen
7.) Thickness
8.) Camera
9. protozeloz posted on 16 Nov 2011, 00:24 1 0
To me it is
1.) Power
2.) Functionality
3.) UI
4.) Battery
5.) camera
5.) Data Speeds
6.) Design
8.) Screen
9.)Thickness
12. KingKurogiii posted on 16 Nov 2011, 01:08 2 0
well since we're adding things now. xD
i'd add Functionality to No. 2.
18. protozeloz posted on 16 Nov 2011, 05:54 2 0
:-P id take a functional OS over a pretty OS any day. Of course depends on how the functions work to my favor.
20. remixfa posted on 16 Nov 2011, 06:43 2 0
ooh ooh i wanna play! :)
1)PROCESSING power
3)screen
3)functionality/OS
4)battery
5)camera (im a dad yo, i take lots of pictures! lol)
6)data speeds
7) UI
8)design
9) thickness
10) yo mama
24. Trainer posted on 16 Nov 2011, 09:14 2 0
1) my mama (family first)
2) functionality/OS
3) screen
4) camera
5) memory
6) data speeds
7) battery (better be replaceable!)
8) design/thickness
27. biophone posted on 16 Nov 2011, 11:00 0 0
Great addition with memory but that last for me as i only use about 3gb. I never think about iy.
26. biophone posted on 16 Nov 2011, 10:58 1 0
Functionality i included in the ui in genereal but maybe it did deserve its own catagory. Anyway cool that everyone played my game lol. Im sure there is more cats i missed as erll.
32. protozeloz posted on 16 Nov 2011, 12:14 2 0
I personally always make a difference between UI (how the user navigates and goes though menus and stuff) and Functionality (what the OS is capable of doing)
my programming teacher tells us every time "Make it work then make it pretty"
34. remixfa posted on 16 Nov 2011, 13:07 3 0
Functionality i did Function/OS, because i was trying to show that it meant for the OS itself, not just for the skin on it. Like all the things android can do with our without a manufacturer overlay on it.
I also prefer a minimalist overlay, which is one of the reasons i dont get along with Sense. Touchwiz is fine, and the new TW4 actually adds a lot of useful stuff, but the closer to stock the better.. for me at least.
41. Birds posted on 21 Nov 2011, 16:08 0 0
For me,
1.) UI
2.) OS and Power
3.) price
4.) Battery
5.)design/ screen technology
6.)Camera
3. denney posted on 15 Nov 2011, 23:24 2 0
It really is amazing how much goes into display. When I first obtained my HD7 the battery life sucked, even when WIFI and BT were off. Then I turned the screen brightness all the way down and it lasts about 15hrs of normal use with all location and data services turned on.
4. twenti7 posted on 15 Nov 2011, 23:27 2 0
For me personally battery life is one of my least concerns. When I purchase a new phone this spring/summer, my main concerns will be thinness, screen size/resolution, and what processor is on board. While I welcome any and all improvements to battery life (I agree that it is the greatest plague for smartphones), I am comfortable with a phone that gets around 10 hours or so per charge on fairly heavy use. After all, I do own the EVO 4G.
25. iamcc posted on 16 Nov 2011, 09:17 0 0
Agreed. I always buy a second battery when I get a new phone anyways, just to have a spare.
6. belovedson posted on 16 Nov 2011, 00:11 0 0
battery life has caught on. for some strange reason the dual core's seem to be more efficient than the single. battery tech is getting much better.
mirasol display has a huge fight on their hands. hd, amoled, slcd, are all predominant displays. there are various other displays thats supposed to take shape. the one by toshiba is an example.
unless the mirasol can approve the battery drastically with little sharpness loss its going to be obsolete before it comes out.
when i mean drastic im talking 16-20 hours of continuous operation or more. i highly doubt that's possible with current battery tech but im curious about this display
7. protozeloz posted on 16 Nov 2011, 00:18 2 0
Dual core are supposed to be battery efficient than single core because the stress on every core is much less than on single core.
8. daniyo posted on 16 Nov 2011, 00:18 0 0
for me its
Processor
Thinness
Power
Data Speed
Battery
Screen
in a pretty close tie.
10. Luuthian posted on 16 Nov 2011, 00:41 0 0
Depends how much sharpness we're sacrificing. If it looks as good as an iPhone 4 display, but not as good as an AMOLED display, I'd hardly complain. Between new screen tech and new battery tech... I think we've got winners on our hands. Now if only this stuff would come to market sooner...
