News19,135 Articles

October 2, 2007

Sharp LCD has built-in scanner

Novel display offers touchscreen alternative

Martyn Williams

Sharp has demonstrated a 3.5in LCD screen that integrates an optical scanner and can be used to scan objects such as name cards.

The screen, on show at the Ceatec exhibition, features an optical scanner for each LCD pixel, and could also be used to recognise fingers or other objects. Because it determines the position of fingers using a scanner input and not a touchscreen, it's possible to touch the screen in more than two places and have all fingers recognised. Additionally, the lack of a touchscreen or other filters means the image from the screen remains clear and bright.

Potential applications are plenty. For example a future mobile phone could use the screen and offer users both a touchscreen interface and scanner for name cards, barcodes or fingerprint recognition for security. Or it could find use in a computer gaming device where players have to use multiple fingers to repel opponents.

In a demonstration on the company's stand at Ceatec the display showed a simple musical keyboard. Different tones could be produced by pressing different combinations of notes.

Sharp LCD scanner

Sharp also demonstrated the screen working as a name card scanner. It has a resolution of 320x480 pixels and completed the scanning task in about one second.

The panel is still a prototype but commercialisation is expected in the first half of next year. Samples are already in the hands of potential customers but Sharp wouldn't name those companies.

The screen on show isn't the first time a scanner has been integrated into an LCD panel. At the Electronic Display Expo in Tokyo in April 2003 Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology unveiled a prototype LCD with a scanner built between the screen's pixels, but it never became a commercial product. It was also much slower than Sharp's panel, taking about seven seconds to scan a name card.

<<newer story | back to index | older story>>

What is this?

Subscribe to PC Advisor now and claim your FREE gift

Keep up to date by adding PC Advisor News to your iGoogle home page or Google Reader


Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

Question of the day!

Does your smartphone replace your need for a laptop when on the move?

% of PC Advisor readers agree with you

Yes
TBC
No
TBC

What tasks can your smartphone do that would have traditionally been done on a laptop?

119 characters remaining

Follow the conversation at @SmartphoneFocus

web browsing, search facilities, voip, email, word processing everything RT @Graham_D_C

Mainly email but getting better at spreadsheets etc, RT @IDGdan
Google


Recent reviews

Reviews index


Latest reader comments

Latest reader comments


Top news

News index


Latest blog entries

Blogs index


 Our RSS feeds

Sponsored Content

  • Take the internet to new places with the Nokia N800
    Communicate how you want to, where you want to with instant messaging, email and internet calling. View movies, browse the internet wirelessly and watch TV on the high-resolution screen and listen through high-quality stereo speakers with headphone jack.
    Buy now