Comments on: Technology to the Rescue!

Technology to the Rescue!

fenriq — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:34:01 -0800

Sharp's Dual View LCD Picture in picture isn't new but, by using a parallax barrier superimposed on the LCD, the Sharp Dual View LCD displays two full screen images (Yahoo jpg) simultaneously, you see one or the other depending on your viewing angle.
This could be the end of the battle for the remote control. And no word on the conniptions something like this would give to a PVR.

By: ktoad

ktoad — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:46:56 -0800

Audio issue aside, that's a very cool idea.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:47:31 -0800

I want one. I like my bioluminescent LCD screen just fine but this would be substantially cooler.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:49:13 -0800

All jokes aside: ktoad, that's right and it would be a killer feature if they provided a channel-switchable headphone distributor with it, like the ones you get on airplanes.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:49:32 -0800

PVRs don't record off of the television, they record off of the video source upstream of the television. So the PVR won't know or care what the TV is displaying.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:03:19 -0800

George, yes, I know how they work, I was sort of joking but it does raise some new issues. With two signals, how would it know which to record? And I just had this thought, think how totally cool this could be for two up gaming! You could game head to head and still not be able to see the other guy and you'd both have full screen action! That would be really cool!

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:08:04 -0800

fenriq, that's the best possible use of this screen. Now gaming consoles need to support dual video outs.

By: salmacis

salmacis — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:08:35 -0800

Sounds like a solution in search of a problem to me. Very cool, but, er, why...?

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:10:56 -0800

[fixed formatting blip]

By: danny the boy

danny the boy — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:12:12 -0800

So I can watch what I want, and the guy sitting next to me on the plane can watch what he wants, and we both have a big screen.

By: CG

CG — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:19:30 -0800

I wonder if you couldn't just build one yourself by overlaying a lenticular over your monitor and writing a driver that interlaced a vertically split resolution. Seems pretty much what they are doing with the "parallax barrier".

By: birdherder

birdherder — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:28:11 -0800

The application for this for one's computer at the workplace is stunning. You can be goofing off all day but from the cubicle entrance where the boss peers in he sees the TPS report.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:34:32 -0800

The airline idea has limited application because it would have to span two seats... otherwise the middle seat in whose headrest it's mounted would have a matching seat behind where the occupant is force-fed an eye-mashing mixture of two images. I'm thinking for saving the cost of what will eventually be a very cheap 10" display panel, you get two video monitors that can only be viewed at a crappy angle. Perhaps along highways or moving walkways, you could have billboards with two simutaneous advertisments viewable based on the direction you were travelling.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:36:20 -0800

fenriq -- I assume it has two video inputs, and any given PVR would only be connected to one of them. Either that or its tuner allows you to view two different channnels off of a cable feed (not a good way to do it, since one of the applications for this would be the ability to view other sources), but your PVR would still only view one signal.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:51:53 -0800

When Granma follows the mass on the right, you watch pr0n on the right. Classy, especially if the audio is just a mix.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:51:58 -0800

When Granma follows the mass on the right, you watch pr0n on the left. Classy, especially if the audio is just a mix.

By: Western Infidels

Western Infidels — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 16:53:35 -0800

The only problem with this is that it only shows two programs. We need one that shows 4 or 5, so Mom, Dad, Junior and Little Sister can all tune each other out and ignore each other even though they're all in the same room. That would be so perfect.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:01:12 -0800

So, this is the same concept as those little "movie cards" that come in happy meals... the kind with the plastic ripples on them?

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:03:42 -0800

NBH, I like your first iteration of your dual-programming schedule, not just because it mixes hypersex with hyperworship in the same video feed, but because Gammie and I get to share a seat while we indulge in it.

By: mach

mach — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:06:39 -0800

The cool thing about this would be the possibility for full 3-D displays, without having to wear special glasses. It may be possible to position the screen so that the left eye sees one image, and the right eye sees another. If both images are of the same subject, but with a slight offset, this would trick your eyes into thinking you're seeing a fully 3-dimensional object. This type of thing is done now, using special glasses, where the left and right eyes are blanked out ~60 times a second, in sync with two different images being displayed on the screen. Persistence of vision gives you illusion of 3-D. The glasses can also give you a headache.

By: NewBornHippy

NewBornHippy — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:14:58 -0800

> but because Gammie and I get to share a seat while we indulge in it. If both of you guys are on the right, you're doing Ganma while watching the Mass. That's all Mass and no pr0n and that's wrong. Wait, this is derailling...

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:17:04 -0800

There is another solution for families that have one television but want to watch two shows at once.

By: sdrawkcab

sdrawkcab — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:19:18 -0800

I also remember learning about a similar product in a history of television book I read in college. Basically, by sitting at a wide angle from the TV, viewers could see two different shows---soap opera for the wife, and the big game for the man in the gray flannel suit. There was some commentary in my class about what this said about television being a way to bring people together vs. putting them in the same room, but turning off actual communication. Here's the book--I think. I don't own it anymore.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:21:01 -0800

George, yeah, you're right. I guess it wouldn't be much of a problem on the PVR front. I had this mental image of my Tivo mashing two programs together and making one Frankenshow out of it. Might be interesting but I bet it would give any viewer a tremendous headache pretty quickly.

By: elgilito

elgilito — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:22:13 -0800

I don't get it. Isn't the best viewing angle supposedly in front of the screen? And if one of the viewers just moves a little bit on the left and on the right to get some peanuts then that person is forced to switch channels? Looks like technology for the sake of it. Engineers gone wild!

By: fungible

fungible — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 18:54:26 -0800

Of course, if they outfit the system with hypersonic directional sound, that solves the audio problem.

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 18:55:33 -0800

So, this is the same concept as those little "movie cards" that come in happy meals... the kind with the plastic ripples on them? That's called lenticular printing. Audio issue aside, that's a very cool idea. Audio issues have been solved already. on preview: Fungible beat me to the audio issues.

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 19:08:42 -0800

The cool thing about this would be the possibility for full 3-D displays, without having to wear special glasses. Yep, there was just an article about it in the New York Times the other day. Unfortunately it's in the archives now. Here's the company they were talking about, though: One exciting new feature of the deepLight 3D Display is called SideBySide viewing. Several viewers seated side-by-side can simultaneously watch different 3D programs on the same screen, without any interference from what the other viewers are watching.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 19:14:00 -0800

fenriq - I can just see these two teenagers playing Halo 3 - almost jumping into eachother's laps trying to get a glimpse of their opponent's view. Makes for more fun gaming, I say.

By: birdsquared

birdsquared — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 19:14:49 -0800

Who else seeing the demo picture thinks that this device is perfect for 'proving' the existence of vampires? : it shows the picture of the alleged vampire in the side view, but the image of the vampire doesn't appear in the mirror.

By: angry modem

angry modem — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 21:29:15 -0800

This technology is virtually useless.

By: sriracha

sriracha — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 05:16:23 -0800

Great! With this technology, we don't have to learn how to compromise and share, AND we can watch more TV! (To be fair, there may be interesting applications for this technology, but I doubt it will show up in your living room.)

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 10:43:56 -0800

Seems fairly practical: kids play video games with the sound off, adults watch TV. Adults can keep an eye on the kids and see if they are drooling or convulsing.

By: gagglezoomer

gagglezoomer — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 12:29:29 -0800

Great! With this technology, we don't have to learn how to compromise and share, AND we can watch more TV! Bullshit. What if my kids AND my wife want to watch different programming? Probably have to get 2 of these damn things.

By: grateful

grateful — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 12:46:09 -0800

Cool! Now we can watch the Wizard of Oz and the Dark Side of the Moon documentary at the same time.