Iridigm Display Corporation's iMoD

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.iridigm.com/tech_overview.htm">http://www.iridigm.com/tech_overview.htm</a><br /><br />Just when you thought OLED was the future, iMoD comes along to shake things up. I have to admit that after reading through the explanation of the technology I don't fully grasp it. Hey, I just woke up from a nap. :wink: <br /><br />"The power of Iridigm displays derives from the replication of some of Mother Nature's most beautiful creations: Butterflies. The iMoD element uses interference to create color in the same way that structural color works in nature. Microscopic structures on butterfly wings and peacock feathers cause light to interfere with itself, creating the shimmering iridescent colors that we see in these creatures.<br /><br />The iMoD elements in an Iridigm display work in the same way. Because interference is used to modulate the light, we call the device an Interferometric Modulator, or iMoD. Since the iMoD contains no pigments, the color is inherently stable and cannot fade like inks or dyes when exposed to light. At Iridigm, we are using natural iridescence to create a new paradigm for information display." Source: Craig Emmerich

[rubberdemon]

What's interesting about this is that not only does it seem quite power miserly, but it looks like it might be capable of quite high dpi - the picture elements are so small they have to be grouped together to make individual larger pixels...

Though with this and two different types of OLED coming soon, as well as e-ink, it should be interesting to see what becomes the technology of choice for PDAs.

[vincentsiaw]

you have to remember, iridigm iMoD is only saving energy only when the display is static, non changing. as long it is static, yes it consume less, but when the display is moving ie playing movie, it will consumes power, probably same amount with those on the lcd! :wink:

[Kirkaiya]

Jason - just so you have more to ponder about the iMod displays -

They are using the same basic principle that lays behind the shimmering rings of color you see when looking at motor-oil spilled on water (on the street, for instance), or very thin silvered mylar (which can also cause a rainbow effect).

Usually this happens when there are two thin surfaces very close to each other, such as a thin slick of oil on water. Light is reflected from both the top layer surface, and the boundary between the layers (water-oil boundary, for example) - but, if the thickness of the oil on top is thin enough, the two reflected waves of light are just slightly out of phase.

So - the original ray of light is effectively split into two rays coming back at you, and they have the same wavelengths, but are "out of phase", and where the electromagnetic waves (which make up light) interfere, there is an interference pattern (either re-enforcing each other, or cancelling out), which increases or decreases the apparent wavelengths that you see, which shifts the color either up or down in the spectrum.

The fact that somebody was able to take this principle, and turn it into a display, is just incredible. I remember studying this in physics as an undergrad (the thin-film effect)... impressive tech!!!!

Kirk

[mookie123]

this seems like a fragile technology, the kinda of thing you don't want to bump to ruin it.

[cemmerich]

vincentsiaw,

If you look at the website, they have several charts of power saving. They show the power for static images as well as video. In both, the iMod consumes alot less power.

As for the strength, it will be just as strong as an LCD. It used a very simular structure (Glass substrate).

I would be willing to bet we'll see these being used in PDA's before we'll see OLED.

[Will T Smith]

First,

I don't think this technology necessarily is a competitor to OLED. Rather it's a competitor for LED in general.

In fact an organic substrate may be IDEAL for this application. :-)


Second,
I think that they may go through the same series of problems that original LED displays when through. Viewing angles. An inteference pattern is contingient upon your viewing angle. If your angle changes, so does the pattern. Hence the shimmer.

The question is, do you want your display to shimmer if your hand moves a little bit? Doesn't this make the display harder to read.

On the positive side, this might be a perfect technology to implement ...

A variable holographic display.

Interesting stuff. Of course any competition at any level is ALWAYS good for us. Consumers.

[T-Will]

Wow, check out the contrast on this thing!

http://www.iridigm.com/ben_quality.htm