Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Looking at the options for LCD screens to be used in our LCD module

We have several displays to check out but we are still waiting for the iPhone 4 to become available.
Will there be much difference between NEC 2.7" QHD and Retina? Pixels per inch are quite different: 400 to 300 but even the current high end moble phone displays at 3.2" inch are almost the same as will the LG/Apple be: About 300+ pixels per inch. Mobile phone displays are cheap when compated to NEC 2.7 that is supposedly used in Sony 12K EVF that is in 12000.00 USD electronic viewfinder. So the only option would be high end mobile display manufacturers like Samsung and LG. Whereas Samsung's Super AMOLED consumes 1/3th less power it actually has less pixels so marketing wise we can not use these - the more statistically the better, right?

Monday, June 7, 2010

Design considerations

The main design considerations for LCDeVF

  • All standard features such as peaking and zebras (focus and exposure assist)
  • HDMI loopthrough > port damage
  • On-board batteries > what happened in Malawi?
  • External DC input > again
  • Universal mountig options > damage and rotation, on side and on top?
  • Compatibility with all the "legacy" viewfinders + upcoming Cambo

    LCD screen features:
    • Horizontal screen resolution at least 800 pixels and over 300 pixels per inch. 
    • 24bit color 
    • High brightness
    • Good viewing angle
    • Fast refresh rate

    Hardware:
    • Pre configured SOC (ST, ADI) or a custom solution?
    • What chipsets and solutions are used in Thomson and Panasonic P2 Pro line camcorders for monitoring and signal processing?
    • Power supply (features vs power consumption, economy mode)

    Mechanical design:
    • Cable routing!
    • Splash and dust proof?
    • IC Cooling? (if needed)
    • Drop/shock resistance > aluminum versus modern thermoplastics < fracture when dropped
    • To what EVF design most customers are accustomed to? (by release dade)
    • Classic EVF look or something new? Sony 801 vs Sony EX3 etc...

















      Optical module:
      • Achromatic doublet or aspheric lens, depends on screen diagonal
      • Allow the use of standard 50mm diameter anti fog sheet/foil ($4 per piece)
      • ENG viewfinder style diopter adjustment > fast, to avoid eye accommodation to false diopter setting < the most common cause of eyestrain
      • interface for interchangeable skirts
      • Should not change it's length to avoid reconfiguring the position (for different operators)

      Sunday, June 6, 2010

      What will be the benchmarks for LCD screen resolution and color reproduction?

      Apple announced their Retina display which has 326 pixels per inch.
      LG and Samsung have had their similar dot pitch for quite some time. LG being the leader and if I'm not mistaken the Retina display is also made by LG.

      Some of the small LG screens have very similar dot pitch to the iPhone 4 Retina but the color reproduction, brightness and viewing angle is not the same on all of these.