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Wanted Technology
There are myriad possibilities for an ultra-thin display like Sony's, Todd Day, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan Latest News about Frost & Sullivan, told TechNewsWorld.
"It would be perfect for mobile and media devices like the iPod, Zune and other MP3 players," he suggested. "There is a big demand for smaller devices."
A paper-thin display could ease cost burdens for manufacturers, noted Day, allowing them to basically create devices without screens and add them after production. "It would take a complicated step out of process."
Cost and durability could be issues if Sony decides to compete in the home plasma market, he observed. However, the "electronic paper" display could be a competitor with projection devices.
"Increasing the display size is another obstacle facing Sony," Day said.
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Lightning Labels Blog: Sony Announces Paper Thin TV Screen
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Last week Sony announced that it has invented a flexible plastic display that bends like paper while showing full color video. Even though we are years away from this becoming a commercial product, it is truly an amazing breakthrough. You can see the video released by Sony (in Japanese) on YouTube.
The screen is a 2.5" display and amazingly only 0.3mm thick (about 0.01") and the video seems to be very high quality. You can easily see this leading to ever thinner cell phones, video iPods and other similar applications.
I also see the day in the not too distant future where you will be browsing the supermarket shelves and the "product labels" will actually be a TV screen on this kind of material. Right now, if you order product labels on our white BOPP with a gloss laminate then your labels are 0.0036" thick, slightly less than half the thickness of the plastic TV screen. So you can see that adding some adhesive to this plastic display and including a power source such as the paper batteries that are just around the corner, and you have a viable new kind of "product label" - the ultimate product sales tool.
Now, we have a lot of obstacles to overcome before this day arrives, but you can be sure this day will come and I expect to start seeing these on the shelves within 10 years. Of course, these "video labels" will be expensive but I also imagine a recycling program that will offset the cost to the consumer. You might spend $2 more for a product with the video label, but then you could send the label back to the manufacturer for a $1 coupon or something like that.
Here at Lightning Labels we like to be on the cutting edge of digital label technology. So even though these video labels are a long way off, when they become commercially available for product labels, we will be at the forefront.
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This technology won't be wasted on Campbell's soup cans. Its plausible to start by swapping theses displays for the ones currently used in iPods and other personal electronic devices, especially if its cost-effective to do so.
T-shirts? Sure, I guess. But not one-per-shirt. The display would have to be an add-on that's applied to existing shirts, to allow for like, doing laundry. -Something you put on your shirt in the morning, then take it off at night before hampering your b.o-ridden wife beater. Afterall, these things still need to be battery-powered, unless it incorporates some cheap personal calculator technology.
No doubt, Apple would do well to get in on this action. Imagine an iPod application, a display that you buy per your chest measurement, which you fix around your existing shirts, and project album art or concert footage as you bop along, so everyone can now tell not only that you're cool and have an iPod, but also that you have a refined palette. Or better yet, make the display add-on compatible
only with special Apple brand clothing - just like Apple did before with DRM exclusivity.