Pat Farrell wrote: > Chris Laplante wrote: >> In talking to a hardware engineer at the BBQ yesterday, he mentioned >> that the current crop of products with VFDs will likely be the last >> they sell. New stuff will be LCD based. I expressed that was too bad, >> since the VFDs are quite functional and easy to read from across the >> room even if they are not all fancy and modern like. > > They are nice and easy to read. But long ago, Sean said that the VFD was > the single most expensive part of a SqueezeBox, by far. In the years > since, LCDs have gotten much cheaper, they are everywhere. VFDs have not. > > I could imagine a Transporter 2 with VFDs, but I don't expect one of > them for five years. I bet a Controller 2 with WiFi=N or WiMax will be > here before a Transporter 2. But, what do I know, I'm a customer. >
Personally I think VFDs look much better in a stereo rack than any LCD display. LCDs, even though are better then past LCDs still have contrast and angle of view problems. LCDs seam best suited for personal mobile devices where 1 person can hold / adjust the screen for best viewing. What I would like to see is "eink". This passive form of black and white display is hight contrast and has no angle of view problems. It is, to the causal observer, just like looking at printed paper. Well, I think it is. If you haven't seen "eink" you can pick up this month's Esquire magazine. For a much better example check out amazon's Kindle or Sony's equivalent. If there is a down side, I don't know how well "eink" will handle animation. I've noticed the Sony books erase the entire screen before putting up new graphics. As far as being green, well, the Esquire magazines are suppose to have a operating life of 90 days 24/7 at room temperature off of 6 quarter sized batteries hidden in the cover. _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
