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From: jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Mega-Monitor
Message-ID: <17132@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Fri, 17-Jul-87 14:09:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: glacier.17132
Posted: Fri Jul 17 14:09:57 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jul-87 17:04:09 EDT
References: <165@asci.UUCP> <102300005@datacube> <204@endot.UUCP>
Reply-To: jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 30


      The current issue of Popular Science has an article about a prototype
8000x8000 display using a mechanically-deflected laser beam.  This isn't a
new idea; it was tried in the 1970s, using photochromic glass as the target.
(These are glasses that darken when hit by UV and are erased with IR.
Kilowatts of IR, applied for several seconds.)
The end result is a static high-resolution display, like the old Tektronix
storage tubes.  Unclear what the new system uses as a storage medium.
(Just scanning a very bright, tightly focused laser beam across a screen
and relying on persistence of vision is considered dangerous.)

       Historically, of course, anything that appears first in Popular Science
is unlikely to ever make it to the market.  They love flat-screen TV articles,
and have been announcing the iminent arrival of flat-screen TV intermittently
since the late 1950s.

       Actually, it would be useful if one of the monitor manufacturers 
packaged the squarest tube available in a rectangular stackable cabinet
designed to get the edges of the tube as close as possible to the edges of the
cabinet.  This would provide a practical solution for people who need a big
display but can tolerate visible divisions between sections.

       Both Sony and Mitsubishi build giant color TV screens in the 100 to 300
foot width range.  These are typically used in stadiums.  The technology is
not exotic; they just have three lamps, glow-tubes, or LEDs per pixel.
The number of pixels is limited only by your budget.  Prices are in the
low millions of dollars for TV-type resolution, but getting better as
more of these devices are manufactured.

					John Nagle