Epson develops Ultimicron panel for electronic viewfinders

Seiko Epson Corporation has developed a new high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) TFT colour panel for electronic viewfinders used in mid to high-end digital interchangeable lens system cameras.

Epson's latest Ultimicron panel offers the resolution and fidelity needed to focus the image while providing the ability to recreate smooth gradations and a natural softness. In addition, the use of a colour filter prevents the colour break-up that tends to occur with other colour systems when shooting fast-moving subjects and while panning.

Measuring just 0.48 inch diagonally, the new panel offers XGA (1024 x 768) resolution in red, green and blue for a total of 2.36 megapixels. It is the latest addition to Epson's renowned ULTIMICRON series, which already includes a 0.47-inch SVGA panel and a 0.52-inch QHD panel.

Epson develops the Ultimicron TFT panel

"We are delighted to increase our Ultimicron series offering to the market," said Nobuyuki Shimotome, deputy chief operating officer of Epson's Visual Products Operations Division. "With superbly sharp images that are faithful to the original, electronic viewfinders have become important elements of light, compact digital single lens reflex cameras. Epson's new panel is ideal for the growing number of customers who are seeking ever higher resolutions and an ever better experience from their cameras."

Electronic viewfinders are employed mainly as the finders – the small windows used to view the subject of a photo – in digital single-lens reflex cameras and camcorders using LCD screens. Epson's Ultimicron electronic viewfinders have the advantages of both high resolution and of being highly compact. This makes it easy for manufacturers to make the camera compact and for users to focus the camera when taking pictures.

Earlier this month, Epson had launched its wearable Android display – the Epson Moverio BT-100. The Epson Moverio BT-100 projects an 80-inch perceived “floating” display 5 metres away from the user for web browsing, playing games, watching videos and interacting with content privately, while still allowing the user to experience and see the real world thanks to its see-through ability.

The Epson Moverio BT-100 comes with a rechargeable battery, which offers almost 6 hours of battery life. Users can watch streaming videos from YouTube. The company adds that it features a built-in card support, which supports up to 32GB microSDHC cards. Users also have the option of transferring content, games and apps to the included 4GB microSDHC card of internal 1GB of user storage on the controller.

Epson claims that on the Moverio BT-100, users have the option of streaming videos from popular TV websites with Flash 11 content and content-rich Flash enabled websites. Further, users have Dolby Mobile surround sound delivered to personal earphones or Moverio’s detachable earphones (included in-box). The touch-enabled trackpad and navigational buttons allow for easy interaction of content, adds the company statement further. Epson claims that users can enjoy side-by-side 3D formatted content like never before