Public Display .........

In the 1990 movie Total Recall (original version with Arnold) one of the things that struck me and stuck with me was a rather mundane scene with him sitting at a table eating and the entire wall next to him as a rather large "television". Twenty 24 years ago, that was some heady stuff! Obviously, it's a bigger deal to someone as display-centric as me, it was something that seized attention more than others. But, I'd suspect that the vast majority of us are way more display oriented than we once were. 

Not so long ago, we all had these things sitting on our desk. Most folks worked on 14" or 15" CRT monitors and if we were lucky, then a 17" version. Only the specialists worked on 19" and 20" models. And let me tell ya, it was back-breaking to get those things out of the box to where they needed to go. I can't describe to you the sense of dread when I looked at a stack of 60 of those things when our order from Dell arrived! 

Then came this....... LCD technology of course and my world was saved! But it really wasn't the coming of the LCD that changed things, it was the coming of the cheap (lets go with inexpensive) that really changed things. 

During the really days of LCD, the yield from the sheets of transistors was so low that they were just generally expensive and it kept the size of them down to the 14"/15" range with larger versions in the astronomical range. On top of which, the technology used on ones that people could afford was almost universally TN (Twisted Nematic) type that had very limited viewing angle among other deficiancies. Those things are still around, and you have to be careful of buying them unknowingly from the big box stores. 

However there are other technologies and if you aren't familiar with them, I'd strongly suggest studying up on why they are worth the money ....especially now (more on that later). It's not within the scope of this post to explain the differences, but surfice to say that they are big. Here a link that might help: 

http://www.slrlounge.com/what-is-an-ips-monitor-understanding-ips-displays

Unfortunately, the production technology is expensive when compared to TN and the yield has traditionally been lower, which conspires to keeps the price relatively high. When you compare that and the fact that TN type displays typically "spec" better, the vast majority of buyers have been duped into buying it by the oh-so-typical American (Walmart) mentality: Cheap and Good Specs. As most of you are aware; specs aren't everything, and when you actually get around to using them, the IPS/PVA and other advance technologies far outperform TN displays. 

Enough about LCD technology. Around the time that the LCDs were hitting the market in large amounts, another technology was appearing on the scene as well; Plasma. They seemed to pick up right around the size where LCDs left off, which is about 40" or so. I remember it very clearly. In the late 90's and early 2000's, while I was working in IT and struggling to get LCDs into my budget, I also had a part-time job working at "The Soundwave" which was (and still is) a store specializing in Mid-to-High-End stereo and home theater. We sold these plasmas, the very high-end Pioneer Elite plasmas. They were generally north of 10K and we did good business in them. When comparing the two; it was no contest. The plasma won, hands down .......when it came down to big displays. But things have changed some. Not only are LCDs better, they are cheaper and they come in big sizes up to 70" plus. On top of which; it's my strong belief that plasma looks best in environments where lighting is controlled (read darkened). 

Which finally gets me to what I'm really writing about today. My Cajun Genius buddy Rusty has a consulting business, and he tasked me with looking into display options for his little company. So, I'm consulting for a consultant! Since we're both small businesses (me not really even a business), I'm obviously not going to be flying down to Baton Rouge to do this "onsite", so we'll do this Frugal Proellerhead Blog-style. 

In my mind's eye, this is what I imagine to be happening on a regular basis. His team banging their heads into each other trying to examine software for a client. 

What he'd really like to happen is something like this. Unfortunately, what we are talking about is a small business trying to get what they need done without spending a large amount of money that they don't have, which is where my discussion of technology comes into the picture. What I can envision for many technology oriented outfits is that on a regular basis, small groups of anywhere from 3 to 6 need to collaboratively work on some project that's computer based and therefore they need to output their display onto something that's appropriately sized for all to see. 

Ideally, we'd be talking about something in the 46"-55" range that has a low enough resolution so that people can see it at a distance of more than 6'. 

Although that would seem to dictate a touch capable screen or Smartboard type setup like I've used in my classroom for many years; that's probably not the best idea. Of course, any touch capable device of that size would be expensive, plus if you wanted to use a non-overlayed digitizer like a Smartboard, there'd be the limitation imposed by the projector which creates ambient lighting and low resolution issues. What to do? For practicality reasons; I'd scrap the idea of being able to control from the display. Wireless input devices are cheap and work well. 

This takes me to my next problem. Apparently, they want this thing to move around and since I'm not privy to their workflow, I can only go with what they tell me vs. suggesting wall-mounting and office arrangement options. So, in this case, it'd go to an outfit like Global Industries and order up one of these rolling stands.

Which brings us to the last need. The ability to send the video signal to the monitor wirelessly. Intel brought out WiDi some time ago and although it hasn't really caught on, the concept has available on the market. I don't know if Actiontec's application of the idea is based on Intel's standard, but they have a device that allows for a computer to send it's video output to a TV/Monitor for around $80. Can't argue with that. According to specs, the latency is very low; enough so that games should be able to play on it. I'm certain the "mileage varies" on that. 

I've thrown around a lot of ideas this morning. What does it all mean? No, we aren't quite there in the world of super-displays that are inexpensive enough for everyone to have them, but we do have some options. So here are my general recommendations for most people. For your workstation displays, buy one or more IPS (or similar technology) displays. Your eyes will thank you. Plus they are fairly inexpensive these days with Best Buy selling multiple models ranging from 22" to 27" anywhere from $170 to $300. If you want something bigger, like my buddy Rusty, then buy a 40" (or larger), LCD TV capable of 1080p (that's HD in Best Buy-speak). That will give you a decent resolution 1920 x 1080 on a large format that can easily be seen from across a room. If you need to send a signal to it wirelessly, then add a device like the Actiontec, then control your computer with an integrated wireless input device. Then if it needs to move, buy a rolling stand for it. It'd say that somewhere between 40" and 46" should be ideal for most people combining a relatively low costs of somewhere below $750 making the whole she-bang less than $1000 at worse. 

No, we are there yet where you wake up in the morning and your life is embedded into your window glass. But that's not very far down the road. With MIT perfecting their flexible screens and Corning working on monitor's inside their Gorilla Glass and Microsoft's "Surface" concept. The world as portrayed in "Total Recall" isn't really that far off.

Screens Galore

OK, I'll own up to it.....I love screens, the more the better! You remember Hugh Jackman's hacker character in Swordfish, sitting in front of that outlandish rig that he had John Travolta's character put together for him? Something like 7, LCD flatpanels, which was crazy at the time (2001). It'd be even more so, if people know that most of them were the ultra-expensive SGI 1600SW, that sold for $2500 apiece, and that was without the special converter boxes necessary for them to run with normal graphics cards. Otherwise, you'd have to connect them with special graphics cards of which there were only a very few and expensive as well. Other than being a geek/nerd/propellerhead, I noticed them because I happened to have one of these beasties sitting on my desk at home. At that time very few people had LCDs of any kind at home, much less one of these oddities. 

Of course, since that time, LCD monitors have become common and even the use of multiple monitors is not that unusual. However, I'll have to say that I am unusual (a little bit anyway). For me, 1 or even 2 has never been enough. During the time of the SGI, I had that one in the middle and two large 19-20" CRTs on each side. It took three graphics cards to run them, but I did it. A few years back, I had read somewhere that as far back as Windows 98, Microsoft had built in the capability to resolve up to 10 displays! They should have never told me that; I've been on a monitor binge ever since.....especially now that LCDs are the norm and take up way less space.

 

Last year some time, I became aware of the "portable" monitors that were appearing on the market. They began hitting the market in the form of the various 7" Mimo models at first, then Toshiba, along with Lenovo and others. There are more, probably about 5 brands total which are really only coming out of about 2 factories. They are all pretty similar, ranging from 7" to 10", some with touch, some without, but all are USB "bus" powered, taking signal and current from the USB port of the host machine. For obvious reasons, I became enamored of them right away, imagining myself setting up with a laptop and plugging up one of these things along-side like some sort of mini-me version of the big workstation rig at home! 

Then, right around the time that I was busy trying to figure out a way to squeeze the $100-150 out of thin air, lightning struck...or more accurately; Android struck! I started getting the craving for a tablet, and you guys know where that led me. So what? End of the tiny portable monitor dream? Well.....yes, and no. I knew that if I got one of those little monitors, it'd sit in a drawer like one of my many, "love it" toys like the Bluetooth GPS receiver (to name one). The fact is that, it's a "one trick pony", so there are only so many situations in which it can be used. However; a tablet......now that's something that can have a variety of uses. 

Last night, I came up with use number 45 (or whatever it is now)......an extension monitor.....TA DA!!! I've known for some time that you can get apps that allow a tablet to connect to a computer and use it as an external monitor, but last night, I finally did it. I not only did it, but I did it in the most excessive manner possible (for me anyway)! I set it up on my desk next to the keyboard/mouse area. That's the computer that I currently have a 22" (1960 x 1200) screen, a 20" (1600 x 1200) screen, AND 19" (1440 x 900) TV/Monitor on a swivel arm mount for those times when I need a third screen. That one is on a selector box which allows me to switch between the WHS server and the workstation, as well as having the facility to connect to a DVD/VCR or TV. So anyway, I was up late playing around on the internet, when the thought struck me that maybe I should give one of those apps a try. I started out looking at the Redfly Screenslider, but didn't like that you paid the $.99, but then had to pay more to get the rest of the features on the "Pro" version. So I just ponied up the $4.99 for the one that been in this game the longest: iDisplay. After a little bit of fiddling around with the settings, it worked just fine.

So, what does one DO with a small (1260 x 800) 4th monitor? It turns out that I found the perfect use for it. Drag the music player over there and that way, I can manipulate the controls by touch! This leaves the other 3 free for editing picture, placing Adobe palettes, and monitoring file transfers. OK, really, I'll probably use it with my laptop as my extended desktop screen when I'm on the go, but need to get work done. I feel like James Bond and "Q" all rolled in one.