One of the biggest complaints leveled against wearables so far is that battery life is inadequate. The usefulness of wearables is hobbled when many of these barely last a day (if not less in some cases). Manufacturers and software partners are well aware of this and are investing considerable resources in addressing this. JDI (Japan Display Inc.), a global supplier of small- and medium-sized displays, yesterday announced the upcoming availability of a new ultra-low power LCD module for wearables.
Low power consumption is a key factor for wearable devices, to provide long battery life. Since the new reflective-type modules display images by reflecting light, they do not require a backlight, which typically contributes up to approximately 80%* of the total power consumption of an LCD module. Furthermore, since the MIP structure has a static random access memory transistor fabricated in each sub-pixel, in the case of still screen images, once the data is written it is held, resulting in ultra-low power consumption. In addition, the optimized optical design contributes to bright and crisp reflective-type color images, especially under bright sunlight conditions.
The new JDI memory-in-pixel (MIP) reflective-type color LCD module has a power consumption less than 0.5% that of transparent-type LCD modules. Much of the power savings come from the fact that it does require a backlight. Despite that, it promises to still deliver crisp colours even under direct sunlight.
Initial modules are offered with a a 1.34-inch round display configuration with a not-quite round resolution of 320 by 300 pixels (238PPI).
JDI will begin providing samples its ultra-low power LCD module in March 22015 with sales set to start in July 2015.
Source : Japan Display