Siliconmicrodisplay ST1080 review part XIII: Removing the the light blocker the future's so bright gotta wear..

A unique selling point of the ST1080 is its 10 percent transparency . So lets rip that light blocker off and see what lies beneath and how this actually effects usage of the device. 

Naturally the transparency is a boon for anyone wanting to keep in touch with their surroundings Currently I am watching Clash of the Titans in 1080p 3D on the ST1080 whilst blogging looking through the ST1080 at my laptops 12 inch display and typing these words .

when you remove the light blocker you realise you are going freak out every one around you when pop the ST1080 on and that is  even before you turn it on. 

With the light blocker removed the world is your desktop background ...  


I could just as easily be looking out over an ocean , or out into the green green rolling hills of merry old England , or use an actual city scape , starlit sky , my garden,pet or family member  as a real time desktop ...if I could get them not to call the men in white...

yes Batman has a pair...

First question : what does 10% transparency look like? Well it looks like you have a holographic 100 inch display projected in front of your surroundings.The image is razor sharp for me .This  is impossible to photograph but here goes . First with the ST1080 switched off lets look through to my laptop screen  

the metro tiles you see are the level of brightness you get just looking through the ST1080  

you should be able to see that the IPS panel on the X220T is brighter than the image filtering through on the ST1080

Now let us turn on the ST1080 giving us a  faux holographic ! Windows 8 Metro Interface floating over our surroundings . again when I look through I see a perfectly flat transparent live  Windows 8 Metro wall and my front garden (real world ) behind it : 

This is how you look to every one else at this point :

Gibson!

With the light blocker gone you would expect to use some inanimate object as a background , you are probably expecting to use a dark black black black black background. But you would be happily wrong....


And this is why I started this  test with a film ,   the ST1080 has awesome brightness and resolution , and using it without the light blocker on is where that brightness  ,an AV blog troll favourite "issue", as a real  advantage kicks in ,the 1080p image is razor sharp ,of course it is transparent so forget OLED blacks .You did not buy this device for that you bought it so you could do crazy things like have a real ocean background over which you blog and you want to actually stay connected to your world , talk to your friends , keep an eye on the news or cat whilst you play Halo 4...

So what does it feel like ? What are the changes , I am looking at the movie with my old HP 30 incher switched off in the background ( nice big black black black background)  with  laptop in front on which I am typing . The room is full of sunlight and above the monitor are the bright white ceiling / walls of  my room . Lets look around and see what happens . The interesting thing is with the brightness set to about half way it makes no difference whether I look through to the  black background of the HP , or the bright white walls and ceiling of my room . The brightness of the picture is maintained , I can hardly notice the difference between the white walls or black monitor. It also helps that the image is 1080p , there are many hmds with lower res displays , overlaying a low res image on the real world is old...


With the ST1080 you never see a pixel. 

The blacks and detail are not far off those experienced using the light blocker , and that is surprising . The  only thing that will shake the images clarity is looking directly up towards the sky/sun ,but you should not be doing this any way if you value your health. 


And this makes me wonder , why use the stick on light blocker , why not a snap on shutter or plastic shield ? 


With the light blocker gone you are seeing the ST1080 display as it was meant to be , this is a transparent display , that keeps you connected to your world , not the isolation tank that the H.. naah not going there ...

Chrome has a high contrast setting and I think I will give it a try, yes this is the way to go , I am now typing white on transparent black blogger window on the IPS panel of the Lenovo X220T  , whilst watching  Clash of the Titans in 3D , with the black on screen background there is no distortion of the picture ,  the effect is like having a 3D 1080p bluray movie  as your desktop wall paper , whilst you browse or work.

Actual uses? Well this is one for me, consider , I multiscreen all the time , I have news ,  film or a game running in one screen whilst working in an adjacent one , but  I have to take my eyes off one to look at another .  With the ST1080 I can look through I screen layer at another behind it , say select photos for this post or upload video in one screen whilst typing this entry.  Any device you connect to the ST1080 is going to have its own screen these days , your laptop , iPad or Android tablet . 


Why not use that screen for text and work related nonsense and use the ST1080 in transparent mode for 3D , gaming, and other nonsense? Any time you like just look away from your laptop or PC to concentrate on the film or content you have running , your 2nd monitor the ST1080 is locked to your field of view.


And naturally we can swap all this around to have video running in your pc display whilst working from your  ST1080  but ... oh they just released the Kraaken , good to see a film where Quigon does not die .... So now i just effortlessly look up and concentrate on the film... 


The brightness of the image the ST1080 puts out even with a transparent screen is impressive , it should mean as well as using pseudo holographic desktops we can use alternate light blocking solutions , and frankly you can go without it ...at least in the day ... what happens at night I will find out later...

Tomorrow gaming , and some Augmented Reality thanks to the new iPad 

Klatu...

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