Hitachi makes new LCD for outdoor mobile TV

Hitachi is always looking ahead. The venerable Japanese electronics maker is doing it again with mobile TV, announcing a transflective IPS LCD screen that is made with the outdoor video viewer in mind.

The rather thin panel display has been specially formulated to retain a wide angle capability that is high-visibility and high-quality even in outdoor light. In an innovative approach, Hitachi scientists have designed the LCD so that reflections from sunlight and other outdoor lights can be used for displaying images, instead of obscuring them. Now that’s thinking ahead.

We’ll still probably have to shade the screen and squint when the sun is directly overhead, but this kind of technology is definitely a step in the right direction.