maybe so you can read stuff while your finger is covering the screen

Posted at 11:36 am on Nov 5th, 2008 by kirk

it looks like the bigger panel reads the fingerprint, but the smaller lcd panel has sensors to detect UV, but maybe i read the article wrong…

Posted at 11:43 am on Nov 5th, 2008 by chris

nevermind…i re-read the article, and i was wrong

Posted at 11:44 am on Nov 5th, 2008 by chris

…cos you can’t read the main screen through all the greasy fingermarks!

Posted at 1:18 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by Bob

neat! we’ll soon have those cool multitouch-fingerprint-scanning displays from the SF movies… (and some years ago everybody laughed about that: “why do they always scan fingerprints by putting their hands on the screen?!”)

Posted at 2:16 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by pascal

Think video phones and optical camouflage.

Posted at 3:32 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by Seamus Dubh

Now we can have constant authentication! Every time a command button is pressed, it scans the fingerprint, and executes the command, or locks you out, depending on the authentication.

Posted at 4:22 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by bistromathics

We’re _that_ much closer to a perfect video-conferencing screen (one where both parties could pretend to look one another in the eyes, instead of appearing to be looking downward all the time). Ah, the days of Big Brother, where you don’t just watch TV, TV watches you right back.

:P

Seriously, though, imagine being able to password-protect your mobile (iPhone) with your fingerprint. Just touch the screen, it recognises you, and lets you in. Have a friend try it, and it locks up. Plenty of practical applications. Sci-Fi leads the way, Science follows, and The Consumers, well, they’re everyone’s b*tch.

-_o

Posted at 6:43 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by ATP

Hey bistromathics put your black hat on and imagine some of the other capabilities. I can just imagine someone setting this up as a “touch screen” contest entry system where the user enters their name and address and pressed a few on screen prompts in the process. The crook now has information that can uniquely identify them and he also has their finger print!

Scary concept.

Posted at 9:09 pm on Nov 5th, 2008 by Alan Parekh

The secondary display was added due to the bleaching effects of the UV source. Those halogen beamers are hot suckers. The heat generated by them has an adverse effect on the panel type LCD’s. They fade heavily, irreversible, ever see the display on the gas pump facing the sun? The more primitive type LCD is less effected by this phenomenon. Quite possibly to the pixel density, and material of crystalline structure.

Posted at 4:16 pm on Nov 6th, 2008 by Auger Duval