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Take a close look at these dolls. They appear to be part of the wallpaper on this PC screen,
but they not. They're actually behind the computer, which has a see-through display.
The OLED screen, developed by Samsung, was on show Wednesday at the FPD International
show in Japan.
A see-through screen might not be too useful on a laptop, but Samsung envisages larger
versions of the display providing a whole new way for shops to attract the attention
of passers by.
In this model of a sports club, there's video of a woman working out filling up much of
what would be the front window, while at this boutique models parade across the windows
wearing the clothes on sale.
Samsung's ideas for the see-through screens go beyond shops and into your home and office,
where is imagines all manner of information being overlaid on your view of the outdoors.
Jongseo Lee, Samsung "Imagine this is your office window with this
transparent display. Basic information, today's news, calendar, weather, even the Twitter.
Office, some presentation, you can use this window for your projection."
Samsung said potential users needn't worry about information security with the LCD screen.
Anyone looking from the reverse side wouldn't see what was displayed.
Impressive as they are, high-tech windows have some drawbacks.
They're likely to be a lot more expensive than the plain piece of glass they would replace
and they can only be made as large as current display production equipment allows. For LCDs
that means about 2.1 meters by 2.4 meters, which is smaller than some shop windows.
Samsung said it has already begun small scale trials of the technology in South Korea and
commercialization is due in 2011.
At FPD International in Chiba, Japan, this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service�