An LCD Fit for Your Wrist

Liquid crystal displays are moving beyond the PC. Seiko Instruments and Nike are putting some of the latest LCD technology to use in a new watch that the two companies have jointly developed.

Nike wanted to make its new Triax Speed and Triax Stamina watches curved so they could fit closely around the wrist, but also wanted a large LCD panel that could be read easily. Using conventional LCD technology, this would be difficult because a large display means a large flat case, creating a gap between the watch body and the wrist.

Seiko Instruments managed to overcome this by using a new LCD based on a flexible plastic substrate rather than glass, which is normally used as the base on which the LCD is constructed.

"The watch uses a polymer substrate," says Masayuki Kawada, a spokesperson for Seiko Instruments. "It's the first time we have used such a display in a watch."

Form-Fitting

The result is just what Nike was after: a large display curved to match the watch's wrist-clinging shape. By using plastic instead of glass, the watch display is also more resistant to shocks and blows.

Nike, which will sell the watches under its own brand name, plans to put them on sale in the United States in mid-October and in Japan in November. They will be priced at $135 and $149 in the U.S. for the Triax Speed and Triax Stamina respectively.

Flat-panel displays based on plastic substrates are currently under development by a number of companies that see countless uses for them, from advertising boards that curve around pillars to thin sheets that can be held like a piece of paper but display video and refresh instantly.

Late last year, two Japanese companies unveiled their latest research in the area. Pioneer took the wraps off its development work into flexible organic electroluminescence displays by showing a small monochrome prototype at an electronics exhibition, while Canon also showed for the first time a prototype digital display that is only slightly thicker than a sheet of paper.