Nomadic Computing with PCs
Bert Keely
Architect, Mobile PCs and Tablet Technology
Windows Client org
Microsoft Corporation
Nomadic Computing ideas
Steve Roberts’ bicycles
Mark Weiser’s many-per-person nomadic ‘pc
peripherals’ (part of ubicomp)
Invisible
Wearable
I’m after less of a head rush
A device you can carry and use for
visual information
Books & magazines don’t fit in pockets
A full PC with the handiness of paper
1M sold, but this device is still under
construction!
The handiness of paper
You can use it directly with one hand, even
while carrying it.
You can capture thoughts and express
yourself naturally using digital ink.
It’s comfortable wherever you go - around
the home and office, on the go, and in
meetings.
Where we are today:
finishing the beginning
1M Tablet PCs
fold face open
interact using a pen
How good are they?
dependable?
thin & light?
instant access?
battery life?
automatic networking?
easy to interact with?
Where we are today
Hardware evolving
Slates for vertical markets
Ultra-portable laptops that convert to tablet mode
are still a bit clumsy, still too heavy to hold
Inaccurate pens rely on cursor for ‘indirect direct’
input
Displays look washed-out due to extra surface
reflections and extra viewing angle sensitivity in
portrait
Few tablets have portable DVD options
Where we are today
Underdeveloped application software
Pen as inking device needs consistent UI for
mode switching, selection & manipulation
Ink as datatype needs accurate analysis to
identify text flows, drawings, annotations, math
equations etc.
Ink markup requires anchoring and
transformation to keep meaning when the
underlying content reflows
Poor online/offline transitions
Where we are today
System software evolving slowly
Many refinements needed for mobile use
simple on/off
all day batteries
automatic networking including WWAN
scalable UI
dependable simple interaction
Pen as pointing device needs accuracy, clear
feedback, and reliable gestures
Pen as text input device needs quick mode
switching, user-specific vocabulary, acceleration
via auto-completion
What we’re doing about hardware
Collaborating w/ OEMs and key component
manufacturers
Optimized Display Initiative
Pen vendor collaborations to improve
accuracy, reduce cost
Project Kinesis
Optimized Display Initiative
Goals Being Pursued In Phases
•
•
•
•
•
•
Widen viewing angle for portrait use
Reduce reflections and sparkling
Increase resolution at 12” sweet spot
Improve optical efficiency to allow auto-dim to
save power during typical use
Adjust white balance using ambient sensors
Further improve outdoor readability
1. Why is viewing angle limited?
There are materials through which light passes at different
speeds in different directions. Liquid crystals stacked
diagonally have this ‘birefringence’
Over long distances, birefringence can create a double image
(naturally occurring calcite crystals, common in Iceland, are
sometimes called ‘TV rock’)
Over short distance, birefringence can put waves 180 degrees out
of phase, canceling the image
In a typical twisted nematic (TN) LCD, light from
secondary path is strong enough at some viewing angles
to substantially weaken the image
Ways to widen viewing angle
The LCD manufacturer can choose polarizer films that
include opposite birefringence, to ‘undo’ the
misalignment caused by the crystals. A ‘Strong
Compensation Film’ achieves the needed improvement
with twisted nematics: 20:1 contrast ratio viewed 50° off
of perpendicular
LCD manufacturers can avoid twisted nematic structure
and instead keep all the crystals horizontal (‘in-plane
switching’ = IPS), or force the top ones to go completely
vertical (‘vertical alignment’ = VA)
IPS (e.g. FFS from Hyundai Display)
VA (e.g. Samsung)
Status of wide view push
This year all standard Tablet PC displays
will include wide view technology
Any display manufacturer can add portrait
viewing support to an existing display, by
sourcing a Strong Compensation Film.
They can further optimize long-term by
adopting VA or IPS
The same approaches will be useful to
improve photo viewing
See samples after the talk
2. Why is there glare? (a.k.a. reflections)
Light entering a solid slows down
Per Snell’s law, most incident light is refracted,
but some is reflected
The eye sees an unwanted reflected image,
whose strength is proportional to the change in
speed
Air refractive index = 1, Plastic = 1.4, boundary
reflects 5.5%
Traditional solution = antiglare
Roughen the surface to scatter the reflections – they are
still there, but no longer ‘specular’ (keeping image intact,
like a mirror)
Anti-glare is common on laptop & desktop LCDs
The eye sees no reflected objects, but sees lower contrast
The reflections combine with the display image, making black less
dark
Darker blacks are important when watching video, so
antiglare is now becoming out of vogue
Some marketers are now are now oddly featuring screens without
antiglare as “glare type”
LCD complication
Liquid crystal stacks are easily disturbed by pen pressure,
which slightly deforms front glass. Visible liquid crystal flow
is called ‘pooling’
Front glass
Spacer
Back glass
LCD vendors can now more tightly control cell gap by
switching to column spacers.
But polarizer is also easily scratched.
Typical tablet adds protective overlay,
triples reflections!
Protective overlay is added to prevent disturbing crystals and scratching soft
polarizer. This creates not just one air/solid boundary but three:
16.5% of incident light is reflected
5.5%
Protective Overlay
5.5%
5.5%
Display
The magic of anti-reflection (AR)
Place two reflective surfaces a quarter-wavelength apart.
Reflections are ½ wave out of phase, thus cancel each other
For green (average visible light),
¼ wave = 550 nanometers thick
One layer of Magnesium Fluoride broadly cuts visible
reflections in half
Multilayer combinations can eliminate 90% of reflections
Alternate tablet solution
OEMs who want to keep overlay can reduce
reflections at all air-gap surfaces by using antireflection coatings (AR)
4.5% total is reasonable
2%
Protective Overlay
0.5 %
2%
Display
Ultimate tablet solution
Laminate a scratch-resistant, anti-reflective (AR) material directly onto
display. This reduces first surface reflections and eliminates air gap
reflections
Protective Laminate
Display
Flexible material can be laminated during LCD mfg process
Nitto Denko developed with MS encouragement, but deployment awaits
better cell gap control by LCD manufacturers
Rigid material can be bonded afterwards
Motion Computing is first to ship with bonded glass in a Tablet PC. See their
M1400 in Microsoft booth.
Optical Coating laboratories (OCLI) has developed an optimized first
surface on glass (see sample table)
DuPont is developing cost-effective lamination process
Fingerprints interfere with first surface AR
When finger oils thicken the plate, unwanted reflections
return
3-part solution for use indoors: mild AR with hydrophobic
coat plus fine anti-glare
Because water is polar with great surface tension, a non-polar top coat will
reduce collection
of finger oils
Because mild AR (e.g., single layer Magnesium Fluoride) only cuts reflections
in half,
fingerprints are less visible
Because anti-glare diffuses reflections, fingerprints are even less visible
Status of reflection reduction push
1.
Most OEMs/ODMs starting to optimize overlay and
display surfaces
Overlay approach requires AR on 3 surfaces: front of overlay,
rear of overlay, front of display
OCLI supplying high quality overlays
Nitto Denko supplying AR polarizers
2.
A few OEMs/ODMs are eliminating overlay by laminating
protection
Add scratch resistant layer directly to front polarizer
Requires tightly controlling cell gap to eliminate pooling
Requires fine AG coating on laminate
(helps hide fingerprints without sparkling)
3. Increasing resolution at 12” sweet spot
V1 Tablets gathered around a sweet spot, but didn’t nail it
10.4” at 1024x768 resolution gives 123 ppi, which gets sharp text
(with ClearType rendering). But size is is too small to view a whole
document page
12.1” portrait is large enough to view a document page, but at
1024x768 resolution, 106 ppi text is too grainy
Two displays are emerging to fit the sweet spot:
12.1” 1400x1050 (SXGA+) is now shipping from Toshiba Matsushita
Display (TMD). At 145 ppi, it can take full advantage of Longhorn
scaling. Wide view will become standard on this display in June
(Strong Compensation Film).
12.1” 1280x800 (Wide XGA) tablet-ready display under development
by BOE Hydis. 124 ppi fits sweet spot, wide aspect ratio is good both
for documents in portrait, and movies in landscape.
See samples table after the talk
Traditional font rendering: one pixel’s not
enough, two is too many
Unlocking hidden resolution
Notebook PC displays use RGB sub-pixels
White is an optical illusion
Real resolution is 3X higher on one axis
Edges between sub-pixels equal those between the
pixels
ClearType’s advantage –
Addresses edges within the pixel
Diffuses color error
New sampling theory
Works with existing hardware
Uses existing Windows font technology
ClearType
Red
Red
Green
Green
Blue
Blue
Further resolution increases have
diminishing returns
Shrinking the display aperture ratio loses brightness
(consumes more power)
Increasing total resolution demands more graphics
rendering and data transfer (consumes more power)
Today, finer pixel pitch makes pixel-based text too small to
read, makes icons without scaling too small to target
Longhorn enables arbitrarily high resolutions, but mobile
PC sweet spot seems likely to remain 120-145 ppi due to
other factors above
Optimal resolution and PPI
for a range of mobile sizes
Sub-Optimal
Optimal
Optimal with advantages in Longhorn
XGA
1024x768
8.4
10.4
12.1
14.1
15.4
WideXGA
1280x800
SXGA+
1400x1050
UXGA
1600x1200
WideSXGA+
1680x1050
152
123
145
106
124
91
145
124
142
128
Tablets at 12.1” need Wide XGA or SXGA+ resolution
Larger notebooks benefit from SXGA+ or UXGA resolution
Project ‘Kinesis’
Based on belief that breakthrough ergonomics and aesthetics
will help Tablet functionality appeal to mainstream PC users
Project "Kinesis" Goals:
Share hardware design feedback from customers and
partners
Assist our partners with hardware design by sharing CAD
drawings, usability feedback, etc.
Increase convenience without increasing BOM cost
Background Information:
Microsoft and IDEO collaborated on physical design
embodying new ideas in response to customer input
Overview – Project “Kinesis”
Key Features:
1. Thin and light
2. Direct hinge
3. Navigation control
4. Media slice
5. Docking stand
6. 12.1” wide (1280x800) display
7. Portrait stand
8. Ergonomic pen and pen wells
9. Convenient carrying case
10. Retractable AC adapter
Thin and Light + Direct Hinge
Thin and Light Convertible
21.5MM (.85”) thin
1.25KG (2.75 lbs)
Direct Hinge:
Quick, simple access to
keyboard
Electrically and
mechanically reliable
interconnect
Hinge costs less to
manufacture than typical
Tablet PC hinge.
Navigation Control
5 way button rolls up and
down for scrolling
documents
Rocks left and right for
back and forward
navigation
Center depresses cleanly
for enter
Control rotates for portrait
and landscape use.
When user rotates the
button, Windows switches
orientation.
Adjacent window switch
and hotkey buttons
Portrait
Landscape
Dock and Media Slice
Media Slice
•
Media slice contains extra
battery, DVD, and speakers.
Dock
•
Tablet can be placed in dock
with or without media slice
•
Simple pivot and hinge allows
for use as 2nd monitor or as
Tablet
12.1” wide display + portrait stand
12.1” Wide XGA 1280x800 Display
•
Great for DVDs with media slice
•
Ideal aspect ratio for a full size page
plus toolbars in portrait mode
•
124 DPI ideal for reading
•
N-Trig digitizer works with standard
12.1” display
Portrait Stand
•
Simple part, big ergonomic
improvement
•
Great ergonomics for reading and
writing
Pen and pen well + accessories
Pen and Pen Well
•
Recessed barrel button design
reduces accidental right click
•
Store & grab pen wells ease
pen use as pointing device
while typing (for both right and
left handed users)
Accessories:
•
Nylon ‘portfolio’ case conceals
and protects Tablet, also holds
AC adapter
•
A pocket-size AC adapter with
retractable cord is easy to
carry.
Status of application software
Give presentations while adding ink and highlighter for
emphasis
Stay connected, using pen to communicate quietly
(Outlook 2003 cached mode, Send/Receive over the
internet via RPC over HTTP, MSN Messenger)
Check calendar, contacts, agenda & attachments while
walking to next meeting
Take notes naturally using ink and audio in OneNote
Markup & share web pages via Snipping tool
Read and mark up documents without pushing print
(Office 2003)
Sketch, diagram & draw freely, with undo
Enhance and show digital photos
Show a map of any street in the US
Use the pen to interact directly with any PC application or
game
Steady progress in system software
Improved text input in XPSP2
Writing pad appears in-place, grows, disappears
Reco uses context
Next major release in ’06 codenamed Longhorn
Simple On/off (incl. stand-by default)
Auto-config of Extended Desktop and Conf. monitors
Single-tap to open
Visuals (cursors, feedback, fonts, icons etc.)
Flick gestures and complementary button software
More reco improvements incl. user vocabulary & autocomplete
Ink Analysis APIs
Longhorn favorite features
Thank You!
© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.