Show HN: Computer screen backlit by concentrated daylight [video]

[peter_veto]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-UaA07pJ5A

Hi Everyone,

Here's the first public prototype demo of a computer screen that emits daylight while preserving all the visual qualities of a regular display. (Technical demo starts at 3 min in the video)

The main goal is less eye strain and better health (for research references, see https://www.pixun.co/references), but there is also an energy efficiency advantage.

I first started with an ambient-daylighting concept, but soon realized the drawbacks that still make these solutions subpar compared to regular indoor displays in brightness and image quality. Using concentrated daylight through a fiber-optic collector eliminates these problems while providing the same comfort and health benefits. The system is of course hybrid, so an electric source can take over when sunlight is insufficient.

So far the project has been bootstrapped and now with a team of two we aim to build it further to become a proper product. It's quite early days so please let us know if you are interested in collaborating.

We are also interested in talking to people who would be positively impacted by such a product. All suggestions are much welcome, we'd love to know what features would be important to you!

[hakonjdjohnsen]

Cool concept! I do research in solar concentrator optics, so I enjoy seeing such completely different applications of concentrated sunlight. Still, I am not fully convinced in this specific case. I wonder if it is not a lot easier to provide the missing spectrum ourselves instead of running fiber optic bundles from the roof?

If I understand correctly, your two main benefits are broader spectrum and lack of PWM flicker. Did you measure the spectrum of the light from the prototype monitor? The light goes through several filters - first I assume the daylighting system has an IR filter to prevent overheating. Then it goes through the LCD itself, and the color filter array in front. Are you still left with a lot of IR (or the frequencies are considered beneficial) after all this?

[peter_veto → hakonjdjohnsen]

Thanks, and good points!

The spectrum is also about its dynamic changes through the day, so proportionality across the spectrum as well as within ranges (e.g. within NIR, there are metabolically inhibitory and facilitatory frequencies just 50 nm apart). These are linked to countless physiological mechanisms that are in interaction with each other. So, while we are also looking into more "full-spectrum" electric sources, it is not really possible let alone feasible to replicate daylight.

On the technology side, we are still searching for the best LCD to use and happy to share more in private, but not limiting the spectrum here too much is possible. There are two aspects I can already summarize here: - near-infrared is preserved through the collector and fiber and can be transmitted through the display (but finding the right components is a challenge, as so far nobody cared about transmission properties outside of visible) - opposing the current trend of increasing gamut with ever narrower RGB spectrum, we go for broad spectrum and lower saturation. Aside from physiology, this also has some perceptual benefits, e.g. avoiding the long-term adaptations that make the world look dull as a consequence of wide gamut displays today.