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Microsoft and the University of Washington are jointly working on a new video display technology that would more efficiently use the backlight in flat-panel displays, potentially cutting power consumption in these increasingly energy-conscious times.

The telescopic pixel display builds each pixel out of two opposing mirrors, primary and secondary. When voltage is applied, the primary mirror changes its shape into a parabola, focusing light on the secondary mirror. Light then exits through a hole in the secondary mirror, becoming visible to the viewer. When no voltage is applied, as in the diagram shown here, the two mirrors are parallel and no light escapes.

The technology transmits 36 percent of the backlight's output, versus just 5 to 10 percent in normal LCD displays. With tweaks, it may eventually use more than half of backlight output. Response time is also quicker than regular LCD. The downside is contrast, which at 20:1 is way behind existing commercial display technologies. But researchers hope to make improvements, and manufacturing would use existing photolithography and etching techniques. Could this be the next big thing in LCDs for computing and video?

See coverage in ArsTechnica and Nature Photonics.