November 1, 2007
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmBrilliant Displays
A new technology that mimics the way nature gives bright color to butterfly wings can make cell phone displays clearly legible, even in the sun's glare
By M. Mitchell Waldrop
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
The next time you buy a cell phone, take a close look at the display panel. If things go the way Qualcomm hopes, that colorful little rectangle could give a whole new meaning to the expression “butterfly effect.” True, the interferometric modulator (IMOD) displays recently introduced by the San Diego–based firm have nothing to do with the unexpectedly strong effect a wing beat can theoretically have on the weather. But the devices do use an array of artificial microstructures to produce the same kind of iridescent colors as are seen on the wings of tropical butterflies. And Qualcomm is betting that its approach will give IMODs several advantages over today’s dominant liquid-crystal-display (LCD) technology.
Most important is that an IMOD display is much easier on a handset’s battery—a characteristic that will matter more and more as people increasingly use cell phones for Web browsing, text messaging, and playing games, videos and music. Such intensified use poses a severe power-management challenge for LCDs, most of which cannot be read at all unless they have a backlight shining up through them. But an IMOD display simply reflects ambient light the way paper (or a butterfly wing) does.
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber