On most desks these days, you'll find an LCD monitor. Microsoft researchers say that they have a replacement, though, that is significantly more energy efficient.

LCD screens are backlit and less that 10 percent of that light actually reaches the surface of the screen. But Anna Pyayt, a researcher from the University of Washington, in conjunction with two Microsoft engineers, have built a prototype display screen that uses less energy and operates faster than an LCD. The new screen mimics the reflective optics used by telescopes by turning every pixel into a minature telescope. With this method, a user actually sees about 36 percent of the actual light a monitor uses. Michael Sinclair, one of Microsoft's research engineers, thinks that number could go as high as 75 percent.

A number of projects have attempted to develop energy efficient display screens in the past, but most consumers have been dissatisfied with their efforts. These projects have all been unable to produce the bright pictures that consumers demand. But Pyayt's telescopic pixel design meets those requirements. In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Pyayt expressed high hopes for the new technology: "It's not a final, perfectly working system, but it's in progress, and I believe it's possible to optimize it to be fully functional."

Photo — barjack