Transparent screens that will turn science fiction into reality

Consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung is working on a line of transparent touchscreen AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays that let consumers work and play on a semi-transparent surface.

The transparent screen provides a vivid foreground of touch-sensitive information while at the same time making objects behind the screen visible.

Samsung unveiled the world's first transparent touch AMOLED display MP3 player at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 7, demonstrating how this "science fiction technology" can be integrated into today's devices.

The compact MP3 player, called the IceTouch (YP-H1), is the first consumer device to demonstrate Samsung's transparent-screen technology. The music player also functions as DVD-quality video player, picture viewer, radio and portable storage device.

"In the world of MP3 players, only those companies that continuously innovate and redefine the user experience will rise to the top, and we think we've done both of those things with the IceTouch," said Reid Sullivan, vice president of Audio/Video and Digital Imaging Marketing at Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung's transparent display technology is also being integrated into the company's other products, such as a 14-inch see-through color-OLED-screened laptop. CES attendees got a glimpse of the yet-to-be-named laptop that is still being refined in the company's research and development department in Korea.

Companies such as Sony have also investigated the use of transparent screens. Sony recently released their transparent, monochrome-screened Xperia Pureness smartphone in Europe.

The technology is still in its early days but once it is fully developed, it opens up a world of possibilities for consumers.

The screens could be embedded into car windshields - popping up when drivers need to find out extra information about the road conditions or want to see GPS directions superimposed on top of the roads in their field of vision, used in fashion or retail displays or for any number of other medical and technical applications in which clear screens would provide superior experiences compared to their opaque counterparts.

Samsung's IceTouch media player will be released in the first half of 2010. Pricing was not available.