HP Transparent Screen Could Come Soon

The Hewlett-Packard ThruScreen. (Photo : Hewlett-Packard)

Minority Report may have predicted more than just crimes. Touchscreen technology is already in our pockets, and it seems that transparent computer screens may be on the way as well. Hewlett-Packard has been granted a patent in the United States for see-through screens. This technology would allow for things such as advertisements in windows, and even pop up stats on the windshield while driving.

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Competitor Samsung is also working on similar technology.

Similar technology is already in use in newsrooms and television broadcasting, but they cannot properly display full color images. Instead, they are only really good for text.

"HP has been working on trying to perfect this technology for about two decades," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe, quote obtained by the BBC in the UK.. Green was shown the technology at the company's research lab in Palo Alto, California.

The company has released videos showcasing similar technology for the movie Real Steel of the ThruScreen and the HP Flex.

Samsung is also on the hunt for a new type of computing screen. Last year, they released a video showcasing a transparent and bendable tablet.

"There's many real world applications, from augmented reality to displaying information on flat surfaces such as web browsers on windows or heads-up displays in cars," says Green, again according to the BBC.

The first claim in the HP patent reads:

"A see-through display, comprising: a louver screen having a front side and opposite thereto a back side, wherein the louver screen comprises a plurality of shaped light reflective louver members structured and arranged to receive a collimated image signal light presented from an origin direction at a single angle and redirect the collimated image signal light into a range of angles relative to the front side; the louver screen further structured and arranged to transmit a majority of background image light incident upon the back side through the front side with minimal scattering; wherein each of the louver members is curved along its length with a curvature, said curvatures of said louver members being concentric."

Click here to read the full patent.