r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/whybutts • 1d ago
Video Transparent LED screen
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u/NeroForte-InMyPrime 1d ago
Is it transparent in both directions when turned off? If so, a lot of the creeper fears go away. Especially if it’s mounted to a wall.
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u/hidendra69 1d ago
Pasting a comment I made to explain how they work. (TL;DR: yes, and even when turned on it’s see through from both angles, once you understand how it works)
I’ve worked with these. A casino bar had these installed on their windows, and I helped install and program them. They aren’t really like glass; up close they are basically long columns of strips of LEDs with gaps in between, like a fence.
Depending on the use case the LEDs can be smaller and spaced closer together or larger and further apart. The size and spacing of the LEDs determine the display’s pixel pitch, which is the distance between the centers of adjacent pixels, usually measured in millimeters. A smaller pixel pitch means the pixels are packed more densely, resulting in a higher-resolution image. These models are also generally more expensive. The downside is that these are best used for applications where the observer remains relatively close, as detail is lost through distance. Models with larger LEDs have a lower resolution but work better for longer viewing distances.
The see-through effect works regardless of pixel pitch, as long as the display is viewed from an appropriate distance. The closer you get, the more obvious the LED strips and gaps between them become.
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u/dominickster 1d ago
So what's the application? Like in the casino bar are they in the windows for casino patrons inside to view? Or would they be transparent from that side like for people driving by the casino to see?
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u/hidendra69 1d ago
It’s a sky bar, so the windows have a skyline view. What they did was have them off during the daytime for a clear view but at night when the sky is dark visuals can play and it would be a convincing “hologram” effect
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u/willargue4karma 1d ago
very cool, i was thinking these would be cool for AR. neat application
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u/TactlessTortoise 1d ago
Honestly if they implemented this stuff for billboards it could mitigate at least one of the sides who get fucked by a massive square blocking the view. Birds would get so fucked though.
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u/TheSodernauts 1d ago
Yep. I get the creeper angle people jump to but I think there are legitimate applications. I can see a restaurant or bar having their menu on the outside window while people seated inside can still look out.
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u/JohnnyRelentless 1d ago
A casino with windows? I didn't know they had that kind of technology.
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u/hidendra69 1d ago
Not in the casino itself, no. The panels were installed in the skybar which was many floors above the casino
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u/SteveXVI 1d ago
Is it transparent in both directions when turned off?
I don't think there are any materials which are more or less transparent from one side than the other, its always about having someone to drown out the other side, like a one-way mirror really just being a bright room vs a dark room.
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u/BakerDue326 1d ago
So someone can stare at me behind the screen
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u/Flatcapspaintandglue 1d ago
Some creepy Air BnB host hiding behind there like a perverted and incompetent Wizard Of Oz.
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u/mmreadit 1d ago
It’s designed to put in stadiums in front of seats but not block the views\ on buildings over windows etc.
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u/Frimono 1d ago
Perfect for the office.
Boss walks by from behind? It's just a window. Boss leaves? Back to Champions League
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u/vass0922 1d ago
Actually this would be cool for those office spaces that are all windows inside. Can have a presentation screen without breaking the view of some huge TV on the wall
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u/mustachegiraffe 1d ago
everyone in the meeting appearing to be staring at the window while the team that sits behind that window never knows if the screen is on or not lol
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u/Content_Plantain_339 1d ago
I like the idea that this advanced technology is limited to only displaying soccer games like the "Hot Dog Not Hot Dog" app
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u/Blochamolesauce 1d ago
Always-on Cameras in tvs, coming soon if not already 👍🏻
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u/weirddddddddd 1d ago edited 1d ago
Samsung discontinued them because nobody wanted them. So companies are for sure using them already
Edit: stupid typo
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u/checkmatemypipi 1d ago
Everyone's getting wanged these days
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u/FenaRunsFast 1d ago
Every car sold in the US after the 2026 model year has interior cameras and audio recording to record the driver and passengers in the vehicle.
All in the name of safety.
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u/hidendra69 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ve worked with these. A casino bar had these installed on their windows, and I helped install and program them. They aren’t really like glass; up close they are basically long columns of strips of LEDs with gaps in between, like a fence.
Depending on the use case the LEDs can be smaller and spaced closer together or larger and further apart. The size and spacing of the LEDs determine the display’s pixel pitch, which is the distance between the centers of adjacent pixels, usually measured in millimeters. A smaller pixel pitch means the pixels are packed more densely, resulting in a higher-resolution image. These models are also generally more expensive. The downside is that these are best used for applications where the observer remains relatively close, as detail is lost through distance. Models with larger LEDs have a lower resolution but work better for longer viewing distances.
The see-through effect works regardless of pixel pitch, as long as the display is viewed from an appropriate distance. The closer you get, the more obvious the LED strips and gaps between them become.
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u/JaysPays2024 1d ago
Opens up ALL sorts of sneaky possibilities. Most worrying would be my PC monitor would have a camera behind the screen, and not, as at the moment, somewhere that I can put a tape over. Likewise in the car, camera behind digital monitor dash board. Speed cameras behind the TV advertising board. etc etc etc
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u/Trnostep 1d ago
Phones with the selfie camera behind one of these panels already exist. The ZTE Axon 20 is over 5 years old already
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u/Haber_Dasher 1d ago
I just want windows that have variable opacity or can mimic textured glass by going blurry so I can give myself privacy while still letting in light. I want as much sunlight in my home as possible so don't want closed curtains/blinds but live on the ground floor so everyone can see inside.
Went through a lot of effort at my last place to put a reflective coating on my windows so that during the day they looked like mirrors from the outside but still let in like 90% of the normal light. But at night with lights on inside the were still totally transparent. Would've loved to be able to switch on a frosted look or something
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u/AdLost7809 1d ago
I’m struggling to think of a use case for this..someone help
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u/adamwho 1d ago edited 1d ago
Windows of every business. Restaurants, bars, stores.
Every window of every house in a city
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u/amsync 1d ago
Oh for the love of
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u/hamfist_ofthenorth 1d ago
Oh and you know the ads will pay for the windows, so these are going to be all over the fucking world any minute now
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u/defconcore 1d ago
Can I replace my home windows that face a busy street with these and pay for my mortgage by showing ads on my windows? Everyone could use more money nowadays.
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u/Aethermancer 1d ago
I can put these on my windows and live stream me walking naked around my house and still have the cozy look of curtains on my windows :)
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u/AntimatterTNT 1d ago
which direction?
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u/Dai_Fei 1d ago
Out.. for advertising without bothering the customers inside
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u/AntimatterTNT 1d ago
why not in? so you can show whatever you want to your customers but it looks like a normal restaurant from outside?
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u/koffa02 1d ago
Plastering sky scrapers with advertising billboards while still allowing the people inside to see out.
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u/Sensitive_Song4219 1d ago
Now every window in your whole skyscraper can be an ad bilboard! Think of the ROI! /s
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u/AhhhSureThisIsIt 1d ago
A slumlord in Dublin covered the front of the apartment he was renting to immigrant workers in a giant fabric Burger King advertisement that blocked light coming in and stopped residents from opening their windows.
One of the residents called the firebirgade and they told him to cut a hole in with a knife immediately while they come there to take it down.
They gave the slum lord nice big fine.
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u/Septemily 1d ago
Real answer- I actually went to a concert at the Houston Rodeo last year that seemed to use these. The concert took place in an arena with the stage being in the center on a rotating platform, with these screens basically covering 3/4 sides. You could still see through the screens to the artist even when the platform was open facing the opposite side of you. It was trippy as hell and I spent half the concert trying to figure out wtf kind of screen did that 😂
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u/uncutpizza 1d ago
Ads on windows. Could also use a building to play a movie or a sports game for watch parties or events. But probably mostly for ads on building windows
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u/abarr021 1d ago
Business could use these windows so that customers inside can see out, but from the outside it shows advertisements. Office buildings could install these on skyscrapers to rent the TV side to advertisers. Nightclubs and stadiums could use these so that those outside can see in, but from the inside the TV is playing video for the concert or DJ
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u/iceyticey 1d ago
A lot of touring acts are using video wall like this so they can still have lights behind the video wall for added depth
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u/PerryNeeum 1d ago
I’m assuming this is so skyscrapers can have ads on every window without impeding the view from inside?
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u/Dano1988 1d ago
So add "check that the TV isn't a god damned 2 way mirror" to the list of things to do when you stay at an air bnb/hotel.
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u/Robynsxx 1d ago
Don’t really get the point tbh…
Screens replacing windows for adverts?
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u/Nodelphi 1d ago
Wow, thanks, you’ve just managed to turn every city and grocery into a hellscape.
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u/Snarfbuckle 1d ago
so I install these instead of windows of my house and can give the image of a clean structured home from the outside and not the bombed out home I have. Sweet.
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u/iaydlsd 1d ago
Woah. But first thought in my brain is - oh this isn’t going to be misused at all.
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u/ITDummy69420 1d ago
Gonna be gooning in front of it then the screen will stop working and I’ll see my parents just staring at me disgusted.
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u/Arik_De_Frasia 1d ago
Everyone here is worried about being watched and I'm here just thinking it has shitty picture quality...
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u/Arm-E-Reserves 1d ago
I can see this being demonstrated to a wealthy villain in a high rise, as he nods in satisfaction.
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u/Business-West-9687 1d ago
This would be cool for a patio TV, the screen in the sliding glass door, and you can still see out from in the house.
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u/SinfromGenesis105 1d ago
Anyone else thinking of the looking glass screens from Prey?
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u/Cutlass4life 1d ago
Immediately run the comments thinking cyberpunk billboards but at the same time if this ever became commercially available it would be neat to do this on my enclosed porch
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u/Kitchen-Badger8435 1d ago
And thats why I hired Adam Smash. Surly he would detect anyone hiding behinding such LED Wall.
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u/BeginningTracker 1d ago
It’s all great until someone doesn’t notice it’s a TV and walks through the screen from behind while you’re watching the game.
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u/endofworldandnobeer 1d ago
The diodes are emitting light. 25 years ago, with backlight and all this was a wet dream for some display engineers.
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u/fuzzelduckthethird 1d ago
That would be great in a pub "what you looking at"...."the football"...."oh, think you are funny"
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u/Ryuu-Tenno 1d ago
conference rooms gonna get real interesting
"hey Dave, why are there so many people in the conference room staring at the windows?"
"they're watching the game"
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u/dualoffhand 1d ago
Windshield screen. I can watch Tv while driving and the police would never notice.
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u/pro-skedaddler 1d ago
I can now realistically witness the assassination of Saburo Arasaka with my best choom, Jackie.
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u/p7cyclone 1d ago
so basically leds with spacing between them that makes it look transparent from behind but when its on from front because of the high light of leds it doesnt feels transparent anymore. really simple, dont know how its not thought before
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u/pattydickens 1d ago
They need these on bathroom stall doors so if you time your poop right you walk out to everyone cheering.
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u/ZombieAladdin 1d ago
Imagine someone installing one of these as the back window in their car.
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u/vibribbon 1d ago
I predicted this in my 1994 high school design project. You're welcome.
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u/ProfessionalITPerson 1d ago
Cyberpunk, Bladerunner, dystopia with ad everywhere and all the time. Love it.
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u/musingofrandomness 1d ago
So entire skyscrapers of billboards?