SOFTWARE FIRM Microsoft has instructed Sharp to produce an ultra high resolution LCD to be used for the next operating system it will introduce, Longhorn. According to today"s Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the spec called for a screen capable of displaying one billion hues, far beyond the 16.7 million hues LCD screens can currently handle.
Designers at Microsoft supplied the spec for engineers at Sharp to implement. The LCD is of such high resolution that it is likely also to be used for medical imaging applications and the like. That res is higher than ordinary televisions so it"s expected Sharp will also use the technology in its own range of goggle boxes. While Longhorn doesn"t officially debut until 2005, the LCD will be ready next year, just in time for other breakthrough technologies like PCI Express.