Reading Displays in High Ambient Lighting Conditions - Development of a Usability Metric

UKDLN/ENDSENSE Event – 29 March 2007 at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes

This event was organised by the UK Displays and Lighting Network and the ENDSENSE project to raise awareness of the significance of the lighting environment on the readability of displays and how to measure the effect.

The following presentations were made covering a range of aspects affecting display readability in high ambient lighting conditions. These presentations are available for download in PDF format.

Overview Presentation

Readability of Displays in High Ambient Lighting Conditions – Overview

Dr Colin Cartwright, University of Abertay Dundee

This talk sets the scene for the issues involved in establishing the usability of displays in sunlight conditions and considers what is required of a usability metric.

We do this by considering what factors might affect usability and the problems and advantages of specifying worst case scenarios.

The talk also summarises some current standards or methods for specifying the performance of a display and covers the basic ideas of how to take into account the known characteristics of the human visual system.

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Development of a Usability Metric

Robbie Sharpe, University of Abertay Dundee

The main points highlighted during the presentation are;

• Explanation of what a JND (Just Noticeable Difference) is
• Barten model introduction and explanation
• Environment modelling
• Task modelling
• Display parameters definitions
• Results of human factors trials to date

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Significance of Coatings on Readability of Displays

Henry Orr, Thin Film Solutions

The readability of a display can be influenced by the reflection & spectral distribution of light at several points within the assembly. This presentation will review the optical path of a typical display, and the contribution possible using coatings at interfaces in the structure. Some examples are given, of scope for control of these reflections and the use of glass-alternative media in the display stack.

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Modelling of Displays to Predict Optical Performance

Professor Chris Bailey, University of Greenwich

This presentation provides an insight into the use of modelling techniques that can be used early in the design process to optimise display performance and reliability. . Particular focus is on the use of advanced software tools to predict thermal, mechanical and optical behaviour of a display. At present tools such as FLOTHERM (Thermal), ANSYS (Mechanical) and Tracepro (Optical) are being used successfully by engineers to address different parts of the design challenge. The presentation discusses the use of these types of modelling tools for designing displays. A particular theme of development within the ENDSENCE project has been integrated modelling which integrates the results from thermo-mechanical analyses into an optical analysis and then onto a readability calculation. This integrated modelling approach is also discussed.

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Assembly Issues for Manufacture of Displays for High Ambient Lighting Conditions

Steve Riches, Micro Circuit Engineering

The factors involved in the manufacture of displays for high ambient lighting conditions will be reviewed, including the assembly of anti-reflective (AR) coated materials onto LCDs, the manufacture of the optical stack and backlighting technology options. Examples of the techniques applied to the manufacture of ruggedised displays for aerospace applications will be described.

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