Thin Client

Mini USB monitors have been around for a while yet as their name suggests, they are rather small so their applications are often limited to widget and media player display. Samsung believes USB display religiously, and it has been an avid supporter of the technology. You can tell by the half a dozen of USB LCD monitors shipping since 2006. The company now plans to roll out what we call the ultimate USB display - a bus-powered 18.5" LCD monitor running entirely from USB.

The prototype LCD monitor is in fact the largest display ever powered entirely by just USB. This is possible all thanks to a new energy efficient LCD panel and edge-lighting LEDs. Both advances help to reduce power consumption to 6.3W. Admittedly, Samsung needed two USB ports to power the monitor; perhaps USB 3.0 could help in this matter. As for the monitor itself, the specs isn't that impressive with a 1366 x 768 16:9 widescreen resolution; 250cd/m2 brightness; and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. There isn't even a hint to the response time, though it's very unlikely the Samsung bus-powered USB LCD will be marketed a gamers' toy.