Human Sensing Monitors

Ever since the emergence of sci-fi books and movies, people have been teased with technological advances that are, for lack of a better term, totally cool. We've all wanted our own personal robot to do things for us, a flying car, or even appliances that are voice command and that respond to you, and with companies like Terrafugia (who just successfully tested the first flying car) and Eizo, we are not that far off.

Eizo Nanao introduced last Thursday two brand new monitors, the 20 inch FlexScan EV2023W-H and the 23 inch FlexScan EV2303W-T. These two monitors are pretty cool. First off, they are the among the first in the entire world to receive the TCO Displays 5.0 certification, which was recently just announced. The 20 inch and 23 inch monitors are the first monitors are the first ever products from Eizo to achieve the EPEAT Gold status. The Flexscan EV2023W-H has been outfitted with a VA panel with 178 degree viewing angles, a 1600x900 native resolution, and a 3000:1 contrast ratio. The Flexscan EV2303W-T comes with a 160 degree viewing angle, a 1000:1 viewing contrast, and a TN panel with 1920x1080 native resolution. Both the EV2023W-H and the 2303W-T come with one D-Sub (analog) input and one DVI-D (digital) input and 250 cd/m2 brightness.

These screens have a bunch of new features like a cabinet design that has been slimmed down from previous monitors. But the coolest and newest innovation in the screens is a motion activated sensor that only activates the screen when the user is present. Green is the new way to go these days and Eizo has created this new system in hopes of conserving energy by having the monitor go inactive without the presence of the user and coming back on when the user returns. This is possible by the new EcoView Sense integrated into the monitors by Eizo. EcoView Sense prompts the monitor to enter its power save mode when the presence of the user is undetected for 40 seconds and reopen when the user returns. The software is supposedly able to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects. For instance it is supposed to be able to tell the difference between a person and the back of a desk chair.

But this begs the question that if the sensor can detect the movement of the human, can it differentiate between a person and a cat or other type of pet? If it comes on when the user enters, will it do the same if a cat jumps up on the desk or if the dog gets curious? This is potentially a big drawback to the monitor and its energy saving plan. How can the monitor shut off if a pet cat decides to take a nap in front of the monitor?I'm sure the monitor will have some type of technology to differentiate size variables from a human to a cat, but that is still something to keep in mind.

With this new technology and all the breakthroughs in everything else, the robotic sci-fi future we have all been dreaming of is approaching closer and closer everyday. Once these monitors hit store shelves on May 21st, 2009, we should see how well the technology really works. The Eizo Nanao EV2023W-H will have a price tag of $385 while the Eizo Nanao EV2303W-T will be sold for $455.