Image: HP (illustration by Michael Crider)
I love multiple monitors. I love Legos. (And yes, fellow LEGO addicts, I know it’s not supposed to have an ‘s’ on the end, but I have to write for the normals.) Because of that, this new concept from HP might just be my favorite thing ever.
The idea? A series of microLED displays connected by near-seamless couplers that can assemble giant monitor arrays like puzzle pieces. It’s barely even a concept at the moment — just a technical paper proposing various ways to do it — but it still has me excited.
There are three core components to this idea:
Small microLED LCD panels with no bezelMagnetic connectors that link up physically and electrically (the kind of daisy chain setup that never seems to work right with DisplayPort)“Anchors” that connect to a PC and some sort of bracket or stand
HP
HP
HP
You start with a display panel, or multiple panels connected together directly as it may be. Set them up on a base. Then add tiny magnetic couplers to any side of the screen. These couplers connect directly to other display panels, or panel arrays, connected to another base.
Using either near-invisible thin bezels or some much more complicated hardware that scatters light in rays right over them, you can create a massive grid of monitors in a staggering number of combinations.
HP
HP
HP
There’s a lot of potential in this idea, and HP’s technical paper goes into the gritty details. The auto-connecting magnetic couplers between displays are both useful and complex. They can be straight or curved, allowing your displays to wrap around your desk while still being connected to each other.
They can also restrict placement of panels to only configurations that are both electronically possible and physically safe. If a big secondary array of panels isn’t currently connected to a base that can support its weight, the couplers refuse to connect.
HP
HP
HP
But the thing that excites me most is this: the connection across monitors is the same physical device that aligns them perfectly, in either the straight or curved configuration.
I have spent hours — hours — aligning my three monitors to get them in the perfect configuration across three individual VESA mounts. In the end I had to resort to duct tape… and one of them is still a few millimeters off. This coupler system could make that fiddly process a thing of the past.
HP
HP
HP
This system could be a huge boon for both consumers like me and small businesses that want to quickly and cheaply assemble large displays.
Sadly, it’s going to be a long, long time before we see it in reality — if we ever do. Right now it’s merely the brainchild of three HP designers, not even a patent application. And as Digital Trends points out, a similar monitor design from Samsung has yet to even be seen in person after its debut earlier this year.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.
Recent stories by Michael Crider:
Acer unveils new OLED gaming monitors, ‘smart’ monitors with Google TVHoly smokes, this speedy Acer ultrawide gaming monitor is just $182Samsung sale offers insane discounts on laptops, monitors, and more
