Retina-E-Paper verspricht Bildschirme, die „visuell nicht von der Realität zu unterscheiden sind“ | Forscher haben einen Bildschirm von der Größe einer menschlichen Pupille mit etwa 560 Nanometer breiten Pixeln geschaffen. Die Erfindung könnte die virtuelle Realität und andere Anwendungen radikal verändern.

From the article: In what could be an industry shifting breakthrough, researchers have created a screen about the size of a human pupil with a resolution that breaks through the limits of pixels. The invention could radically change virtual reality and other applications.

While most video screens such as those on our phones, TVs, and stadium jumbotrons seem to improve in resolution on a monthly basis, there has been an issue in improving the resolution of the tiny screens required in virtual reality apps. The problem is that as the screen moves closer to the human eye, the pixels that comprise it need to get smaller and smaller. Yet, if pixels get too small, their function starts to degrade and the image suffers. On a micro-LED screen, for example, pixels can’t get much smaller than one micrometer wide before losing their ability to render a clear, crisp image.

So instead of relying on pixels, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Gothenburg and Uppsala University in Sweden turned to a different technique. They created what they’ve termed „metapixels“ out of tungsten oxide, a material that can switch from being an insulator to a metal based on its electrical state. The metapixels reflect light differently based on their size and how they’re arranged, and can be manipulated by an electrical current. In a way, they function much like the pigments in bird’s feathers, which can take on different colors based on how the light is hitting them.

The fact that metapixels don’t need a light source eliminates the problems that video pixels take on when they get too small such as color bleeding and issues with uniformity.

The result is that the team was able to create a screen that’s about the size of a human pupil packed with pixels measuring about 560 nanometers wide. The screen, which has been dubbed retinal e-paper, has a resolution beyond 25,000 pixels per inch. „This breakthrough paves the way for the creation of virtual worlds that are visually indistinguishable from reality,“ says a Chalmers news release about the breakthrough.

„This means that each pixel roughly corresponds to a single photoreceptor in the eye, i.e. the nerve cells in the retina that convert light into biological signals,“ adds Andreas Dahlin, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers. „Humans cannot perceive a higher resolution than this.“

To demonstrate the efficacy of the tiny screen, the researchers reproduced The Kiss, a famous artwork painted by Gustav Klimt. The image was shown in perfect resolution on the screen, which at approximately 1.4 x 1.9 mm was 1/4000th that of a standard smartphone.

„The technology that we have developed can provide new ways to interact with information and the world around us,“ says Uppsala’s Kunli Xiong, who conceived the project and is the lead author of [the study](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09642-3). „It could expand creative possibilities, improve remote collaboration, and even accelerate scientific research.“

„Hey Siri, make my spouse appear better looking“

Would this address eyestrain and related problems of having to focus on images so close to the eye, or is that unrelated to this advancement.

I guess this would be stuck on the eyeball. I wonder where it would get its electricity? I guess it’ll have to get it from the body somehow.

Super cool!

But useless unless the refresh rate is high enough that it can update images faster than perceivable as well. One static image display is 0fps, so let’s see some more demos.

Mark my words; Someone is going to jail for this. I’m certain it’s a scam for dumb investors.

I guess we’re not too far off from getting chipped with some preen kiroshis

If they can get this to market and mass produce it, it’ll be truly incredible and game changing. Actual sunglasses with full displays that you could have completed immersion or augmented reality or any number of things.

This tech would truly bring what most of us perceive as „the future“ from SyFy into reality. I hope this isn’t just something that we read about and never comes to light.

And we’ll never hear about this ever again.

Doesn’t require a light source, but operates based on reflected light… right….

This needs incident light to create contrast + color, but the pixels themselves are the size of typical scattering sources? Sounds like a nightmare to use for anything but black/white.

Cool tech, but man these headlines + articles are out of control with the fantasies they’re trying to sell you.