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MAY 6, 2004
Visionary Sound for Tomorrow's PCs New audio technology from British company NXT turns LCD laptop displays into stereo speakers, with vastly superior sound Laptop screens are for displaying images, right? Of course. But nowadays, that's not all: In one of NEC's latest models, the screen also serves as a pair of stereo speakers. It's not just a marketing gimmick to boost sales to high-tech junkies. The liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) actually produce better sound than the typical laptop speaker. After all, the size of a speaker is a major factor in sound quality, and LCDs dwarf the itty-bitty speakers in laptops. So the audio improvement is dramatic -- as Andrew Williams will eagerly demonstrate. He's the marketing director at NXT, the British company that developed the audio-video technology, and he lugs around a small Acer laptop that has a switch so the sound can be flipped between the usual speakers and the display. The contrast is like listening to a transistor radio vs. a home stereo system. There's also an economic benefit that may surprise most people: Punching the speaker-grille holes in a laptop's case is one of the more expensive manufacturing operations. Eliminating that and the usual speakers can nearly offset the cost of the fancy new technology. MUSIC IN MOTION. To hear the difference in sound quality while playing an online game or listening to downloaded music, you'll have to go to the Land of the Rising Sun -- unless you can snag NXT's Williams. The NEC (NIPNY ) LaVie LS900 is now sold only in Japan. But NXT says at least one "name" laptop is slated to show up on U.S. shelves later this year, and more could follow next year. "This is going to be big," says Roger Kay, an analyst with market researcher International Data Corp. While speaker screens will start off in premium computers, he predicts that mass production will reduce costs to the point where the technology becomes commonplace. What turns an LCD panel into a stereo speaker are two little piezoelectric gadgets mounted behind the screen on each side. Piezo devices convert electricity into motion or vice versa. Here, sound signals are transformed into screen vibrations that generate sound. FEEL FLOWS. "The physics are pretty cool," says Kay. "The sound waves from the left and right don't interfere with each other," as might be expected, since they're emanating from the same panel. "I was a music-major undergrad," he adds, "and the stereo effect is really very good." The vibrations don't appear to affect the images displayed on the LCD, either. But touch the screen lightly, and you can feel them. Now that's good vibrations.  By Otis Port in New York
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