Hewlett Packard have announced a prototype of an ultra high-resolution display screen that they say will be able to display images at the same quality as a printed glossy magazine. The monitors are still at the development stage - the current model is only 3cm x 4cm and the display quality is far from consumer ready. But the possibilities it offers for designers in the future are enormous. The aim is to produce as high a quality colour reproduction on screen as there is on paper, at a much cheaper price than current monitors. The intention is to enable the 'paper-replacement' technology to be implemented in products other than expensive computers and televisions. For example digital posters, electronic books and magazines.
Whether this really signals the end of print design as we know it, is too early to say. The possibilities are clear as regards instant print quality billboard advertising, for example. But electronic books? Some of us still remember the CDROM publishing 'revolution' that never happened. We shall see.
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