World’s Smallest VGA Display is Literally the Size of a Thumbnail

World’s Smallest VGA Display

You’re looking at a full-color LCD with a resolution of 600 x 480 pixels (more than your iPhone’s 480 x 320) that measures just over a quarter of an inch, diagonally–the world’s smallest. Each individual pixel measures 2.9 x 8.7 µm (that’s micro); for reference, the thickness of a human hair is around 100 µm.

But why? Kopin, the company that created the prototype, has the ultimate goal of creating a display with a resulotion of 2048 x 2048 (4.2 million dots) that’s smaller than a postage stamp–that’s more resolution than a typical high-def widescreen monitor or television. They’re hoping to use these ultra-high res, tiny displays to make sharp, high-end electronic viewfinders in HD video and still cameras, similar to the one already used in Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds G1 (which uses 1.4 million dots).

[Press Release via Engadget]