How it Works: A TV Speaker That's Almost Paper-Thin

Loud and realistic sound without the separate stereo system

By Sean Captain Posted 08.07.2009 at 4:52 pm 4 Comments

Flat Notes A 0.02-inch-thick plastic sheet, made of the same material as water bottles, vibrates to produce sound Clamps hold the sheet’s center still so the two sides vibrate independently to create stereo sound An amplifier and signal-processing chip are placed alongside a flat-screen TV’s other electronics A 0.2-inch air gap separates the sheet from the TV screen so that it can flex freely One to eight piezoelectric motors on each side of the sheet control its fine movements The TV’s ordinary bezel hides the motors built behind it Paul Wootton

You don’t need big speakers to get big sound from your television. Emo Labs’s Edge Motion pumps tones out of a vibrating plastic sheet, just two hundredths of an inch thick, that sits over a TV screen. Its wide surface produces louder and more realistic sound than the small speakers in most TVs, but it takes up a lot less room than a separate stereo system.

The plastic sheet projects Conan’s voice, American Idol’s music or any other sound by flexing in and out in different patterns — fast, slow, shallow, deep—to release waves of various frequencies and volumes. The movement is so minute and quick that it’s imperceptible to the eye. It’s precisely controlled by tiny, quiet motors made of a ceramic material that automatically expands when jolted with an electrical audio signal. The system reproduces all tones except the deep bass notes usually handled by a subwoofer, since that would require large, visible pulses.

Expect Edge Motion to be built into some TVs next year, adding 10 to 15 percent to the cost. Laptop screens will start singing soon after.

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4 Comments

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Phoghat

09/19/09 at 4:15 pm

I hope they sound better and are more efficient (louder) than the ones in my Compaq

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JulesMD

12/05/09 at 12:16 am

Flat Panel Televisions are becoming more and more innovative by the second. This speaker sounds amazing. A speaker that fits over a television that is less than an inch thick...what will they come up with next? Really cool stuff.

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jeremytaylor

07/23/10 at 12:32 am

This is beautiful in design. I would recommend testing this, as I have been informed it works very well .Though I am a little shy to recommend any audio as my expectations do not match others as we have varying tastes and desires.

www.piranha-audiovisual.co.uk

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Dirk Mcbratney

09/05/10 at 7:35 pm

I find it unlikely that this will end up in laptops. It's totally incompatible with touchscreen tech, which are going to eventually become universal and will almost certainly be the more high-demand feature by the time this rolls out. (Admittedly, systems that use IR instead of a conductive surface wouldn't get in the way of this speaker, but touching the screen would kill the sound!)

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