computer science

Smart Display

Smart Display is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Smart Display rather than just read about it. In short: In computing, Smart Display (originally codenamed Mira) was a Microsoft initiative to use a portable touchscreen LCD monitor as a thin client for PCs, connecting via Wi-Fi. Smart Display was announced in early 2002, released in early 2003 and discontinued in December 2003, having never achieved more than negligible market penetration.

Key takeaways

Smart Display belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Smart Display to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Smart Display from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In computing, Smart Display (originally codenamed Mira) was a Microsoft initiative to use a portable touchscreen LCD monitor as a thin client for PCs, connecting via Wi-Fi. Smart Display was announced in early 2002, released in early 2003 and discontinued in December 2003, having never achieved more than negligible market penetration.

Technology The Smart Display was a battery-powered 10" or 15" LCD monitor with a touchscreen (similar in size and shape to a Tablet PC), connecting to a PC over an 802.11b WiFi network, with input via Transcriber (similar to Graffiti) or a pop-up soft-keyboard for text entry, and built-in speakers. Some models had a docking unit with wired PC, keyboard and mouse connectors. The display ran Smart Display OS or Microsoft Windows CE for Smart Displays, based on Windows CE and .NET. The remote technology was based on Windows Terminal Server. Smart Display OS 1.0 would only connect to a Windows XP Professional host system, although some reported that any version of Windows could be remote-controlled using NetMeeting. ViewSonic was the first manufacturer to bring Smart Display to the market, with the airpanel V150 in early 2003. This included a 15" 1024×768 LCD, a 400 MHz Intel XScale processor, 32MB ROM, 64MB RAM and 802.11b wireless, and a USB wireless hub for the host PC.

Problems Analysts flagged the problems with the Mira initiative very early on, as soon as it reached their notice in early 2002.

In Smart Display OS 1.0, the display would lock the host PC to it while in use. Microsoft variously attributed this to licensing issues (that Windows XP Professional was licensed for one user per running copy) and resource management problems. The requirements of licensing – not to allow the devices to work standalone, not to allow the device to connect to the host PC while the PC's main screen was active and not to allow multiple Smart Displays to control one PC – were widely derided in the press. Only one Smart Display could connect to a host PC at a time, preventing multiple devices being used in households with access to only one PC. Although the devices had similar CPU and memory specifications and operating system to a large Pocket PC, weighed as much as a notebook and had similar battery life, they provided no standalone functionality and were not usable without a host PC. Analyst speculation was that Smart Display was crippled so as not to risk cannibalising the Tablet PC market. Video streaming was not possible – the connection was not fast enough and Remote Desktop Protocol contained no enhancements to facilitate video. Microsoft had intended the smart displays to sell at around US$500, but the devices eventually reached the market at $1000–1500, whereas comparable notebooks were around $600.

History Mira was announced by Bill Gates at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show:

A new set of Windows CE .NET-based technologies, code-named 'Mira', will enable a new generation of smart displays that give people the freedom to experience the power of Windows XP from anywhere in their home. Harnessing the remote desktop and wireless networking features of Windows XP and Windows CE .NET, 'Mira'-enabled smart displays will deliver to consumers the freedom of the complete experiences in Windows, including browsing the Web, sending or receiving e-mail messages, listening to music, and editing and displaying digital images, from any room in the home. The initial announcement mentioned technology partnerships with AboCom, Fujitsu, Intel, LG Electronics, National Semiconductor, NEC, Philips Consumer Electronics, Tatung, TriGem, ViewSonic, Wistron and Wyse. Smart Display OS 1.0 was supported by several monitor manufacturers, including Samsung, LG, TriGem, Philips, ViewSonic, Fujitsu and NEC. Products included the Fujitsu FMSDP-101, the NEC PK-SD10, the Philips DesXcape, the Trigem Play@PAD and the ViewSonic airpanel. Smart Display OS 1.5, scheduled for the end of 2003, was intended to allow a PC to connect simultaneously to a monitor and a smart display. Microsoft later changed its timetable to include a release of Smart Display OS 2.0 in late 2004 with additional functions such as mobile image processing.

Cancellation After having signed up several LCD manufacturers to work on the initiative, some of whom (such as LG) had Smart Display 1.5 products ready for early 2004 release, Microsoft finally announced the cancellation of the initiative on Monday 22 December 2003. LG stated it would persist with Smart Displays even without Microsoft's assistance, although no products eventuated. It has been suggested that the Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC), code-named Origami, is the evolution of the Smart Display.

See also Smart Personal Objects Technology Miracast

Sources

Footnotes

Further reading Microsoft Unveils Windows CE for Smart Displays Naming (Microsoft press release, 26 June 2002) Microsoft Mira hung up on licensing Archived 10 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine (Matthew Broersma, ZDNet UK, 28 November 2002) Meet 'Mira', a .NET-based smart display device technology (WindowsForDevices, 26 June 2002) STATE OF THE ART: And Now, the Portable Desktop PC, Up to a Point (David Pogue, The New York Times, Thursday 2 January 2003) ViewSonic airpanel V150 Archived 6 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Rupert Goodwins, ZDNet UK, 15 April 2003) Microsoft Abandons Smart Display Project, Stranding Domestic Monitor Makers (Yoo Hyung-jun, ETNEWS [Korea], Tue 23 December 2003) Smart Display Gripes (Computer Gripes, 6 January 2004) Microsoft dumps Smart Display Archived 10 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine (Matt Loney, ZDNet UK, 6 January 2004) Smart Displays – good riddance to dumb technology Archived 7 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine (Matt Loney, ZDNet UK, Tuesday 6 January 2004) NEWS FLASH: R.I.P. Smart Displays? (WindowsForDevices, 6 January 2004)

External links "Microsoft Windows Powered Smart Display". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 7 May 2004.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Smart Display

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Smart Display claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Smart Display before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Smart Display ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Smart Display

In research: Smart Display appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Smart Display in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Smart Display is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer output devices, Microsoft initiatives, Smart devices, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Smart Display outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Smart Display in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Smart Display means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Smart Display out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Smart Display in simple terms?

Why does Smart Display matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Smart Display?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Smart Display.