Supporting the evolution of EVFs with SXGA+ panels and XGA panels that support 120 fps
Digital camera users are now more discriminating than ever. For these camera lovers, the image quality of compact digital cameras can leave something to be desired, but they sometimes find single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras to be big, heavy, and inconvenient to carry around. Mirrorless SLR cameras have emerged to fill these needs. Simpler in construction than SLRs, these cameras can more easily be made smaller and lighter.
SLR cameras have an optical viewfinder (OVF) with a mirror that allows you to look through
the lens to view the subject as light that passes through the lens. Mirrorless SLR cameras, on the other hand, provide you with a view of the subject as light that is converted to electronic data on a liquid crystal display or an electronic viewfinder (EVF).
Epson has developed Ultimicron high-temperature polysilicon TFT liquid crystal (HTPS) panels as core devices for EVFs, and sells them to a large number of camera manufacturers. An Ultimicron panel’s task is to display the subject faithfully, in bright and vivid color. To meet the desire for viewfinders that display subjects more naturally and beautifully, Epson began volume-producing and shipping the L3FJ4130 in O
ctober 2015 and the L3FJ6380 in November 2015. Here, we take a look at the technology that generates the value that the new products offer.
An EVF can display electronic data that reflects the camera’s sett
ings so that you can see the kind of picture you can take. For this reason, the panel in the EVF needs to be able to faithfully display the image that is to be captured. The new Ultimicron L3FJ4130 and L3FJ6380 provide color reproduction that is more faithful than ever by covering 98% of sRGB, a standard RGB color space. This is 30% higher than the L3F04X-8, a comparable earlier Epson product. In addition, the panels render smooth, natural shades of colors with fine gradations. The basic 
specifications of the L3FJ4130 are also better than those of the earlier L3F04X-8. The contrast ratio was boosted by 30%, while maximum luminance is 90% higher, giving the EVF itself improved viewing characteristics.
Pull subjects into sharp focus with high resolution
It is even easy to focus on small subjects such as snowflakes.
When you photograph very small subjects such as snowflakes, for example, fine focus adjustments are required. If the resolution of the EVF panel is low, you cannot always accurately tell where the focal point is. The camera could be focused on the wrong point, or the focus could be loose, resulting in blurred pictures. To avoid this, it is important to have a high-resolution panel in the EVF.
The L3FJ6380 offers world-class SXGA+ resolution (1400 x RGB x 1050 = 4,410,000 dots). The display, which is extremely fine and lacks even a hint of pixel graininess, makes it easy to detect the peak areas for focusing, helping you to create images that match your vision.
Facilitating the capture of moving subjects
When photographing a moving train, for example, you may have only an instant to click the shutter before you miss the shot. To assist you, the EVF has to smoothly display the subject, with no time lag. Frames per second (fps) is an indicator of smoothness.
Fps indicates the number of times per second (the frequency) the image on the screen is refreshed. A display with a higher fps will display a greater number of images per second, making the motion of the subject appear smoother.
Increasing the refresh rate while maintaining resolution is ordinarily difficult, but Epson achieved a refresh rate of 120 fps (doubling the previous rate) on the L3FJ4130 without sacrificing XGA resolution. With 2X more images displayed in the same time frame, the live view display is smooth and sharp, enabling you to capture the perfect instant.
With Ultimicron, Epson aims to maximize the joy of photography by enabling EVFs that offer you a natural and beautiful view of your subject. And, Epson will continue to enhance the performance of Ultimicron panels to meet the diverse needs of digital camera viewfinders.
