Samsung has developed a super-reflective (SR) LCD screen that can be read easily outdoors even when the sun is shining brightly.

The company said the reflectance rate for the transflective SR LCD technology is three times that of qqVGA-resolution (128 x 160 pixels) mobile displays.

This breakthrough in reflectance was achieved by applying silver with high reflectance instead of aluminum. The company also developed a new reflective lens that significantly improved the rate at which light is concentrated into pixels.

In addition, to prevent an increase in power consumption, Samsung combined SR technology with transflective (illuminating the screen from front and back) instead of transmissive (illuminated from behind the screen) panel technology. Transflective mode is said to make more effective use of natural outdoor lighting than the transmissive mode which also increases power consumption.

Designed for cell phones, the 1.72-inch LCD has a brightness of 100 nit, a contrast ratio of 220:1/30:1 (transmission/reflection) and 50 percent color saturation.

Samsung plans to incorporate this new technology into all its high-resolution transflective models in phases. Currently, the 1.72-inch SR LCD is only available as a prototype. A release chedule has not been determined yet.