The 22 megapixel laptop

Abstract

Displays are everywhere. To utilize them efficiently, we introduce the notion of the Network Accessible Display (NAD). A user can use displays on nearby computers as if they were physically connected to his computer, including displays on handheld devices and tiled display walls. We present a system adhering to the NAD-model, and demonstrate it by extending a laptop with up to 30 NADs with an area of 22 MPixels connected using both a wireless network and gigabit Ethernet. The system can support one display at 25 Hz and 30 displays at 1 Hz. Even with a refresh rate of only 1 Hz, the system remains useful for displaying relativly static content.