K20D LCD Screen

Just out of curiosity, does anybody know who's making the rear screen for the K20D/GX20?

I seem to recall reading (though I can't find a link now) that the K10D's came from Sony - which kinda makes sense as the sensors were also sourced from them. Now we're going to be treated to a Samsung/Pentax sensor shouldn't the LCD be of Samsung manufacture as well? When it comes to TV's I do think the current Samsung line are better looking than the Sony equivalents, so I have no reason to think they couldn't do a better job on a smaller version too.

Is any other camera manufacturer touting a suspiciously similar 2.7" screen or could this be another unheralded advantage in the Pentax camp? Anyone with inside info out there (or just wild speculation - I don't mind )?

Samsung and Sony have a joint venture for large LCD panel production, so who knows!

I didn't know that - you learn something new every day!

The Sony 200,300 and 350, all out soon, have the same screen.
The new Sony 300 and 350 have a flippable screen for live view. The 350 is also a 14MP camera.
See what I mean about a missed opportunity for Pentax. Sorry but if Sony can do it, I don't see why Pentax can't.

From what I understand it's not that they can't, it's just that they couldn't while keeping the price down. Pentax need to recoup the costs of developing the new sensor so economies have been made elsewhere, such as retaining the K10D's body which saves them the tooling costs of new plastic injection moulding equipment. For the changes that have been made (marginally larger screen, PC sync socket, larger memory card door lock, change of angle on AS switch) the existing moulds could be "tweaked" at minimal cost.

If they had put a tilting screen on the K20D - and don't get me wrong, I'd have been as delighted to see it as much as anyone else - then the users (us lot) would have demanded that it also be weatherproofed like the rest of the camera. It's at this point that we start getting into the realms of costly re-tooling to accomodate the (sealed) hinges etc that would have made this possible.

I think a lot of the features people are saying to be missing from the K20D (tilting screen, uprated shutter/mirror box for faster FPS, improved AF, etc) will be incorporated on the K30D, however, I don't expect the K30D to make such a big jump in sensor technology (I think this new sensor will probably be used in the next 2-3 generations while it still owes Pentax money). Pentax are playing a game of incremental improvements as befits a company with (comparatively) limited resources and market share - as long as those improvements are genuinely useful and not just me-too items then I approve of this strategy. That's my opinion anyway...

Don't forget that a tilting screen needs two extra layers of casing. What with the SR mechanism and the beefy electronics needed to run everything I don't suppose there was any room! (Or the body would have had to been deeper.)

(From the internal views of the K10D that I've seen there's almost no room for movement... let alone two extra case skins)

The tooling costs are considerable. We've had direct experience in plastic case tooling here at work, and believe me, it's not a fun exercise and more expensive than you can imagine

Obviously we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe the 160 degree LCD will be bright and lovely and will cover most needs... let's hope so
Matt

I have recently received a quotation for making custom size O-rings, producing the molds costs 1400 Euro's for each size and that is just for something with a simple shape...

If you really need it, you can always get one of these:

http://www.intro2020.co.uk/pages/zigview.htm

I had a play with one at the SWPP show earlier this month and it was very neat.

The ZigView S2 looks great, a bit pricy and battery life has been critised but if macro was my game, it would be on my shopping list.