If you’ve ever wanted a 24-inch monitor that looks like an umbrella and folds like an umbrella, then you’re in luck. Meet SPUD, the Spontaneous Pop-up Display that’s essentially….a 24-inch monitor that looks like an umbrella and folds like an umbrella.
I love crowd-funded projects.
The idea behind SPUD is to give people the ability to carry a large display around with them, without needing to lug an extra large bag or a lot of additional weight. The whole thing collapses like an umbrella would (it also deploys like an umbrella) which you can then fold up with the included case into a size that’s “about the size of a book”. It also doesn’t weigh much, coming in at 2 pounds (less than 1kg), which is pretty impressive.
How SPUD does this is pretty straightforward. The base of the display is a short-throw projector that projects an image onto SPUD’s proprietary screen. Because this image is contained within the “umbrella”, the company that makes SPUD, Arovia, visible even in bright lighting conditions (brightness between 350 nits to 785 nits).
The little projector also serves as the heart of the whole monitor. It projects, has an HDMI port (so it works with your Chromecast), a power port, USB port, Power button and a brightness dial. It also comes with its own battery that Arovia says can last up to 10 hours (at 350 nits brightness).
Either way, this sounds like an incredible idea. The only thing I perhaps would’ve preferred is if we could charge it via USB Type-C or microUSB and have a higher resolution 1080p display instead.
If you’re interested, SPUD is currently on Kickstarter and has already smashed its USD33,000 goal by tenfold just seven days into the campaign. Although most of the early-bird pledges have been claimed, you can still get this projector for USD384 (around RM1,620) which is still much cheaper than the retail price of USD499 (around RM2,101).
What do you guys think of the SPUD? Let me know in the comments below.
