Salient point: the diffraction limit, sets in when the distance between two objects is equal to half the wavelength of the light used for imaging. The wavelength in the middle of the colour spectrum is about 500 nanometres. That means the pixels in a printed image can’t be spaced any closer together than about 250 nanometres without looking smudged. Yang’s images pack the pixels at just this distance.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Used that image myself for my undergrad thesis project on image compression. Didn't actually know who it was till a while later, it was just an image given to me to use.
It's amusing, but actually really useful. People in the field "know" what Lenna is supposed to look like, so can rapidly assess the qualities of a print/technique/filter.
The resolution might not be beneficial for electronic displays, but the this technology can achieve a wider range of colors than any RGB display could possibly achieve. It's probably far less precise with current technology, but directly controlling the wavelength of the reflected light gives you access to more colors than just mixing 3 fixed wavelengths.
Could we theoretically control the resonance of these nano-posts electronically, and use this technology as the basis for a next-generation reflective display?
The way the article (I know it's Nature, but still) talks about "highest possible" makes it sound dubious. Surely there is a printing scale below this at a molecular or atomic level (or even at the sub-atomic level). Saying this is the "highest possible" is terrible scientific reporting because we know of smaller scales we just don't necessarily know how to 'print' them yet.
It's an impressive achievement but I don't think it is the "ultimate".
"Even under the best microscope, optical images have an ultimate resolution limit, and this method hits it. When two objects are too close together, light reflecting off them will diffract, and the two objects blur together. This effect, called the diffraction limit, sets in when the distance between two objects is equal to half the wavelength of the light used for imaging. The wavelength in the middle of the colour spectrum is about 500 nanometres. That means the pixels in a printed image can’t be spaced any closer together than about 250 nanometres without looking smudged. Yang’s images pack the pixels at just this distance."
Hence, "ultimate resolution".