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Before starting Pixel Qi, Mary Lou Jepsen worked on the OLPC XO Laptop and helped design the cheap mini-laptop’s outdoor readable display. But that was a few years ago. Flash forward to 2010 and Pixel Qi has finally started producing and selling its new 3qi display which functions both as a full color screen indoors, and as a low power, high contrast display when used outdoors or for reading eBooks or performing other tasks where color doesn’t matter.

So how do the two screens compare? OLPC News has posted some hands-on photos and a video showing an XO Laptop and an Acer netbook that’s been outfitted with a Pixel Qi display.

The long and short of it is that the Pixel Qi display looks better. The blacks are darker, and the contrast is higher. The screen also doesn’t look quite as beige in direct sunlight as the older XO Laptop display.

It’s worth pointing out that its always hard to capture just how good these screens look outdoors on video. But color me impressed.

You can check out a video after the break, and you can find some more comparison photos at Flickr.