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LCDs Breakout In New Dimensions
Date Posted: October 04, 2004 12:00 AM
A BRIGHT FUTURE INDEED
Improved process and production methodologies are building a strong foundation for liquid crystals as a lower-cost technology for flat-panel displays. The ability to integrate more functions on the same panel will even further their cause. "With CG silicon, we can put all of the electronics into one corner of the display," claims Joel Pollack, vice president of Sharp's Display Unit.
One of the "coming attractions" is the 3D LCDs, which have now become a reality. SOG technology is the driving force behind the production of these 3D LCD panels. It has been used by NEC Electronics to develop 3D images of 470 by 235 pixels in a 2.5-in. diagonal. The company credits its horizontally double-density pixel (HDDP) architecture combined with a lenticular lens for this achievement.
Sharp Corp. and its European laboratories created a 15-in. XGA (1024 by 768 pixels) LCD monitor for desktop computers that can be switched from 2D to 3D views with the push of a button (pictured on page 57). Its LL-151-3D display uses a parallax barrier of light from the LCD. The light is divided so different patterns reach the viewer's left and right eyes. The left and right eyes will see different images because the direction in which the light leaves the display is controlled.
In the future, LCOS LCD micro-displays will likely revolutionize HDTV projection technology, with ferro-electric liquid crystals playing a large role. Also, look for improved substrate materials that will make possible advanced flexible LCDs on stainless steel, plastic, and many other materials—not just glass. The manufacturing process for liquid-crystal deposition together with electronic circuit elements has been so perfected that flexible substrate materials are the next natural step, broadening LCD display appeal to many new applications.
As for faster response times, there's a lot more left in liquid-crystal technology. For example, researchers at the School of Optics at the University of Central Florida have achieved 50-µs LCD response times at room temperature using UV-curable, high-birefringence, low-viscosity, isothiocyaniane liquid crystals. So stay tuned for better things to come.