Latest Developments In Liquid Crystal Television Displays

This paper will discuss developments in liquid crystal (LC) television displays, mainly for pocket-size TV sets. There are two types of LC television displays. One is a simple multiplexing type, and the other is an active matrix type. The former type is an easier way to fabricate large and low-cost LC panels than the latter. However, it has serious drawbacks. The contrast gets lower as the duty ratio gets higher. Therefore the TV image of this type inevitably has rather low contrast and resolution. On the other hand, the active matrix type, which consists of active elements in each pixel, has several advantages in overcoming such problems. The metal oxide semiconductor transistors and the amorphous or polycrystalline Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) have possibilities in this application. A full-color LC display, which can be realized by the combina-tion of color filters and poly Si TFT arrays on a transparent substrate, was proven to have excellent color image, close to that of conventional CRTs. Here, several examples of LC television displays, including color, are shown. Some of them are already on the market, and others will be soon.