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LiquidCrystalDisplays(LCD)Working
john
January72010
32Comments

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We always use devices made up of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) like computers, digital watches and also
DVDandCDplayers.Theyhavebecomeverycommonandhavetakenagiantleapinthescreenindustryby
clearlyreplacingtheuseofCathodeRayTubes(CRT).CRTdrawsmorepowerthanLCDandarealsobigger
andheavier.AllofushaveseenanLCD,butnooneknowstheexactworkingofit.Letustakealookatthe
workingofanLCD.

Thearticlebelowisdevelopedastwosections:
1.BasicsofLCDDisplays2.WorkingPrincipleofLCD
Note: If you are looking for a note on technical specifications of LCD Displays for Interfacing it with micro
controllers:herewehaveagreatarticleonthesame:ANoteonCharacterLCDDisplay.Ifyouwanttoknow
abouttheinventionhistoryofLCDgothroughthearticle:InventionHistoryofLiquidCrystalDisplay(LCD)
WegetthedefinitionofLCDfromthenameLiquidCrystalitself.Itisactuallyacombinationoftwostatesof
matterthesolidandtheliquid.Theyhaveboththepropertiesofsolidsandliquidsandmaintaintheirrespective
stateswithrespecttoanother.Solidsusuallymaintaintheirstateunlikeliquidswhochangetheirorientationand
moveeverywhereintheparticularliquid.Furtherstudieshaveshowedthatliquidcrystalmaterialsshowmoreofa
liquidstatethanthatofasolid.Itmustalsobenotedthatliquidcrystalsaremoreheatsensitivethanusualliquids.
Alittleamountofheatcaneasilyturntheliquidcrystalintoaliquid.Thisisthereasonwhytheyarealsousedto
makethermometers.

BasicsofLCDDisplays:
The liquidcrystal display has the distinct advantage of having a low power consumption than the LED. It is
typicallyoftheorderofmicrowattsforthedisplayincomparisontothesomeorderofmilliwattsforLEDs.Low
powerconsumptionrequirementhasmadeitcompatiblewithMOSintegratedlogiccircuit.Itsotheradvantages
areitslowcost,andgoodcontrast.ThemaindrawbacksofLCDsareadditionalrequirementoflightsource,a
limitedtemperaturerangeofoperation(between0and60C),lowreliability,shortoper
atinglife,poorvisibilityin
lowambientlighting,slowspeedandtheneedforanacdrive.
BasicstructureofanLCD
Aliquidcrystalcellconsistsofathinlayer(about10um)ofaliquidcrystalsand
wichedbetweentwoglasssheets

withtransparentelec
trodesdepositedontheirinsidefaces.Withbothglasssheetstransparent,thecellisknownas
transmittive type cell. When one glass is transparent and the other has a reflective coating, the cell is called
reflectivetype.TheLCDdoesnotproduceanyilluminationofitsown.It,infact,dependsentirelyonillumination
fallingonitfromanexternalsourceforitsvisualeffect

TypesofLCD/LiquidCrystalDisplays.
Twotypesofdisplayavailablearedynamicscatter
ingdisplayandfieldeffectdisplay.
Whendynamicscatteringdisplayisenergized,themoleculesofenergizedareaofthedisplaybecometur
bulent
andscatterlightinalldirections.Consequently,theactivatedareastakeonafrostedglassappearanceresultingina
silverdisplay.Ofcourse,theunenergizedareasremaintranslucent.
FieldeffectLCDcontainsfrontandbackpolarizersatrightanglestoeachother.Withoutelectricalexci
tation,the
lightcomingthroughthefrontpolarizerisrotated90inthefluid.
Now,letustakealookatthedifferentvarietiesofliquidcrystalsthatareavailableforindustrialpurposes.The
mostusableliquidcrystalamongalltheothersisthenematicphaseliquidcrystals.

NematicPhaseLCD
Thegreatestadvantageofanematicphaseliquidcrystalsubstanceisthatitcanbringaboutpredictablecontrolled
changesaccordingtotheelectriccurrentpassedthroughthem.Alltheliquidcrystalsareaccordingtotheirreaction
ontemperaturedifferenceandalsothenatureofthesubstance.
Twisted Nematics, a particular nematic substance is twisted naturally. When a known voltage is applied to the
substance,itgetsuntwistedinvaryingdegreesaccordingtoourrequirement.Thisinturnisusefulincontrolling
thepassageoflight.Anematicphaseliquidcrystalcanbeagainclassifiedonthebasisinwhichthemolecules
orientthemselvesinrespecttoeachother.Thischangeinorientationmainlydependsonthedirector,whichcan
beanythingrangingfromamagneticfieldtoasurfacewithmicroscopicgrooves.ClassificationincludesSmectic
andalsocholesteric.SmecticcanbeagainclassifiedassmecticC,inwhichthemoleculesineachlayertiltatan
anglefromthepreviouslayer.Cholesteric,ontheotherhandhasmoleculesthattwistslightlyfromonelayertothe
next, causing a spiral like design. There are also combinations of these two called Ferroelectric liquid crystals
(FLC), which include cholesteric molecules in a smectic C type molecule so that the spiral nature of these
molecules allows the microsecond switching response time. This makes FLCs to be of good use in advanced
displays.
Liquid crystal molecules are further classified into thermotropic and lyotropic crystals. The former changes
proportionally with respect to changes in pressure and temperature. They are further divided into nematic and
isotropic. Nematic liquid crystals have a fixed order of pattern while isotropic liquid crystals are distributed
randomly.Thelyotropiccrystaldependsonthetypeofsolventtheyaremixedwith.Theyarethereforeusefulin
makingdetergentsandsoaps.

MakingofLCD
ThoughthemakingofLCDisrathersimpletherearecertainfactsthatshouldbenotedwhilemakingit.
ThebasicstructureofanLCDshouldbecontrollablychangedwithrespecttotheappliedelectriccurrent.

ThelightthatisusedontheLCDcanbepolarized.
Liquidcrystalsshouldbeabletobothtransmitandchangepolarizedlight.
Therearetransparentsubstancesthatcanconductelectricity.
TomakeanLCD,youneedtotaketwopolarizedglasspieces.Theglasswhichdoesnothaveapolarizedfilmon
itmustberubbedwithaspecialpolymerwhichcreatesmicroscopicgroovesinthesurface.Itmustalsobenoted
thatthegroovesareonthesamedirectionasthepolarizingfilm.Then,allyouneedtodoistoaddacoatingof
nematicliquidcrystalstooneofthefilters.Thegrooveswillcausethefirstlayerofmoleculestoalignwiththe
filters orientation. At right angle to the first piece, you must then add a second piece of glass along with the
polarizing film. Till the uppermost layer is at a 90degree angle to the bottom, each successive layer of TN
moleculeswillkeepontwisting.Thefirstfilterwillnaturallybepolarizedasthelightstrikesitatthebeginning.
Thus the light passes through each layer and is guided on to the next with the help of molecules. When this
happens,themoleculestendtochangetheplaneofvibrationofthelighttomatchtheirownangle.Whenthelight
reachesthefarsideoftheliquidcrystalsubstance,itvibratesatthesameangleasthefinallayerofmolecules.The
lightisonlyallowedanentranceifthesecondpolarizedglassfilterissameasthefinallayer.Takealookatthe
figurebelow.

workingoflcd
Themainprinciplebehindliquidcrystalmoleculesisthatwhenanelectriccurrentisappliedtothem,theytendto
untwist.Thiscausesachangeinthelightanglepassingthroughthem.Thiscausesachangeintheangleofthetop
polarizingfilterwithrespecttoit.SolittlelightisallowedtopassthroughthatparticularareaofLCD.Thusthat
areabecomesdarkercomparingtoothers.
FormakinganLCDscreen,areflectivemirrorhastobesetupintheback.Anelectrodeplanemadeofindiumtin
oxideiskeptontopandaglasswithapolarizingfilmisalsoaddedonthebottomside.TheentireareaoftheLCD
hastobecoveredbyacommonelectrodeandaboveitshouldbetheliquidcrystalsubstance.Nextcomesanother
pieceofglasswithanelectrodeintheshapeoftherectangleonthebottomand,ontop,anotherpolarizingfilm.It

mustbenotedthatbothofthemarekeptatrightangles.Whenthereisnocurrent,thelightpassesthroughthe
frontoftheLCDitwillbereflectedbythemirrorandbouncedback.Astheelectrodeisconnectedtoatemporary
battery the current from it will cause the liquid crystals between the commonplane electrode and the electrode
shapedlikearectangletountwist.Thusthelightisblockedfrompassingthrough.Thusthatparticularrectangular
areaappearsblank.

ColourLiquidCrystalDisplay
ColourLCDsarethosethatcandisplaypicturesincolours.Forthistobepossibletheremustbethreesubpixels
with red, green and blue colour filters to create each colour pixel. For combining these subpixels these LCDs
shouldbeconnectedtoalargenumberoftransistors.Ifanyproblemoccurstothesetransistors,itwillcauseabad
pixel.
OneofthemaindisadvantagesofthesetypesofLCDsisthesize.Mostmanufacturerstrytoreducetheheight
than gain it. This is because more transistors and greater pixels will be needed to increase the length. This will
increasetheprobabilityofbadpixels.ItisverydifficultoralsoimpossibletorepairaLCDwithbadpixels.This
willhighlyaffectthesaleofLCDs.

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