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What is LCD?

What is LCD?

 

It wasn’t that long ago that every family had at least one CRT television in their home. Those things were hard to move and consumed a lot of energy, but they got the job done. These days, LCD TVs are widely available and have taken over the market completely. If you’ve ever wondered how LCDs create such a clear, crisp picture while taking up so little space, read on for an overview!

 

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

 

If you ever sit up close to a flat screen TV, you will notice that the picture is made up of millions of tiny pixels, or picture elements. On an LCD screen, those pixels are switched on and off electronically using liquid crystals that rotate polarized light. Each pixel is capable of displaying red, blue, or green light, and they can be switched on or off in milliseconds in order to make a moving picture.

 

What is a liquid crystal?

 

Liquid crystals are not quite solid and not quite liquid, but a mix of the two. At any given moment, liquid crystals can be one of a number of different phases, somewhere between a liquid and a solid. One of the most important phases is called the nematic phase. In this phase, the molecules act much like a box of matches. You can shake them and move them, but they all point in the same general direction.

 

What is polarized light?

 

It’s important to know that light is a wave pattern of electrical and magnetic energy that vibrates through space. In order to dim light, like when we put on sunglasses, you need to put a filter in the way. For example, if you create a grid of vertical lines, you can block out all the light waves that aren’t vibrating vertically. Light that is filtered in such a way is called polarized.

 

Combining liquid crystals and polarized light

 

At the back of an LCD screen, you can find a large bright light that shines towards the front of the screen. In front of the light you can find millions of pixels and sub-pixels that can be red, blue or green. Each pixel is surrounded by a polarizing glass filter, which means that the pixels are normally dark. In between the two filters is a tiny, twisted nematic liquid crystal that can be untwisted electronically. In its untwisted state, the light passing through it comes out at a 90 degree angle, allowing light to flow through the two polarizing filters and making the pixels bright.

 

This technology along with an LED backlight is what allows Mimo Monitors to create their crisp, clear, lightweight, high-performance LCD displays. From 7-inch monitors and 10-inch touchscreens to 21.5-inch open frame displays, Mimo Monitors LCD displays are always sharp and vivid.

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