DISPLAY DEVICES

A display device is a device for visual presentation of

images (including text) acquired, stored, or
transmitted in various forms. Some of them are
called simply displays.
Q. Name some display devices.
Different types of display
devices
• The most common types of display devices are:
• Electronic displays
• CRT display (earliest)
• LED displays (later): Seven segment display , Fourteen
segment display , Sixteen segment display
• LCD (most recent): HPA (High Performance display), TFT
(Thin Film Transistor) display

Projectors
• Analog projectors: Movie projector , Slide projector
• Digital projectors: Digital projector, Movie projector
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
• Used in digital watches and many portable
computers.
• LCD displays utilize two sheets of
polarizing material with a liquid crystal
solution between them.
• An electric current passed through the
liquid causes the crystals to align so that
light cannot pass through them.
• Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter,
either allowing light to pass through or
blocking the light.
 TFT (Thin Film TransisTor)
• A type of LCD flat-panel display screen.

• In TFT each pixel is controlled by from

one to four transistors.

• The TFT technology provides the best

resolution of all the flat-panel
techniques, but it is also the most
expensive.

• TFT screens are sometimes called Active

Matrix LCDs.
HPA (High-Performance Addressing)
DISPLAY
• A Passive-Matrix Display technology that
provides better response rates and contrast
than conventional LCD displays.

• Although HPA displays aren't quite as crisp

or fast as Active-Matrix (TFT) displays,
they're considerably less expensive to
produce.

• Consequently, HPA is being used by a

number of computer manufacturers for their
entry level or value notebook computers.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Display
• LED's are special diodes that
emit light when connected in
a circuit.
• They are frequently used as
"pilot" lights in electronic
appliances to indicate
whether the circuit is closed
or not.
• A clear (or often colored)
epoxy case enclosed the
heart of an LED, the
semiconductor chip.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Display contd…
• When an electron recombines
with a positive charge, electric
potential energy is converted into
electromagnetic energy.

• For each recombination of a

negative and a positive charge, a
quantum of electromagnetic
energy is emitted in the form of a
photon of light with a frequency
characteristic of the semi-
conductor material.
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Display contd…
• The wavelength of the light emitted, and
therefore its colour, depends on the band gap
energy of the materials forming the p-n
junction.

• A normal diode, typically made of silicon or

germanium, emits in visible far-infrared light.

• The materials used for a LED have band gap

energies corresponding to near-infrared, visible
or near-ultraviolet light.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Display contd…
• LED can be destroyed by connecting them to a
voltage source much higher than their turn on
voltage.
• A good LED driver circuit is either a constant current
source or an approximation to a current source made
by connecting the LED in series with a current limiting
resistor to a voltage source.
• The voltage drop across a forward biased LED
increases as the amount of light emitted increases
because of the optical power being radiated.
• One consequence is that LED's of the same type can
be readily operated in parallel.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Display contd…
• The turn-on voltage of an LED is a function of the
color, a higher forward drop is associated with
emitting higher energy (bluer) photons.

• The reverse voltage that most LEDs can sustain

without damage is usually only a few volts.

• Some LEDs packages contain two diodes, one in each

direction, and each a different color, typically red and
green, which allows two color operation or a range of
colors to be created by altering the percentage of
time the voltage is in each polarity.
 Conventional LEDs
• Conventional LEDs are made of inorganic minerals
such as:
• Aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) - red and
infrared
• Gallium arsenide/phosphide (GaAsP) - red, orange
and yellow
• Gallium nitride (GaN) - green
• Gallium phosphide (GaP) - green
• Zinc selenide (ZnSe) - blue
• Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) - blue
• Silicon carbide (SiC) - blue
• Diamond (C) - ultraviolet
 Organic LED (OLED)
• In the last few years (up to 2003) there has been much research into
organic LEDs or OLEDs, which are made of semiconducting organic
polymers.

• The best efficiency of an OLED so far is about 10%-15%.

• OLEDs much cheaper to fabricate than inorganic LEDs, and large

arrays of them can be deposited on a screen using simple printing
methods to create a colour graphic display.

• The emissive layer material of an LED is an organic compound, it is

known as an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED).

• To function as a semiconductor, the organic emissive material must

have conjugated pi bonds. The emissive material can be a small
organic molecule in a crystalline phase, or a polymer. Polymer
materials can be flexible; such LEDs are known as PLEDs or FLEDs.
 LED Applications
• LEDs are commonly used as information indicators in
various types of embedded systems
• Thin, lightweight message displays, e.g. in public
information signs (at airports and railway stations, among
other places)
• Status indicators, e.g. on/off lights on professional
instruments and consumers audio/video equipment
• As infrared LEDs in remote controls (for TVs, VCRs, etc)
• Clusters of LEDs are used in traffic signals, replacing
ordinary bulbs behind coloured glass
• Bicycle lighting and indicator lights; also for pedestrians
to be seen by car traffic
• Calculator and measurement instrument displays (seven
segment displays), although now mostly replaced by LCDs
 LED applications
• Red or yellow LEDs are used in indicator and (alpha)
numeric displays in environments where night vision
must be retained: aircraft cockpits, submarine and ship
bridges, astronomy observatories, and in the field, e.g.
night time animal watching and military field use
• Red or yellow LEDs are also used in photographic
darkrooms, for providing lighting which does not lead
to unwanted exposure of the film
• Illumination, e.g. flashlights (aka torches, UK), and
backlights for LCD screens
• Signaling/emergency beacons and strobes
• As movement sensors, e.g. in mechanical and optical
computer mice and trackballs
• in LED printers, e.g. high-end colour printers
• Also called phosphor pitch, a measurement that
indicates the diagonal distance between like-
colored phosphor dots on a display screen.
• Measured in millimeters, the dot pitch is one of
the principal characteristics that determines the
quality of display monitors.
• The lower the number, the crisper the image.
• The dot pitch of color monitors for personal
computers ranges from about 0.15 mm to
0.30mm.
• Think of the dot specified by the dot pitch as
the smallest physical visual component on
the display.
• A pixel is the smallest programmable visual
element and maps to the dot if the display is
set to its highest resolution.
• When set to lower resolutions, a pixel
encompasses multiple dots.
• Short for Picture Element, a pixel is a single point
in a graphic image. Graphics monitors display
pictures by dividing the display screen into
thousands (or millions) of pixels, arranged in rows
and columns.
• The pixels are so close together that they appear
connected. The number of bits used to represent
each pixel determines how many colors or shades
of gray can be displayed.
• For example, in 8-bit color mode, the color
monitor uses 8 bits for each pixel, making it
possible to display 2 to the 8th power (256)
different colors or shades of gray.
• LC birefringence phenomenon first observed in 1888
• Research at RCA (1950s - 1960s)
• First monochrome LC panels developed in 1960s
• Sharp Electronics introduces first LCD products in
1970
• Color LCD OHP panels follow in late 1980s (OHP)
• LCD monitors for PCs take off in mid-1990s
• 60” single fab sizes achieved in 2003
• Major Players: LG, Samsung, Sharp, Chi Mei
• Liquid-crystal monitors and TVs are
transmissive in operation.
• Their pixels act as shutters to control the
amount of light from a fluorescent
backlight
• Power draw 15-20% less than plasma for
given size
• Weight 20-25% less than plasma for given
size
• Birefringence a property of crystals/ solids:
Optically anisotropic substances are double-
refracting.
• In birefringent crystals, light is resolved into two
components that are polarized at right angles to
each other and that travel at different velocities
through the substance.
• Thus, the crystal exhibits two refractive indicies
(one for each ray). This phenomenon is called
birefringence.
• Numerically, it is the difference in index
between the greater and lesser index values of
any anisotropic material.
• 1888 Reinitzer observed that when Cholesteryl
Benzoate is heated to 145 degree C it melt
(white turbid murky appearance) if further
heated upto 179 degree C it becomes
transparent liquid.
• Lehman observed that in the turbid region
substance exhibits birefringence.
• (turbid refers to a water body that is thick or
opaque with suspended sediment)
• The substance has:
Mechanical properties of liquid: ability to flow and
have low viscosity.
Optical properties of Crystal: birefringence.
That’s why they are called LIQUID CRYSTALS
Liquid crystalline phase is called Mesophase. Substance
having above properties are known as Mesogen.
Thermoporic mesogens---obtained by heating
Lypotropic mesogens-----formed by dissolving certain
crystals in suitable solutions.
Shape: The molecules of liquid crystal are rod shape
with length 15-40 Angstrom.
The order in the liquid crystal
 The distinguishing characteristic of the liquid crystalline state is
the tendency of the molecules (mesogens) to point along a
common axis, called the director.
 This is in contrast to molecules in the liquid phase, which have
no intrinsic order.
 In the solid state, molecules are highly ordered and have little
translational freedom.
 The characteristic orientational order of the liquid crystal state is
between the traditional solid and liquid phases and this is the
origin of the term mesogenic state, used synonymously with
liquid crystal state.
Crystal or liquid crystal
• Crystalline materials demonstrate long range periodic order in
three dimensions.
• By definition, an isotropic liquid has no orientational order.
• Substances that aren't as ordered as a solid, yet have some
degree of alignment are properly called liquid crystals.
• To quantify just how much order is present in a material, an order
parameter (S) is defined. Traditionally, the order parameter is
given as follows:
S = (1/2)<3cos2-1>
where theta is the angle between the director and the long axis of
each molecule. The brackets denote an average over all of the
molecules in the sample.
In an isotropic liquid, the average of the cosine terms is zero, and
therefore the order parameter is equal to zero.
For a perfect crystal, the order parameter evaluates to one.
Typical values for the order parameter of a liquid crystal range
between 0.3 and 0.9, with the exact value a function of
temperature, as a result of kinetic molecular motion.
Classification of liquid crystals
• Nematic: Molecules are parallel to each other but
their spatial distribution is random.
• The molecules point vertically but are arranged with
no particular order.
Smectic phase
•The word "smectic" is derived from the Greek word for soap.
•This seemingly ambiguous origin is explained by the fact that the
thick, slippery substance often found at the bottom of a soap dish is
actually a type of smectic liquid crystal.
•The smectic state is another distinct mesophase of liquid crystal
substances.
• Molecules in this phase show a degree of translational order not
present in the nematic.
•In the smectic state, the molecules maintain the general orientational
order of nematics, but also tend to align themselves in layers or
planes.
•The increased order means that the smectic state is more "solid-like"
than the nematic.
 Cholesteric phase
The cholesteric (or chiral nematic) liquid crystal phase is typically
composed of nematic mesogenic molecules containing a chiral center
which produces intermolecular forces that favor alignment between
molecules at a slight angle to one another.
This leads to the formation of a structure which can be visualized as a
stack of very thin 2-D nematic-like layers with the director in each layer
twisted with respect to those above and below.
In this structure, the directors actually form a continuous helical pattern
about the layer normal as illustrated by the black arrow in the following
figure. The black arrow in the animation represents director orientation
in the succession of layers along the stack.
Columnar Phase
Columnar liquid crystals are
different from the previous types
because they are shaped like disks
instead of long rods.
This mesophase is characterized
by stacked columns of molecules.
The columns are packed together
to form a two-dimensional
crystalline array.
The arrangement of the molecules
within the columns and the
arrangement of the columns
themselves leads to new
mesophases.
The pitch, p, is defined as the distance it takes for the
director to rotate one full turn in the helix.
A byproduct of the helical structure of the chiral nematic
phase, is its ability to selectively reflect light of wavelengths
equal to the pitch length, so that a color will be reflected
when the pitch is equal to the corresponding wavelength of
light in the visible spectrum.
The effect is based on the temperature dependence of the
gradual change in director orientation between successive
layers
This modifies the pitch length resulting in an alteration of
the wavelength of reflected light according to the
temperature.
The angle at which the director changes can be made larger,
and thus tighten the pitch, by increasing the temperature of
the molecules.
This makes it possible to build a liquid crystal thermometer
that displays the temperature of its environment by the
reflected color.
 LCD and temperature: Do liquid crystals act
like solids or liquids or something else?
• It turns out that liquid crystals are closer to a liquid state
than a solid.
• Because it takes a fair amount of heat to change a
suitable substance from a solid into a liquid crystal, and
it only takes a little more heat to turn that same liquid
crystal into a real liquid.
• This explains why liquid crystals are very sensitive to
temperature
• and why they are used to make thermometers and mood
rings.
• It also explains why a laptop display may act funny in
cold weather or during a hot day!
 Mood ring
• The idea behind a mood ring is simple: Wear it on your finger and
it will reflect the state of your emotions
• These liquid crystal molecules are very sensitive; they change
position, or twist, according to changes in temperature.
• This change in molecular structure affects the wavelengths of
light that are absorbed or reflected by the liquid crystals,
resulting in an apparent change in the color of the stone.
• e.g.,as the temperature increases, the liquid crystal molecules
twist slightly in one direction absorbing more of the red and
green portions of the visible light, and reflect the blue part.
• When the temperature decreases, the molecules begin to twist
in the other direction, and reflect a different portion of the
spectrum.
• While mood rings cannot reflect your mood with any real
scientific accuracy, they actually are indicators of your body's
involuntary physical reaction to your emotional state.
• The stone in a mood ring is either a hollow glass shell filled
with thermotropic liquid crystals, or a clear glass stone sitting
on top of a thin sheet of liquid crystals.
 Display Lighting
• In order for a display to show information, it must have a light
source.
• Some displays use only ambient light and employ a reflective
surface mounted behind the display -- most calculators and
watches are like this. These displays are not very bright because
the light must pass through multiple polarizers which severely
cut down on the intensity of the light, in addition to the
various layers of the display which are only semi-transparent.
• Therefore a more intense source is employed in the form of a
back lighting system. Light bulbs mounted behind and at the
edges of the display replace the reflected ambient light. This
results in brighter displays for two reasons: the light doesn't
have to come in through the display and therefore does not
lose part of the intensity, and the lighting system can be made
more intense than ambient light.
• Back lighting has the disadvantage of being very power
intensive. Back lighting systems are used in more complex
displays such as laptop computer screens.
Twisted Nematic

• One feature of liquid crystals is that they're

affected by electric current.
• A particular sort of nematic liquid crystal, called
twisted nematics (TN), is naturally twisted.
• Applying an electric current to these liquid
crystals will untwist them to varying degrees,
depending on the current's voltage.
• LCDs use these liquid crystals because they react
predictably to electric current in such a way as to
control light passage.
 Twisted Nematic Display
This device consists of a nematic liquid crystal
sandwiched between two plates of glass.
A special surface treatment is given to the glass such
that the molecules are homeotropic (a rod-like liquid
crystalline molecule aligns perpendicularly to the substrate) yet the
director at the top of the sample is perpendicular to
the director at the bottom.
This configuration sets up a 90o twist into the bulk of
the liquid crystal, hence the name of the display.
This structure is similar to the cholesteric state, and
sometimes a small amount of a chiral material is
added to ensure a uniform twist.
Twisted Nematic Display: the
underlying principle
The underlying principle in a TN display is the
manipulation of polarized light.
When light enters the TN cell, the polarization
state twists with the director of the liquid crystal
material.
As it travels through the cell, its polarization
rotates with the molecules.
When the light emerges, it's polarization has
rotated 90o from when it entered.
 Twisted Nematic Display: the
underlying principle
• A schematic of a TN cell is shown. The black lines
represent crossed polarizers that are attached to the top
and bottom of the display.
• As light enters the cell, its polarization rotates with the
molecules. When the light reaches the bottom of the cell,
its polarization vector has rotated by 90 degrees, and now
can pass through the second polarizer.
• In a reflecting TN display, a mirror is placed at the bottom
of the cell to reflect the transmitted light. Once again the
polarization twists as the light traverses the
sample, and is able to emerge from the top
of the cell.
• Light emerging from such a cell appears the familiar silver-gray color.
• When an electric field of sufficient magnitude is applied to a sample,
the molecules undergo a transition. In this state, the twist is
destroyed.
• The director of the bulk liquid crystal is parallel to the field and no
longer twisted.
• When they straighten out, they change the angle of the
light passing through them so that it no longer matches
the angle of the top polarizing filter
• When polarized light enters a cell in such a configuration, it is not
twisted, and is cancelled by the second polarizer.
• Consequently, these regions where an electric field is applied
appear dark (coloured) against a bright background.

electric field