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LCD Electronics Theory of Operation: Week 1 14-Sept-2018
LCD Electronics Theory of Operation: Week 1 14-Sept-2018
Theory of Operation
Week 1
14-Sept-2018
1
Reference Books
E.B. Priestley, P. Wojtowicz, P. Sheng, "Introduction to Liquid
Crystals", Plenium Press, New York, 2e editie, 1979
2
Display Panel
Gamma
Vcom
Timing Reference Ref
Data In Voltages
Controller
Column Drivers
Row Drivers
Multi-Source
Power DC/DC Display
In Converter
& LDO
3
Liquid Crystal Display
Ernst Lueder, "Liquid Crystal Displays : Addressing Schemes and Electro-Optical Effects (Wiley
Series in Display Technology)", John Wiley & Sons, 22 June, 2001.
5
T. Peter Brody Inventor of the Active Matrix
The CRT -- mainstay of television sets, radar screens, and video display terminal of your
computer -- obsolete? Yes, says Brody, and to replace it he proposes a new display
technology based on thin-film transistors. He and a crew of fellow research scientists
nursed the technology along in Westinghouse Electric Corp. laboratories, but they were
unable to convince corporate higher-ups to develop it for the marketplace. So Brody
formed his own company, Panel-vision, licensed the Westinghouse technology, got venture
capital backing, and expects to be making his own 1/8-inch-thick
prototypes by the end of this year
6
Liquid crystals were actually discovered over 100
years ago, but they did not find commercial
applications until the invention of the twisted nematic
(TN) LCD by Schadt and Helfrich in 1971 (Schadt
and Helfrich, 1971). Nematic liquid crystals have a
short-range order and have some of the properties of
uniaxial crystals. In the natural state, the molecules
have no long-range order and so scatter light. If the
molecules are oriented, however, they can become
transparent with crystalline optical properties. In a
typical LCD, the molecules are aligned by
mechanically rubbing polyimide layers on two pieces
of glass. In the TN cell, the alignment is at right
angles between the two inside surfaces on the glass.
A small amount of cholesteric LC is usually added to
encourage twisting in one direction only. The aligning
layer usually causes a small tilt on the LC molecules
at the surface, typically 1-3 degrees; this effect can
be important in determining maximum contrast ratio
or response time.
http://www.orientdisplay.com/lcds-basis.html
7
Twisted Nematic LC Display
http://www.rolic.com/company.htm
http://bly.colorado.edu/lc/tnlc.html
8
So…What's a Liquid Crystal?
9
Classes of Liquid Crystals
10
Thermotropic Liquid Crystals
Thermotropic LC molecules are characterized as having
rigid heads, usually benzene rings, attached to long
polymer, flexible tails.
H H H H
C C C C H H H H H
N C C C C C C C C C C H
C C C C H H H H H
H H H H
11
Thermotropic Liquid Crystals
• Thermotropic LCs exist in mesophase of
partially solid and partially fluid
properties over a narrow temperature
band.
12
Ernst Lueder, "Liquid Crystal Displays : Addressing Schemes and Electro-Optical Effects (Wiley
Series in Display Technology)", John Wiley & Sons, 22 June, 2001.
13
Categories of Thermotropic LCs
ay
free
15
Temperature Dependent
Director Distribution
40o
(Typ. T=25oC)
n
average director axis
16
Isotropic Dielectric Review
Electrically, liquid crystals are dielectrics. Insulators which
store energy from an electric field through by polarizing.
In the presence of an
electric field, local
-q
regions (molecules)
d
will polarize, that is,
charge will separate
but remain bound. A
+q
polarization moment
forms:
Electric p = dq
Field
Vector 17
Anisotropic Dielectrics
Electric field parallel
to molecule Electric field perpendicular p az
to molecule
Smaller
-
p + - p ax
Large
+ p
p without an E field p ay
Anisotropic dielectrics polarize differently in different axes. Their net polarization is
the 3-dimensional vector sum of the orthogonal polarization moments with respect
to the applied E-vector. In general, the polarization moment does not align with the
E-vector or carry the same magnitude in differing E vector directions.
18
Dielectrics of Nematic Order
Dielectric Property
perpendicular-2 perpendicular
parallel parallel
perpendicular-1 director axis director axis
perpendicular-1 + perpendicular-2
perpendicular = Due to spin about the
2 director axis.
19
Torque Review
(-) (-) (-) (-)
T=F·d
F=qE
Lorenz Force T=2·(qE)·sin()·x
F=qE
F=qE
p x F=qEsin()
F=qE sin()
E-vector
F=qE dd
RMS dependency
Temperature dielectric anisotropy
dependency 21
Spring Properties
22
Order Depend on Springs
Nematic order is maintained
by intermolecular forces
which are macroscopically
characterized as spring
constants for the material.
23
Oseen-Frank Free Energy Equation
Note the similarity to the expression for the energy in a classic spring
W = ∫Kx dx = ½ Kx2
24
Summary of Liquid Crystal and
Electrostatic Properties.
• Nematic order means you have cylindrical
molecules arranged with their long axis (directors)
pointed in the same direction.
25
The Optical Effect
26
Refraction Review
Optical path length
n1d
n0d = n1d = n2d
nparallel nparallel
nperpendicular-1 director axis director axis
28
Polarization Rotation
-45o -22.5o 0o 22.5o 45o
Resultant Vector
(Actual E-wave)
30
Linear Polarizer Concept
Unpolarized light has a
randomly oriented
polarity
50%
31
Polarizer Function
The sum of all the vertical
components of all the incident
rays are passed with one
polarization (e.g. vertical).
Original
E-polarization
Vertical
E-polarization
(passed)
Horizontal
E-polarization
(absorbed)
32
Diagram of the TN LCD Optics
nslow Birefringent LC layer
polarizer
polarizer
Attenuated
Amplitude
nfast
Rotated Plane
of Polarization
33