Flat-panel display
A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipment.
Flat-panel displays are thin, lightweight, provide better linearity and are capable of higher resolution than typical consumer-grade TVs from earlier eras. They are usually less than 10 centimetres (3.9 in) thick. While the highest resolution for consumer-grade
In the 2010s, portable consumer electronics such as laptops, mobile phones, and portable cameras have used flat-panel displays since they consume less power and are lightweight. As of 2016, flat-panel displays have almost completely replaced CRT displays.
Most 2010s-era flat-panel displays use
Flat-panel displays can be divided into two display device categories: volatile and static. The former requires that pixels be periodically electronically refreshed to retain their state (e.g.
History
The first engineering proposal for a flat-panel TV was by
The
Liquid-crystal displays (LC displays, or LCDs)
The
The first
By 1982,
LED displays
The first usable LED display was developed by
Common types
Liquid-crystal display (LCD)
Field-effect LCDs are lightweight, compact, portable, cheap, more reliable, and easier on the eyes than CRT screens. LCD screens use a thin layer of liquid crystal, a liquid that exhibits crystalline properties. It is sandwiched between two glass plates carrying transparent electrodes. Two polarizing films are placed at each side of the LCD. By generating a controlled electric field between electrodes, various segments or pixels of the liquid crystal can be activated, causing changes in their polarizing properties. These polarizing properties depend on the alignment of the liquid-crystal layer and the specific field-effect used, being either
LED-LCD
Most earlier large LCD screens were back-lit using a number of CCFL (cold-cathode fluorescent lamps). However, small pocket size devices almost always used LEDs as their illumination source. With the improvement of LEDs, almost all new displays are now equipped with
Plasma panel
A plasma display consists of two glass plates separated by a thin gap filled with a gas such as neon. Each of these plates has several parallel electrodes running across it. The electrodes on the two plates are at right angles to each other. A voltage applied between the two electrodes one on each plate causes a small segment of gas at the two electrodes to glow. The glow of gas segments is maintained by a lower voltage that is continuously applied to all electrodes. By 2010, consumer plasma displays had been discontinued by numerous manufacturers.
Electroluminescent panel
In an electroluminescent display (ELD), the image is created by applying electrical signals to the plates which make the phosphor glow.
Organic light-emitting diode
An OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound which emits light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor is situated between two electrodes; typically, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. OLEDs are used to create digital displays in devices such as television screens, computer monitors, portable systems such as mobile phones, handheld game consoles and PDAs.
Quantum-dot light-emitting diode
QLED or quantum dot LED is a flat panel display technology introduced by Samsung under this trademark. Other television set manufacturers such as Sony have used the same technology to enhance the backlighting of LCD TVs already in 2013.[29][30] Quantum dots create their own unique light when illuminated by a light source of shorter wavelength such as blue LEDs. This type of LED TV enhances the colour gamut of LCD panels, where the image is still generated by the LCD. In the view of Samsung, quantum dot displays for large-screen TVs are expected to become more popular than the OLED displays in the coming years; Firms like Nanoco and Nanosys compete to provide the QD materials. In the meantime, Samsung Galaxy devices such as smartphones are still equipped with OLED displays manufactured by Samsung as well. Samsung explains on their website that the QLED TV they produce can determine what part of the display needs more or less contrast. Samsung also announced a partnership with Microsoft that will promote the new Samsung QLED TV.
Volatile
Volatile displays require that pixels be periodically refreshed to retain their state, even for a static image. As such, a volatile screen needs electrical power, either from
Examples
The following flat-display technologies have been commercialized in 1990s to 2010s:
- Plasma display panel (PDP)
- Active-matrix liquid-crystal display (AMLCD)
- LCOS
- Electronic paper: E Ink, Gyricon
- Light-emitting diode display (LED)
- Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode(AMOLED)
- Quantum dot display (QLED)
Technologies that were extensively researched, but their commercialization was limited or has been ultimately abandoned:
- Active-matrix electroluminescent display (ELD)
- Interferometric modulator display (IMOD)
- Field emission display(FED)
- Surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED, SED-TV)
Static
Static flat-panel displays rely on materials whose color states are
See also
- Computer monitor
- Display motion blur
- Electronic paper
- FPD-Link
- Flexible display
- Large-screen television technology
- LCD
- LED-backlit LCD television
- List of flat panel display manufacturers
- MicroLED
- Mobile display
- OLED
- Plasma display panel
- Quantum dot display
- Sony Watchman
- Stereoscopy 3D displays requiring no special glasses
- Touch panel
- Transparent display
References
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