Japan Display’s LCD is paper-like yet displays video

Advancements in display technology are always more than welcome. Remember the first time you saw a color display on a mobile phone, such as the Sony Ericsson T68i? Well, fast forward slightly more than a decade, and we have seen leaps and bounds made in the world of display technology. Japan Display’s latest invention is a paper-like LCD display that is capable of showing off video as well, where the company describes it as such, “Ordinary liquid crystal displays have a backlight, and produce the picture by using a liquid crystal shutter. But this panel doesn’t have a backlight. It reflects light from above, and the liquid crystal shutter is used to produce a monochrome image. At the same time, color filters are used, to give a color picture.”

The display sports a Light Control Layer, reflecting light as usual, while looking metallic in a way just like a mirror. Once this layer is added, the display will go around “collecting” light to a certain level, directing it to the viewer’s eyes, so that it looks just like paper. This method also helped the new LCD display show off decent color – something that would not have been possible with standard issue digital paper. Not only that, since it can show video, expect a range of solutions and applications for this paper-like LCD display to see action in.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: lcd