Knowra Liquid-crystal display Liquid-crystal display A display that uses electric fields to control liquid crystals, modulating light to form images. Most LCDs use a backlight, color filters, and pixel-level electrodes.
Liquid crystal : A state of matter whose molecules flow like a liquid while retaining some orientational order like a crystal. LCDs exploit this material’s ability to change molecular alignment under an electric field.
Polarization : The orientation of the oscillating electric field in a transverse wave, such as light. LCD light control depends on how the liquid-crystal layer changes polarization.
OLED : A display technology in which organic light-emitting diodes produce light directly at each pixel. Unlike most LCDs, OLED pixels emit their own light and can switch off individually.
Active-matrix LCD : An LCD in which each pixel is controlled by its own switching element, usually a thin-film transistor. This architecture enables high-resolution panels in laptops, televisions, and phones.
Flat-panel display : A display built as a thin, flat screen rather than around a bulky picture tube. LCDs became a leading technology in the transition from CRTs to lightweight screens.
Twisted nematic field effect : An LCD operating mode in which voltage changes the rotation of polarized light through a twisted liquid-crystal layer. This classic arrangement converts changes in molecular alignment into differences in transmitted light.
Electric field : A physical field that exerts force on electric charges and dipoles. Voltage across a pixel creates the field that reorients its liquid-crystal molecules.
Plasma display : A flat-panel display that produces light using ultraviolet-emitting gas discharges in tiny cells. Plasma cells emit light, whereas an LCD modulates light from a separate source.
Passive-matrix LCD : An LCD whose pixels are addressed through intersecting row and column electrodes without a transistor at each pixel. Its simpler structure suits basic displays but limits response and image quality compared with active-matrix panels.
Liquid-crystal display manufacturing : The industrial processes used to fabricate LCD glass panels, transistors, color filters, and optical layers. Large-scale panel fabrication made thin displays practical for mass-market electronics.
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