LCD suits roll to roll production

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have developed a reflective bistable lcd capable of maintaining static images in full daylight without requiring an external power supply. The display is suitable for manufacture on a standard roll to roll printing process – a technique never used in lcd manufacturing before, according to the researchers. The technology incorporates reflective display units which are flexible and tough, making them suitable for creating outdoor screens in any shape. Being bistable, they only require power to change the image, offering significant energy advantages over traditional electronic displays. In addition to being bistable, the display is highly reflective, making it easier to read in direct sunlight without the need for a backlight. In Strathclyde’s approach, the continuous layer of liquid crystal in a standard device is replaced with a polymer substructure which can micro confine the liquid crystal into discrete wells. The shape and surface properties of the polymer and the presence of high distortion regions create multistable states. The states are optically differentiable and can represent levels of grey from black to white. Switching between states can be achieved using in plane electrodes. In each of the stable states, the average liquid crystal molecular direction remains in the plane of the bounding surfaces.