DISPLAYING
TECHNOLOGY
A WALK THROUGH
A
BRIEFER HISTORY OF
able type out of the three. They can be
LED and LCD screens as ‘LCD screens’ due
TIME
made insanely thinner, but the catch is
to their similarities. In good old LCD dis-
The first array of commercial-
that the uniformity of the display will be
plays, if the viewing angle is wider than
ly available display technol-
broken. For an instance, if you put up all
30° from the centre, then the contrast
ogy was introduced back in 1922. Those
white background on such a display, the
ratio of the image is diminished, giving a
were CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) mono-
edges of the display would appear to be
washed away appearance in the display.
chrome displays, which were primarily
brighter than the rest of it. For a while, it
LED displays solved this washed away
used for black and white television dis-
was believed that there won’t be much
appearance up to some extent.
plays and as displays for oscilloscopes.
of a hope in the Edge Lit LED displays
OLED
In 1954, after a decade of trials and
department due to those issues, but with
There are 2 main families of OLED: those
experiments, the first commercial colour
the cutting edge research, according to
based on small molecules and those
CRT was introduced. Since then, it was
the majority of industrial experts, it is the
based on employing polymers. Also, they
the predominant displaying technology
most promising out of the three.
have two addressing schemes: Passive-
for almost another half a century. With
Instead of being similar technologies,
Matrix (PMOLED) and Active-Matrix
the daw n of the new millennia came the
there were some improvements in the
(AMOLED). An OLED display works with-
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and replaced
LED displays like increased contrast, bet-
out using the service of a backlight and
the CRT displays from its half- century-
ter colour accuracy, and wider viewing
thus sporting deeper black levels (which
long run, as the most popular display
angles. Thanks to the above qualities of
enhances the contrast and is one of the
technology.
LED displays manufacturers and resellers
most important factors in determining
Thereafter, a vast array of display tech-
were able to attract a relatively higher
the quality of a screen) and can be thin-
nologies likes LED (Light Emitting
price tag than that of an LCD display. And
ner than an LCD. Manufacturing an OLED
Diode) displays, OLED (Organic Light-
still, some experts on the field call both
display is said to be a tough process. Only
Emitting Diode), and AMOLED (Active
Matrix OLED), etc., came into existence.
Here, LED displays are a technological
advancement of LCDs. Basically, the only
difference between these two is that the
LED displays employ a LED backlight to
power up the LCD panel, whereas Cold
Cathode Fluorescent Lights (CCFLs) are
used as a backlight in LCD displays.
Generally, there are three different types
of LED monitors available, based on the
way the diodes are arranged in the monitor. These are Direct LEDs, Edge LEDs,
and RGB LEDs. Edge Lit LED displays
are by far, the most commonly avail-
32
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Samsung Galaxy Note 7: The best performing smartphone display on the planet
Source: www.digitaltrends.com
University of Peradeniya