Imperial Chemical Industries Limited

Thorn Emi Plc

Waters, Colin M.

Colin M Waters

Timothy J Noakes

Ian D Pavey

Christopher J Morris

Chiyoji Hitomi

Steven D Bull

Brian J Humphries

The display has a video signal receiver and a store with a capacity to hold one picture of the video signal. Row-output devices enable the video information for respective rows of pixels to be taken out from picture store, and each has a bit extractor to separate out one bit of the information for each pixel of the respective row. The resultant signal is passed to pixel drivers which operates on a lattice formed of ferroelectric liquid crystal pixel-elements, which are time-multiplex addressed according to a predetermined sequence, each row being addressed a plurality of times for each picture. In the addressing groups of the rows are set simultaneously, each group consisting of a plurality of rows spaced apart in the addressing sequence such that the rows in a group form a series with adjacent rows having a temporal separation in the addressing sequence exhibiting a geometric progression with the common ratio N being an integer corresponding to 2 or more.

Display device

A liquid crystal device comprises a layer of fibers or filaments (15) permeated with liquid crystal material, the layer (15) being located between electrodes (13, 14) by means of which an electric field can be applied across the layer to vary the transmissivity of the liquid crystal/fiber composite. The diameters of the fibers/filaments are selected so that the light transmissivity of the composite has reduced sensitivity with respect to mismatch of the refractive indices of the liquid crystal and the fibers/filaments.

Liquid crystal devices

A method of making a liquid crystal device comprises producing, for example by means of electrostatic spraying, ligaments of a curable liquid which are deposited as such or as droplets (as a result of breaking up of the ligaments) on a sheet which is to form one boundary wall of the device. Curing of the liquid may be initiated while the liquid is in flight and completed after deposition. Liquid crystal material is applied to the deposited ligaments or droplets and a second sheet is laminated with the first sheet to encapsulate the liquid crystal material. The deposited ligaments or droplets serve to space the sheets apart and/or provide surfaces with which, in the field-off condition, the liquid crystal molecules can align in directions different to the direction of alignment induced by application of an electric or magnetic field.

Process for producing liquid crystal devices

The liquid crystal display unit 1, has a video signal receiver 2 and a store 3. Time-modulation grey-scale addressing of the ferroelectric liquid crystal pixels in a display panel 4 is provided to a store 10 which records the number of changes of state for each pixel during one picture-signal. Once the most-significant bit has been processed and is being displayed on the panel 4, the change-of-state store 10 has the net number of changes which the pixel has undergone in that picture. Controller 11 causes store 10 to output the value appropriate to that pixel and pass it to driver unit 9 to produce a compensating pulse (whether positive, negative or zero) necessary to ensure that there is no net electrical potential over the entire picture interval. The display produced by the compensating pulse is cleared immediately the first data of the next picture is input to the pixel. Assuming that the LSB of the data for a pixel already on display in panel 4, then in the next scan extractor 6 passes the next LSB to comparator 7 whose other input is connected to a pixel-state store 8. Accordingly, the new bit-value is compared with the existing state of the pixel, and comparator 7 passes on an instructing signal to pixel driver unit 9 only if the state of the pixel requires changing; in such an eventuality, the driver unit 9 issues an appropriate monopulse select voltage. Comparator 7 also passes such an instructing signal.

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Frodsham, United Kingdom

Colin M Waters