An active-matrix liquid-crystal display ( AMLCD ) is a type of flat-panel display used in high-resolution TVs , computer monitors , notebook computers , tablet computers and smartphones with an LCD screen, due to low weight, very good image quality, wide color gamut and fast response time.
4-466: The concept of active-matrix LCDs was proposed by Bernard J. Lechner at the RCA Laboratories in 1968. The first functional AMLCD with thin-film transistors was made by T. Peter Brody , Fang-Chen Luo and their team at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1972. However, it took years of additional research and development by others to launch successful products. The term "active matrix"
8-418: A passive matrix of the same size. An important specification for these displays is their viewing-angle. Thin-film transistors are usually used for constructing an active matrix so that the two terms are often interchanged, even though a thin-film transistor is just one component in an active matrix and some active-matrix designs have used other components such as diodes . Whereas a passive matrix display uses
12-419: A simple conductive grid to apply a voltage to the liquid crystals in the target area, an active-matrix display uses a grid of transistors and capacitors with the ability to hold a charge for a limited period of time. Because of the switching action of transistors, only the desired pixel receives a charge, and the pixel acts as a capacitor to hold the charge until the next refresh cycle, improving image quality over
16-407: Was coined by T. Peter Brody in 1975. The most common type of AMLCD contains, besides the polarizing sheets and cells of liquid crystal, a matrix of thin-film transistors to make a thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display . These devices store the electrical state of each pixel on the display while all the other pixels are being updated. This method provides a much brighter, sharper display than
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