Liquid-crystal display (LCD)
Pantalla de cristal líquido (LCD)
- Date
- 1964-1971 · confidence high
- Place
- RCA Laboratories, Princeton, New Jersey, United States; twisted nematic mode at Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland (1970)
- Credited to
- George Heilmeier (RCA, 1968); Martin Schadt and Wolfgang Helfrich (Roche, TN-LCD, 1970); James Fergason (Kent State)
- People
- 👤 George H. Heilmeier1936–2014👤 James Fergason1934–2008👤 Martin Schadt1938–👤 Wolfgang Helfrich1932–2025
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An extremely low-power display that modulates light using electrically oriented liquid crystals. It made digital watches and calculators, laptops and flat-screen televisions possible.
Patent dispute between Schadt-Helfrich (Roche) and Fergason (ILIXCO) over the twisted nematic mode.
What it led to
- Laptops, mobile phones and portable electronics
- The dominance of Sharp, Samsung and LG in displays
- The replacement of the cathode-ray tube in televisions and monitors
Built on
- Polarization of light by reflection (Malus' law)1808
- Twisted nematic field effect1911
- Polaroid polarizing sheet1929-1933
- Pocket electronic calculator1967
- Portable / laptop computer1981-1982
- liquid crystals (Reinitzer, 1888)
- thin-film transistor
Made possible
- Car navigation system1981-1990
- Portable / laptop computer1981-1982
- E-ink and e-reader (Kindle)1997-2007
- Modern smartphone (iPhone)2007
- digital clock
- flat-panel television