A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) that provides illumination from the back or side of a display panel. LCDs do not produce light by themselves, so they need illumination (ambient light or a special light source) to produce a visible image. Backlights are often used in smartphones, computer monitors, and LCD televisions. They are used in small displays to increase readability in low light conditions such as in wristwatches. [1] Typical sources of light for backlights include light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs).
Simple types of LCDs such as those used in pocket calculators are built without an internal light source, requiring external light sources to convey the display image to the user. Most LCD screens, however, are built with an internal light source. Such screens consist of several layers. The backlight is usually the first layer from the back. Light valves then vary the amount of light reaching the eye, by blocking its passage in some way. Most use a fixed polarizing filter and a switching one, to block the undesired light.
Many types of displays other than LCD generate their own light and do not require a backlight, for example, OLED displays, cathode-ray tube (CRT), and plasma (PDP) displays.
A similar type of technology is called a frontlight, which illuminates an LCD from the front.
A review of some early backlighting schemes for LCDs is given in a report Engineering and Technology History by Peter J. Wild. [2]
The light source can be made up of: [3]
An ELP gives off uniform light over its entire surface, but other backlights frequently employ a diffuser to provide even lighting from an uneven source.
Backlights come in many colors. Monochrome LCDs typically have yellow, green, blue, or white backlights, while color displays use white backlights that cover most of the color spectrum.
Colored LED backlighting is most commonly used in small, inexpensive LCD panels. White LED backlighting is becoming dominant. ELP backlighting is often used for larger displays or when even backlighting is important; it can also be either colored or white. An ELP must be driven by relatively high[ specify ] voltage AC power, which is provided by an inverter circuit. CCFL backlights are used on larger displays such as computer monitors, and are typically white in color; these also require the use of an inverter and diffuser. Incandescent backlighting was used by early LCD panels to achieve high brightness, [8] [9] but the limited life and excess heat produced by incandescent bulbs were severe limitations. The heat generated by incandescent bulbs typically requires the bulbs to be mounted away from the display to prevent damage.
For several years (until about 2010), the preferred backlight for matrix-addressed large LCD panels such as in monitors and TVs was based on a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) by using two CCFLs at opposite edges of the LCD or by an array of CCFLs behind the LCD (see picture of an array with 18 CCFLs for a 40-inch LCD TV). Due to the disadvantages in comparison with LED illumination (higher voltage and power needed, thicker panel design, no high-speed switching, faster aging), LED backlighting is becoming more popular.[ citation needed ]
Many LCD models, from cheap TN-displays to color proofing S-IPS or S-PVA panels, have wide gamut CCFLs representing more than 95% of the NTSC color specification.
LED backlighting in color screens comes in two varieties: white LED backlights and RGB LED backlights. [10] White LEDs are used most often in notebook computers and desktop screens, and make up virtually all mobile LCD screens. A white LED is typically a blue LED with broad spectrum yellow phosphor to result in the emission of white light. However, because the spectral curve peaks at yellow, it is a poor match to the transmission peaks of the red and green color filters of the LCD. This causes the red and green primaries to shift toward yellow, reducing the color gamut of the display. [11] RGB LEDs consist of a red, a blue, and a green LED and can be controlled to produce different color temperatures of white. RGB LEDs for backlighting are found in high end color proofing displays such as the HP DreamColor LP2480zx monitor or selected HP EliteBook notebooks, as well as more recent consumer-grade displays such as Dell's Studio series laptops which have an optional RGB LED display.
RGB LEDs can deliver an enormous color gamut to screens. [12] When using three separate LEDs (additive color) the backlight can produce a color spectrum that closely matches the color filters in the LCD pixels themselves. In this way, the filter passband can be narrowed so that each color component lets only a very narrow band of spectrum through the LCD. This improves the efficiency of the display since less light is blocked when white is displayed. The actual red, green, and blue points can be moved farther out so that the display is capable of reproducing more vivid colors.
A method to further improve the color gamut of LED-backlit LCD panels is based on blue LEDs (such as gallium nitride (GaN) LEDs) that illuminate a layer of nanocrystal phosphors, called quantum dots (QDs). [13] The quantum dots convert the blue wavelengths to the desired longer wavelengths as narrow-bandwidth green and red colors for optimal illumination of the LCD from behind. The manufacturer, Nanosys, claims that the color output of the dots can be tuned precisely by controlling the size of the nanocrystals. Other companies pursuing this method are Nanoco Group PLC (UK), QD Vision, 3M a licensee of Nanosys and Avantama of Switzerland. [14] [15] Sony has adapted quantum dot technology from the US company QD Vision [16] to introduce LCD TVs with an improved edge-lit LED backlight marketed under the term Triluminos in 2013. With a blue LED and optimized nanocrystals for green and red colors in front of it, the resulting combined white light allows for an equivalent or better color gamut than that emitted by a more expensive set of three RGB LEDs. At the Consumer Electronics Show 2015, a number of companies showed QD-enhanced LED-backlighting of LCD TVs, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and the Chinese TCL Corporation. [17] [18]
There are several challenges with LED backlights. Uniformity is hard to achieve, especially as the LEDs age, with each LED aging at a different rate. The use of three separate light sources for red, green, and blue means that the white point of the display can move as the LEDs age at different rates; white LEDs are affected by this phenomenon, with changes of several hundred kelvins of color temperature being recorded. White LEDs suffer from blue shifts at higher temperatures varying from 3141K to 3222K for 10 °C to 80 °C respectively. [19] Power efficiency may be a challenge; first generation implementations could potentially use more power than their CCFL counterparts, though it is possible for an LED display to be more power efficient.[ citation needed ] In 2010, current generation LED displays can have significant power consumption advantages. For example, the non-LED version of the 24" Benq G2420HDB consumer display has a 49W consumption compared to the 24W of the LED version of the same display (G2420HDBL).
To overcome the aforementioned challenges with RGB and white LED backlights an 'advanced remote phosphor' [20] LED technology has been developed by NDF Special Light Products, specifically for high-end and long-life LCD applications such as cockpit displays, [21] air traffic control displays, and medical displays. This technology uses blue pump LEDs in combination with a sheet on which phosphorous luminescent materials are printed for colour conversion. The principle is similar to quantum dots, but the phosphors applied are much more robust than the quantum dot nano-particles for applications that require long lifetime in more demanding operational conditions. Because the phosphor sheet is placed at a distance (remote) of the LED it experiences much less temperature stress than phosphors in white LEDs. As a result, the white point is less dependent on individual LEDs, and degrading of individual LEDs over lifetime, leading to a more homogenous backlight with improved colour consistency and lower lumen depreciation.
The use of LED backlights in notebook computers has been growing. Sony has used LED backlights in some of its higher-end slim VAIO notebooks since 2005, and Fujitsu introduced notebooks with LED backlights in 2006. In 2007, Asus, Dell, and Apple introduced LED backlights into some of their notebook models. As of 2008 [update] , Lenovo has announced LED-backlit notebooks. In October 2008, Apple announced that it would be using LED backlights for all of its notebooks and new 24-inch Apple Cinema Display, and one year later it introduced a new LED iMac, meaning all of Apple's new computer screens became LED-backlit displays. Almost every laptop with a 16:9 display introduced since September 2009 uses LED-backlit panels. This is also the case for most LCD television sets, which are marketed in some countries under the misleading name LED TV, although the image is still generated by an LCD panel.
Most LED backlights for LCDs are edge-lit, i.e. several LEDs are placed at the edges of a lightguide (Light guide plate, LGP), which distributes the light behind the LC panel. Advantages of this technique are the very thin flat-panel construction and low cost. A more expensive version is called full-array or direct LED and consists of many LEDs placed behind the LC panel (an array of LEDs), such that large panels can be evenly illuminated. Full-array local dimming is often abbreviated as "FALD". This arrangement allows for local dimming to obtain darker black pixels depending on the image displayed.
LED backlight are often dynamically controlled using the video information [22] (dynamic backlight control or dynamic "local dimming" LED backlight, also marketed as HDR, high dynamic range television, invented by Philips researchers Douglas Stanton, Martinus Stroomer and Adrianus de Vaan [23] [24] [25] ).
Using PWM (pulse-width modulation, a technology where the intensity of the LEDs are kept constant, but the brightness adjustment is achieved by varying a time interval of flashing these constant light intensity light sources [26] ), the backlight is dimmed to the brightest color that appears on the screen while simultaneously boosting the LCD contrast to the maximum achievable levels
If the frequency of the pulse-width modulation is too low or the user is very sensitive to flicker, this may cause discomfort and eye-strain, similar to the flicker of CRT displays. [27] [28] This can be tested by a user simply by waving a hand or object in front of the screen. If the object appears to have sharply defined edges as it moves, the backlight is strobing on and off at a fairly low frequency. If the object appears blurry, the display either has a continuously illuminated backlight or is operating the backlight at a frequency higher than the brain can perceive. The flicker can be reduced or eliminated by setting the display to full brightness, though this may have a negative impact on image quality and battery life due to increased power consumption.
For a non-ELP backlight to produce even lighting, which is critical for displays, the light is first passed through a lightguide (Light guide plate, LGP) - a specially designed layer of plastic that diffuses the light through a series of unevenly spaced bumps. The density of bumps increases further away from the light source according to a diffusion equation. The diffused light then travels to either side of the diffuser; the front faces the actual LCD panel, the back has a reflector to guide otherwise wasted light back toward the LCD panel. The reflector is sometimes made of aluminum foil or a simple white-pigmented surface.
The LCD backlight systems are made highly efficient by applying optical films such as prismatic structure to gain the light into the desired viewer directions and reflective polarizing films that recycle the polarized light that was formerly absorbed by the first polarizer of the LCD (invented by Philips researchers Adrianus de Vaan and Paulus Schaareman), [29] generally achieved using so called DBEF films manufactured and supplied by 3M. [30] These polarizers consist of a large stack of uniaxial oriented birefringent films that reflect the former absorbed polarization mode of the light. [31] Such reflective polarizers using uniaxial oriented polymerized liquid crystals (birefringent polymers or birefringent glue) are invented in 1989 by Philips researchers Dirk Broer, Adrianus de Vaan and Joerg Brambring. [32] The combination of such reflective polarizers, and LED dynamic backlight control [23] make today's LCD televisions far more efficient than the CRT-based sets, leading to a worldwide energy saving of 600 TWh (2017), equal to 10% of the electricity consumption of all households worldwide or equal to 2 times the energy production of all solar cells in the world. [33] [34]
The evolution of energy standards and the increasing public expectations regarding power consumption have made it necessary for backlight systems to manage their power. As for other consumer electronics products (e.g., fridges or light bulbs), energy consumption categories are enforced for television sets. [35] Standards for power ratings for TV sets have been introduced, e.g., in the USA, EU, and Australia [36] as well as in China. [37] Moreover, a 2008 study [38] showed that among European countries, power consumption is one of the most important criteria for consumers when they choose a television, as important as the screen size. [39]
A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but instead use a backlight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light is determined by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor. White light is obtained by using multiple semiconductors or a layer of light-emitting phosphor on the semiconductor device.
A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or visible light, and cathodoluminescent substances which glow when struck by an electron beam in a cathode-ray tube.
RGB color spaces is a category of additive colorimetric color spaces specifying part of its absolute color space definition using the RGB color model.
A plasma display panel is a type of flat-panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large flat-panel displays to be released to the public.
A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipment.
In color reproduction and colorimetry, a gamut, or color gamut, is a convex set containing the colors that can be accurately represented, i.e. reproduced by an output device or measured by an input device. Devices with a larger gamut can represent more colors. Similarly, gamut may also refer to the colors within a defined color space, which is not linked to a specific device. A trichromatic gamut is often visualized as a color triangle. A less common usage defines gamut as the subset of colors contained within an image, scene or video.
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image onto a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp, Xenon arc lamp, metal halide lamp, LED or solid state blue, RB, RGB or fiber-optic lasers to provide the illumination required to project the image. Most modern projectors can correct any curves, blurriness and other inconsistencies through manual settings.
A television set or television receiver is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers. Introduced in the late 1920s in mechanical form, television sets became a popular consumer product after World War II in electronic form, using cathode-ray tube (CRT) technology. The addition of color to broadcast television after 1953 further increased the popularity of television sets in the 1960s, and an outdoor antenna became a common feature of suburban homes. The ubiquitous television set became the display device for the first recorded media for consumer use in the 1970s, such as Betamax, VHS; these were later succeeded by DVD. It has been used as a display device since the first generation of home computers and dedicated video game consoles in the 1980s. By the early 2010s, flat-panel television incorporating liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology, especially LED-backlit LCD technology, largely replaced CRT and other display technologies. Modern flat-panel TVs are typically capable of high-definition display and can also play content from a USB device. In the late 2010s, most flat-panel TVs began offering 4K and 8K resolutions.
Nanosys is a nanotechnology company located in Milpitas, California and founded in 2001. The company develops and manufactures quantum dot materials for display products.
An output device is any piece of computer hardware that converts information or data into a human-perceptible form or, historically, into a physical machine-readable form for use with other non-computerized equipment. It can be text, graphics, tactile, audio, or video. Examples include monitors, printers and sound cards.
A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display is a type of liquid-crystal display that uses thin-film-transistor technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in contrast to passive matrix LCDs or simple, direct-driven LCDs with a few segments.
This is a comparison of various properties of different display technologies.
XBR is a line of LCD, OLED, Plasma, Rear Projection, and CRT televisions produced by Sony. According to Sony, XBR is an acronym for eXtended Bit Rate, although there is evidence that it originally stood for "Project X, Black Remote" which was meant to distinguish it from the then-standard line of Sony televisions. The XBR range is typically derived from equipment that has been released in Japan and Europe as mid and high-end models, usually with some small upgrades. For example, in Europe and Japan, the Sony X-Series 1080p TVs had two HDMI inputs, whereas on the American XBR version, there were three. Some XBR televisions may cost up to $25,000 USD.
Large-screen television technology developed rapidly in the late 1990s and 2000s. Prior to the development of thin-screen technologies, rear-projection television was standard for larger displays, and jumbotron, a non-projection video display technology, was used at stadiums and concerts. Various thin-screen technologies are being developed, but only liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display (PDP) and Digital Light Processing (DLP) have been publicly released. Recent technologies like organic light-emitting diode (OLED) as well as not-yet-released technologies like surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) or field-emission display (FED) are in development to supersede earlier flat-screen technologies in picture quality.
An LED-backlit LCD is a liquid-crystal display that uses LEDs for backlighting instead of traditional cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) backlighting. LED-backlit displays use the same TFT LCD technologies as CCFL-backlit LCDs, but offer a variety of advantages over them.
A quantum dot display is a display device that uses quantum dots (QD), semiconductor nanocrystals which can produce pure monochromatic red, green, and blue light. Photo-emissive quantum dot particles are used in LCD backlights or display color filters. Quantum dots are excited by the blue light from the display panel to emit pure basic colors, which reduces light losses and color crosstalk in color filters, improving display brightness and color gamut. Light travels through QD layer film and traditional RGB filters made from color pigments, or through QD filters with red/green QD color converters and blue passthrough. Although the QD color filter technology is primarily used in LED-backlit LCDs, it is applicable to other display technologies which use color filters, such as blue/UV active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) or QNED/MicroLED display panels. LED-backlit LCDs are the main application of photo-emissive quantum dots, though blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels with QD color filters are now coming to market.
Nanoco Technologies Ltd. (Nanoco) is a UK-based nanotechnology company that spun out from the University of Manchester in 2001. The company's development has been driven by Dr Nigel Pickett, Nanoco's Chief Technology Officer, whose pioneering work on the patented "molecular seeding" process has formed the basis of Nanoco's unique technology. Since 2004, Nanoco has focussed its research efforts into the development and scale-up of quantum dots and other nanoparticles, including cadmium-free quantum dots. Nanoco's technology has been licensed to Dow, Wah Hong, and Merck, amongst others.
Polarizing organic photovoltaics (ZOPV) is a concept for harvesting energy from Liquid crystal display screens, developed by engineers from UCLA. This concept enables devices to use external light and the LCD screen's backlight using photovoltaic polarizers. Photovoltaic polarizers convert this light into electricity which can be used to power the device. This concept also provides multifunctional capability to devices with LCD screens as they act as photovoltaic devices and as polarisers.
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