23 September 2005
No snooping allowed!
Switchable lcds allow users to shield the screen or share the view. By Sven Stegemann.
The viewing angles of lcds have widened in the last few years, contributing to a substantial rise in the popularity of this display technology. Some panels allow the viewer to sit in virtually any position within an angle of 170° around the display and to still see a perfect picture without shifts in colour value or – as in the case of conventional twisted nematic (tn) displays – the picture tilting into negative. This means several users can use an lcd at the same time.
However, there are situations in which you don’t want other people seeing what’s on the screen or where viewers do not want to or are not supposed to see the same picture. With that in mind, Sharp has gone one step further: using recently developed switchable liquid crystal technology, the light from the background lighting can be targeted in different directions, offering a variety of potential applications that include a variable 2d/3d display.
Based on this method, Sharp has recently launched two displays with variable viewing angles. The first can show different picture information for the right hand and left hand viewing angles at the same time. This means viewers sitting on either side of the screen can see different content. And if this function is no longer required, the display can be switched back to normal view.
The second version is a display where the viewing angle can be switched from wide angle to one with a restricted sideways visual range, enabling confidential information to be seen only by those sitting directly in front of the screen.
Author
Sven Stegemann
Supporting Information
Downloads
5633\no-snooping-allowed.pdf
Websites
http://www.sharp-sme.com
Companies
Sharp Microelectronics Europe
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