liquid-crystal display

Display of numbers (for example, in a calculator) or pictures (such as on a pocket television screen) produced by molecules of a substance in a semi-liquid state with some crystalline properties, so that clusters of molecules align in parallel formations. The display is a blank until the application of an electric field, which ‘twists’ the molecules so that they reflect or transmit light falling on them. The two main types of LCD are passive matrix and active matrix. LCD manufacture has advanced significantly and LCDs are now used in making colour mobile phone displays, computer monitors, and television displays.