Liquid crystal display device having two metastable states and driving method therefor
First Claim
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1. A liquid crystal display, comprising:
- a chiral nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state; and
a drive circuit in communication with said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium for(a) applying a reset voltage across said liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from the preselected state to the reset state in said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium; and
(b) after application of the reset voltage, applying one of;
(1) a first metastable activation voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state; and
(2) a second metastable activation voltage less than both the critical voltage and the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state.
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Abstract
A high speed multiplex-driven liquid crystal display device is capable of utilizing a bistable nematic liquid crystal medium while maintaining high contrast, fast switching capability and a wide viewing angle. The chiral nematic liquid crystal medium has a twisted structure wherein a first voltage waveform applied in a first time period brings on Frederick'"'"'s transition followed by a selected second voltage waveform applied in a second time period capable of generating one of two selectable metastable states representing switchable bistable states.
47 Citations
96 Claims
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1. A liquid crystal display, comprising:
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a chiral nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state; anda drive circuit in communication with said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium for (a) applying a reset voltage across said liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from the preselected state to the reset state in said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium; and (b) after application of the reset voltage, applying one of; (1) a first metastable activation voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state; and (2) a second metastable activation voltage less than both the critical voltage and the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A liquid crystal display device, comprising:
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a chiral nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces positioned in facing relation thereto, said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
0 in an initial state and having first and second metastable states different from the initial state, the first and second metastable states representing respective relaxation states in said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium after inducing a Frederick'"'"'s transition therein; anda drive circuit coupled to said chiral nematic liquid crystal display medium for (a) applying a reset voltage to induce a Frederick'"'"'s transition in said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium from a current state, the current state being selected from the group consisting of the initial state, the first metastable state, the second metastable state, and an arbitrary state; and (b) after application of the reset voltage, applying one of; (1) a first metastable voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state; and (2) a second metastable voltage less than both the critical voltage and the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for driving a liquid crystal display incorporating a twisted nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, the nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
- in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state, said method comprising the steps of;
(A) applying a reset voltage across the liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from the preselected state to the reset state in the nematic liquid crystal medium; and (B) applying a first metastable voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place the nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
- in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state, said method comprising the steps of;
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29. The liquid crystal display driving method of claimer 28, wherein the preselected state of the nematic liquid crystal medium is the first metastable state.
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43. A method for driving a liquid crystal display incorporating a twisted nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, the nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
- in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state, said method comprising the steps of;
(A) applying a reset voltage across the liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from the preselected state to the reset state in the nematic liquid crystal medium; and (B) applying a second metastable voltage less than both a critical voltage and the reset voltage to place the nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
- in a preselected state comprising one of a first metastable state, a second metastable state, a reset state, and an arbitrary state, said method comprising the steps of;
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58. A liquid crystal display, comprising:
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a chiral nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
0 in an initial state and having first and second metastable states which are different from the initial state and represent respective relaxation states in said liquid crystal medium; anda drive circuit in communication with said chiral nematic liquid crystal display for (a) applying a reset voltage across said chiral liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from a preselected state, comprising one of the initial state, the first metastable state, and the second metastable state, to a reset state in said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium; and (b) after application of the reset voltage, applying one of; (1) a first metastable activation voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state; and (2) a second metastable activation voltage less than both the critical voltage and the reset voltage to place said chiral nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A method for driving a liquid crystal display incorporating a twisted nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, the nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
- in an initial state and having first and second metastable states which are different from the initial state and represent respective relaxation states, said method comprising the steps of;
(A) applying a reset voltage across the liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from the preselected state, comprising one of said initial state, said first metastable state, and said second metastable state, to a reset state in the nematic liquid crystal medium; and (B) applying a first metastable voltage greater than a critical voltage and less than the reset voltage to place the nematic liquid crystal medium in the first metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
- in an initial state and having first and second metastable states which are different from the initial state and represent respective relaxation states, said method comprising the steps of;
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86. A method for driving a liquid crystal display incorporating a twisted nematic liquid crystal medium interposing a pair of electrode substrates having alignment layers formed on their respective surfaces, the nematic liquid crystal medium having a twisted structure with a twist angle φ
- in an initial state and having first and second metastable states representing respective relaxation states, said method comprising the steps of;
(A) applying a reset voltage across the liquid crystal display electrodes to induce a transition from a preselected state comprising one of said initial state, said first metastable state, and said second metastable state, to the reset state in the nematic liquid crystal medium; and (B) applying a second metastable voltage less than both a critical voltage and the reset voltage to place the nematic liquid crystal medium in the second metastable state. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96)
- in an initial state and having first and second metastable states representing respective relaxation states, said method comprising the steps of;
Specification