how to see lcd screen in sunlight manufacturer

There are more and more TFT displays used in outdoor applications, such as automobile display, digital signage and kiosks. High ambient light in outdoor environment often causes wash-out image and renders the screen not readable. Readability & sustainability of TFT  display under direct sunlight is becoming vital. Topway Display has been developing sunlight readable LCD display solution for years. The company understands the ins and outs of sunlight readable TFT LCD.

Visibility is the ease with which a viewer can detect an object, or in more scientific term: the relationship between luminance contrast and human eye’s threshold. Therefore, the higher an object’s contrast is, the better is its visibility.

For an LCD to be readable in outdoor environment with very bright ambient light, the LCD screen’s brightness needs to exceed the intensity of light that is reflected from the display surface. To be comfortably viewed by human eyes, the LCD’s brightness needs to exceed its reflected light by a factor of 2.5 at minimum. Naturally, to make an LCD sunlight readable, we can work on two areas, increasing brightness or reducing reflectance.

On a clear day in direct sunlight, the ambient brightness is about 6000 cd/m2. And a typical TFT LCD with touch screen reflects about 14% of ambient light, which is around 840 cd/m2. These days, most LCD displays use LED backlight as light source. It is not too difficult to increase an LCD’s brightness to 800 ~ 1000 Nits, to overpower the bright reflected sunlight. Thus, you have a sunlight readable TFT LCD.

However, this method requires more backlight LEDs and/or higher driving current. The drawbacks are high power consumption, more heat dissipation, increased product size and shorter LED backlight lifespan. Apparently, increasing backlight to make TFT LCD sunlight-readable is not a very good solution.

Transflective TFT LCD is a TFT LCD with both transmissive and reflective characteristics. A partially reflective mirror layer is added between LCD and backlight. This change turns part of the reflected ambient light into LCD’s light source, increasing the TFT display’s brightness. However, transflective TFT LCD is more expensive than transmissive one. At the same time, the partially reflective mirror layer will block some of the backlight, making it not ideal in indoor or low ambient light environment.

What causes light reflection? When light traveling in one transparent medium encounters a boundary with another transparent medium, a portion of the light bounces off the border. Through the simplest version of Fresnel’s equation, we can calculate the amount of reflected light.

The total reflectance on a TFT LCD with touch panel is the sum of reflected light on any interface where two materials meet. As an example, between polarizer and display glass, the difference in index of refractions for the two materials is very small, around 0.1. So the reflected light on this interface is only 0.1%. As Fresnel’s equation points out, we should focus reflection reduction on air interfaces. For air, its index of refraction is 1; for glass, it is 1.5. And that results in a reflectance of 4.5%. Therefore, the three air interfaces contribute majority of TFT LCD’s reflectance, at about 13%.

The quick and easiest thing we can do to reduce air-glass interface reflectance is to use an Anti-Reflection and Anti-Glare film or apply AR coating. An external film with AR properties not only reduces reflected light, but also brings other benefits.

For food industry application, shattered glass is a serious problem. An LCD screen with external film solves this issue nicely. As for automotive applications, in an accident, broken LCD with top AR film won’t produce sharp edge glass that could harms auto occupant. Nevertheless, a top film always reduces TFT LCD’s surface hardness. And it is susceptible to scratches. On the other hand, AR coating retains LCD’s hardness and touch performance. But it comes with a bigger price tag.

Another quick and easy way to tackle reflectance is to affix a linear polarizer on the top of TFT screen. When ambient light gets to the top polarizer, only half of the light passes through. Which results in reflection light cutting to half. This is a very low cost way to increase TFT LCD’s contrast, such that making it more sunlight readable.

Laminating a circular polarizer in TFT LCD will get rid of a lot of reflectance. That is because when ambient light passes through circular polarizer it gets circularly polarized. And when it is reflected, the polarization direction flips by 180 degrees. So when reflected light comes back to the circular polarizer, nothing goes through to viewer’s eyes.

This method is very effective for an LCD display with resistive touch panel. We know resistive touch LCD has two air gaps: air gap between two ITO layers and air gap between touch panel and LCD display. Reflectance caused by the two air gaps is very high. Applying circular polarizer blocks off most of the reflected light, and makes the LCD display sunlight readable.

The disadvantage of such solution is its cost. Since we need not only a circular polarizer, but also a retarder film on the top of LCD display, making sure light originates from within LCD is not blocked by external circular polarizer.

Add AR films on both interfaces of internal air gap. The add-ons can reduce this area’s reflection from 8.5% to 2%. And since the AR films are not outside facing, they are much cheaper than the one used outside. Keeping the air gap also retains the ease of service, in case either touch panel or LCD display needs to be repaired.

The most effective way is to eliminate air gap totally, by using optical bonding. In plain language, we fill air gap with special optical adhesive, to smooth out the area’s refraction index differences. Such that reflectance caused by internal air gap drops from 8.5% to 0.5%. Optical bonding is expensive but effective way to improve TFT LCD sunlight readability. It enhances durability and resistance to impact. Moreover, no air gap means no moisture condensation and fogging.

There are many ways to make TFT LCDsunlight readable. They all have their own pros and cons. With 20+ years" LCD design and manufacturing experience, Topway knows how to create the best sunlight readable TFT LCD for challenging environments. Leave us a message and let"s start the conversation of creating suitable sunlight readable TFT LCD for your project.

A sunlight-readable display is necessary for most outdoor use, whether it is a rugged tablet, a kiosk, or an agriculture application. Sunlight readability is defined quite differently by different display manufacturers. Some say that a luminance of 1000 nits is the bottom floor for true sunlight readability, but often manufacturers will say displays are sunlight readable with brightnesses of half that. And, sunlight viewability is more complicated than a simple luminance measurement. Contrast ratio is also very important. Contrast ratio is independent of brightness, and the contrast ratio itself can change, depending on background light levels. Therefore, displays are best compared side by side in bright noonday sun. There are four methods to make sunlight readable display, and one trick:

By applying more backlights, display brightness can be increased to 1000 nits or more. The added light overpowers ambient light and make the screen viewable. This can be thought of as a brute-force method. This is our 1000 nits rugged tablet.

However, adding more backlights always means greater power consumption. On a 7” kiosk display, it can consume ten watts or more. Nearly all of that power goes to heat, requiring much more cooling. And since such displays are made for the industrial market in small quantities, costs are much higher than ordinary LCD displays.

Transflective (transmissive-reflective) displays are hybrids. Two different methods for display are used. Under bright illumination the display acts mainly as a reflective display, with the contrast being constant with illuminance. In dim light, the backlight provides needed illumination. With a special semi-reflective filter in the back of the display stack , it can reflect the sunshine outdoor, while the back light can also offer the light penetrating the semi reflective file in the back of the screen.

Transflective technology has been widely applied by many rugged tablet manufacturers, like Motion Computing, Panasonic, Getac, and Winmate. Transflective technology is much more expensive than ordinary rugged tablet displays.

Optical bonding injects a clear, optical-grade resin into the gap between the LCD panel and the protective outer glass, bonding them together. This fills the air gap between the two, eliminating two reflective surfaces. An anti-reflective coating is then applied to the outside of the protective glass, minimizing surface reflections as well.

Glare is caused by a reflection of light on the mirror-smooth surface of the monitor. An anti-glare film is a thin sheet of transparent plastic that is overlaid on a monitor or screen to make reflections more diffuse. Not all anti-glare films are created equal. Some are worthless, while better ones can make a real difference. The best and most expensive films come from Japan.

Finally, there is one trick that anyone can use to make any display much more viewable in sunshine – wear a hat with a broad brim, and wear a dark-colored shirt. This minimizes eyestrain from direct sun, and reduces stray reflections on the display. It sounds silly, but it makes a real difference.

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What camera do you have? If your camera has an eye level viewfinder, it should work for you outside in sunlight. Optical eye level viewfinders like in DSLR cameras present no problems in sunlight, but electronic eye level viewfinders in mirrorless cameras can be tough to use in bright sunlight, but most work fine. For the lcd on the back of cameras, you can buy a sunshade aparatus that shields the lcd from sunlight and helps, but they are a bit ackward. But first make sure you are using the eye level viewfinder if your camera has one - that"s what its there for.

I have the same problem, but I think I am going to try something different than what is suggested here. I wear a baseball cap when I am out, just because I have always worn one. I turn the cap backwards when I am shooting. So, what I am going to try is to carry a cloth(handkerchief) in my back pocket. When I want to view the LED, I will flip my hat around and tuck the cloth under the hat so it hangs down. Then, as I lean foward. The cloth should block the sun so I can view the LED and what I am getting ready to shoot. I like the check the histogram prior to taking pictures, so this should allow me to do that on a sunny day. Evan if it doesn"t work or I just don"t like doing it. It wont cost anything.

Before answering the questions below, it would be helpful to provide a simple overview of how a TFT LCD works. Every monitor or touchscreen computer includes an LCD panel. The LCD panel is the component that you are viewing at this very moment. This panel includes a thin layer of TFT LCD pixels, where each pixel includes a red, blue, and green rectangle. You can actually see the individual pixels on a display if you place a drop of water on it. The drop will magnify the pixel area and reveal a pixel with a red, blue, and green rectangle. Each red, blue, and green rectangle is a small lens that can be adjusted to allow varying amounts of light to pass through. The colors you see on your screen are determined by how much light is passing through each adjustable red, green, and blue element of each pixel.

The light that you see does not come from the pixels themselves, but from the backlight behind the pixels, which is a series of carefully placed LEDs that emit white light that projects through the LCD pixels. You cannot see the individual backlight LEDs when you look at your monitor, because there is layer of light diffusing material between the LED backlight and the LCD pixel layer. The light diffusing material scatters the light from each individual backlight LED, so they do not show up as bright spots on your monitor.

To summarize, the three layers of an LCD panel are the TFT LCD pixel layer, the diffuser layer, and the LED backlight layer. Note that some LCDs have edge-lit backlighting, but there is no need to go into detail about this, as the same principles apply. That completes LCD panel course 101. Now, what makes a display sunlight readable?

There are two general ways to make an LCD brighter and therefore readable in sunlight. The first and simplest way is to increase the brightness of the backlight. LCD brightness is measured in Nits. Typical LCD panels have a screen brightness between 250 Nits to 450 Nits. LCD brightness of 800 Nits or higher is generally considered sunlight readable, but most sunlight readable displays are 1000 nits. Increasing the brightness of the LCD panel backlight is the most common method of making an LCD panel sunlight readable. Most of Teguar’s industrial panel PCs and touchscreen monitors are available with this type of high brightness LCD.

Another way to make an LCD sunlight readable is to change the diffuser material between the LED backlight and the LCD pixels to a “transflective” material. The transflective material is similar to reflective sunglasses or a one way window, where the shiny side is facing the LCD surface. When transflective material is used, the sunlight entering the LCD panel travels through the pixels, bounces off the transflective material, and is reflected back through the pixels to your eyes. In this case, the sunlight has much less of an impact on viewability than a traditional LCD panel, as the sunlight is reflecting back through the LCD pixels and contributing to the LCD brightness. One drawback of transflective diffuser LCDs is that they don’t allow for as much of the backlight to pass through the diffuser material, so in low light conditions the LCD does not appear as bright. Transflective diffuser LCDs are not as common as high brightness backlight LCDs.

Optical bonding improves viewability of touchscreen PCs in sunlight or other high-bright environments. In a touchscreen computer, the touchscreen sensor and the LCD panel are separate components. The touchscreen is mounted in front of the LCD surface and there is a small air gap between these two components. When sunlight passes through the touchscreen layer, some amount of the light is reflected between the LCD surface and the touchscreen; this reflection reduces LCD viewability.

Optical bonding is a process where a clear adhesive gel is placed between the LCD to the touchscreen. The gel hardens and bonds the touchscreen to the LCD to eliminate the air gap, improving contrast and clarity. Optical bonding is available on many of Teguar’s touchscreen computers and industrial monitors.

The brightness of a sunlight readable display may be overwhelming at night, when there is little or no ambient light. Most industrial computers with sunlight readable LCDs are available with an optional auto-dimming feature. With this feature, an ambient light sensor on the front bezel measures incoming light and adjusts the backlight brightness to match the current light conditions. This is typically a requirement for industrial touchscreen computers that are used in both sunlight and moonlight.

Sunlight also comes with a high amount of UV radiation that can damage the components used in touch screens. PCAP touch screens resist UV damage better than Resistive, but even a PCAP screen must be protected from too much UV exposure. Teguar computers are best suited for environments that provide some level of shade, such as a roof or overhang above the computer, or a structure that blocks the screen from direct exposure to the sun. Most outdoor computer manufactures, Teguar included, will offer a specialized shroud/hood that mounts directly to the unit to provide some level of shade.

Most of our products can handle a few hours of direct sun exposure per day, but full exposure to direct sunlight will cause damage to most touch screens in around 1 year. Contact a knowledgeable Teguar sales rep to discuss the details of your own environment and we can help determine the best solution.

Touchscreen computers in vehicles commonly require high brightness LCDs, because of the ambient sunlight coming through the windows. Sunlight readable LCDs are also used in many indoor applications surrounded by windows, such as air traffic control centers, railroad cars, marine vessels, agriculture machinery, and public kiosks.

When display devices are brought outside, oftentimes they face the brightness of sunlight or any other form of high ambient light sources reflecting off of and overwhelming the LED backlight’s image.

With the growth of the LCD panel industry as a whole, it has become more important than ever to prevent the sun’s wash out of displays used outdoors, such as automobile displays, digital signage, and public kiosks. Hence, the sunlight readable display was invented.

One solution would be to increase the luminance of the TFT LCD monitor’s LED backlight to overpower the bright sunlight and eliminate glare. On average, TFT LCD screens have a brightness of about 250 to 450 Nits, but when this is increased to about 800 to 1000 (1000 is the most common) Nits, the device becomes a high bright LCDand a sunlight readable display.

Doing this is an affordable option for enhancement of image quality in the outdoors, including features like contrast ratio and viewing angle, in a common use setting like with phones.

Since many of today’s TFT LCD display devices have shifted to touchscreens, the touch panels on the surface of LCD screens already block a small percentage of backlighting, decreasing the surface brightness and making it so that the sunlight can even more easily wash out the display. Resistive touch panels use two transparent layers above the glass substrate, but the transparent layers can still block up to 5% of the light.

In order to optimize the high brightness of the backlight, a different type of touchscreen can be used: the capacitive touchscreen. Though it is more expensive than the resistive touch screen, this technology is more ideal for sunlight readable displays than the resistive due to its usage of a thinner film or even in-cell technologies rather than two layers above the glass of the display, and therefore, light can pass more efficiently.

However, with this method comes a list of potential problems. Firstly, high brightness displays result in much greater power consumption and shorter battery life. In order to shed more light, more power will be needed which can also consequently result in device overheating which can also shorten battery life. If the backlight’s power is increased, the LED’s half-life may also be reduced.

While in bright exterior light settings, these devices reduce eye strain as the user attempts to view the image on screen, the brightness of the display itself can also cause eye strain, seen as the brightness may overwhelm your eyes. Many devices allow the user to adjust brightness, so this concern is oftentimes not too severe.

A recent technology falling into the sunlight readable display category is the transflective TFT LCD, coming from a combination of the word transmissive and reflective. By using a transflective polarizer, a significant percentage of sunlight is reflected away from the screen to aid in the reduction of wash out. This optical layer is known as the transflector.

In transflective TFT LCDs, sunlight can reflect off the display but can also pass through the TFT cell layer and be reflected back out off a somewhat transparent rear reflector in front of the backlight, illuminating the display without as much demand and power usage from the transmissive nature of the backlight. This addresses both the issues of wash out and the disadvantages of high brightness TFT LCDs in high ambient light environments. Because of its transmissive and reflective modes, this type of device is very useful for devices that will be used outdoors but also indoors.

While it does greatly reduce power consumption, transflective LCDs are much more expensive than high brightness LCDs. In recent years, the cost has decreased, but transflective LCDs continue to be more costly.

In addition to adjustments to the internal mechanics of LCDs, it is possible to make devices more sunlight-readable using surface treatments. The most common are anti-reflective (A/R) films/coatings and anti-glare processing.

Anti-reflective focuses on depositing multiple transparent thin film layers. With the thicknesses, structures, and properties of each individual layer composing the film, reflecting light wavelengths are changed, and thus less light is reflected.

When anti-glare is used, reflected light is fragmented. Using a rough surface as opposed to a smooth one, anti-glare treatments can reduce the reflection’s disruption of the actual image of the display.

Often paired with other methods of creating sunlight readable displays is optical bonding. By gluing the glass of a display to the TFT LCD cells beneath it, optical bonding eliminates the air gap that traditional LCD displays have in them using an optical grade adhesive.

This adhesive reduces the amount of reflection between the glass and LCD cell as well as the reflection of external ambient light. Doing this helps provide a clearer image with an increased contrast ratio, or the difference in the light intensity of the brightest white pixel color and darkest black pixel color.

With this contrast ratio improvement, optical bonding addresses the root issue with unreadable outdoor displays: the contrast. Though an increase in brightness can improve contrast, by fixing the contrast itself, LCD display images in outdoor environments will not be as washed out and will require less power consumption.

Besides the visual display advantages that optical bonding provides, this adhesive improves the display in many other ways. The first being durability, optical bonding eliminates the air gap within the device and replaces it with a hardened adhesive that can act as a shock absorber.

Touch screens with optical bonding gain, accuracy in where the point of contact is between the touch and screen. What is known as parallax, the refraction angle of light, can make it seem that the point of contact and the actual point on the display are different. When the adhesive is used, this refraction is minimized, if not reduced.

The optical bonding adhesive’s elimination of the air gap also protects the LCD from moisture/fogging and dust, as there is no space for impurities to penetrate and remain under the glass layer. This especially helps with maintaining the state of LCDs in transport, storage, and humid environments.

Compiling the various methods of improving LCD screens for sunlight readability, these devices can be optimized in high ambient light settings. An anti-glare coating is applied to the surface of the glass and anti-reflective coatings are applied to both the front and back. The transflector is also used in front of the backlight. These features can result in 1000 Nit or more display lighting, without the excessive power consumption and heat production through a high brightness backlight, consequently allowing for a longer lasting and better performing LCD

Unfortunately, the process of building a reflector inside TFT LCD is complicated and transflective TFT LCD is normally several times higher cost compared with normal transmissive TFT LCD.

To further improve and enhance the qualities of the LCD, LED and cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights are used. Both these create bright displays, but the LED specifically can do so without as much power consumption and heat generation as compared to the CCFL option. Optical bonding is also applied in order to improve display contrast, leading to a more efficient and better quality sunlight readable display.

Have you ever been at the car wash in the late afternoon, struggling to read the instructions on the display at the pay kiosk? That may be because it was not a sunlight-readable LCD display.

Any character or graphic LCD (not TFT, we will get to that in a bit) that is “positive mode” will be sunlight readable. Positive mode displays will have dark letters on a light background.

However, where regular (transmissive) TFT modules wash out in direct sunlight, a transflective TFT will use the sun to be more visible in brighter conditions.

For any questions about Crystalfontz LCD product lines, what LCD is the best choice for your application, or any other questions (technical or availability), please contact our knowledgeable and friendly support staff via email, phone, or chat.

TRU-Vu High Bright Sunlight Readable Monitors enable users to see clear, sharp video images even in direct sunlight with a bright screen.  Our high brightness screens produce at least 1,000 nits brightness. Some go up to 2,500 nits of brightness.  This makes them far brighter than standard LCD monitors.  Specifically, consumer or commercial-grade monitors typically offer only 150 to 300 nits brightness.  High brightness displays and sunlight readable touch screens will ensure crystal-clear video images even in bright sunlight. The result is better performance and bold colors in other high ambient light conditions as well. They are also available with optical bonding as monitors or touch screen displays.

In outdoor or bright conditions, it is imperative to increase the brightness of a display to ensure crisp images.  The number of nits an LCD display emits is the main factor in determining the monitor’s perceived brightness. A monitor luminance of around 200-350 nits will work well indoors.  Most LCD displays and monitors fall in this range. However, 400-700 nits would be required for use in daylight conditions. Most importantly, a Sunlight readable display requires at least 1,000 nits or more for viewing in direct, bright sunlight . These high brightness displays are available with 16:9 aspect ratio or 4:3 aspect ratio screens.  All TRU-Vu Sunlight Readable monitors and high-brightness touch screens are TAA Compliant.

Some monitors feature a sheet of glass over the LCD panel to protect it from accidental or intentional damage. However, the glass also produces unwanted glare and reflections. Internal reflections in the air gap between the glass and the LCD panel diminish image quality even further. In order to combat this, monitors are optically bonded.

Optical bondingis the process of laminating protective glass or a touch screen panel to the LCD panel with an optical-grade resin.  This completely fills the air gap between the glass and LCD panel. It not only eliminates the internal reflections, but  also increases the contrast ratio. This makes the screen appear much brighter and more viewable in bright light conditions. Optical bonding  also eliminates internal moisture and condensation. Moreover, it will make the monitor more rugged and durable. Lastly, an Anti-Reflective coating is applied to the outside of the glass. Consequently, this will drastically reduce glare and surface reflections.

For installations in indirect sunlight, or reflected bright light, our Daylight Viewable displays will most likely suffice. These are also more cost-effective than Sunlight Readable monitors with 1,000 nits brightness. Daylight viewable monitors feature  LCD screens with 400 nits to 700 nits brightness.  The LCD panels also include optical bonding.

Daylight-viewable touchscreens with optical bonding are also significantly brighter than standard touch screens. Consequently, they produce far better image quality in bright conditions. Although they are not as bright as Sunlight Readable touch screens, daylight readable touch screens do offer the benefit of lower power consumption. This may be useful in portable or mobile applications. We currently offer over 60 monitors with optical bonding; all are TAA-Compliant.

Our outdoor high brightness Sunlight Readable LCD monitors feature waterproof stainless steel enclosures. These are ideal for factory wash-down environments.  Additionally, they are perfect for outside use in challenging weather.  Our panel mount enclosures are made from steel, stainless steel, or aluminum. This enables them to be flush-mounted. Outdoor LCD monitors with high brightness work in a wider range of temperatures. Consequently, this broadens the environments in which they may be used. Additionally, temperature ranges are very important to consider when using outdoors.  When we combine extreme operating temperatures with outdoor waterproof enclosures, we ensure your high brightness monitors will be able to function in even the harshest wet and hot environments. We will also modify or customize any model to meet your exact requirements.

In conclusion, we deploy TRU-Vu outdoor waterproof sunlight readable monitors and high brightness touch screens in a wide range of industries. For example, military, law enforcement, manufacturing plants benefit from high bright LCD displays. Amusement parks, sports stadiums, mass transit, and construction & heavy equipment also rely on high bright sunlight readable displays.  In addition, outdoor high brightness LCD monitors are demanded in pipeline inspection,  kiosks, marine,  oil & gas, drones, security applications. When it counts, you can rely on TRU-Vu Monitors to deliver the optimal weather resistant high bright LCD monitor solution for your specific needs.

It can be difficult to read an LCD display under intense sunlight, especially when it does not have adequate sunlight-readability features. People working on this equipment outdoors would have to work hard to make sure that the screen is readable.

Fortunately, technological advancements are underway to resolve technical issues and other problems faced by individuals who regularly use outdoor LCDs. In the meantime, if you are looking for technical fixes that address the lack of sunlight readability in LCD displays or screen panels, keep these solutions in mind.

A simple solution to improve readability in bright outdoor locations is to turn up the brightness to the maximum level. This will help offset the glare produced by the sun’s rays.

Besides cranking up the brightness, you may want to go for optical bonding as your next technical solution. The goal of optical bonding is to shield the external layer of the LCD display from damage. This damage is usually caused by the sun, water, dust, dirt, and other debris. This process consists of laminating the surface layer of the glass to combine with the elements of the LCD inside the display. Afterwards, a bonding agent, such as silicone or urethane, fills the gap between the LCD layer and the glass. This stops potentially dangerous elements from piercing the surface.

Other than safeguarding the internal mechanisms of the LCD device, optical bonding provides better visual clarity for the user by minimizing the amount of glares, reflections, and shadowing caused by the sun.

Apart from making the screen unreadable, sunlight can also cause the temperature of the device to rise quickly. When a device overheats, it causes the solid LCD crystals to melt. This results in the screen to turn black and become unusable until the crystals cool down and harden again. Thus, it is crucial to install a properly designed ventilation structure in these outdoor devices.

Besides ventilation, mounting an outdoor LCD displays requires protection against the sun. Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) rays. Prolonged and excessive exposure to these rays can damage the LCD device. It can affect the display to the extent where it will decrease the readability, which is why it is vital to apply a high-quality protective film. Doing so preserves the lifetime and sustainability of the LCD device.

On top of UV protection, you should also protect an LCD display with an infrared protective film. Infrared light beams give off heat. An LCD display not adequately shielded with infrared could cause the device to overheat and cause damage to the display. Having a working anti-infrared solution will protect the device and improve sunlight readability.

If you are seeking LCD display with sunlight readable technology, contact Microtips Technology. Some of our OLED display modules, such as the White 20×4 OLED display, have sunlight readable enhancements, such as polarizers and special films. Rest assured that our products do an amazing job in displaying all kinds of pictures, text, and full motion video.

Backlit LCDs provide excellent visibility indoors, but require high-brightness backlights to produce enough brightness for for direct sunlight readability - 1000 nits or more, to be exact. All that brightness requires a lot of power to operate, making traditional high-brightness LCD signage costly in multiple ways.

Sun Vision Display panels actually turn sunlight into an asset through their reflective LCD technology.They"re the perfect solution for sunny locations. In fact, as sunlight or ambient light shining on the display increases, so does the brightness of the Sun Vision Display panel"s image - all while consuming almost no power (less than 6 watts). No need to shield the display from the sun!

First, the display screen on a sunlight readable/outdoor readable LCD should be bright enough so that the display is visible under strong sunlight. Second, the display contrast ratio must be maintained at 5 to 1 or higher.

Although a display with less than 500 nits screen brightness and a mere 2 to 1 contrast ratio can be read in outdoor environments, the quality of the display will be extremely poor. At i-Tech, a truly sunlight readable display is typically considered to be an LCD with 1000 nits or greater screen brightness with a contrast ratio greater than 5 to 1. In outdoor environments under the shade, such a display can provide an excellent image quality.

Luminance is the scientific term for hotopic Brightness?which specifies the visual brightness of an object. In layman"s terminology, it is commonly referred to as brightness? Luminance is specified in candelas per square meter (Cd/m2) or nits. In the US, the British unit Foot-lamberts (fL) is also frequently used. To convert from fL to nits, multiply the number in fL by 3.426 (i.e. 1 fL = 3.426 nits).

Luminance is a major determinant of perceived picture quality in an LCD. The importance of luminance is enhanced by the fact that the human mind will react more positively to brightly illuminated scenes and objects. Users are typically more drawn to brighter displays that are more pleasing to the eye and easier to read. In indoor environments, a standard active-matrix LCD with a screen luminance around 250 nits looks good. However, a sunlight readable LCD with a screen luminance of 1,000 will look even more beautiful.

Contrast ratio (CR) is the ratio of luminance between the brightest �white� and the darkest �black� that can be produced on a display. CR is another major determinant of perceived picture quality. If a picture has high CR, you will judge it to be sharper and more crisp than a picture with lower CR. For example, a typical newspaper picture has a CR of about 5 to 7, whereas a high quality magazine picture has a CR that is greater than 15. Therefore, the magazine picture will look better even if the resolution is the same as that of the newspaper picture.

A typical AMLCD exhibits a CR between 300 to 700 when measured in a dark room. However, the CR on the same unit measured under ambient illumination is drastically lowered due to surface reflection (glare). For example, a standard 200 nit LCD measured in a dark room has a 300 CR, but will have less than a 2 CR under strong direct sunlight. This is due to the fact that surface glare increases the luminance by over 200 nits both on the white and the black that are produced on the display screen. The result is that the luminance of the white is slightly over 400 nits, and the luminance of the black is over 200 nits. The CR ratio then becomes less than 2 and the picture quality is drastically reduced.

i-Tech sunlight readable LCDs with 1500 nits screen brightness will have a CR over 8 with the same amount of glare under the same strong sunlight, making the picture quality on these units extremely good. For further reading on contrast ratio, please see Tech Note 0101, Page 2, the Display Contrast Ratio.

The viewing angle is the angle at which the image quality of an LCD degrades and becomes unacceptable for the intended application. As the observer physically moves to the sides of the LCD, the images on an LCD degrade in three ways. First, the luminance drops. Second, the contrast ratio usually drops off at large angles. Third, the colors may shift. The definition of the viewing angle of an LCD is not absolute as it will depend on your application.

Most LCD manufacturers define viewing angle as the angles where the CR (contrast ratio)^3 10. For LCDs designed for less demanding applications, the viewing angle is sometimes defined as the angles where the CR^3 5.

For LCDs used in outdoor applications, defining the viewing angle based on CR alone is not adequate. Under very bright ambient light, the display is hardly visible when the screen luminance drops below 200 nits. Therefore, i-Tech defines the viewing angles based on both the CR and the Luminance.

All LCD backlights powered by cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) require inverters. An inverter is an electronic circuit that transforms a DC voltage to an AC voltage, which drives the CCFLs. i-Tech Technology manufactures inverters for all its products. Additionally, Applied Concepts and ERG also provide inverters for our products as well.

The dimming range or dimming ratio of an inverter specifies its capability of performing backlight luminance adjustment. For inverters used in notebook computers and LCD monitors, the backlight luminance can be adjusted typically over a dimming range of less than 10:1. That is, the luminance is adjusted from 100% down to about 10%.

For very high brightness backlights used in i-Tech Technology sunlight readable LCD modules, the inverters must be able to provide a much wider dimming range. Otherwise, the LCD screen will be too bright during nighttime conditions. Therefore, our inverters provide a typical dimming ratio of 200:1, meaning that the luminance can be adjusted from 100% down to 0.5%.

Dimming capabilities are beneficial because lowering the backlight luminance will result in a lengthening of the backlight life. It also lowers the power consumption and the related thermal management issues.

Any high brightness backlight system will consume a significant amount of power, thereby increasing the LCD temperature. The brighter the backlight, the greater the thermal issue. Additionally, if the LCD is used under sunlight, additional heat will be generated as a result of sunlight exposure. Temperature issues can be handled through proper thermal management design.

We provide TFT LCD with reflective mode of illumination without compromising its transmissive illumination. With the imposed reflective function, the modified LCD can reflect the ambient light passing the LCD cell and utilize the reflected light beams as its illumination. The stronger the ambient light is, the brighter the LCD will appear. As a result, the modified LCD is viewable under all lighting conditions including direct sunlight regardless the LCD"s original brightness.

The market demands for outdoor LCD applications are expanding, such as mobile navigator/video systems, PDA, personal organizer, Tablet PC, notebook computer, and Kiosk display etc. However, a regular transmissive LCD is very difficult to read under strong ambient light. This limits the outdoor applications of a conventional transmissive LCD.

The high bright LCD and the transflective LCD are the solutions generally utilized for outdoor applications. However, both solutions have some shortcomings. Because of the added lamps, high bright LCD creates some undesirable problems, which include high power consumption, excessive heat generation, increased dimensions, electrical circuit alterations, and shortened LCD lifetime. Thus, it is usually troublesome and costly to accommodate a high bright LCD in systems. Though giving good performance under the direct sunlight, the transflective LCD trades of its indoor performances.

Problems noticed in transflective LCD include narrow viewing angle, discoloration, low brightness, and loss of contrast. Moreover, the transflective LCD is currently limited in choice of sizes and resolutions.

On the other hand, a Transflective LCD is readable everywhere including outdoor environments without extra power consumption and excessive heat generation. The indoor viewing qualities are also enhanced. The modified unit fits right back into its original system with no need of any alteration and extra effort. Thus in your choice of size, resolution, and model, a direct sunlight readable LCD is conveniently incorporated into your device.

i-Tech is a premier supplier of optical bonding and performance added passive enhancements for all flat panel . i-Tech Optical Bonding process produces an optical bond between any display cover glass or touch panel, and any size LCD.

In the world of LCD"s, i-Tech takes display enhancement to a new level above all others. Utilizing advanced proprietary optical bonding technology; i-Tech overcomes optical challenges for display product manufacturers at an affordable price. In a wide range of applications, standard liquid crystal appear to "washed out" in high ambient lighting conditions. This wash out is due to excessive reflections and glare caused by bright light.

Commercially available LCDs, especially when protected by a separate cover glass or plastic shield, can not deliver enough brightness to make the display functional in outdoors or in other high ambient light applications. The exclusive Optical Bonding process from i-Tech provides a significant reduction of ambient light reflections at an affordable price, compared to other display enhancement technologies.

Optical Bonding seals either a top cover glass or touch screen directly to the face of the display bezel. Our bonding process eliminates the air-gap between the display and the cover glass, vastly reducing reflective light, which causes visual washout of the display image. Optical Bonding also enhances structural integrity by supporting the LCD assembly with the cover glass. The bond maintains perfect display uniformity while providing shock protection, unlimted humidity protection, and elimination of fogging caused by trapped moisture accumulating in typical air-gap assemblies.

Sunlight viewability of a display depends on the differences between "lumination" and "illumination" of the display. The lumination of the display is its brightness. A display"s brightness, typically referred to as a Nit (Candela per meter/2) is the amount of light energy coming out of the display. Illumination is the amount of ambient light shining onto a display. The readability of a display is dependant on the amount of light that is being reflected off of the display.

Light travels through a variety of transparent materials; such as air, glass, plastic, and even water. These material"s abilty to transmit light is measured by their "indices of refraction". As light transfers from one material to another, such as air to glass, the differences the index of refraction will cause reflection. In the case of an air-to-glass interface, the reflection will be slightly less than 5% of the ambient light. All surfaces that have an index mismatch will reflect and the reflection is cumulative. In the case of a standard glass or plastic window, there are three surfaces with an index mismatch which will create a total relfection of nearly 15% of the ambient light. If the total reflection (in nits) is close to the displays brightness, the contrast of the display will be reduced to the point where the display"s readabilty is reduced to unacceptable levels.

Optical Bonding from i-Tech is a solid, transparent bond which optically couples the front cover glass or touch screen directly to the face of the display. This internal bond eliminates reflection from the two internal layers. The outer surface of the window is treated with anti-reflecting coatings which matches the front surface of the glass with the index of refraction of air. This combination reduces the total reflection of the display and front cover glass to less than 2% of the ambient light. A reduction of reflection of this level, all but eliminates reflective loss in most ambient lighting conditions. With reductions of this level, displays with 300-500 nits of brightness will be viewable in daylight or indirect lighting conditions. At 500-800 nits brightness, most displays will be completely sunlight viewable.

Aside from the optical quality, Optical Bonding elminates the air-gap which prevents heat build-up from the "greenhouse" effect and prevents fogging from moisture or contamination from dirt or particles. It also offers shock protection and other damage to the LCD itself.

iTech IP65 Front and Full IP66 Chassis are designed for those applications require IP ( Ingress Protection ) feature, like chemical industry, food industry and medical industry. However, the IP65 Front and Full IP66 chassis might get moisture condensation issue for the applications under direct sunlight.

We provide two different choices of optical enhancement solutions that include anti-reflective coated and/or anti-glare protection glass. These technologies can be widely used in outdoor and indoor environment by enhancing optical performance of displays.

The anti-reflective coatings on the protection glass have excellent performance in tough ambient light conditions. With the normal glass, the strong reflection of the ambient light diminishes visibility and causes problems for viewer. Our special anti-reflective coated protection glass can increase contrast by enhancing light transmission rate over 95% (light reflectance rate less than 5%) and can effectively diminish the mirror images. The multi-layer vapor deposition coating either on one side or two sides of glass is designed to minimize reflectance and maximize transmittance.

Another solution, with an anti-glare (AG) coated protection glass, a microscopically rough surface laminated onto the topmost of display can diffuse glare. The chemically etched glass that has a slightly textured finish can reduce reflection by scattering light directed on its surface. It can soften the image of direct light sources visible in the reflection of the viewing area.

Clearing Point - The temperature at which the liquid crystal fluid changes from a nematic into an isotropic state. In practice, a positive image LCD will turn totally black at this temperature and will therefore be unreadable. Because the clearing point is different for every fluid type, ask for design assistance from your supplier if high temperature operation is critical in your application.

Also, for most cases, both TN, HTN and STN utilize the phase known as nematic for display purpose. Within this phase, the liquid crystal has a "rod shape" exists within the solution which has fast response and has excellent electro-optic properties. This phase, however, only exists within a limited temperature range. The higher end of this temperature range is known as clearing point, above which, the liquid crystal lost its birefrigerance properties and cannot bend the light path anymore. Thus the polarizer will then be the only factor which affect incoming and out coming light. When the LCD is cooled down to below its clearing point, the display should be working again. The temperature for the clearing point varies greatly from material to material and you should contact our engineers regarding what you have. Normally a safe margin should be used to avoid clearing point when designing the display.

Isotropic Stage The point where the fluid heats or cools to where it is no longer in the twisted nematic state. Since the molecules can no longer twist light, all incoming light is absorbed.

The lighter sensor measures the outside brightness according to different environments and sends the information to display. Display will adjust the brightness automatically.

With lighter condition (Outdoor/Sun-light) the brightness will increase; in the opposite condition, the brightness will be decreased to fit darker environment.

Light sensor detect the change of illumination outside, then it send the signal to MCU via I�2C interface. MCU will ask inverter to switch the brightness if the outside illumination was change over the default. MCU will transmit PWM signal to the inverter, amd the inverter will change the brightness of panel.

Each step has its own illuminate range according different environment illumination. This technology makes the use of visual application more friendly and intelligently.

Winmate �light sensor� technology are now available for 8.4�, 10.4�,12.1�, 15�, 17�, and 19� LCD with specific panel option. Please contact with sales for more detail information.

TouchScreen Solutions is a specialist manufacturer of touchscreens, optical filters to enhance the performance of electronic displays, and transparent composites.

By utilising TouchScreen Solutions�s traditional lamination expertise, touchscreens are designed to provide the highest levels of light transmission, excellent readability and unsurpassed protection against a wide range of physical threats. The touchsacreens are accurate, highly dependable and have a rapid response time

The electronic controls effectively divide the screen into pixel sized sensing cells, using microfine wires which are not visible on a powered display. These wires are connected to a controller board, and an oscillation frequency is established for each wire. Touching the glass causes a change in the frequency of the wires at that particular point, the position of which is calculated and identified by the controller. Unlike other capacitive systems where the operator touches the actual conducting surface of the sensing panel, the active component of the sensor can be embedded up to 25mm from the touch surface ensuring long product life and stability.

The touchscreen can be supplied with the options of anti�glare or anti-reflection coatings, thermal toughening or chemical strengthening and privacy or contrast enhancement filters. The front glass of the touchscreen acts as a dielectric and enhances the capacitance of the touchscreen.

The driver software allows the touchscreen to interface with the host computer�s operating system by emulating the behaviour of a computer �mouse� and translates taps on the touchscreen surface into mouse clicks.

Touchscreen is proven to meet today�s demanding requirements for ATM�s, web phones, ticket machines, medical displays, industrial displays, pay-at-the-pump gas machines, and interactive kiosk systems. The touchscreen is durable and dependable, its construction protects against damage caused by moisture, heat and even vandalism.

The touchscreen comprises a laminated glass sensor, which encompasses the sensing medium, and the control card which connects to the communications port of the computer.

Female D9 serial connector on a 3 metre long, 3 wire, lead. Maximum length of lead - 10 metres. Power supply components in connection -2 diodes, 1 resistor and 1 capacitor .

Simple calibration and set-up with Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP and Linux. Mouse emulation with Select on Touch, Select on Dwell, Select on Release and Drag and Drop.

Recently there many end customer was mislead believing high brightness (over 2000nits, even up to 5000nits) is the better solution. But there are few concerns that the so called extreme high brightness (3000nits to 5000nits) panel manufacturer don"t tell you:

1. How much power consumption is the extreme high brightness LCD? It is very important because all of our outdoor LCD is in completely sealed enclosures keeping it cool is a very huge Challenge. Not mentioned the hot temperature around 40-50C area.

2. Also, you need to determine how far is viewer distance. Because high brightness (3000-5000nits LCD) might Damage eyesight if the viewer is too closed. LCD is design with high resolution for people to see it very closely, so extreme high brightness doesn"t make sense for outdoor LCD. If they want to put on extreme high brightness LCD on roof top to attract audience which LCD is not even big enough for seeing from far away. Most case customer will use LED which is more reliable and cost effective if it is larger than 82".

3. High chance rejection from city sign official. Many LED billboard brightness can goes up to 5000-7000nits, but the local government agency will not approve this brightness, because it is traffic distraction for driver or other people. So, it doesn"t make sense to spend a fortune on extreme high brightness but need to dim it down back to 1000-1500nits.

4. Viewable under sunlight is not just brightness only, it involve contrast ratio, reflection of the front glass and content graphics contrast such as (red and white). Sunlight readable is combination of all above, not just brightness only.

4. Viewable under sunlight is not just brightness only, it involve contrast ratio, reflection of the front glass and content graphics contrast such as (red and white). Sunlight readable is combination of all above, not just brightness only.

3. All the major branded LG and Samsung LCD manufacturer the most brightness that they do is only 1000-2000nits because we believe this major LCD maker already done a study on what is the most feasible and comfortable LCD brightness for outdoor. That"s why all the high brightness (3000-5000nits) maker is after market vendor without any study about the what is most suitable brightness for different applications, only advertising high brightness is not the solution. If you ask these vendor for outdoor enclosure which they will not provide or guaranteed it will work because they know it is a huge Challenge to cool down the display. Just like you are buying a 800 horse power car, but you still need to design the car frame and cooler to make this engine run safely on the road, which this extreme high brightness won"t help you to design that.

It is a complex recipe that requires the right balance of key ingredients that include enhanced backlight, optimized internal film stack, front coverglass with correct index matched coatings all integrated into the ideal host LCD panel for the application.

Q-Vio began development of sunlight readable displays over a decade ago and we have continued to push the daylight readable display performance envelop to this day. We provide the highest quality outdoor imaging with the ability to tailor our display technology to your specific requirements. We feature Full HD small size models for portable applications, 4:3 aspect ratio long life panels for industrial, marine and military applications and larger full HD to 4K panels for outdoor digital signage.

For high performance display technology that can stand-up to the brightest sunlight conditions, look no further. Introducing Q-Vio’s family of sunlight readable displays ranging in size from 5”- 32” They “beat the daylight out of sunlight” with ultra bright, easy-to-read displays, even in direct sunlight. Built in a Class 1000 clean-room, these low power, RoHS compliant LED backlit displays offer superior uniformity and outstanding thermal management for fan-less operation.

With original factory display footprint, our high-bright display panels offer an easy upgrade path to sunlight readability. These low power displays are perfect for a wide range of products where size, weight, power and sharp readability in bright sunlight are essential. Outdoor Kiosks, Marine Console monitors, Aviation, monitors for industrial Machinery and Military Display Equipment are just a few of the many applications that can benefit from the power and brightness of Q-Vios truly sunlight readable displays.

To power and control the custom LED backlights, Q-Vio has developed a RoHS compliant LED driver board family that is specifically designed to power up the displays. Their wide dimming range offers a stable, uniform brightness from the extreme low end through true sunlight readable levels.

This presentation, given during the 2017 Electronic Displays Conference, covers the impact of touch panel display integration on the system’s sunlight readability and methods manufacturers can utilize to produce low reflectance touch panels.

Placing a touch sensor on top of a display increases the overall reflectance of the device, which directly influences the readability of the display in bright conditions, especially outdoors on a sunny day. This doesn’t only impact mobile devices that are often used outdoors, but also automotive displays, ATMs, marine applications, navigational devices and many more.

This article outlines the relationship between the reflectance of a touch display system and its sunlight readability and explains the parameters that influence the reflectance. Different methods of how reflectance can be reduced will be discussed and compared in terms of effectiveness and cost.

For a display to be readable in an environment with very bright ambient light, the brightness of the display (i.e. the intensity of the light emitted by the display) needs to exceed the intensity of the light that is reflected on the display surface. In other words, if the intensity of the reflected light is close to the display´s brightness, the contrast of the display is reduced to a degree where the display’s readability is diminished to unacceptable levels. If the total reflectance is higher, the display will not be readable at all. In order to maintain readability, the display brightness needs to exceed the reflected light by a factor of at least 2.5. Military specifications require a factor of at least 4, some even 6.

The ambient brightness on a clear day in direct sunlight is about 6000 cd/m2, and the typical reflectance of a display system including a touch sensor without any special measures for reflectance reduction is about 14%. This means that the light reflected on such a surface would be 6000 x 0.14 = 780 cd/m2. Typical consumer type displays with a brightness of around 350 cd/m2 would not be readable under those conditions.

One solution would be to boost up the display brightness to above 2000 cd/m2. Though possible in theory, this requires significantly more backlight LEDs (or other light sources) and/or higher driving current, leading to high power consumption, excessive heat dissipation, increased dimensions and shortened lifetime. This is unacceptable for mobile devices, but even for fixed applications or displays used in cars, the display brightness is usually limited to 1000 cd/m2 for the above-mentioned reasons.

An alternative way to make these displays sunlight-readable is to reduce their reflectance to a level that ensures that the intensity of the reflected light remains significantly lower than the display brightness. Reducing only the surface reflectance is not enough because the incident light is not only reflected on the top surface. Underlying layers of different materials also contribute to the total reflection as light is also reflected at the interfaces of two different materials that have a different index of refraction. Therefore, adding a touch sensor to a display increases the total reflectance of the system.

The reflectance of the top surface can be reduced by either applying an AR-coating or laminating an AR-film, or any other type of film that has AR-properties and also serves an additional purpose (e.g. anti-glare, anti-smudge, anti-spall, polarization). The resulting top reflectance can be reduced to values between 1% and 2.5%, depending on the type of film used or, in case of AR-coatings, on the number of layers coated onto the surface. As one may expect, the lower the reflectance value of the film or coating the higher its cost.

The reflectance of the other two glass/air interfaces at the bottom of the sensor and on top of the display can be reduced by the four different methods outlined below. For easier comparability, the system reflectance values provided below are based on the assumption that no reflectance reduction measure is applied on the top surface.

Optical bonding of the display and capacitive touch panel: This is achieved by filling the gap between the display and the sensor with a transparent adhesive. As a result, the two lower glass/air interfaces shown in figure (1) are eliminated which reduces the total reflectance to approximately 5%. Optical bonding, however, comes at a high price. It requires very specific types of liquid or film adhesives that are quite expensive, and the production yield of laminating two expensive componen