stn vs tft display price

1.TN-type liquid crystal display due to low technical level, low price, application range of small-size products under 3 inches and can only show black and white monochrome and do some simple text, digital display, mainly used in electronic watches, calculators, simple handheld game consoles and other consumer electronics.

2.STN-type liquid crystal display is simpler than TFT-type process, high yield, relatively cheap, for the contrast between strong and screen conversion reaction time faster commodities, so more applied to information processing equipment. If you add a color filter in front of the LCD panel, you can display a variety of colors, even up to the degree of full color. These products are mostly used in the display of text, digital and graphics functions, such as low-grade laptops, handheld computers, stock machines and personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other portable products.

3. TFT LCD display because the display reaction speed is faster, suitable for animation and video display, so it is widely used in digital cameras, LCD projectors, laptops, desktop LCD monitors. Because it is better than STN-type products in terms of color quality and reaction speed, it is also the mainstream product on the market.

The LCD follows a series of rules that are different from CRT displays. THE LCD overcomes the shortcomings of CRT"s large size, power consumption and flickering, but also brings problems such as high cost, low viewing angle and unsatisfactory color display. CrT displays can be selected in a range of resolutions and can be adjusted to screen requirements, but LCD screens contain only a fixed number of LCD units and can only be displayed at one resolution (one pixel per unit) on the full screen. The CRT usually has three electronic guns, and the electron stream that is fired must be precisely aggregated or it will not be clearly displayed. However, there is no focus problem with the LCD because each LCD unit is switched on and off separately. That"s why the same picture is so clear on the LCD screen. LCD also does not have to worry about refresh frequency and flickering, the LCD unit is either on or off, so the image displayed at a low refresh frequency of 40-60Hz will not flash more than the image displayed at 75Hz. On the other hand, lcd units of LCD screens are prone to defects. For the 1024x768 screen, each pixel consists of three units, responsible for the red, green, and blue display of one unit so a total of about 2.4 million units (1024x768x3 x 2359296). It is difficult to guarantee that all these units are intact. Most likely, some of them have been shorted (with "bright spots") or broken (with "black spots"). Lcd displays contain things that are not used in CRT technology. The light source for the screen is the fluorescent tube that wraps behind it. Sometimes we find unusually bright lines in one part of the screen. There may also be some indecent stripes, a special light color

IPS (In-Plane Switching) lcd is still a type of TFT LCD, IPS TFT is also called SFT LCD (supper fine tft ),different to regular tft in TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, theIPS LCD liquid crystal elements inside the tft lcd cell, they are arrayed in plane inside the lcd cell when power off, so the light can not transmit it via theIPS lcdwhen power off, When power on, the liquid crystal elements inside the IPS tft would switch in a small angle, then the light would go through the IPS lcd display, then the display on since light go through the IPS display, the switching angle is related to the input power, the switch angle is related to the input power value of IPS LCD, the more switch angle, the more light would transmit the IPS LCD, we call it negative display mode.

The regular tft lcd, it is a-si TN (Twisted Nematic) tft lcd, its liquid crystal elements are arrayed in vertical type, the light could transmit the regularTFT LCDwhen power off. When power on, the liquid crystal twist in some angle, then it block the light transmit the tft lcd, then make the display elements display on by this way, the liquid crystal twist angle is also related to the input power, the more twist angle, the more light would be blocked by the tft lcd, it is tft lcd working mode.

A TFT lcd display is vivid and colorful than a common monochrome lcd display. TFT refreshes more quickly response than a monochrome LCD display and shows motion more smoothly. TFT displays use more electricity in driving than monochrome LCD screens, so they not only cost more in the first place, but they are also more expensive to drive tft lcd screen.The two most common types of TFT LCDs are IPS and TN displays.

This article is introduce what is TN lcd and STN display, what is difference for FSTN and FFstn lcd? what types of lcd panel available for lcd technology? how the lcd panel display working. what is difference between FSTN and FFSTN lcd display definition? what does STN stand for? let"s see the introduction as following:

LCD is including monochrome lcd and color lcd types,monochrome lcd have TN LCD, STN LCD (yellow-green mode, blue mode, gray mode, black-white mode/FSTN,FFSTN), monochrome tft lcd. color lcd including color STN LCD and color TFT lcd types, color STN LCD (CSTN lcd) is almost phase out because it is no better than TFT in contrast, Now all CSTN LCDs were replaced by tft lcd dsiplay.

TN lcd means (twisted nematic) LCD, the namatic liquid crystal elements inside the lcd glass cell,its twisted angle is 90 degree, integrated the front and rear polarizes on the lcd, the polarized angle is also in 90 degree in cross, it control the light transmission and make the tn lcd display on and off.

STN lcd is super-twisted nematic lcd display, it is a type ofmonochrome lcd display,it is also passiveliquid crystal display(LCD). compare to TN lcd, STN LCD twist angle is 240 degree, instead of 90 degree of TN LCD, so we call it STN LCD. STN lcd have yellow-green display mode, gray,black-white mode,blue display mode,available.

The STN LCD is not only difference on twist angle in 240°, in the same time, because the liquid crystal has the double-reflective characteristic, the ambient light through the polarizer, it would change to linear polarized light, the linear polarized light go through the STN LCD cell with 240° twist angle, it would turn to oval polarized light because of the double-reflective of liquid crystal characteristic （the linear polarized light turn to two group lights via240° twist angle liquid crystal, and the two group light intervened to oval polarized light）. the oval polarized lights are always with colors, that that is the reason ofyellow-green or blue color come from for the STN LCD.

With the twist angle in 240°, it bring higherdisplay contrast as the twist angle from TN 90° to STN 240°, as see the graph as below, as the increasing about the lcd contrast in twist angle, when TN lcd can support 8 commons driver (1/8 duty), such as segment lcd, because the TN liquid crystal sharpness is less than STN LCD, if the commons higher than 8, the TN lcd contrast would be decreased dramatically. while STN lcd could support 240 commons (1/240 duty) in maximum. STN not only support 16x2, 20x4 characters lcd, and could support 128x64, 320x240 graphic lcd as well, it is all because the contrast increased due to liquid crystal"s twist angle for STN lcd.

Meanwhile, as the display contrast increased for the STN LCD, it bring wider viewing angle for STN lcd than TN lcd display. STN lcd viewing angle could be reach 120 degree, while TN lcd viewing angle around 90 degree.

FSTN lcd display mode is the profession name for black-white STN mode, it is white background and black display characters. it is the nearest color to paper in monochrome lcd, even its real background is a little near to gray. FSTN LCD mode is one of STN mode, it is mean film STN, instead of the background color to yellow-green color or blue color, FSTN LCD add a optics compensating film on the front of FSTN LCD, the optics compensating film compensate the linear polarize light and color from STN LCD, the STN LCD color turn to white background after light through the optics compensator film. that is the compensating film turn the oval polarized light to the linear polarized light again,then we could get thewhite and black lcd display. it is the display mode that near to paper.FSTN lcd is widely used in many display application because of its background.

FFSTN is FSTN LCD in negative display mode, it is also a kind of white-black stn lcd mode, FFSTN lcd is negative background with white display characters, while FSTN lcd is white background with black characters, its background would be in black, and display white characters. FSTN lcd would need one layer polarized light compensation, FFSTN would need two layers polarized light compensation on the front and rear polarizers, it would need higher cost than other STN LCD, but FFSTN LCD is best lcd soluton in STN LCD. it is higher contrast than other types of lcd.

CSTN lcd means color STN LCD, its display technology is based on FFSTN mode, but it have a RGB color filter in side the lcd glass, so it can realize to color display, and because FFSTN have high contrast, so instead lcd font display to other STN LCD, CSTN LCD is better in image display than other monochrome lcd. but CSTN lcd is still type of stn lcd, it have cross-talk effect, which decreased the contrast than TFT LCD which is active display mode without cross-talk.

Because STN lcd display is 240 degree twist angle, it have better display contrast than TN display in 90 degree twist angle. the STN display could support the 1/240 duty lcd, that with 480 segment x240 common graphic lcd. and the TN lcd only support 1/8 duty with 8 commons maximum. so TN lcd is mainly used in segment lcd display or icon lcd display. STN display is mainly used in graphic lcd display. of course, if STN lcd is also can be used segment lcd display or icon lcd display, but its cost would be around double than TN lcd display.

STN LCD display require less power and are less expensive to manufacture than,STN displays typically has lower image quality and slowerresponse timecompare than TFT displays. and tft lcd display is mainly in color display, but STN LCDs have the advantage that it can be made purely reflective for viewing under direct sunlight. STN LCD is a good choice for sunlight readable display in outdoor, for it has a display effect in outdoor and less power consumption. such as transflective STN lcd or reflective STN LCD, it can be display good without backlight light on.

TFT (thin film transistor)is still one kinds of lcd, but it active matrix lcd which without cross-talk with higher contrast than STN LCD or monochrome TN LCD. because of the thin film transistor inside, it is without cross-talk problem, and easily to get the high contrast. besides IPS tft, most of tft lcd is still TN LCD display mode, that is 90 degree twist angle to the liquid crystal.

This type of LCD was invented at the Brown Boveri Research Center, Baden, Switzerland, in 1983.twisted nematic (TN) LCDs with a 90 degrees twisted structure of the molecules have a contrast vs. voltage characteristic unfavorable for passive-matrix addressing as there is no distinct threshold voltage. STN displays, with the molecules twisted from 180 to 270 degrees, have superior characteristics.

The main advantage of STN LCDs is their more pronounced electro-optical threshold allowing for passive-matrix addressing with many more lines and columns. For the first time, a prototype STN matrix display with 540x270 pixels was made by Brown Boveri (today ABB) in 1984, which was considered a breakthrough for the industry.

STN LCDs require less power and are less expensive to manufacture than TFT LCDs, another popular type of LCD that has largely superseded STN for mainstream laptops. STN displays typically suffer from lower image quality and slower response time than TFT displays. However, STN LCDs can be made purely reflective for viewing under direct sunlight. STN displays are used in some inexpensive mobile phones and informational screens of some digital products. In the early 1990s, they had been used in some portable computers such as Amstrad"s PPC512 and PPC640, and in Nintendo"s Game Boy.

CSTN (color super-twist nematic) is a color form for electronic display screens originally developed by Sharp Electronics. The CSTN uses red, green and blue filters to display color. The original CSTN displays developed in the early 1990s suffered from slow response times and ghosting (where text or graphic changes are blurred because the pixels cannot turn off and on fast enough). Recent advances in the technology, however, have made CSTN a viable alternative to active matrix displays. New CSTN displays offer 100ms response times (for comparison TFT displays offer 8ms or less), a 140 degree viewing angle and high-quality color rivaling TFT displays – all at about half the cost. A newer passive-matrix technology called High-Performance Addressing (HPA) offers even better response times and contrast than CSTN.

Samsung had two proprietary technologies for STN LCDs, Ultra Fine & Bright (UFB), which delivered wide viewing angle (about 120 degrees), faster response time (about 60 ms) and less power consumption, while Ultra Fine & High Speed (UFS), delivered almost same color depths as TFT LCDs, greater color purity, much faster response time (about 14 ms) and same contrast ratio as TFT LCDs.

Dual Scan STN: An enhanced STN passive matrix LCD. The screen is divided into halves, and each half is scanned simultaneously, thereby doubling the number of lines refreshed per second and providing a sharper appearance. DSTN was widely used on earlier laptops. See STN and LCD.

FSTN: Film compensated STN, Formulated STN or Filtered STN. A passive matrix LCD technology that uses a film compensating layer between the STN display and rear polarizer for added sharpness and contrast. It was used in laptops before the DSTN method became popular and many early 21st Century cellphones.

CCSTN: Color Coded Super Twist Nematic. An LCD capable of displaying a limited range of colours, used in some digital organisers and graphic calculators in the 1990s

Scheffer, T. J.; Nehring, J. (1984-11-15). "A new, highly multiplexable liquid crystal display". Applied Physics Letters. AIP Publishing. 45 (10): 1021–1023. Bibcode:1984ApPhL..45.1021S. doi:10.1063/1.95048. ISSN 0003-6951.

If you want to buy a new monitor, you might wonder what kind of display technologies I should choose. In today’s market, there are two main types of computer monitors: TFT LCD monitors & IPS monitors.

The word TFT means Thin Film Transistor. It is the technology that is used in LCD displays.  We have additional resources if you would like to learn more about what is a TFT Display. This type of LCDs is also categorically referred to as an active-matrix LCD.

These LCDs can hold back some pixels while using other pixels so the LCD screen will be using a very minimum amount of energy to function (to modify the liquid crystal molecules between two electrodes). TFT LCDs have capacitors and transistors. These two elements play a key part in ensuring that the TFT display monitor functions by using a very small amount of energy while still generating vibrant, consistent images.

Industry nomenclature: TFT LCD panels or TFT screens can also be referred to as TN (Twisted Nematic) Type TFT displays or TN panels, or TN screen technology.

IPS (in-plane-switching) technology is like an improvement on the traditional TFT LCD display module in the sense that it has the same basic structure, but has more enhanced features and more widespread usability.

Both TFT display and IPS display are active-matrix displays, neither can’t emit light on their own like OLED displays and have to be used with a back-light of white bright light to generate the picture. Newer panels utilize LED backlight (light-emitting diodes) to generate their light hence utilizing less power and requiring less depth by design. Neither TFT display nor IPS display can produce color, there is a layer of RGB (red, green, blue) color filter in each LCD pixels to produce the color consumers see. If you use a magnifier to inspect your monitor, you will see RGB color in each pixel. With an on/off switch and different level of brightness RGB, we can get many colors.

Winner. IPS TFT screens have around 0.3 milliseconds response time while TN TFT screens responds around 10 milliseconds which makes the latter unsuitable for gaming

Winner. the images that IPS displays create are much more pristine and original than that of the TFT screen. IPS displays do this by making the pixels function in a parallel way. Because of such placing, the pixels can reflect light in a better way, and because of that, you get a better image within the display.

As the display screen made with IPS technology is mostly wide-set, it ensures that the aspect ratio of the screen would be wider. This ensures better visibility and a more realistic viewing experience with a stable effect.

Winner. While the TFT LCD has around 15% more power consumption vs IPS LCD, IPS has a lower transmittance which forces IPS displays to consume more power via backlights. TFT LCD helps battery life.

Normally, high-end products, such as Apple Mac computer monitors and Samsung mobile phones, generally use IPS panels. Some high-end TV and mobile phones even use AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes) displays. This cutting edge technology provides even better color reproduction, clear image quality, better color gamut, less power consumption when compared to LCD technology.

This kind of touch technology was first introduced by Steve Jobs in the first-generation iPhone. Of course, a TFT LCD display can always meet the basic needs at the most efficient price. An IPS display can make your monitor standing out.

In market, LCD means passive matrix LCDs which increase TN (Twisted Nematic), STN (Super Twisted Nematic), or FSTN (Film Compensated STN) LCD Displays. It is a kind of earliest and lowest cost display technology.

LCD screens are still found in the market of low cost watches, calculators, clocks, utility meters etc. because of its advantages of low cost, fast response time (speed), wide temperature range,  low power consumption, sunlight readable with transflective or reflective polarizers etc.  Most of them are monochrome LCD display and belong to passive-matrix LCDs.

TFT LCDs have capacitors and transistors. These are the two elements that play a key part in ensuring that the TFT display monitor functions by using a very small amount of energy without running out of operation.

Normally, we say TFT LCD panels or TFT screens, we mean they are TN (Twisted Nematic) Type TFT displays or TN panels, or TN screen technology. TFT is active-matrix LCDs, it is a kind of LCD technologies.

TFT has wider viewing angles, better contrast ratio than TN displays. TFT display technologies have been widely used for computer monitors, laptops, medical monitors, industrial monitors, ATM, point of sales etc.

Actually, IPS technology is a kind of TFT display with thin film transistors for individual pixels. But IPS displays have superior high contrast, wide viewing angle, color reproduction, image quality etc. IPS screens have been found in high-end applications, like Apple iPhones, iPads, Samsung mobile phones, more expensive LCD monitors etc.

Both TFT LCD displays and IPS LCD displays are active matrix displays, neither of them can produce color, there is a layer of RGB (red, green, blue) color filter in each LCD pixels to make LCD showing colors. If you use a magnifier to see your monitor, you will see RGB color. With switch on/off and different level of brightness RGB, we can get many colors.

Neither of them can’t release color themselves, they have relied on extra light source in order to display. LED backlights are usually be together with them in the display modules as the light sources. Besides, both TFT screens and IPS screens are transmissive, it will need more power or more expensive than passive matrix LCD screens to be seen under sunlight.  IPS screens transmittance is lower than TFT screens, more power is needed for IPS LCD display.

FSTN LCD monochrome displays contain a retardation film applied to the STN display to produce a black and white display. This produces a higher contrast and wider viewing angle then STN or TN.

STN LCD monochrome displays require less power and are less expensive to manufacture than TFT’s. They produce a sharper contrast then TN but less sharp then FSTN. Basic color options are Gray, Blue and Yellow/Green (most common). Other colors are available through the use of filters.

TN LCD monochrome displays are the lowest cost of the three options. Contrast is not as sharp as STN and FSTN. Primary color options are black letters on a grey background. Other colors are available through the use of filters.

Character LCD module (aka alphanumeric LCD display)The majority of character LCD modules listed below are STN 8 x 1 LCD Display, 8 x 2 LCD Display, 16 x 1 LCD Display, 16 x 2 LCD Display, 16 x 4 LCD Display, 20 x 2 LCD Display, 20 x 4 LCD Display, 24 x 2 LCD Display, 40 x 1 LCD Display, 40 x 2 LCD Display, 40 x 4 LCD Display.

Segment Display (aka static LCD displays, seven segment display, glass only LCD display)The majority of segment displays listed below are TN, but can be ordered in STN 7(seven) segment LCD display, 14(fourteen) segment LCD display, 16(sixteen) segment LCD displays, multiplex, mux, common mode LCD.

Graphic Displays (aka dot matrix LCD module)The majority of Graphic Displays listed below are FSTN, but can be order in STN 122 x 32 graphic LCD display, 128 x 128 graphic LCD display, 128 x 64 graphic LCD display, 240 x 64 graphic LCD display

With the continual development of LCD technologies, TFTs have become widely available at a lower price point. The manufacturing process of TFTs has been standardized which has changed the industry for display applications, making TFTs a feasible replacement option for graphic LCDs. This application note will discuss the options for replacing a graphic LCD with a TFT LCD. Considerations of price, size, features and functions will be analyzed to evaluate the options for TFT displays in place of a graphic LCD.

The two displays that will be reviewed in this application are described in the table below. These displays are similar in size and cost but vary in features and technical specifications.

Graphic LCDs are common for industrial applications where the features of TFTs are not justified by price. In recent years, TFT manufacturing has broadened its standard manufacturing process, making TFTs a competitor in typical graphic LCD applications.

TFTs offer additional features that graphic LCDs cannot provide. Such features consist of high color and resolution. TFTs also have the benefit of integrating capacitive and resistive touch functions to the display. If you are considering replacing a current graphic LCD, it may be time to switch to a TFT.

Graphic LCDs are a common display for industrial applications where vivid and high-resolution graphics are not essential to the application. Graphic displays typically have an 8-bit parallel interface which does not require a high frequency clock to communicate with the display. The graphic display in this example has 128 x 64 dots of resolution. This means the memory requirement of the frame buffer for this display is small and is provided by the IC on the display. Graphic LCDs do not offer RGB pixel color and display pixels as either on or off.

Significant limiting factors for graphic LCDs include the resolution and color depth of the display. The options for what can be displayed is restricted to a small area, in this example 128x64 pixels. This means that the image must be very low resolution and text must be very small. Typical graphic LCD applications display text or small user interface option.

The dimensions of G12864B-BW-LW63 are reviewed below. This graphic LCD is close in size to E30RA-FW400-N, the main differences being the mounting of the backlight and the depth of the displays. This graphic LCD is transmissive, STN blue, with a white LED backlight. The demo images will be displayed with white pixels and a blue background.

An example application for this graphic LCD will be reviewed in comparison with the TFT. The graphic LCD is interfaced over an 8-bit parallel connection. The display controller IC, ST7565, provides 8 pages of display RAM, an internal oscillator, and power regulation functions. This makes it easy to control a graphic LCD with a simple 8-bit controller because the main functions are provided internally.

The graphic LCD will display a menu followed by a temperature measurement screen. This is to provide an example of a typical graphic LCD application. Below is an example of the menu and the temperature measurement screen before they are uploaded onto the display.

Pixel size is limited for graphic LCDs. The full page consists of 128x64 pixels so the images must be low resolution and small. The amount of RAM provided by the embedded IC of the display will support 8 full pages of display data. The images must be black and white but will appear as white and blue once uploaded to the display. Below are the images of the display with these example applications uploaded.

The individual pixels can be seen on the graphic LCD and can be altered to project a monochrome image. STN blue graphic LCDs will display white pixels over a blue background. The amount that can be displayed in one page is restricted to 128x64 pixels. Simple icons and characters are common options for graphic display applications.

The design for graphic displays must be simplified to low resolution texts and icons. When you get down to a low resolution, such as 128x64 pixels, every pixel counts in creating a coherent image. This is why there is a standard set of icons used, and you will see them across graphic display applications. These icons are reminiscent of an early Windows computer era, 1980’s/1990’s. Most of these applications have already transferred to higher resolution and colored TFTs.

TFTs have begun to replace graphic LCDs in many applications. This is largely due to the price decrease of the displays and the electronics required to support them. The price of microprocessors and memory chips has substantially decreased, making TFTs a competitive alternative to graphic LCDs. TFT displays have the benefit of higher graphics quality, color, and speed for no extra cost.

The TFT used in this application is close in size to the graphic display. The display can be used both vertically and horizontally by changing the scan direction register. This can also be done by changing the page and column addresses before writing to RAM. The dimensions of the TFT are reviewed below from a vertical reference.

TFT displays offer a higher resolution and color depth. The TFT in this application has a resolution of 480x854 and can display up to 16.7 million colors. The combinations of color and the number of available pixels drastically increases the options for what can be displayed.

The TFT’s size is similar to the graphic LCD, but the resolution area is over six times larger. This makes a significant difference in image quality and available area. Below are the two graphic LCD demos displayed on the TFT.

Both graphic LCD demos can fit in the TFT display resolution and only take up a fraction of the total area available. The resolution of the TFT is highlighted by the amount of data that can be stored in one frame of the display area. Each pixel makes up only a small part of the image which means high resolution images can be portrayed. The same image is uploaded on both the graphic LCD and the TFT below.

TFTs also differ from graphic LCDs because they can display colors. This display supports 24-bits of color data for each pixel. This mean there are 16.7 million colors to select from. The graphic LCD writes to each pixel as on or off. The TFT assigns each pixel 24-bits of color data which means there are 16.7M unique colors that can be displayed.

TFTs have become increasingly standard for most display applications. Even if the application does not require high definition for its intended function, the comparable price for each display type makes the graphics quality an added bonus.

E30RA-FW400-N uses a 24-bit parallel interface and renders 24-bpp of color data for each pixel. This interface is fast enough to support this resolution and color depth to maintain a frame rate of 60 Hz. The only draw-back to this interface is the number of data pins that must be connected to a controller. TFTs come with many different interfaces depending on the resolution.

The graphic LCD demo can be recreated for the TFT to display more complex elements and colors. The addition of color and an increased pixel area gives the display more flexibility on what can be displayed and the quality of the image. TFT displays also have the benefit of touch interface options which can incorporate the user interface on the screen. Below is the example displayed on the TFT.

Some considerations should be made when switching from a graphic LCD to a TFT. A higher resolution means more pixels per frame. An increase in color depth means there is more data assigned to each of the pixels. The memory cost for one page of data can add up quickly depending on size and color depth chosen. The TFT in this example needs a minimum of 1.23MB if using the 24-bpp color depth. A lower color depth can be chosen through commands if you want to reduce memory costs.

The display also requires a higher speed interface to support its resolution and color depth. This display can be interfaced over a 16, 18 or 24-bit parallel interface with a clock cycle of 24.5MHz. This is the minimum speed required to maintain a frame rate of 60Hz. A high-speed controller is also required for this. Since high-speed controllers are becoming more affordable, these constraints are not as significant of a factor as they used to be.

Highly reliable and versatile Monochrome LCD displays are continually evolving and offer low cost solutions with completely flexible designs - ideal for industrial and smart metering applications.

While monochrome STN LCD displays are acceptable, colour graphic displays are becoming more expected in most non-consumer applications and the price point for small displays is surprising close. Upgrading to a colour TFT display is much lower cost than you would imagine.

The benefits of the improved visual appearance more than justify the small additional cost and Anders can support you with the interface and mechanical design. If the display needs to fit an existing case aperture, Anders can provide a full custom display or modify the standard module using our cut-down TFT service and design a bezel or housing to create a perfect fit.

Residential and commercial metering solutions can highly benefit from the high reliability and efficiency offered from STN/FSTN LCD Displays. We can optimise these to suit your application including mechanical integration, coverlens design and backlight enhancements.

When simplicity and low power consumption is key for your portable industrial instrumentations, a STN/FSTN LCD Displays is one of the best technologies to adopt. These displays can be optimised to suit any application requirements.

STN/FSNT LCD Displays are ideal for portable medical devices as they drive very little power consumption and offer an easy integration. Replacing mechanical interfaces to STN/FSTN LCD Displays is possible at a low cost.

Putting your own stamp on your product is more than a logo on the start-up screen. Discover how we can help you design a unique display solution with our customisation services:

We aim to offer reliable and long-term solutions to our B2B customers. If you would like to discuss your display and/or embedded system requirements please contact us below.

From their discovery in 1888 to their first application within displays in the 1960s, liquid crystals have become a mainstream material choice with many impactful applications in the world of electronics.

As the key component behind liquid crystal displays (LCD), these materials change light polarization to create vibrant, high-resolution images on digital screens. The growth of LCD technology has helped propel the larger display panel market enormously, with industry valuation projected to reach $178.20 billion by 2026.

A prolific variety of LCD types has been developed to best meet their exact use-cases and end-environments. Displays may be optimized for power consumption, contrast ratio, color reproduction, optimal viewing angle, temperature range, cost, and more.

Passive Matrix LCDs offer a cost advantage (both parts and tooling) and are highly customizable. The counterpart to Passive Matrix displays are Active Matrix displays.

Furthermore, the processes used for manufacturing Active-Matrix LCDs can create much finer details on the electrode structure. This allows splitting each pixel in three sub-pixels with different color. This together with the better voltage control allows full color displays.

The transistor switches used in Active Matrix Displays must not protrude significantly above the surface of the display substrates lest they might interfere with a uniform liquid crystal layer thickness. They must be implemented in thin films of suitable materials. Hence, the name Thin Film Transistors (TFT). While AM and TFT have a different meaning, they are often used interchangeably to indicate a higher performance display.

TFTs can be formed by amorphous silicon (denoted α-Si TFT), by poly-crystalline silicon (LTPS for Low Temperature Poly Silicon), or by semiconducting metal oxides (Ox-TFT or IGZO-TFT for Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide).

Currently the most common Electronics Display Technology on the market is LCD technology and among LCD technologies, TFT display technology is the most widely used across consumer applications (laptops, tablets, TVs, Mobile phones, etc.) as well as many industrial, automotive, and medical applications.

As the first commercially successful LCD technology, Passive Matrix Twisted Nematic (TN) LCDs use a 90° twist of the nematic LC fluid between two polarizers to display information. The twist of the LC fluid either blocks light from passing through the LCD cell or allows light to pass, depending on the applied voltage. The applied voltage changes the twisted nematic orientation into an orientation that does not change the polarization of tight. This is called the TN effect.

TN displays can be normally white (NW) when they use two orthogonal liner polarizers or normally black (NB) when parallel linear polarizers are used. ‘Normally’ refers to what happens when no voltage is applied.

Initially, Passive TN LCDs were used in segmented, icon, or character displays where an image element was turned “on” and “off” depending on how the fluid was driven. Improvements were made along the way to address the limited viewing angle of TN technology, which can suffer from contrast loss or even inversion at shallow angles.

It can be advantageous to twist the director of the nematic phase a bit more than 90 degrees, but less than 180 degrees. Displays like this are a subset of TN displays and are sometimes caller Hyper Twisted Nematic Displays.

The numbers of rows or icons that can be addressed in a TN display without Active Matrix addressing is very limited. This is related to how strongly the liquid crystal responds to the applied voltage. Twisting the LC nematic fluid more than 180 degrees (typically between 210 and 270 degrees) causes the display to require a much smaller voltage difference between on and off pixels. This in turn allows addressing of many more rows without an active matrix. Displays with a twist between 210 and 270 degrees are called Super Twisted Nematic displays.

The higher display resolution of STN displays comes at a price. The optical effect is no longer neutrally black and white as in a TN display. Rather these displays are naturally yellow and black or blue and white. The color can be somewhat compensated with colored polarizers, but that comes at the expense of brightness and contrast.

The color in STN displays is caused by birefringence. Adding the same birefringence in the opposite direction can compensate for the effect. Initially this was done by stacking two STN displays on top of each other. This is referred to as Double STN or DSTN, but this is of course thicker and more expensive.

The birefringence of an STN display can be approximated with a stretched transparent plastic film. Adding such a film to an STN display instead of the 2nd STN display is a lot more attractive and has almost the same performance. This is referred to as a Film Compensated STN display (FSTN, or sometimes if two films are used as FFSTN).

FSTN displays are used commonly in consumer, medical and industrial display applications that require low cost and do not need high resolution images or full color.

Another development to the TN display was to use the same concept as in FSTN displays on TN displays. However, the film cannot just be a stretched polymer. Instead, a twisted liquid crystal structure is made and polymerized into a film that is used as a compensation film for TN displays. As this method mostly improves the display characteristics at shallow viewing angles while preserving the excellent performance in straight on viewing, this technology is called Wide View Twisted Nematic (WVTN).

The above display technologies have liquid crystal molecules that are aligned nearly parallel to the display surface with more or less twisting when going from one substrate to the other. In VA (also called VAN) displays, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned vertically with respect to the display surface. Applying a voltage causes the molecules to lay flat, with or without twist.

The advantage of this arrangement is a very dark black state with very little light leakage. This allows making displays with a black mask and colored icons or symbols. These displays look like color displays with brilliant colors, however each image element or icon can only have its assigned color or black.

Due to the ability in AM displays to address one row while the other rows are isolated, the demands on the electro-optical performance of the Liquid Crystal Configuration are less stringent. In principle, all the above mentioned configurations can be used in AM displays. In practice, TN, and WVTN are frequently used as well as some versions of VA technology described below. (MVA, AIFF-MVA, PVA, ASV).

The advantage of these technologies is a much wider and more symmetrical viewing angle along with the elimination of the contrast inversion (or color shift) seen in TN TFT LCDs when viewed from various angles. IPS and FFS displays also are less sensitive to pressure, which is a big advantage in touchscreen displays.

Here, each color sub-pixel is further divided into zones (called domains) having a different direction of the molecular movement when voltage is applied. Again, the purpose is a much wider and more symmetric viewing performance and the elimination of color shifts and contrast inversion at shallow angles. MVA technology achieves that with carefully designed protrusions on the inside surfaces of the display, while PVA uses fine patterning of the electrodes on both substrates.

The integrated circuit is a patterned piece of silicon or other type of semiconducting material. A modern IC contains millions or even billions of tiny transistors. Their tiny size allows for the fabrication of smaller, faster, more efficient, and less expensive electronic circuits. The driver chips addressing electronics displays are ICs.

Often PCBAs are connected to the display with flexible printed circuits. It’s also possible to mount all necessary components on FPCs without the need of a PCBA in the display module.

Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) is an interface to the display, not a display technology itself. This technology is not specific to displays, as it’s used in many other applications as well. It’s a high-speed signal that provides some noise immunity for the display. It also allows for longer distances compared to parallel interfaces.

As display resolutions increase, data transmission rates must increase as well. At high frequencies, single-ended signaling circuits can begin to act as antennas to radiate and receive radiated noise. Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) addresses many of these shortcomings by using differential signaling at low voltages to transmit display data at high speeds.

Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI®) is a high-speed Display Serial Interface (DSI) between the host processor and the display module. It has a low pin count, high bandwidth, and low Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI), and is commonly used in cameras, cell phones and tablets.

New Vision Display (NVD) has decades of experience designing and manufacturing custom display and touch panel assemblies for some of the world’s largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer markets.

NVD’s state-of-the-art factories are equipped to build solutions using a wide range of display and touch technologies. To view our extensive portfolio, visit our Products Page.

With industry-leading certifications and expert engineers on staff, NVD can handle your design needs, even for the most rigorous and complex end environments. To learn more about what makes us the display manufacturer for your needs, contact us today.

A segment display is the type of thing you see in gas pumps, calculators, or simple meters. It can usually show a few numeric digits and perhaps a few icons or symbols.

These displays are typically used where a very low cost is needed and fixed function display is acceptable. Unless you are making 10K units a month of a very simple, very low-cost device, a segment LCD is probably not the answer.

If you have any questions about these types of displays or would like help choosing the type of display module would work best for your project, please contact our knowledgeable and friendly support staff by email, phone, or chat.

The short name of TFT:Thin Film Transistor in Chinese. What is the difference between TFT and LCD? Our laptops and desktops now use relatively advanced TFT displays, which consist of LCD pixels and are powered by thin-film transistors integrated behind the pixels. Therefore, the TFT type display screen also belongs to a class of display devices with a source matrix.

TFT type display screen is currently a better LCD color display, TFT type display has many advantages: high responsiveness, high brightness, high contrast, and so on.TFT displays are closest to CRT displays. The TFT screen also often appears on the screen of each big mobile phone, there are 65536 colors, 160,000 colors, 16 million colors three, its display effect is also very good.

TFT means that every LCD pixel on an LCD is driven by a thin-film transistor integrated behind it. Thus can achieve high speed, high brightness, high contrast display screen information, TFT-LCD(thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) is one of the majority of LIQUID crystal displays.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The structure of the LCD is placed in the middle of the two pieces of parallel glass liquid crystal box, the substrate glass set on TFT (thin-film transistor), set the color filter substrate glass on, on the TFT signal, and the voltage change to control the rotation direction of the liquid crystal molecules, so as to achieve control of each pixel display emergent polarized light or not and to achieve. Now THAT LCD has replaced CRT as the mainstream, the price has dropped a lot and become widely available.

The TFT(Thin Film Field-effect Transistor) is a video in which every single pixel in the liquid crystal display is actuated by a Thin Film Transistor embedded in the rear. Thus can achieve high speed, high brightness, high contrast display screen information.

Color screens of mobile phones vary depending on LCD quality and research and development technology. The types of color screens include STN (CSTN), TFT(LTPS), TFD, UFB, and OLED.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Generally divided into monochrome and color LCD two kinds, the current monochrome LCD has almost out of the notebook computer market, and color LCD still continues to develop. The color LCD can be divided into two types: STN and TFT. The TFT(Thin Film Transistorized)LCD, also known as the active transistorized Transistor LIQUID crystal display (LCD), is the true-color LIQUID crystal display that many people describe as the Thin Film Transistor.DSTN (Dual Scan Twisted Nematic)LCD, namely double scan LIQUID crystal display. It is a display mode of STN LCD, which is no longer on the market.

What is the difference between TFT and LCD? Read here I believe you have a general understanding and cognition of TFT and LCD, LCD refers to liquid crystal display, TFT is a kind of LCD. The former is for laptops and the latter is for desktop computers. There are several different technologies for LCD, FED, PDP, OLED, TFT-LCD, they are all LCD. Only the desktop with several fronts more, lower cost, TFT technology cost is higher, generally used for notebook, or MOTO, etc., now most of the display is TFT type display, I believe we will pay more attention to the choice and purchase of digital goods.

Dr Pan: Hello, Greg. STN is the abbreviation for Super Twisted Nematic. The main difference between TN, HTN, STN and FSTN LCD is the view angle. From the definition, the maximum view angle of STN LCD is 210~255 degree. Take this STN positive LCD for example. The view angle is 12 o’clock direction and it can be seen very clearly in the full view angle: 12 o’clock direction, 3 o’clock direction, 6 o’clock direction, 9 o’clock direction and the front side.

When it is a positive and reflective display, it can display without LED backlight; when it is a positive and transmissive/ transflective display, it can’t display without LED backlight, we have two options for the background color: grey background and blue letters, yellow-green background and black/blue letters.

When it is a negative and transmissive/ transflective display, it can’t display without LED backlight, the background is blue and the color of the letters is the color of LED backlight.

By the way, no matter it is a positive or negative display, the background color is affected by the color of LED backlight on some level. That is why the color of LED backlight is usually white.

Pacer offers an extensive range of colour TFT LCD panels from 1.8″ through the popular 3.5″ and 5.7″ sizes to 82″. Our range includes sunlight readable panels from 5.6″ to 70″, bar cut panels, and SMART TFT displays with built-in control. We offer TFT displays with high brightness, high contrast ratio, wide viewing angle, wide temperature operation, longer lamp life, and lower power consumption.

TFT displays are used extensively in many industrial, commercial and scientific applications, including ATMs, POS terminals, kiosks, security systems, lottery and gambling gaming machines, medical equipment, factory automation, digital advertisement signage, transportation information, and marine equipment.

TFT technology is being used to replace Mono LCD in many applications, and Raystar Optronics now offers a 5.2″ TFT module designed specifically to fit the footprint of the industry standard RG24064-series 240×64 mono graphic STN LCD. The RFS520A can replace traditional STN displays of 8×2 or 16×2 format as it shares the same 16 pin footprint.

Our TFT modules are fully supported with a variety of options including wide operating temperatures, high brightness and contrast, built-in DC-DC and temperature compensation circuitry and most with white LED backlights. Resistive Touchscreens and Projected Capacitive Touchscreens are available for most models. Many panels can be configured as a kit – see our Interface Kits page for more details.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT – Mitsubishi has decided to end production of TFT-LCD modules, as the company is no longer able to maintain the products’ competitiveness after significant price falls in the global market. Production of TFT-LCD modules is scheduled to end in June 2022 with a Last Time Buy date of June 2021. Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss last time buy or identification of suitable alternative displays.

Raystar is a professional TFT (Thin Film Transistor) module manufacturer. Whether you need a TFT display with control board, high brightness, wide viewing angle, monochrome or bar type, we have TFT active matrix display models for you to choose from.

LITEMAX® Industrial Display solution provide a wide range of reliable displays from 5.7″ to 85″ including LCD panel modules, open frame LCD displays, outdoor displays, and panel mount monitors. LITEMAX have developed and focused on LCD display technologies such as high brightness technology, optical bonding solutions, and color enhancement technology that bring more add-on value to enhance their products.

LCD is the abbreviation for liquid crystal display. An LCD basically consists of two glass plates with a special liquid between them. The special attribute of this liquid is that it rotates or “twists” the plane of polarized light. This effect is influenced by the creation of an electrical field. The glass plates are thus each coated with a very thin metallic film. To obtain polarized light, you apply a polarization foil, the polarizer, to the bottom glass plate. Another foil must be applied to the bottom glass plate, but this time with a plane of polarization twisted by 90°. This is referred to as the analyzer.

In the idle state, the liquid twists the plane of polarization of the incoming light by 90° so that it can pass the analyzer unhindered. The LCD is thus transparent. If a specific voltage is applied to the metallic film coating, the crystals rotate in the liquid. This twists the plane of polarization of the light by another 90°, for example: The analyzer prevents the light getting through, and the LCD thus becomes opaque.TN, STN, FSTN, blue mode, yellow-green mode

Liquids that twist the plane of polarized light by 90° are referred to as TN (Twisted Nematic). STN (Super Twisted Nematic) liquids twist the plane of polarized light by at least 180°. This gives the display improved contrast. However, this technology does color the display to a certain extent. The most common colors are referred to as yellow-green and blue mode. There is also a gray mode, which in practice is more blue than gray, however.

In order to counteract the undesired color effect, the FSTN technology uses an additional foil on the outer side, but this causes a loss of light and means that this technology is only effective with lit displays.

However, the different colors occur only in displays that are either not lit or that are lit with white light. If there is any color in the lighting (e.g. yellow-green LED lighting), it overrides the color of the display. A blue-mode LCD with yellow-green LED lighting will always appear yellow-green.Static or multiplex driving method

Small displays with a small viewing area are generally statically driven. Static displays have the best contrast and the largest possible angle of view. The TN technology fulfills its purpose to the full here (black and white display, reasonably priced). The bigger displays get, however, the more lines become necessary in static operation (e.g. graphics 128x64=8192 segments =8192 lines). Since there is not enough space on either the display or a driver IC for so many lines, multiplexing is used. The display is thus divided up into rows and columns, and there is a segment at each intersection (128+64=192 lines). Scanning takes place row by row (64x, in other words a multiplex rate of 1:64). Because only 1 row is ever active at any one time, however, the contrast and the angle of view suffer the higher the multiplex rate becomes. This makes it essential to use STN.Angle of view 6°°/12°°

Every LCD has a preferred angle of view at which the contrast of the display is at its optimum. Most displays are produced for the 6°° angle of view, which is also known as the bottom view (BV). This angle corresponds to that of a pocket calculator that is lying flat on a desktop.

12°° displays (top view, TV) are best built into a table-top unit. All displays can be read vertically from the front.Reflective, transflective, transmissive

However, the lighting also determines the optical impression made by the display, and the display mode; blue or yellow-green – does not always have an influence. Below you can see the EAP162-3N display with different types of lighting by way of example:Lighting

Standard LCDs have a temperature range of 0 to +50°C. High-temperature displays are designed for operation in the range from -20 to +70°C. In this case, however, additional supply voltage is generally required. Since the contrast of any LCD is dependent on the temperature, a special temperature-compensation circuit is needed in order to use the entire temperature range, and this is particularly true for high-temperature displays (-20 to +70°C). Manual adjustment is possible but rather impractical for the user.

However, the storage temperature of a display should never be exceeded under any circumstances. An excessively high temperature can destroy the display very quickly. Direct exposure to the sun, for example, can destroy an LCD: This is because an LCD becomes darker (in positive mode) as it gets hotter. As it gets darker, it absorbs more light and converts it to heat. As a result, the display becomes even hotter and darker... In this way, temperatures of over 100°C can quickly be reached.Dot-matrix, graphics and 7-segment displays

The first LCDs were 7-segment displays, and they are still found today in simple pocket calculators and digital watches. 7 segments allow all of the digits from 0 to 9 to be displayed.

Text displays require what is known as a dot matrix, an area consisting of 5x7=35 dots, in order to display all of the letters in the alphabet as well as various special characters. Graphics displays have a similar structure to text displays. In this case, however, there are no spaces between the lines and characters.Display drivers and controllers

The semiconductor industry now offers a very large range of LCD drivers. We generally distinguish between pure display drivers without intelligence of their own, controllers with a display memory and possibly a character set, and micro-controllers with integrated LC drivers.

Pure display drivers work in a similar way to a shift register. They generally have a serial input. They require an external pulse, and in multiplex operation with high frequency they require new display data continuously in order to achieve a refresh frequency that is as high as possible (MSM5219, UPD7225, HD44100, LC7942, etc.). An example of a genuine controller is theHD44780 for dot-matrix displays: Once it has received the ASCII code, the controller manages its character set, memory and multiplexing entirely on its own. The following controllers are widely used for graphics displays: HD61202/3, HD61830, SED1520, SED1330, T6963.

Many ask themselves, "What is the difference between an LCD display and a TFT-display?" or "What is the difference between a TFT and an OLED display?". Here are these 3 sometimes extremely different display technologies briefly explained. LCD vs. TFT vs. OLED (comparison).

- The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is a passive display technology. The operation and the structure are described above. Passive means that an LCD can only darken or let out light. So it always depends on ambient light or a backlight. This can be an advantage because the power consumption of a LCD display is very, very low. Sometimes even less than the accumulated power consumption of an E-paper display, which in static operation requires absolutely no energy to maintain the content. To change the contents, however, a relatively large amount of power is required for an E-paper display.

LCDs can also be reflective, so they reflect incident light and are therefore legible even at maximum brightness (sunlight, surgical lighting). Compared to TFT and also OLED, they have an unbeatable advantage in terms of readability and power consumption :; the "formula" is: Sunlight = LCD.

- A TFT-display (of Thin-Film Transistor) is usually a color display (RGB). From the construction and the technology it corresponds to the LCD. It is also passive, so it needs a backlight. This is in any case necessary except for a few, very expensive constructions. However, a TFT needs much more light than the monochrome relatives, because the additional structures on the glass as well as the additional color filters "swallow" light. So TFTs are not particularly energy-efficient, but can display in color and at the same time the resolution is much higher.

- OLED displays (by Organic-Light-Emitting-Diode) are as the name implies active displays - every pixel or sign generates light. This achieves an extremely wide viewing angle and high contrast values. The power consumption is dependent on the display content. Here OLEDs to TFTs and LCDs differ significantly, which have a nearly constant power consumption even with different display contents. Unfortunately, the efficiency of converting the electric current into light energy is still very poor. This means that the power consumption of OLEDs with normal content is sometimes higher than that of a TFT with the same size. Colored OLEDs are increasingly used in consumer devices, but for the industry, due to their availability and lifetime, currently only monochrome displays are suitable (usually in yellow color).

In the reaction time, the OLEDs beat each TFT and LCD by worlds. Trise and Tfall are about 10μs, which would correspond to a theoretical refresh rate of 50,000 Hz. Possibly an advantage in very special applications.

Finally the question "What is better, LCD, OLED or TFT?" Due to the physical differences you can not answer that blanket. Depending on the application, there are pros and cons to each individual technology. In addition to the above differences, there are many more details in the design and construction that need to be individually illuminated for each device. Write us an e-mail or call us: we have specialists with some 20- and 30-year experience. We are happy to compare different displays together with you.AACS and IPS technology