Nowadays, display screens are everywhere. Do you remember the TV or computer monitor from 20 years ago? They are square, huge and heavy. Now let us look at the flat, thin and light screen in front of you. Have you ever wondered why there is such a big difference?

In fact, the monitor 20 years ago was a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor, which required a lot of space to run internal components. And now the screen in front of you is an LCD screen, or LCD liquid crystal display.

What is an LCD screen? As mentioned above, LCD is an abbreviation for Liquid Crystal Display. It is a brand-new display technology that takes advantage of the photo-electric properties of liquid crystals. Liquid crystal is a state of matter with both liquid and solid crystal characteristics. It does not emit light by itself, but it allows light to pass through in a specific direction perfectly. At the same time, the liquid crystal molecules will rotate under the influence of the electric field, and then the light passing through it will also rotate. In other words, liquid crystal can become a light switch, which is the key to liquid crystal display technology.

What are the types of LCD screens? LCD has been developed for decades, basically there are TN liquid crystal panels, STN liquid crystal panels and TFT liquid crystal panels.

TN LCD panel. TN means Twisted Nematic. This is an old-fashioned and simple technique that can only display white and black, and is used for small objects such as calculators.

STN LCD panel. STN is the abbreviation of Super-twisted Nematic. The liquid crystals in STN LCDs rotate more angles than TN LCDs and have different electrical characteristics, enabling STN LCD panels to display more information. There are many improved versions of STN LCD, such as DSTN LCD (dual layer) and CSTN LCD (color). STN LCD panels were used in many early mobile phones, computers and outdoor equipment.

TFT LCD panel. TFT refers to Thin Film Transistor (thin film transistor). It is the latest generation of LCD technology and has been applied to all display scenarios, including display fields such as electronic equipment, car screens, and industrial machines. When you see the word "transistor", you may realize that there are integrated circuits in TFT LCD panels. This is correct, and it is also the secret of the advantages of TFT LCD screens with high resolution and full-color display.

At present, TFT liquid crystal panels on the market are the mainstream of the LCD screen market, and are widely used in liquid crystal display fields such as smart home appliances, medical displays, automotive touch controls, and industrial displays.