The history of liquid-crystal display and its industry

Abstract

Liquid-crystal display (LCD) was invented in 1964 at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, NJ. In 1970, twisted-nematic (TN) mode of operation was discovered, which gave LCD the first commercial success. The LCD manufacturers supplied small-size displays to portable products such as digital watches and pocket calculators. In 1988, Sharp Corporation demonstrated a 14-in. active-matrix full-color full-motion display using a TFT (thin-film-transistor) array. Observing this, Japan launched a true LCD industry. Large-size displays were first supplied to personal computers and then to television receivers. In the second half of 1990s, the industry has moved to Korea and Taiwan.