LCD: Future Prospects and Impact on Human Lifestyle

Summary form only given. Displays serve as the main interface between "humans", who are at the center of information society, and "machines", or information processing systems. Displays have over 100 years of history, starting from the invention of the CRT (cathode ray tube) in 1897. After the CRT, several other types of display devices, including LCD, PDP, FED, and OLED displays, were developed and commercialized. Although liquid crystal material was discovered 150 years ago, LCDs have been under development for only 30 years, and TFT-LCD, which is now the mainstream display device, has been undergoing commercialization for only 20 years. In the evolution of the information society, TFT-LCD has been the most successful display device because of its ability to provide timely and cost-effective display performance and functionality. Among the many display technologies, only TFT- LCD technology enables manufacture of displays spanning from 1 inch to over 100 inches diagonal size. This scalability has contributed to an expansion of applications. The technological advantages of LCDs ensure they maintain a market leading position, while also offering promise of continued expansion of displays into new applications. Looking back on the past ten years, there have been three great "waves" in the TFT-LCD industry. These are the success of the notebook PC in the late 90s, the replacement of CRT monitors by LCDs after 2000, and the recent rapid growth of large size LCD-TVs. Ubiquitous applications result in display devices becoming ever more important in our lives. The TFT-LCD industry is now preparing for the 4^th wave, which is enormous compared to the previous waves. LCD technology evolution and continuous innovation were stimulated by new demand as the technology moves toward "anytime, any where, anysize" ubiquity.