FEATURE ARTICLE
Modifying Light
Ubiquitous today, liquid-crystal displays are the outgrowth of more than a century of experimentation and development
Joseph Castellano
From colorful cell-phone screens to large flat-panel televisions and
electronic billboards, it's impossible to get away from
liquid-crystal displays these days. But until relatively recently,
outside of the odd calculator or clock screen, LCDs were scarcely
used. Castellano, who spent many years as a chemist involved in
early LCD development at RCA Laboratories, traces the history of the
technology. He describes several of the breakthroughs that have
allowed LCDs to become the versatile devices they are today, along
with engineering advances that enabled the screens to inexpensively
reach large size in recent years, leading to their ubiquity.
Castellano details some of the challenges still facing LCD research.
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