Monochrome unlighted (transparent) custom LCD screen

Mar 28, 2007 2 Replies

Greetings,



My name is Patrick Dorion, executive assistant for Robert Lauzon, Designer, in Montreal, QC, CA.



I have a background in customer care, technical support, systems administration, multimedia integration, and design. I am currently an undergraduate student in pure and applied mathematics at the University of Quebec in Montreal.



Many times, going to Radio Shack (The Source by Circuit City), I saw those transparent LCD alarm clocks since I was a kid. To my current understanding, the concept lies on polarized glass panes with a liquid crystal and a transparent conducting layer. Upon circuit completion, the crystal, a 0° to 90° helix straightens allowing light to pass through the polarized glass and the uncharged crystal. It's a beautiful binary thing, brings a tear to my eye.



My problem resides in the fact that I would like to have a "transparent monochrome screen" to monitor activity from various sources, and possibly even receive input from an integrated control interface.



However I do not know of a manufacturer that would be able to provide me with a custom size and resolution screen ready to be connected to some sort of control device nor a company that would sell the required components separately in order for me to assemble the screen myself, if that is possible. I imagine it requires specialized equipment to make a screen like that, vacuuming or whatever, and I imagine that companies out there do that sort of work. The best I was able to find was companies selling LCD screens that are complete, with colour filters and lighting and all, framed and ready to be integrated in a normal setting (laptop, fridge, whatever), but no luck finding companies underneath that distribution level.



I would appreciate any help, both technical in the realization of my project and in letting me know of any companies dealing with such technologies or able to provide me with a low-cost solution for my small scale project.


I thank you very much for your attention and hope to handle many replies.


Patrick Dorion


try these folks:

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Here in Northeast Ohio (where the lcd was invented, and much research still occurs) we have a few small producers who can do what you want, only it wont be cheap. get a commecial device and lean how to drive it, then rip the reflective layer off the back. . Note a one off in the LCD world is 10 to 100 pieces.

BTW, your post was great for a business major, but would be passed over by most engineers, too much personal details and not enough specifications. I'm assuming you want a transmissive LCD to play with, without the backlight or reflector for a transflector display. These will be hard to read and have low contrast in many situations and be nearly useless outdoors if the characters are small.

Steve Roberts

own opinions only, not those of the university.

Patrick -- Sounds like what you want is NOT a character LCD display, but rather a transparent teleprompter.

I don't know who makes them off hand, but I know where you can find out. Go search the NAB website at:

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They have a big convention next month in Las Vegas (US), and if you check the Exhibitor listings, I'm sure there will be a category for teleprompters.

My guess is these take a video input too, and not just text from a serial port. You might peek around a bit to see if there are similar technologies that would get the job done for you. Good luck.

-mpm

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