High Efficiency Transflective Nematic LC Cell Using Three Director States

A new transflective nematic liquid crystal display is presented. Unlike other transflective cells, almost the entire device area is potentially available for either transmission of backlighting or reflection of ambient illumination, providing efficient use of available light for the desired application. The single cell-gap device does not require patterned alignment layers or a patterned retarder but employs planar and interdigitated electrodes. The number of electrical connections required makes the cell most suitable for low information content displays. Simulations are used to make comparisons with existing dual-gap and single-gap patterned alignment designs.