A new type of liquid crystal display (LCD) went on show in Tokyo this week which its developers claim is the largest yet available. It is also unique in that it retains its picture when the power is turned off. Canon, the Japanese camera and photocopier company which developed it, says the display could be used for flat televisions that can be hung on the wall. The company is also showing a prototype version with 16 colours.
Canon's ferroelectric LCD (FLCD) is 38 centimetres across the diagonal of the monochrome screen, with 960 by 1312 picture elements, or pixels. Within five years the company expects to be making colour screens with 1280 by 1024 pixels - about the same quality as high definition television.
Conventional and ferroelectric LCDs have the same basic structure. The liquid crystal is sandwiched between two sheets of glass, forming a cell. Either side of this ...
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