This paper describes the history and science behind the development of modern flat-panel displays, and assesses future trends. Electronic displays are an important feature of modern life. For many years the cathode ray tube, an engineering marvel, was universal, but its shape was cumbersome and its operating voltage too high. The need for a flat-panel display, working at a low voltage, became imperative, and much research has been applied to this need. Any versatile flat-panel display will exploit an electro-optical effect, a transparent conductor and an addressing system to deliver data locally. The first need is to convert an electrical signal into a visible change. Two methods are available, the first giving emission of light, the second modulating ambient illumination. The most useful light-emitting media are semiconductors, historically exploiting III–V or II–VI compounds, but more recently organic or polymer semiconductors. Another possible effect uses gas plasma discharges. The modulating, or subtractive, effects that have been studied include liquid crystals, electrophoresis, electrowetting and electrochromism.
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