LCD display screens are everywhere. You probably own one or more devices with an LCD display screen at home and work. This includes your TV, computer monitor, watches, clocks, smartphones, and even calculators.

But have you ever wondered about how your LCD screen works, its lifespan, components, and how it holds up to other emerging display technologies today?

Knowing all these things about your LCD display lets you appreciate your screen all the more. Caring for your device becomes easier when you’re armed with this knowledge.

Without further ado, here are the basic things you need to know about LCD display.

How Does LCD Display Screens Work?

LCD screens make use of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology. The screen is embedded with liquid crystals, a substance that has properties in between a conventional liquid and a solid crystal. Liquid crystals can flow, but their molecules carry a crystal-like solid orientation.

Liquid crystals are responsible for producing an image flashed onto the LCD screen. They don’t emit light, though. Backlights are used to illuminate these crystals.

A display screen is made up of several tiny color blocks called pixels. The term is a portmanteau of “picture” and “element”, denoting pixels as little elements making up an entire screen picture. A screen is typically made up of millions of pixels.

Every pixel on the display screen is made up of red, blue, and green light. These lights can be quickly turned on or off to create an overall moving picture or image.

Now, in LCD displays, pixels are regulated by using liquid crystals for rotating polarized light. Polarized light denotes light waves with vibrations occurring in a single plane. In LCDs, this is achieved by using polarized layers.

Each pixel has polarizing filters on both its front and back. Tiny nematic (twisted) liquid crystals are placed in between these filters. The liquid crystals can be switched on or off electronically through tiny electronic transistors.

When the liquid crystal is turned off, electricity controlled by the transistor stops flowing. The pixel is then turned on, brightening up due to the 90-degree twisting of the nematic liquid crystal. This allows light to pass through both polarizing filters on the pixel, illuminating the pixel by letting light pass through.

When the liquid crystal is turned on, electricity flows through the nematic liquid crystals. They completely straighten out from their twisted state. The polarizing filter in front of the liquid crystal blocks out the light, resulting in the pixel turning off and becoming dark.

A single LCD contains millions of pixels, nematic liquid crystals, polarizing filters, and transistors. They all work together to create images on the screen.