Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
B.Padmasri
IV B.Tech, ECE
E-Mail: bpadmasri91@gmail.com
ABSTRACT: 1. INTRODUCTION:
Todays mobile devices are a far cry from
Wireless communications are an
the devices of 20 or even 5 years ago. Gone
essential and continuously expanding part of
are the days of carrying a separate camera,
modern life. Smart phones presents a
phone, music player and PDA todays
number of challenging requirements on the
mobile devices range from cell phones to
display module, such as low power
smart phones to PC tablets and each
consumption, video quality speed, and
incorporates these functions into one
viewability in a broad range of lighting
multipurpose device for its respective
conditions. As clear as an image on paper,
market segment. As computer technology
IMOD displays can be viewed in any
and multimedia converge, the industry has
lighting condition including direct sunlight.
witnessed a dramatic change in how
Two to three times as bright as other
consumers view their mobile devices.
technology. The IMOD displays minimize
Todays indispensable tools bring users
eye strain, and their wide viewing cones are
information and entertainment. But as
free of the inversion effects that plague
functionality increases and consumers use
polarization-based displays. Qualcomms
their devices for more than just making and
new media FLO technology will enable user
receiving calls or sending and receiving
to watch high performance video on portable
email, consumers demand more including
device and applications such as this need a
extended battery life and superior
display offering superior viewability and
viewability in all environmental conditions
less power consumption.
in short, a convergent device. The key to
such improvements is the display.
Todays liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) 2. MOBILE DISPLAY
consume significant power, suffer from poor TECHNOLOGIES:
viewability in direct sunlight and do not Ink and paper are arguably the de facto
offer convergent capabilities. standard for information display. Developed
Electrophoretic display, found primarily in over 5,000 years ago. Display technologies,
e-readers, offer low power, for reading at on the other hand, are relatively new. The
least, and outdoor viewability, but struggle CRT was developed less than 100 years ago
with color and refresh rates. A revolutionary and the increasingly popular flat-panel
display technology, however, makes all of display less than 40 years ago. For some
this possible. time now, engineers have been working to
create a display technology capable of
Interferometric Modulator (IMOD) providing a paper-like reading experience,
technology is the revolutionary technology not only with regards to superior
found in Qualcomms mirasol displays. viewability, but also with respect to cost,
Based upon micro-electro-mechanical power and ease of manufacture. Display
systems. The Interferometric Modulator technologies such as backlit LCDs,
(IMOD) is an electrically switched light reflective LCDs, electroluminescent (EL)
modulator comprising a micro-machined displays, organic light-emitting diodes
cavity that is switched on and off using (OLED) and electrophoretic displays (EPD)
driver ICs similar to those used to address were all steps in this direction. Qualcomms
LCDs. An IMOD based reflective flat panel mirasol displays, based on industry-proven
display can comprise hundreds of thousands MEMS technology, promise to take the
of individually addressable IMOD elements. quest for paper-like displays to a new level.
IMOD displays represent one of the largest
A wide variety of display
examples of a micro electro mechanical
technologies are aiming to capture the key
systems (MEMS) based device. In one state
characteristics of ink and paper. In this
an IMOD reflects light at a specific
section we will compare them, with
wavelength and gives pure, bright colors
particular emphasis on energy consumption
while in a second state it absorbs incident
and readability.
light and appears black to the viewer.
2.1 Emissive/Tran missive Displays material on top of the reflective substrate so
as to modulate the ambient light reflecting
Displays are classified as one of three types:
off the reflective substrate. Since there is no
emissive/transmissive, reflective or
backlight in reflective displays, they
transflective. A transmissive LCD consists
consume substantially less power than
of two transmissive substrates between
emissive displays. However, since the
which the liquid-crystal material resides. By
material providing modulation is liquid-
placing a backlight underneath one of the
crystal, the majority of these types of
substrates and by applying a voltage to the
displays must constantly be refreshed or the
liquid-crystal material the light reaching the
displayed image will be lost. So far, most
observer can be modulated so as to make the
portable devices employing reflective
display pixel appear bright or dark. A
displays are the continuous refresh type.
display can also directly emit light, as in the
case of an OLED display, whose active 2.3 Transflective Displays:
display material emits light. In the case of an
Transflective displays are a hybrid of
LCD, a constant source of power is required
emissive and reflective display technologies.
to both modulate the liquid-crystal material
Transflective displays were engineered to
and to power the backlight. An LCD
overcome the shortcomings of emissive
requires constant refreshing at least sixty
displays, namely the backlights high power
times per second in order to prevent the
consumption, and the shortcomings of
liquid-crystal material from transitioning to
reflective displays, such as poor image
a different modulation state, resulting in
quality at low ambient light levels.
image degradation or flicker. Such is also
Transflective displays employ a partially
the case with OLED and EPD constant
transmissive mirror as the secondary
power must be provided to the light-emitting
substrate, as well as a traditional backlight.
materials in order to prevent screen flicker.
In low light situations, the device operates as
2.2 Reflective display: a transmissive display, employing the
backlight. In high ambient light conditions,
In a reflective display, one of the substrates
the backlight turns off and the display
found in a transmissive display is replaced
functions as a reflective display.
with a reflective substrate. Reflective
displays usually employ liquid-crystal
A transflective display is a compromise and and the thin films on the glass, the
its image quality is generally subpar. In membrane experiences electrostatic
sunlight they are not as bright as purely attraction and is drawn towards the glass.
reflective displays, while indoors they are This state is called the collapsed state and
not as bright as emissive displays. the pixel appears black as the light entering
Regardless, they offer a compromise for is shifted to the UV spectrum. The
applications where a wide variety of lighting application of a lower voltage level returns
conditions are seen and transflective the membrane to the original position, called
displays are widely used in the portable the open state. In this state the pixel appears
device market. bright and colored. This color is generated
by interference of light, a process which is
3. BASIC STRUCTURE OF IMOD
much more efficient than using color filters.
PIXEL
The display constructed of IMOD
pixels in Figure 1 will be bichrome that is, it
can display any two colors. Full-color
versions of IMOD displays, as shown in
Figure 8, will be brought to market after the
initial bichrome displays. They will use the
same operating principle as bichrome
displays, but will consist of grids of red,
green and blue color sub pixels that together
can produce full color using spatial
dithering. Spatial dithering divides a given
Fig 1: Basic Structure of an IMOD Pixel sub pixel into many smaller addressable
Figure 1 illustrates the basic elements, and drives the individual elements
structure of an IMOD pixel. The pixel separately in order to obtain gray levels
consists of a glass substrate which is coated
with thin films. Beneath the glass is a
reflective conductive membrane which is
separated from the glass by a thin air gap.
When a voltage is applied to the membrane
At the most basic level, a mirasol display is
an optically resonant cavity similar to a
Fabry-Perot etalon. The device consists of a
self-supporting deformable reflective
membrane and a thin-film stack (each of
which acts as one mirror of an optically
resonant cavity), both residing on a
transparent substrate.
4.1 Bistability
One of the key advantages of the
mirasol displays design is its bistable
nature, which allows for near-zero power
usage in situations where the display image
is unchanged. This means that mirasol
displays benefit from considerable power
Figure 4. Hysteresis Effect in an IMOD
savings, especially compared to displays that
Pixel
The membrane is held in the open extent that the display light emission is
state by applying a voltage Vbias. By washed out.
applying a short write voltage pulse, the
It should be noted that in very dark
membrane will collapse and stay in that state
environments all displays (including
as the voltage returns to Vbias levels. In
newsprint) will need supplemental lighting,
order to return to the open state, a short
and the mirasol display, because of its high
negative unwrite pulse (Vunwrite) is
reflectivity, utilizes a very low power front
applied, causing the membrane to snap back
light in extremely dim conditions. Figure 5
into the open state.
clearly illustrates the consistent viewing
5. SUNLIGHT VIEWABILITY-THE quality that would be available from a
ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A mirasol display versus the viewing quality
DISPLAY. expected from a TFTLCD. The results are
qualitatively clear to the viewer, but they
The mirasol displays remarkable
can be expressed quantitatively by the
abilities to conserve energy, enable new
decreasing JND count indicated below the
applications, provide freedom to industrial
TFTLCD images and the constant JND
designers, and enhance revenue streams
count indicated below the mirasol display
compliment the displays fundamental
images.
ability to be viewed in direct sunlight,
indeed to be consistently viewed in almost
any environment, without degradation of
contrast ratio or color depth.