lcd screen in sunlight factory

Have you ever been at the car wash in the late afternoon, struggling to read the instructions on the display at the pay kiosk? That may be because it was not a sunlight-readable LCD display.

Any character or graphic LCD (not TFT, we will get to that in a bit) that is “positive mode” will be sunlight readable. Positive mode displays will have dark letters on a light background.

However, where regular (transmissive) TFT modules wash out in direct sunlight, a transflective TFT will use the sun to be more visible in brighter conditions.

For any questions about Crystalfontz LCD product lines, what LCD is the best choice for your application, or any other questions (technical or availability), please contact our knowledgeable and friendly support staff via email, phone, or chat.

There are more and more TFT displays used in outdoor applications, such as automobile display, digital signage and kiosks. High ambient light in outdoor environment often causes wash-out image and renders the screen not readable. Readability & sustainability of TFT  display under direct sunlight is becoming vital. Topway Display has been developing sunlight readable LCD display solution for years. The company understands the ins and outs of sunlight readable TFT LCD.

Visibility is the ease with which a viewer can detect an object, or in more scientific term: the relationship between luminance contrast and human eye’s threshold. Therefore, the higher an object’s contrast is, the better is its visibility.

For an LCD to be readable in outdoor environment with very bright ambient light, the LCD screen’s brightness needs to exceed the intensity of light that is reflected from the display surface. To be comfortably viewed by human eyes, the LCD’s brightness needs to exceed its reflected light by a factor of 2.5 at minimum. Naturally, to make an LCD sunlight readable, we can work on two areas, increasing brightness or reducing reflectance.

On a clear day in direct sunlight, the ambient brightness is about 6000 cd/m2. And a typical TFT LCD with touch screen reflects about 14% of ambient light, which is around 840 cd/m2. These days, most LCD displays use LED backlight as light source. It is not too difficult to increase an LCD’s brightness to 800 ~ 1000 Nits, to overpower the bright reflected sunlight. Thus, you have a sunlight readable TFT LCD.

However, this method requires more backlight LEDs and/or higher driving current. The drawbacks are high power consumption, more heat dissipation, increased product size and shorter LED backlight lifespan. Apparently, increasing backlight to make TFT LCD sunlight-readable is not a very good solution.

Transflective TFT LCD is a TFT LCD with both transmissive and reflective characteristics. A partially reflective mirror layer is added between LCD and backlight. This change turns part of the reflected ambient light into LCD’s light source, increasing the TFT display’s brightness. However, transflective TFT LCD is more expensive than transmissive one. At the same time, the partially reflective mirror layer will block some of the backlight, making it not ideal in indoor or low ambient light environment.

What causes light reflection? When light traveling in one transparent medium encounters a boundary with another transparent medium, a portion of the light bounces off the border. Through the simplest version of Fresnel’s equation, we can calculate the amount of reflected light.

The total reflectance on a TFT LCD with touch panel is the sum of reflected light on any interface where two materials meet. As an example, between polarizer and display glass, the difference in index of refractions for the two materials is very small, around 0.1. So the reflected light on this interface is only 0.1%. As Fresnel’s equation points out, we should focus reflection reduction on air interfaces. For air, its index of refraction is 1; for glass, it is 1.5. And that results in a reflectance of 4.5%. Therefore, the three air interfaces contribute majority of TFT LCD’s reflectance, at about 13%.

The quick and easiest thing we can do to reduce air-glass interface reflectance is to use an Anti-Reflection and Anti-Glare film or apply AR coating. An external film with AR properties not only reduces reflected light, but also brings other benefits.

For food industry application, shattered glass is a serious problem. An LCD screen with external film solves this issue nicely. As for automotive applications, in an accident, broken LCD with top AR film won’t produce sharp edge glass that could harms auto occupant. Nevertheless, a top film always reduces TFT LCD’s surface hardness. And it is susceptible to scratches. On the other hand, AR coating retains LCD’s hardness and touch performance. But it comes with a bigger price tag.

Another quick and easy way to tackle reflectance is to affix a linear polarizer on the top of TFT screen. When ambient light gets to the top polarizer, only half of the light passes through. Which results in reflection light cutting to half. This is a very low cost way to increase TFT LCD’s contrast, such that making it more sunlight readable.

Laminating a circular polarizer in TFT LCD will get rid of a lot of reflectance. That is because when ambient light passes through circular polarizer it gets circularly polarized. And when it is reflected, the polarization direction flips by 180 degrees. So when reflected light comes back to the circular polarizer, nothing goes through to viewer’s eyes.

This method is very effective for an LCD display with resistive touch panel. We know resistive touch LCD has two air gaps: air gap between two ITO layers and air gap between touch panel and LCD display. Reflectance caused by the two air gaps is very high. Applying circular polarizer blocks off most of the reflected light, and makes the LCD display sunlight readable.

The disadvantage of such solution is its cost. Since we need not only a circular polarizer, but also a retarder film on the top of LCD display, making sure light originates from within LCD is not blocked by external circular polarizer.

Add AR films on both interfaces of internal air gap. The add-ons can reduce this area’s reflection from 8.5% to 2%. And since the AR films are not outside facing, they are much cheaper than the one used outside. Keeping the air gap also retains the ease of service, in case either touch panel or LCD display needs to be repaired.

The most effective way is to eliminate air gap totally, by using optical bonding. In plain language, we fill air gap with special optical adhesive, to smooth out the area’s refraction index differences. Such that reflectance caused by internal air gap drops from 8.5% to 0.5%. Optical bonding is expensive but effective way to improve TFT LCD sunlight readability. It enhances durability and resistance to impact. Moreover, no air gap means no moisture condensation and fogging.

There are many ways to make TFT LCDsunlight readable. They all have their own pros and cons. With 20+ years" LCD design and manufacturing experience, Topway knows how to create the best sunlight readable TFT LCD for challenging environments. Leave us a message and let"s start the conversation of creating suitable sunlight readable TFT LCD for your project.

degrees. So, in this range we are safe, we can go very low with the temperature, and it will not become solid, and we can go very high with the temperature up to 110 degrees and it will not become isotropic.

Maybe you have even seen some displays that were used outdoors and sometimes they become black. We call that the blackening effect. If they become black, that means the crystals become isotropic. You can sometimes see that the part of the display is black or sometimes the whole display becomes black, depending on the temperature. The good thing is that it is not damaging the display, so once the temperature drops it goes back to the nematic phase and the display is working again, but in a high temperature you cannot see anything on the display, it is not working.

On the picture above, we have an example from a data sheet of a display with high temperatures. As we said it’s a liquid crystal from -40 to +110 degrees, and this is the latest technology. But you need to be careful! This is only about the surface of a display, the TFT glass itself. If we have the sunlight going to the display it can increase the temperature of the whole display as a module.

For the whole display module, the operating temperature range can be as low as 0 to +50 degrees or -20 to 70 degrees. We can have two operating temperatures, that means if we use the display outdoors, we are safe from the sunlight, the surface of the display can go very high, but we need to control the ambient temperature inside the display housing to not go too high. +50 or +70 will be maximum, usually we need fans to remove the heat from inside. Typically, in our case we have a computer inside and we have more devices that cannot work at high temperatures like +100 degrees, so we control the temperature anyway. So, the temperature cannot be too high inside and for sure cannot be that high as a liquid crystal itself can withstand, which is +110 degrees.

And that will be all in this article about contrast, brightness, and temperatures. Just one more thing: if you are planning on buying a laptop today, you can find brightness in the specification. Look at this number because this will determine how good your laptop will be outdoors. There are laptops on the market today that will have 1000 candelas or even more. If you are looking for a new device my recommendation also goes for mobile phones. Low brightness mobile phones can have 300, maybe 500 candelas, but nowadays the standard will be around 1000 candelas, but there are phones on the market that already have 1500 or even 1800 candelas. That means if you are in the sunlight you will still be able to see the image clearly. Of course, the battery will be drained faster, but sometimes it is not so important, maybe you just want to check something quickly, to read something and you want to have a clear image just be aware that this number is pretty important when you buy new devices!

It is a complex recipe that requires the right balance of key ingredients that include enhanced backlight, optimized internal film stack, front coverglass with correct index matched coatings all integrated into the ideal host LCD panel for the application.

Q-Vio began development of sunlight readable displays over a decade ago and we have continued to push the daylight readable display performance envelop to this day. We provide the highest quality outdoor imaging with the ability to tailor our display technology to your specific requirements. We feature Full HD small size models for portable applications, 4:3 aspect ratio long life panels for industrial, marine and military applications and larger full HD to 4K panels for outdoor digital signage.

For high performance display technology that can stand-up to the brightest sunlight conditions, look no further. Introducing Q-Vio’s family of sunlight readable displays ranging in size from 5”- 32” They “beat the daylight out of sunlight” with ultra bright, easy-to-read displays, even in direct sunlight. Built in a Class 1000 clean-room, these low power, RoHS compliant LED backlit displays offer superior uniformity and outstanding thermal management for fan-less operation.

With original factory display footprint, our high-bright display panels offer an easy upgrade path to sunlight readability. These low power displays are perfect for a wide range of products where size, weight, power and sharp readability in bright sunlight are essential. Outdoor Kiosks, Marine Console monitors, Aviation, monitors for industrial Machinery and Military Display Equipment are just a few of the many applications that can benefit from the power and brightness of Q-Vios truly sunlight readable displays.

To power and control the custom LED backlights, Q-Vio has developed a RoHS compliant LED driver board family that is specifically designed to power up the displays. Their wide dimming range offers a stable, uniform brightness from the extreme low end through true sunlight readable levels.

Tru-Vu Monitors Inc., a supplier of industrial-grade LCD monitors and touchscreens, has released a 21.5-inch waterproof sunlight readable LCD display designed to operate in direct, bright sunlight or in other high ambient light conditions, according to a press release. Features of the SRMW-21.5Z monitors include:1920 by 1080 full HD resolution and 1,000 nits of brightness, four times brighter than a standard monitor or TV.

Before answering the questions below, it would be helpful to provide a simple overview of how a TFT LCD works. Every monitor or touchscreen computer includes an LCD panel. The LCD panel is the component that you are viewing at this very moment. This panel includes a thin layer of TFT LCD pixels, where each pixel includes a red, blue, and green rectangle. You can actually see the individual pixels on a display if you place a drop of water on it. The drop will magnify the pixel area and reveal a pixel with a red, blue, and green rectangle. Each red, blue, and green rectangle is a small lens that can be adjusted to allow varying amounts of light to pass through. The colors you see on your screen are determined by how much light is passing through each adjustable red, green, and blue element of each pixel.

The light that you see does not come from the pixels themselves, but from the backlight behind the pixels, which is a series of carefully placed LEDs that emit white light that projects through the LCD pixels. You cannot see the individual backlight LEDs when you look at your monitor, because there is layer of light diffusing material between the LED backlight and the LCD pixel layer. The light diffusing material scatters the light from each individual backlight LED, so they do not show up as bright spots on your monitor.

To summarize, the three layers of an LCD panel are the TFT LCD pixel layer, the diffuser layer, and the LED backlight layer. Note that some LCDs have edge-lit backlighting, but there is no need to go into detail about this, as the same principles apply. That completes LCD panel course 101. Now, what makes a display sunlight readable?

There are two general ways to make an LCD brighter and therefore readable in sunlight. The first and simplest way is to increase the brightness of the backlight. LCD brightness is measured in Nits. Typical LCD panels have a screen brightness between 250 Nits to 450 Nits. LCD brightness of 800 Nits or higher is generally considered sunlight readable, but most sunlight readable displays are 1000 nits. Increasing the brightness of the LCD panel backlight is the most common method of making an LCD panel sunlight readable. Most of Teguar’s industrial panel PCs and touchscreen monitors are available with this type of high brightness LCD.

Another way to make an LCD sunlight readable is to change the diffuser material between the LED backlight and the LCD pixels to a “transflective” material. The transflective material is similar to reflective sunglasses or a one way window, where the shiny side is facing the LCD surface. When transflective material is used, the sunlight entering the LCD panel travels through the pixels, bounces off the transflective material, and is reflected back through the pixels to your eyes. In this case, the sunlight has much less of an impact on viewability than a traditional LCD panel, as the sunlight is reflecting back through the LCD pixels and contributing to the LCD brightness. One drawback of transflective diffuser LCDs is that they don’t allow for as much of the backlight to pass through the diffuser material, so in low light conditions the LCD does not appear as bright. Transflective diffuser LCDs are not as common as high brightness backlight LCDs.

Optical bonding improves viewability of touchscreen PCs in sunlight or other high-bright environments. In a touchscreen computer, the touchscreen sensor and the LCD panel are separate components. The touchscreen is mounted in front of the LCD surface and there is a small air gap between these two components. When sunlight passes through the touchscreen layer, some amount of the light is reflected between the LCD surface and the touchscreen; this reflection reduces LCD viewability.

Optical bonding is a process where a clear adhesive gel is placed between the LCD to the touchscreen. The gel hardens and bonds the touchscreen to the LCD to eliminate the air gap, improving contrast and clarity. Optical bonding is available on many of Teguar’s touchscreen computers and industrial monitors.

The brightness of a sunlight readable display may be overwhelming at night, when there is little or no ambient light. Most industrial computers with sunlight readable LCDs are available with an optional auto-dimming feature. With this feature, an ambient light sensor on the front bezel measures incoming light and adjusts the backlight brightness to match the current light conditions. This is typically a requirement for industrial touchscreen computers that are used in both sunlight and moonlight.

Sunlight also comes with a high amount of UV radiation that can damage the components used in touch screens. PCAP touch screens resist UV damage better than Resistive, but even a PCAP screen must be protected from too much UV exposure. Teguar computers are best suited for environments that provide some level of shade, such as a roof or overhang above the computer, or a structure that blocks the screen from direct exposure to the sun. Most outdoor computer manufactures, Teguar included, will offer a specialized shroud/hood that mounts directly to the unit to provide some level of shade.

Most of our products can handle a few hours of direct sun exposure per day, but full exposure to direct sunlight will cause damage to most touch screens in around 1 year. Contact a knowledgeable Teguar sales rep to discuss the details of your own environment and we can help determine the best solution.

Touchscreen computers in vehicles commonly require high brightness LCDs, because of the ambient sunlight coming through the windows. Sunlight readable LCDs are also used in many indoor applications surrounded by windows, such as air traffic control centers, railroad cars, marine vessels, agriculture machinery, and public kiosks.

TRU-Vu High Bright Sunlight Readable Monitors enable users to see clear, sharp video images even in direct sunlight with a bright screen.  Our high brightness screens produce at least 1,000 nits brightness. Some go up to 2,500 nits of brightness.  This makes them far brighter than standard LCD monitors.  Specifically, consumer or commercial-grade monitors typically offer only 150 to 300 nits brightness.  High brightness displays and sunlight readable touch screens will ensure crystal-clear video images even in bright sunlight. The result is better performance and bold colors in other high ambient light conditions as well. They are also available with optical bonding as monitors or touch screen displays.

In outdoor or bright conditions, it is imperative to increase the brightness of a display to ensure crisp images.  The number of nits an LCD display emits is the main factor in determining the monitor’s perceived brightness. A monitor luminance of around 200-350 nits will work well indoors.  Most LCD displays and monitors fall in this range. However, 400-700 nits would be required for use in daylight conditions. Most importantly, a Sunlight readable display requires at least 1,000 nits or more for viewing in direct, bright sunlight . These high brightness displays are available with 16:9 aspect ratio or 4:3 aspect ratio screens.  All TRU-Vu Sunlight Readable monitors and high-brightness touch screens are TAA Compliant.

Some monitors feature a sheet of glass over the LCD panel to protect it from accidental or intentional damage. However, the glass also produces unwanted glare and reflections. Internal reflections in the air gap between the glass and the LCD panel diminish image quality even further. In order to combat this, monitors are optically bonded.

Optical bondingis the process of laminating protective glass or a touch screen panel to the LCD panel with an optical-grade resin.  This completely fills the air gap between the glass and LCD panel. It not only eliminates the internal reflections, but  also increases the contrast ratio. This makes the screen appear much brighter and more viewable in bright light conditions. Optical bonding  also eliminates internal moisture and condensation. Moreover, it will make the monitor more rugged and durable. Lastly, an Anti-Reflective coating is applied to the outside of the glass. Consequently, this will drastically reduce glare and surface reflections.

For installations in indirect sunlight, or reflected bright light, our Daylight Viewable displays will most likely suffice. These are also more cost-effective than Sunlight Readable monitors with 1,000 nits brightness. Daylight viewable monitors feature  LCD screens with 400 nits to 700 nits brightness.  The LCD panels also include optical bonding.

Daylight-viewable touchscreens with optical bonding are also significantly brighter than standard touch screens. Consequently, they produce far better image quality in bright conditions. Although they are not as bright as Sunlight Readable touch screens, daylight readable touch screens do offer the benefit of lower power consumption. This may be useful in portable or mobile applications. We currently offer over 60 monitors with optical bonding; all are TAA-Compliant.

Our outdoor high brightness Sunlight Readable LCD monitors feature waterproof stainless steel enclosures. These are ideal for factory wash-down environments.  Additionally, they are perfect for outside use in challenging weather.  Our panel mount enclosures are made from steel, stainless steel, or aluminum. This enables them to be flush-mounted. Outdoor LCD monitors with high brightness work in a wider range of temperatures. Consequently, this broadens the environments in which they may be used. Additionally, temperature ranges are very important to consider when using outdoors.  When we combine extreme operating temperatures with outdoor waterproof enclosures, we ensure your high brightness monitors will be able to function in even the harshest wet and hot environments. We will also modify or customize any model to meet your exact requirements.

In conclusion, we deploy TRU-Vu outdoor waterproof sunlight readable monitors and high brightness touch screens in a wide range of industries. For example, military, law enforcement, manufacturing plants benefit from high bright LCD displays. Amusement parks, sports stadiums, mass transit, and construction & heavy equipment also rely on high bright sunlight readable displays.  In addition, outdoor high brightness LCD monitors are demanded in pipeline inspection,  kiosks, marine,  oil & gas, drones, security applications. When it counts, you can rely on TRU-Vu Monitors to deliver the optimal weather resistant high bright LCD monitor solution for your specific needs.

Sunlight readable Digital Displays – CDS has the widest range and variety of hibrite sunlight readable LCD display solutions and industrial hi-brite LCD TFT displays for applications in direct sunlight.

There are different hibrite TFT panel technologies available to achieve sunlight readability in environments with very bright ambient environments, with high brightness up to 5000 nits! The most common way is to upgrade the backlight to dramatically increase brightness with our high-quality LED backlights. However, we also have factory manufactured super high bright panels featuring optical bonding technology in order to make our TFT panels sunlight readable.

Although high brightness displays will generate more heat and use more power than a traditional LCD ours utilise the latest low power high bright LEDs to keep power consumption to a minimum.

To get a clear image under the sunlight, the high brightness displays should be over 700cd/㎡ +,with good contrast and ideally 1000cd/m² +. This is because the illumination of ambient daylight is around 30,000㎡(107,600 LUX). Our high brightness LCDs are possible up to 2,500㎡ and designed with proprietary technologies and produced at our well-equipped factory.

Features include; enhanced high brightness panel (LED backlight) to ensure optimum readability at extreme environments, and an LED Driver to offer the advantages of high uniformity, low EMI noise and power consumption, long life and halogen free.

Our high brightness display products have been installed in locations around the world for the outdoor applications such as outdoor KIOSK, Fuel pumps, Vending machine, Outdoor ATM, Military, Marine etc.

Alternatively, Optical Bonding is a great technology for sunlight readability on our high brightness displays.  Optical Bonding is a process in which an optical gel is bonded between your LCD and a cover glass or touchscreen.  The gel behind the glass stops any condensation, strengthens the front glass, and also improves sunlight readability.  It also keeps power and heat down as does not affect the backlight in any way.

Our displays outperform commercial products that washout in sunlit conditions. Superior quality and readability make these displays an ideal solution for factory automation, marine/mobile and process control applications.

Our proprietary backlight technology was developed for high brightness displays and Outdoor readable Display Monitors requiring a luminance level of at least 700 nits (cd/m²) as required for outside viewing.

Other improvements include significantly reduced power consumption, increased reliability and extended lifetime of the Sunlight readable Digital Displays and high brightness display systems.

CDSSunlight readable Digital Displays alsoinclude ….… High brightness LED Displays, square Displays, waterproof marine Displays, widescreen Displays, display showcases,  curved touch screen Displays, large square Displays, IP65 and IP66 Displays, Digital Display screens, square computer Displays, Industrial LCD Displays, largest ultra-wide Display, daylight readable Displays, touch overlay for Displays, ultra-wide touch screen Display, large capacitive touchscreen Displays, square LCD Displays, kiosk screens, infrared touch screen Display, clear touch screen Displays, weather proof IP66 Displays, marine LCD Displays,  interactive touchscreen Display, one glass solutions, embedded Displays, USB touchscreen Displays, low power LCD Displays, kiosk touch Displays, high brightness Displays,  LCD Display, outdoor Display screens, multi-touch Display, Dynascan Displays, dual touch screen Displays, outdoor digital screen displays, square HDMI Display, touchscreen overlays for Displays, optical bonding Displays as well as optically bonded Displays, water resistant touch screen Displays, glass touch screen Displays,  waterproof touch screen Displays, mini USB Display touch, video wall display Displays,  high bright TFTs, high bright TFT LCD, high bright TFT Displays, high brightness Displays, sunlight readable TFT LCD Displays, High Bright LCDs, High Brightness TFT modules, high bright TFT-LCD, enhanced brightness Displays, anti-reflective, anti-glare coatings, high brightness TFT LCD modules, High Bright TFTs, high brightness TFT-LCD, High Brightness TFT Displays, LED backlights, high ambient brightness, high brightness TFT Displays, sunlight readable displays, resistive touch panel, capacitive touch panel, high brightness TFT Display, high back lighting sunlight viewable TFT Display, 10.1″ high bright colour PCAP TFT LCD Display, 5.7″ high bright TFT Display module, full colour TFT display module, high screen luminance, ultra-bright TFT LCD, low cost high end TFT modules, ultra-bright 1300nit backlights, optical bonded anti-reflective overlays, sunlight readability,  and advertising Displays LCD.

I have the same question as Pieter. From the ST7282 datasheet, it is not possible to send any commands or change any registers without using the serial interface, and that serial interface is not provided on the 40-pin flex.

Even if this is true, there are still ST7282 registers that users might want to change. For example, on pages 39-40 of the datasheet, I see registers for setting brightness, contrast, and gamma. These will not be accessible.

Is there a demo of this display to prove that it actually works? Because leaving out the serial interface seems like it might have been a mistake made by the designers. I just want to make sure that this module actually functions.

> Regarding the software part,there is no need to make the setting for any registers as all of them are default value and doesn"t support to change, you just need to make the setting for VSYNC,HSYNC,DCLK Period, DCLK Frequency in your initialization code and you could get the parameters from ST7282 datasheet page 60.

VarTech’s high bright sunlight readable LCD monitors and touchscreen displays give users crystal clear images and video in direct sunlight and outdoor applications.

Our high bright sunlight readable LCD monitors and touchscreen displays have brightness levels ranging from 1000 nits to 1600 nits. These brightness levels far exceed consumer-grade monitors which typically produce 150 to 350 nits brightness. VarTech’s high bright sunlight readable LCD technology ensures crisp, highly viewable videos and images in direct sunlight and high ambient light work environments.

VarTech’s high bright sunlight readable displays use industrial-grade enhanced LED backlights to increase luminance without increasing heat. Proprietary Enhanced Light Transmission Technology (ELTT) gives our screens exceptional clarity, wide viewing angles, and maximum light reflection. Optical bonding reduces light reflection and increases ruggedness by providing a solid transparent bond between the thin-film-transfer (TFT) LCD screen and the front face of the monitor or touchscreen display.

These light enhancements along with VarTech’s quality construction and rugged mechanical design make our industrial grade high bright sunlight readable display products a superior high bright solution for applications that require clarity, intensity, brilliance, and reliable performance from your monitor or computer.

Imagine you have a candle inside a cube with a total surface area measuring one meter by one meter. The total amount of light coming out of that candle at its source is about “one candela.”

All the light hitting the walls of the cube equals “one nit,” which is technically defined as “one candela per square meter.” Each candle you add to the cube will add another candela of luminosity, or another nit, since the square meter now has more light in it. So, 400 candles would equal 400 nit.Candela = about the light from 1 candle

Sunlight readable TFT LCD display: By high brightness backlight, we can make sunlight readable LCD modules such as our 2.0inch 240x320 1000nits, 3.34 inch round display 320x320 750nits, 3.5inch IPS 320x480 2000nits, 3.5inch 320x240 600nits, 4.3inch 480x272 800nits, 5.0inch 800x480 1000nits, 7.0inch 800x480 and 1024x600 1000nits, 10.1inch wide temperature LCD display 1280x800 IPS 1000nits.... For other sizes of sunlight readable screen, we can custom made high brightness sun readable LCD displays for you too. As a LCD factory, we can produce qualified sunlight readable touch screens and our sunlight readable LCD prices are competitive in the market. Feel free to contact us.

iTech Company’s line of Open Frame LCD Monitor displays enable you to communicate with your customers, even if they are outdoors. These monitors are equipped with extremely high brightness levels of up to 2400 nits along with high contrast ratios, allowing your messages to be delivered to your targeted audience in an impactful way even in bright outdoors. It also utilizes a LED backlight technology to deliver superior displays.

Various connectivity options are being supported with this device including VGA, DVI, BNC, S-Video, CVBS, Component and HDMI, giving more flexibility to the device. It also offers network connectivity, for you to control your content more easily over your network without a need to install a dedicated CPU at each display’s location. Moreover, an optional touchscreen feature is available for ease of use and for interactive applications as well.

With the wide range of available sizes, resolutions, and brightness levels, iTech Company’s open frame LCDdisplays can be integrated into any industrial or commercial application. These products are also made of high quality components, ensuring their reliability and longer years of service.

First, the display screen on a sunlight readable/outdoor readable LCD should be bright enough so that the display is visible under strong sunlight. Second, the display contrast ratio must be maintained at 5 to 1 or higher.

Although a display with less than 500 nits screen brightness and a mere 2 to 1 contrast ratio can be read in outdoor environments, the quality of the display will be extremely poor. At i-Tech, a truly sunlight readable display is typically considered to be an LCD with 1000 nits or greater screen brightness with a contrast ratio greater than 5 to 1. In outdoor environments under the shade, such a display can provide an excellent image quality.

Luminance is the scientific term for hotopic Brightness?which specifies the visual brightness of an object. In layman"s terminology, it is commonly referred to as brightness? Luminance is specified in candelas per square meter (Cd/m2) or nits. In the US, the British unit Foot-lamberts (fL) is also frequently used. To convert from fL to nits, multiply the number in fL by 3.426 (i.e. 1 fL = 3.426 nits).

Luminance is a major determinant of perceived picture quality in an LCD. The importance of luminance is enhanced by the fact that the human mind will react more positively to brightly illuminated scenes and objects. Users are typically more drawn to brighter displays that are more pleasing to the eye and easier to read. In indoor environments, a standard active-matrix LCD with a screen luminance around 250 nits looks good. However, a sunlight readable LCD with a screen luminance of 1,000 will look even more beautiful.

Contrast ratio (CR) is the ratio of luminance between the brightest �white� and the darkest �black� that can be produced on a display. CR is another major determinant of perceived picture quality. If a picture has high CR, you will judge it to be sharper and more crisp than a picture with lower CR. For example, a typical newspaper picture has a CR of about 5 to 7, whereas a high quality magazine picture has a CR that is greater than 15. Therefore, the magazine picture will look better even if the resolution is the same as that of the newspaper picture.

A typical AMLCD exhibits a CR between 300 to 700 when measured in a dark room. However, the CR on the same unit measured under ambient illumination is drastically lowered due to surface reflection (glare). For example, a standard 200 nit LCD measured in a dark room has a 300 CR, but will have less than a 2 CR under strong direct sunlight. This is due to the fact that surface glare increases the luminance by over 200 nits both on the white and the black that are produced on the display screen. The result is that the luminance of the white is slightly over 400 nits, and the luminance of the black is over 200 nits. The CR ratio then becomes less than 2 and the picture quality is drastically reduced.

i-Tech sunlight readable LCDs with 1500 nits screen brightness will have a CR over 8 with the same amount of glare under the same strong sunlight, making the picture quality on these units extremely good. For further reading on contrast ratio, please see Tech Note 0101, Page 2, the Display Contrast Ratio.

The viewing angle is the angle at which the image quality of an LCD degrades and becomes unacceptable for the intended application. As the observer physically moves to the sides of the LCD, the images on an LCD degrade in three ways. First, the luminance drops. Second, the contrast ratio usually drops off at large angles. Third, the colors may shift. The definition of the viewing angle of an LCD is not absolute as it will depend on your application.

Most LCD manufacturers define viewing angle as the angles where the CR (contrast ratio)^3 10. For LCDs designed for less demanding applications, the viewing angle is sometimes defined as the angles where the CR^3 5.

For LCDs used in outdoor applications, defining the viewing angle based on CR alone is not adequate. Under very bright ambient light, the display is hardly visible when the screen luminance drops below 200 nits. Therefore, i-Tech defines the viewing angles based on both the CR and the Luminance.

All LCD backlights powered by cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) require inverters. An inverter is an electronic circuit that transforms a DC voltage to an AC voltage, which drives the CCFLs. i-Tech Technology manufactures inverters for all its products. Additionally, Applied Concepts and ERG also provide inverters for our products as well.

The dimming range or dimming ratio of an inverter specifies its capability of performing backlight luminance adjustment. For inverters used in notebook computers and LCD monitors, the backlight luminance can be adjusted typically over a dimming range of less than 10:1. That is, the luminance is adjusted from 100% down to about 10%.

For very high brightness backlights used in i-Tech Technology sunlight readable LCD modules, the inverters must be able to provide a much wider dimming range. Otherwise, the LCD screen will be too bright during nighttime conditions. Therefore, our inverters provide a typical dimming ratio of 200:1, meaning that the luminance can be adjusted from 100% down to 0.5%.

Dimming capabilities are beneficial because lowering the backlight luminance will result in a lengthening of the backlight life. It also lowers the power consumption and the related thermal management issues.

Any high brightness backlight system will consume a significant amount of power, thereby increasing the LCD temperature. The brighter the backlight, the greater the thermal issue. Additionally, if the LCD is used under sunlight, additional heat will be generated as a result of sunlight exposure. Temperature issues can be handled through proper thermal management design.

We provide TFT LCD with reflective mode of illumination without compromising its transmissive illumination. With the imposed reflective function, the modified LCD can reflect the ambient light passing the LCD cell and utilize the reflected light beams as its illumination. The stronger the ambient light is, the brighter the LCD will appear. As a result, the modified LCD is viewable under all lighting conditions including direct sunlight regardless the LCD"s original brightness.

The market demands for outdoor LCD applications are expanding, such as mobile navigator/video systems, PDA, personal organizer, Tablet PC, notebook computer, and Kiosk display etc. However, a regular transmissive LCD is very difficult to read under strong ambient light. This limits the outdoor applications of a conventional transmissive LCD.

The high bright LCD and the transflective LCD are the solutions generally utilized for outdoor applications. However, both solutions have some shortcomings. Because of the added lamps, high bright LCD creates some undesirable problems, which include high power consumption, excessive heat generation, increased dimensions, electrical circuit alterations, and shortened LCD lifetime. Thus, it is usually troublesome and costly to accommodate a high bright LCD in systems. Though giving good performance under the direct sunlight, the transflective LCD trades of its indoor performances.

Problems noticed in transflective LCD include narrow viewing angle, discoloration, low brightness, and loss of contrast. Moreover, the transflective LCD is currently limited in choice of sizes and resolutions.

On the other hand, a Transflective LCD is readable everywhere including outdoor environments without extra power consumption and excessive heat generation. The indoor viewing qualities are also enhanced. The modified unit fits right back into its original system with no need of any alteration and extra effort. Thus in your choice of size, resolution, and model, a direct sunlight readable LCD is conveniently incorporated into your device.

i-Tech is a premier supplier of optical bonding and performance added passive enhancements for all flat panel . i-Tech Optical Bonding process produces an optical bond between any display cover glass or touch panel, and any size LCD.

In the world of LCD"s, i-Tech takes display enhancement to a new level above all others. Utilizing advanced proprietary optical bonding technology; i-Tech overcomes optical challenges for display product manufacturers at an affordable price. In a wide range of applications, standard liquid crystal appear to "washed out" in high ambient lighting conditions. This wash out is due to excessive reflections and glare caused by bright light.

Commercially available LCDs, especially when protected by a separate cover glass or plastic shield, can not deliver enough brightness to make the display functional in outdoors or in other high ambient light applications. The exclusive Optical Bonding process from i-Tech provides a significant reduction of ambient light reflections at an affordable price, compared to other display enhancement technologies.

Optical Bonding seals either a top cover glass or touch screen directly to the face of the display bezel. Our bonding process eliminates the air-gap between the display and the cover glass, vastly reducing reflective light, which causes visual washout of the display image. Optical Bonding also enhances structural integrity by supporting the LCD assembly with the cover glass. The bond maintains perfect display uniformity while providing shock protection, unlimted humidity protection, and elimination of fogging caused by trapped moisture accumulating in typical air-gap assemblies.

Sunlight viewability of a display depends on the differences between "lumination" and "illumination" of the display. The lumination of the display is its brightness. A display"s brightness, typically referred to as a Nit (Candela per meter/2) is the amount of light energy coming out of the display. Illumination is the amount of ambient light shining onto a display. The readability of a display is dependant on the amount of light that is being reflected off of the display.

Light travels through a variety of transparent materials; such as air, glass, plastic, and even water. These material"s abilty to transmit light is measured by their "indices of refraction". As light transfers from one material to another, such as air to glass, the differences the index of refraction will cause reflection. In the case of an air-to-glass interface, the reflection will be slightly less than 5% of the ambient light. All surfaces that have an index mismatch will reflect and the reflection is cumulative. In the case of a standard glass or plastic window, there are three surfaces with an index mismatch which will create a total relfection of nearly 15% of the ambient light. If the total reflection (in nits) is close to the displays brightness, the contrast of the display will be reduced to the point where the display"s readabilty is reduced to unacceptable levels.

Optical Bonding from i-Tech is a solid, transparent bond which optically couples the front cover glass or touch screen directly to the face of the display. This internal bond eliminates reflection from the two internal layers. The outer surface of the window is treated with anti-reflecting coatings which matches the front surface of the glass with the index of refraction of air. This combination reduces the total reflection of the display and front cover glass to less than 2% of the ambient light. A reduction of reflection of this level, all but eliminates reflective loss in most ambient lighting conditions. With reductions of this level, displays with 300-500 nits of brightness will be viewable in daylight or indirect lighting conditions. At 500-800 nits brightness, most displays will be completely sunlight viewable.

Aside from the optical quality, Optical Bonding elminates the air-gap which prevents heat build-up from the "greenhouse" effect and prevents fogging from moisture or contamination from dirt or particles. It also offers shock protection and other damage to the LCD itself.

iTech IP65 Front and Full IP66 Chassis are designed for those applications require IP ( Ingress Protection ) feature, like chemical industry, food industry and medical industry. However, the IP65 Front and Full IP66 chassis might get moisture condensation issue for the applications under direct sunlight.

We provide two different choices of optical enhancement solutions that include anti-reflective coated and/or anti-glare protection glass. These technologies can be widely used in outdoor and indoor environment by enhancing optical performance of displays.

The anti-reflective coatings on the protection glass have excellent performance in tough ambient light conditions. With the normal glass, the strong reflection of the ambient light diminishes visibility and causes problems for viewer. Our special anti-reflective coated protection glass can increase contrast by enhancing light transmission rate over 95% (light reflectance rate less than 5%) and can effectively diminish the mirror images. The multi-layer vapor deposition coating either on one side or two sides of glass is designed to minimize reflectance and maximize transmittance.

Another solution, with an anti-glare (AG) coated protection glass, a microscopically rough surface laminated onto the topmost of display can diffuse glare. The chemically etched glass that has a slightly textured finish can reduce reflection by scattering light directed on its surface. It can soften the image of direct light sources visible in the reflection of the viewing area.

Clearing Point - The temperature at which the liquid crystal fluid changes from a nematic into an isotropic state. In practice, a positive image LCD will turn totally black at this temperature and will therefore be unreadable. Because the clearing point is different for every fluid type, ask for design assistance from your supplier if high temperature operation is critical in your application.

Also, for most cases, both TN, HTN and STN utilize the phase known as nematic for display purpose. Within this phase, the liquid crystal has a "rod shape" exists within the solution which has fast response and has excellent electro-optic properties. This phase, however, only exists within a limited temperature range. The higher end of this temperature range is known as clearing point, above which, the liquid crystal lost its birefrigerance properties and cannot bend the light path anymore. Thus the polarizer will then be the only factor which affect incoming and out coming light. When the LCD is cooled down to below its clearing point, the display should be working again. The temperature for the clearing point varies greatly from material to material and you should contact our engineers regarding what you have. Normally a safe margin should be used to avoid clearing point when designing the display.

Isotropic Stage The point where the fluid heats or cools to where it is no longer in the twisted nematic state. Since the molecules can no longer twist light, all incoming light is absorbed.

The lighter sensor measures the outside brightness according to different environments and sends the information to display. Display will adjust the brightness automatically.

With lighter condition (Outdoor/Sun-light) the brightness will increase; in the opposite condition, the brightness will be decreased to fit darker environment.

Light sensor detect the change of illumination outside, then it send the signal to MCU via I�2C interface. MCU will ask inverter to switch the brightness if the outside illumination was change over the default. MCU will transmit PWM signal to the inverter, amd the inverter will change the brightness of panel.

Each step has its own illuminate range according different environment illumination. This technology makes the use of visual application more friendly and intelligently.

Winmate �light sensor� technology are now available for 8.4�, 10.4�,12.1�, 15�, 17�, and 19� LCD with specific panel option. Please contact with sales for more detail information.

TouchScreen Solutions is a specialist manufacturer of touchscreens, optical filters to enhance the performance of electronic displays, and transparent composites.

By utilising TouchScreen Solutions�s traditional lamination expertise, touchscreens are designed to provide the highest levels of light transmission, excellent readability and unsurpassed protection against a wide range of physical threats. The touchsacreens are accurate, highly dependable and have a rapid response time

The electronic controls effectively divide the screen into pixel sized sensing cells, using microfine wires which are not visible on a powered display. These wires are connected to a controller board, and an oscillation frequency is established for each wire. Touching the glass causes a change in the frequency of the wires at that particular point, the position of which is calculated and identified by the controller. Unlike other capacitive systems where the operator touches the actual conducting surface of the sensing panel, the active component of the sensor can be embedded up to 25mm from the touch surface ensuring long product life and stability.

The touchscreen can be supplied with the options of anti�glare or anti-reflection coatings, thermal toughening or chemical strengthening and privacy or contrast enhancement filters. The front glass of the touchscreen acts as a dielectric and enhances the capacitance of the touchscreen.

The driver software allows the touchscreen to interface with the host computer�s operating system by emulating the behaviour of a computer �mouse� and translates taps on the touchscreen surface into mouse clicks.

Touchscreen is proven to meet today�s demanding requirements for ATM�s, web phones, ticket machines, medical displays, industrial displays, pay-at-the-pump gas machines, and interactive kiosk systems. The touchscreen is durable and dependable, its construction protects against damage caused by moisture, heat and even vandalism.

The touchscreen comprises a laminated glass sensor, which encompasses the sensing medium, and the control card which connects to the communications port of the computer.

Female D9 serial connector on a 3 metre long, 3 wire, lead. Maximum length of lead - 10 metres. Power supply components in connection -2 diodes, 1 resistor and 1 capacitor .

Simple calibration and set-up with Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP and Linux. Mouse emulation with Select on Touch, Select on Dwell, Select on Release and Drag and Drop.

Recently there many end customer was mislead believing high brightness (over 2000nits, even up to 5000nits) is the better solution. But there are few concerns that the so called extreme high brightness (3000nits to 5000nits) panel manufacturer don"t tell you:

1. How much power consumption is the extreme high brightness LCD? It is very important because all of our outdoor LCD is in completely sealed enclosures keeping it cool is a very huge Challenge. Not mentioned the hot temperature around 40-50C area.

2. Also, you need to determine how far is viewer distance. Because high brightness (3000-5000nits LCD) might Damage eyesight if the viewer is too closed. LCD is design with high resolution for people to see it very closely, so extreme high brightness doesn"t make sense for outdoor LCD. If they want to put on extreme high brightness LCD on roof top to attract audience which LCD is not even big enough for seeing from far away. Most case customer will use LED which is more reliable and cost effective if it is larger than 82".

4. Viewable under sunlight is not just brightness only, it involve contrast ratio, reflection of the front glass and content graphics contrast such as (red and white). Sunlight readable is combination of all above, not just brightness only.

4. Viewable under sunlight is not just brightness only, it involve contrast ratio, reflection of the front glass and content graphics contrast such as (red and white). Sunlight readable is combination of all above, not just brightness only.

3. All the major branded LG and Samsung LCD manufacturer the most brightness that they do is only 1000-2000nits because we believe this major LCD maker already done a study on what is the most feasible and comfortable LCD brightness for outdoor. That"s why all the high brightness (3000-5000nits) maker is after market vendor without any study about the what is most suitable brightness for different applications, only advertising high brightness is not the solution. If you ask these vendor for outdoor enclosure which they will not provide or guaranteed it will work because they know it is a huge Challenge to cool down the display. Just like you are buying a 800 horse power car, but you still need to design the car frame and cooler to make this engine run safely on the road, which this extreme high brightness won"t help you to design that.

When an LCD is used in a high ambient lighting area, outdoors or even in direct sunlight a normal brightness display becomes almost unreadable. Most people have experienced this phenomenon using their mobile phones, tablets, and notebooks outdoors or when sitting near a window on a sunny day. The display looks hazy, dark, and may even have a halo over the screen. As an individual you have the option to turn the hand-held device to shade it from the bright light to read the information. Could you imagine passing at mid-day by a street-side shop with a display showing their products advertising sales items or specials, but the display can’t be read. The customer would not know what messages the shop is trying to deliver. A missed opportunity to make an impression on a potential customer. All the money spent on the advertisement and equipment but did not capture the attention of the customer because the display was too dark. A sunlight readable LCD displays, also known as a high brightness display are designed to operate in an outdoor setting or in direct sunlight. These products are designed to be very rugged and durable to meet the most the challenging environmental conditions. These are a must have requirement when developing industrial displays used in environments such as oil and gas, marine, military, agriculture where a product must perform for long periods of time.

There are several technical approaches and various enhancement methods to increase screen viewability and reliability in the sunlight. The primary enhancement is to develop a backlight system that increases the brightness of the LCD to overcome a brightly lit environment. There are other technologies that can be added to a high bright backlight such as transflective enhancement (Meaning both Transmissive and Reflective) that will use some of the ambient lighting to make the screen more readable in bright environments. Direct backlighting technology now includes local dimming. This feature concentrates the backlight only in an area where the image needs to be bright further increasing contrast of the LCD display. Other enhancement includes the use of Anti-Reflective and Anti-Glare (AR/AG) cover glass that is optically bonded to the LCD front surface to minimize reflective loss and improve contrast of the display.

Sunlight Readable displays is a core competence of Litemax since the company’s inception. Most displays offered from Litemax include at least a 1,000-nit backlight. Litemax proprietary backlight design, internal heat sinking of the LED junction allows their engineering teams to develop a bright backlight while minimizing over all power and internal heat. This is important for displays used outdoors as brightness is one concern, so is heat built up due to thermal loading caused by the sun. Custom backlights can be developed upon request to even higher brightness of 2,000, 2,500 or even 3,000 nits. The high brightness ensures perfect visual readability under any lighting condition. Below is a table that outlines a brightness that would be suitable based on the environment and application.

One of the methods for minimizing backlight heat and improving outdoor viewability is to enhance the LCD with a Transflective (transmissive-reflective) layer This layer allows ambient light to be reflected through the LCD display, re-directing the light to make the LCD viewable in a brightly lit situation. This enhancement improvement is one of the state-of-the-art technologies for high-performance color-reduced power consumption for displays used outdoors.

AOT (Advanced Optical Bonding) is one of Litemax’s many patents. Optical Bonding is an enhancement that improves readability by minimizing reflective surfaces. This combined with index matching the coatings of the cover element to the adhesive layers further reducing internal reflective surfaces to minimize reflective loss creates the brightest, clearest rich images available in an outdoor display product. AOT is the use of an optical-grade adhesive to laminate anti-reflection glass, touch screens, heaters, and EMI shields to the top surface of a display. This method eliminates the air gap between the cover glass and the display enhancing readability in sunlight. The other advantage of optical bonding is to fill in the air gap where moisture can accumulate in high humidity outdoor environments and the display’s ability to resist impact damage improves significantly. As the pioneer in sunlight readable displays, Litemax strives to develop new leading-edge products and processes for use in the most demanding market segments. These enhancements help overcome the challenges our customers face when deploying a display in a rugged outdoor environment.

The elimination of an air gap between the cover glass and the display preventing moisture from entering that could cause fogging on the display"s surface.

Most of the energy that reaches the Earth’s surface comes from the Sun. Solar radiation is in the visible light wavelengths that we can see. The Sun also emits infrared, ultraviolet, and other wavelengths of energy that is invisible. Of the solar energy that reaches the earth, UV wavelengths have the greatest energy. The remaining solar radiation is the longest wavelength, infrared. Most objects radiate infrared energy, which we feel as heat. This heat can be absorbed by a display when it is in direct sun light. This absorption of the external heat is known as solar loading or thermal loading. To combat solar loading Litemax has developed unique materials and process to add as enhancements to minimize the heat that can build up in the LCD from being exposed to direct sun light. One of the technologies is Anti UV/IR Coatings. Using these coating technologies improves the total solar energy rejection from a Litemax display. This can be up to 53% rejection of these invisible solar allowing the LCD to perform in the most demanding locations.

Local dimming technology has been widely popular in mainstream television for years. Litemax has brought the same technology to our large sized industrial-grade outdoor displays. Local dimming dims the LED backlight to optimize the heat and save energy. Litemax also achieves High Dynamic Range (HDR) through local dimming technology to enable the industry’s greatest color contrast in the industry.

The LED-backlit displays boast high-end features, such as lower electromagnetic noise, wide dimming range, and lower power consumption. These backlight systems are developed to output high brightness but also to increase the lifetime of the LED. This design approach and through testing means Litemax backlight systems are one of the most robust designs available in the market. These high bright backlight systems include a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 100,000 hours. This exceeds typical longevity requirements for industrial-grade applications that require continuous operation and minimal maintenance.