direct sunlight lcd panel factory

Sunlight readable TFT displays feature high brightness LCD backlights, making them an excellent option for bright ambient light or direct sunlight environments. Our sunlight readable TFT displays are available with or without touchscreen features and come with different formats and display modes to fit any application.

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.

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 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.

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%.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sun Vision Display panels are100% reflective, meaning they have no backlight whatsoever. This makes them an excellent computer monitor solution for people looking to reduce blue light exposure or other common issues reported by people withcomputer-related vision syndromes. It also makes them an incredible solution for advertising in sunny places, where it can be difficult to view other display technologies - all without racking up hefty energy costs.

You need to reach the top manufacturer and provider of high brightness LCD displays. They are available in a variety of sizes and designs that you can get from the comfort of home. Leadtek Display, the professional display service provider based in China, offers you a broad range of high brightness LCD displays that are easy to use and come with a number of added features and benefits. Our broad range of such display modules is provided with precise information about their uses in different industrial domains. Choosing the best one depends on your requirement and industrial uses. They are offered with precise information about them to help you in finding something latest and unique. Our prices are competitive and backed by discounts; while you can get them delivered on time and in secure way to your address. Our broad ranges of displays are used largely in different industries and for different purposes. They are delivered with precise information about them, technical points and features along with a user guide.

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!

Sun is the biggest enemy of LCD displays. It will cause them to heat up, discolor, and eventually turn black. The sun hits the display surface with 1250 watts/m2 of energy, which will cause the temperature of the Liquid Crystal cell to increase significantly, even on the coldest of days. This can have the effect of literally causing the Liquid Crystals to boil and turn black, what is known as solar clearing.

We have all probably seen our phones turn off because they are “too hot” and need to cool down before use, but outdoor displays don’t have the luxury of taking a break when they are too hot. QSRs, media companies, and transit stations rely on the display being on and visible no matter what the ambient conditions are. Keeping LCDs cool is critically important to providing a 24/7 use in all environments, where temperature fluctuates and direct sunlight is always an issue.

LCDs have very low reflection and absorb almost 98% of the solar energy. This means that viewing an LCD outdoors works great because of the low reflection, but keeping it cool is the biggest challenge.

LG-MRI’s patented CoolVu® technology is designed to provide a consistent visual image in direct sunlight and in temperatures up to 50oC with no loss in image quality. The innovative technology begins by using computational fluid dynamics to model the internal temperature of the LCD, LCM, media player, and circuit boards over a 15 year period in real world solar and temperature scenarios. Before we build a product, we ensure that it will perform up to spec in the real world for a 10 year period. The CoolVu® feature uses a dual loop cooling system that immediately exhausts out the heat from the sun and never lets it have an effect on increasing the heat within the unit. Since this heat is exhausted from the onset, we never have to worry about heat buildup from the sun, which lowers our energy consumption and allows us to more comfortably run all of our internal components without the worry of overheating them. CoolVu® is also unique in that zero outside air flows over any electronics or optics within the display. All critical internal components of the LG-MRI displays remain cool, dry, and contaminate free (absolutely clean for life). As an added bonus, all of this is accomplished without the use of air-filters, completely eliminating a common requirement for periodic maintenance found in competitive products.

When display devices are brought outside, oftentimes they face the brightness of sunlight or any other form of high ambient light sources reflecting off of and overwhelming the LED backlight’s image.

With the growth of the LCD panel industry as a whole, it has become more important than ever to prevent the sun’s wash out of displays used outdoors, such as automobile displays, digital signage, and public kiosks. Hence, the sunlight readable display was invented.

One solution would be to increase the luminance of the TFT LCD monitor’s LED backlight to overpower the bright sunlight and eliminate glare. On average, TFT LCD screens have a brightness of about 250 to 450 Nits, but when this is increased to about 800 to 1000 (1000 is the most common) Nits, the device becomes a high bright LCDand a sunlight readable display.

Since many of today’s TFT LCD display devices have shifted to touchscreens, the touch panels on the surface of LCD screens already block a small percentage of backlighting, decreasing the surface brightness and making it so that the sunlight can even more easily wash out the display. Resistive touch panels use two transparent layers above the glass substrate, but the transparent layers can still block up to 5% of the light.

In order to optimize the high brightness of the backlight, a different type of touchscreen can be used: the capacitive touchscreen. Though it is more expensive than the resistive touch screen, this technology is more ideal for sunlight readable displays than the resistive due to its usage of a thinner film or even in-cell technologies rather than two layers above the glass of the display, and therefore, light can pass more efficiently.

A recent technology falling into the sunlight readable display category is the transflective TFT LCD, coming from a combination of the word transmissive and reflective. By using a transflective polarizer, a significant percentage of sunlight is reflected away from the screen to aid in the reduction of wash out. This optical layer is known as the transflector.

In transflective TFT LCDs, sunlight can reflect off the display but can also pass through the TFT cell layer and be reflected back out off a somewhat transparent rear reflector in front of the backlight, illuminating the display without as much demand and power usage from the transmissive nature of the backlight. This addresses both the issues of wash out and the disadvantages of high brightness TFT LCDs in high ambient light environments. Because of its transmissive and reflective modes, this type of device is very useful for devices that will be used outdoors but also indoors.

While it does greatly reduce power consumption, transflective LCDs are much more expensive than high brightness LCDs. In recent years, the cost has decreased, but transflective LCDs continue to be more costly.

In addition to adjustments to the internal mechanics of LCDs, it is possible to make devices more sunlight-readable using surface treatments. The most common are anti-reflective (A/R) films/coatings and anti-glare processing.

Often paired with other methods of creating sunlight readable displays is optical bonding. By gluing the glass of a display to the TFT LCD cells beneath it, optical bonding eliminates the air gap that traditional LCD displays have in them using an optical grade adhesive.

This adhesive reduces the amount of reflection between the glass and LCD cell as well as the reflection of external ambient light. Doing this helps provide a clearer image with an increased contrast ratio, or the difference in the light intensity of the brightest white pixel color and darkest black pixel color.

With this contrast ratio improvement, optical bonding addresses the root issue with unreadable outdoor displays: the contrast. Though an increase in brightness can improve contrast, by fixing the contrast itself, LCD display images in outdoor environments will not be as washed out and will require less power consumption.

The optical bonding adhesive’s elimination of the air gap also protects the LCD from moisture/fogging and dust, as there is no space for impurities to penetrate and remain under the glass layer. This especially helps with maintaining the state of LCDs in transport, storage, and humid environments.

Compiling the various methods of improving LCD screens for sunlight readability, these devices can be optimized in high ambient light settings. An anti-glare coating is applied to the surface of the glass and anti-reflective coatings are applied to both the front and back. The transflector is also used in front of the backlight. These features can result in 1000 Nit or more display lighting, without the excessive power consumption and heat production through a high brightness backlight, consequently allowing for a longer lasting and better performing LCD

Unfortunately, the process of building a reflector inside TFT LCD is complicated and transflective TFT LCD is normally several times higher cost compared with normal transmissive TFT LCD.

To further improve and enhance the qualities of the LCD, LED and cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights are used. Both these create bright displays, but the LED specifically can do so without as much power consumption and heat generation as compared to the CCFL option. Optical bonding is also applied in order to improve display contrast, leading to a more efficient and better quality sunlight readable display.

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 displays 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 High Brightness 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.

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.

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.

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%.

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.

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 a variety of display monitors available on the market, but not all of them are suitable for use in a marine environment. International marines require LCD displays that are specifically designed and built to withstand the rigors of the marine environment, including exposure to saltwater, sunlight, and harsh weather conditions.

Nauticomp Inc. is a leading international manufacturer of marine LCD displays. Nauticomp is dedicated to providing the highest quality, most rugged and reliable marine displays on the market.

Nauticomp Inc.’s outdoor marine LCD displays and monitors are constructed to last in harsh maritime conditions. With wide operating temperature ranges, our marine displays can withstand the heat of the tropical sun and the cold of arctic winters. Nauticomp’s sunlight-readable marine LCD displays use high-brightness LEDs and optical enhancements to provide clear images, even in direct sunlight. Our marine displays are also designed to resist salt spray and corrosion, making them ideal for use in saltwater environments.

Nauticomp’s marine LCD displays are available in a variety of sizes and resolutions and can be customized to meet your specific needs. We offer both standard and custom solutions for a wide range of maritime applications, including navigation, communications, bridge control, engine monitoring, and more.

Nauticomp’s Glass Bridge Elite line of marine LCD displays is the next generation of navigation displays, designed for use in the most demanding marine environments. Featuring enhanced optical bonding and an ultra-wide viewing angle, Glass Bridge Elite displays provide superior image quality, high brightness, and deep dimming. The Glass Bridge Elite is also marine compliant, with ABS, IEC60945, IEC 61174, and IEC 62388 certification. Additionally, the display is easily remote controllable, allowing you to integrate control into your onboard system.

Nauticomp’s Signature II Series of marine LCD displays are designed for use in the most crucial marine environments. With quick access, membrane under-glass controls, and an optically bonded, glare resistant display, the Signature II Series is the ultimate solution for marine navigation displays. The Signature II Series is also marine compliant, with ABS, IEC60945, IEC 61174, and IEC 62388 certification.

Nauticomp’s Genesis Series of marine LCD displays are designed for use in a variety of marine environments. These displays are sunlight readable and waterproof. With multiple input options, including DVI and VGA, the Genesis Series is a versatile solution for marine navigation displays. The Genesis Series is also marine compliant, with ABS, IEC60945, IEC 61174, and IEC 62388 certification. It has a scalable resolution up to SXGA, and extended temperature range on the 15” model.

LCDs used in outdoor situations have many concerns to deal with in addition to any that they might normally encounter during indoor use. Initially some concerns are weather related such as moisture in the air or extreme temperatures. Another concern that is often not understood or just not known about at all is sunlight damage.

Liquid crystal displays use organic components that are susceptible to UV (<400 nm) and IR (>750 nm). These bandwidths of radiation have an observable impact on the organic components in LCDs. Extended exposure has been known to cause a color shift and a washed out look to images displayed with the LCD.

In any case it is important to protect your display from the elements, especially if it is going to be exposed to harsh environments not intended by the manufacturer. One way to do this would be to utilize a Hot Mirror with a UV blocker. This will significantly reduce the amount of IR radiation between 750 nm and 1200 nm, as well as the UV radiation below 400 nm. If the LCD is going to be used outdoors for extended periods then an extended hot mirror may be necessary, which extends the bandwidth protection out to 1600 nm and will help reduce some of the longer wavelength IR damage.

Another concern with liquid crystal displays are their susceptibility to overheating due to excess IR radiation. The LCD is intended to operate within a certain range of temperatures according to the manufacturer’s instructions and outdoor use can lead to higher than normal temperatures. The display being exposed to excessive heat can cause the crystal to become isotropic and fail to perform properly. A hot mirror can help alleviate these concerns as well by reducing the amount of infrared radiation that heats the display.

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.

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.

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.

Industrial applications are often exposed to bright outdoor sunlight that might cause wash-out images and darker display screens, leading to lower contrast and blurry display quality. Therefore, a sunlight readable touch screen monitor provides high contrast, readable, and clear display quality to tackle daylight environments. This blog will dive further into the technologies behind sunlight readable touch screen monitors and their benefits on industrial deployments.

A sunlight readable touch screen monitor is an industrial display monitor built to benot onlyviewablebut clearlyreadable under direct sunlight exposure. However, high ambient light from the sunlight causes backlight, reducing its brightness, contrast, and sharpness. Therefore, the sunlight readable touch screen monitor must have a high level of luminance or nits to create a high contrast display, necessary to make the monitor visible against glare.This also means that these monitors need to be truly reliable because of its harsh environment of being outdoors and being constantly exposed to sunlight.

TFT LCD, short for thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display, is sunlight readable touch screen monitor technology used to improve image quality. This liquid-crystal display utilizes a thin-film transistor technology that separates transistors for each pixel on display to minimize the amount of charge needed to control each pixel on display, thus reducing crosstalk between pixels and improving the performance image stability.

Each pixel in TFT LCD consists of red, blue, and green rectangles to produce different colors by adjusting the amount of light that passes through each pixel. The light from the backlight LEDs is located behind the pixel layer; this LED series emits a white light that projects through the LCD pixels. In addition, TFT LCD technology utilizes a light diffusing material between the LED backlight and the LCD pixel layer that scatters the light from each backlight LED to prevent bright spots on the touch screen monitor. As a result, with different color intensity combinations on each pixel, the sunlight readable touch screen monitor can produce thousands of colors in a single display screen.

A nit is a measurement of how much light per square meter is being emitted from a source, measured in one candela per square meter (1cd/m2). An LCD screen is considered sunlight readable if it offers a minimum of 800 nits of brightness. Increasing the brightness of the touch screen monitor backlight is one way to make it sunlight readable. Therefore, most sunlight readable touch screens offer 1000+ nits TFT LCD to ensure clear vision against scorching hot direct sunlight on the screen.

Another method to make a sunlight readable touch screen monitor is to convert the diffuser material that is located between the LED backlight and LCD pixels to a transflective material. Transflective TFT LCD is a TFT LCD with both transmissive and reflective characteristics. The reflective mirror layer faces the LCD pixels; therefore, when the sunlight enters, it will bounce off the transflective layer back through the pixels to the eyes. Thus, high sunlight intensity has a lower impact on readability as the sunlight is reflected through the pixels and contributes to LCD brightness. On the other side, the transmissive layer scattering the light passing through the LED backlight to the LCD pixels, but this does not allow as much of the backlight to pass through the diffuser layer, making it not ideal in indoor or low ambient light environments.

Optical bonding is an additional thin resin layer added between the touch screen and the TFT LCD layers. The resin layer consists of a plastic layer molded with a liquid synthetic resin that eliminates air gaps between the glass and TFT layers. In the touch screen monitor, the touch screen sensor is mounted in front of the LCD surface, causing a small air gap between these two components. Therefore, when sunlight passes through the touchscreen layer, some lights are reflected between the LCD surface and touch screen, reducing the LCD’s viewability. As a result, optical bonding reduces refractions on the screen since the sunlight can no longer pass through under the screen’s surface, increasing contrast and clarity.

A sunlight readable touch screen monitor is often exposed to direct scorching hot sunlight, which means that the monitor must have high resistance against a wide range of temperatures. The liquid crystal in the monitor can be sensitive to extreme operating temperatures. If the temperature gets too cold, the liquid crystal may freeze; or if the temperature gets too hot, the liquid crystal may easily deteriorate. Therefore, it is crucial for the sunlight readable touch screen to withstand wide operating temperature. C&T"s sunlight readable touch screen monitors are built fanless with industrial-grade materials to withstand extreme operating temperatures ranging from - 20°C to 60°C, without compromising performances.

Sunlight readable touch screen monitors offer two types of touch screen features to choose from, such as capacitive and resistive features. A sunlight readable resistive touch screen monitor consists of several thin layers. It works by applying pressure on the outermost layer, which later is pushed onto the next layer, allowing the touch screen sensor to sense pressure and register input. On the other hand, a sunlight readable capacitive touch screen monitor utilizes electrical conductivity to register input. Capacitive touch screen senses conductive properties, such as fingertips or conductive gloves. As a result, capacitive touch screens have higher responsiveness and sensitivity.

Ingress Protection (IP) rating measures the level of resistance a sunlight readable touch screen monitor has against dust and water. A sunlight readable touch screen monitor is often exposed to volatile outdoor environments. That is why a high IP rating is needed to ensure durability, reliability, and longevity amid wet and dusty outdoor deployments. IP rating usually consists of two digits where the first digit represents solid ingress protection against tiny dust particles and the second digit represents protection against water. C&T"s sunlight readable touch screen monitors are equipped with IP65 to IP69K full protections against tiny dust, powerful high-temperature water jets, and water immersions.

Some displays are attached to a machine or moving vehicle that shakes and vibrates frequently. Being exposed to constant shock and vibrations may be detrimental to the sunlight readable touch screen monitors. Therefore, C&T sunlight readable touch screen monitors have been tested and validated to endure 20G of shock and 1.5 Grms, 5-500Hz of vibrations due to their capabilities to utilize industrial-grade materials, minimize moving parts, and fanless architecture. In addition, C&T applies additional PET (polyester) film on the touch screen monitor to enhance durability, reliability, and longevity. This PET film is a high-performance, transparent thermoplastic with high tensile strength, Ultra-Violet (UV) resistance, and low moisture absorption. As a result, this sunlight readable touch screen monitor is often deployed in the most challenging industrial deployments.

Due to its capabilities to operate reliably under direct sunlight exposure and volatile outdoor environments, sunlight readable touch screen monitors have attracted a wide range of industrial sectors, such as:

C&T offers three different industrial sunlight readable touch screen monitors to match different industrial requirements. In addition, the touch screen monitors come with an IP rating that ranges from IP65 to the maximum level of IP69K. Each one of the industrial sunlight readable touch screen monitors is engineered specifically to withstand the harshest industrial deployment with a high level of integrity, such as:

This series of sunlight readable touch screen monitors are specifically designed to withstand high-pressure and high-temperature washdowns. SIO Series is made up of stainless steel SUS316 that provides additional protection against chloride commonly used in antiseptics and water purifiers. Thus, the SIO series are often deployed on display in hygienic and aseptic factory deployments.

WIO series of sunlight readable touch screen monitors are built for outdoor dirty, harsh, and soaking environments. This series is built with integrated aluminum alloy heatsink technology and anterior heat-dispersion fins to tackle thermal concerns, usually deployed in mining and agriculture.

VIO series of sunlight readable touch screen monitorsis are known for its patented modular design (MDM). This MDM technology allows configuring the sunlight readable touch screen monitor as a monitor or a panel PC. As a result, this series of sunlight readable touch screens are often deployed in intelligent transportation and factory automation that benefits from the MDM versatility.

Sunlight readable means that the display monitor is readable under high-intensity sunlight exposure during its deployments. Therefore, a touch screen monitor must offer 800+ nits to be considered sunlight readable. Still, most sunlight readable touch screen monitors now come with 1000 or higher nits of brightness to ensure application in outdoor high ambient light environments.

Both nits and lumen measure light intensity, but they are not the same. Nits measure how much light from the display screen goes directly into your eyes. But lumen is the total amount of light emitted directly from the source. In measurement, one nit equals 3.424 lumens, which means the source will have to give off three times as many lumens to produce a single nit.

Sunlight readable touch screen monitor utilizes LCD technology. A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is a flat panel display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals which do not emit light directly. In addition, LCD offers several advantages that are crucial for outdoor industrial deployments, such as low-power consumption, slim profile, lightweight, excellent contrast, and a high number of pixels per square inch. As a result, LCD has been widely used in the commercial and industrial sectors.

AbraxSys Corporation is a leading manufacturer of rugged, industrial monitors and outdoor sunlight readable touch screen monitors, marine and military grade LCD displays, panel PC touch screen computers, rugged computers, sunlight viewable high bright technology, touch screen systems, legacy video timing formats, LED displays, process controls configured video systems, and large public information outdoor flat panel digital systems for applications and harsh conditions that require a true rugged display monitor system.

AbraxSys offers a comprehensive line of rugged and high brightness LCD products and Ingress Protection levels, including IP65 (NEMA 4), IP66 (NEMA 4X), IP56, IP54, NEMA 12 (IP52), IP50, and IP67 (NEMA 9). LCD sizes range from 6.5” to 55”. A multitude of mechanical mounting configurations are available including Panel Mount, Stainless Steel Panel Mount, 19" Rack Mount, VESA Mount, Open-Frame Chassis Mount, Rugged Tabletop, Yoke Mount, Head Mount, and many others. AbraxSys ruggedized monitors are available with the latest touch screen technology. Visit our blog for an in depth comparison of the top five touch screen technologies.