This article reports on an interesting development recently announced by a maker of LCDs regarding the incorporation of a new and useful feature into the display. LG Display, the world’s second-largest provider of LCDs has introduced a new display for laptop computers that allows users to electrically turn on a feature that blocks others from seeing the image on the display.

Art Berman
Insight Media Consultant

The 14.1-inch panel, features LG’s latest advancement in so-called Viewing Angle image Control (VIC). In the normal mode of operation, the display supports a horizontal viewing angle of up to 175 degrees with no color shift. However, a simple touch on the screen reduces the horizontal field of view to +/- 60 degrees. In this way, anyone further than about 30 centimeters from the edge of the screen will be unable to see the imagery on the display.

LG officials said the new laptop display will be ideal for businessmen who are on the move and forced to do much of their work on trains and planes. Users will also be less worried about privacy when using their laptops for important office work or financial transactions such as Internet banking.

The new technology offers an attractive alternative to spending about $50 to buy a conventional, passive, laptop privacy filter. Such filters darken the screen and need to be removed when it is desired that others simultaneously view the laptop display. With the new display, it is reported that even after the viewing angle is reduced, the brightness of the screen is not significantly reduced.

Conventional LCDs have sub-pixels for the three primary colors - red, green and blue - but LG added what it calls a "VIC" sub-pixel as a fourth. Switching the VIC sub-pixel on and off, accomplished by just touching the screen, has basically the same effect as attaching and removing a conventional privacy filter.

LCDs with VIC capability have previously been produced in smaller panels. An example of this was a mobile phone with a 2.2-inch display having VIC capability shown at SID 2008. These previous displays, however, required a double layer of panels, making them thicker, heavier and more expensive to produce. LG’s recent laptop display marks the first time that a VIC screen has been produced in a single panel.

The company has been investing in the development of VIC technology since 2005. It is reported that the LG Display has more than 90 related patents listed in Korea and internationally.

It is heartening to see that, even after over 30 years of development and commercialization, the venerable LCD still offers opportunities for innovation. Our congratulations to LG.