Liquavista electrowetting display
A while ago a group at Philips research presented (’Video-speed electronic paper based on electrowetting‘, Nature Vol. 425, pp. 383-385, 25 September 2003; link to pdf reprint) a novel display type based on the principle of electrowetting.
Liquavista, a spin-out with New Venture Partners as main investor and Philips remaining a shareholder, is now commercialising this technology (press release).
Some of the benefits compared to other display technologies are:
- video speed
- low power consumption
(less need for supplimentary illumination) - indoor & outdoor usability
- no inherent limit on viewing angle
Regarding the manufacturing process, Liquavista is building on existing LCD technoloy:
To contemplate the development and promotion of a new technology, without considering accessibility of large scale manufacturing resource would challenge the benefits of even the most exciting of technologies. That is why, from the outset, Liquavista has developed electrowetting display technology to be almost entirely compatible with existing display manufacturing techniques and processes. […]
A proprietary low cost, scalable fill process, performed at the bipane level, and patented by Liquavista, improves further on the standard LCD manufacturing cycle.
More background information here.
