Transflective TFT displays provide brilliance in all light

Transflective TFT LCD display panels utilize a combination of both transmissive liquid crystal display (LCD) and reflective technology. In a transmissive design, light produced behind the panel can pass through providing the necessary contrast.

This technology works well for indoor applications but sunlight can cause a washout effect rendering the screen essentially black and illegible. The reflective design has a 100 percent reflective mirrored surface behind the display to reflect ambient light or light from a source passing through a light guide on the front on the panel.

While this design works well outside it is not very efficient indoors as light from the guide must pass through the display twice. The transflective design was achieved through the use of a semi-transparent mirror layer, which allows light to pass through the display from the back, but also reflects light entering from the front. This technique allows the transflective TFT LCD display to be used in all lighting environments making it beneficial in mobile applications such as laptop and handheld PCs and automotive displays, to name a few. Furthermore, the use of the ever-improving thin film transistor (TFT) technology allows fast pixel transition making them suitable for motion picture, yet robust enough for industrial applications.

Renesas Electronics' release of the new transflective TFT LCD display panels are an upgrade to the existing product line, providing higher performance in temperature handling, viewing angle and clarity while maintaining compatibility with existing product.

This expands upon their core semiconductor competencies and also fulfils a range of inter-compatible products oriented toward the automotive and industrial markets including display drivers, microcontrollers, power semiconductors and automotive network interfaces.

Given Renesas Electronics' focused initiative these technologies including transflective TFT LCD displays evolve becoming more efficient and reliable.