Unitarily White Touch Display with PDLC Light Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch displays with dark frames do not match the white or light-colored appearance of home appliances when turned off or on standby, leading to poor visual concordance and increased visual obtrusiveness.
Innovation Solution
A unitarily white touch display design incorporating a light valve module with a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layer, a conductive film, and a microstructure optical film with triangular micro-prisms, which scatters incident light to create a foggy white appearance, ensuring consistency with white or light-colored frames and appliances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a dark frame is used for the touch display, then the display screen and frame are in a unitary color when turned off or on standby, but the appearance color does not match white or light-colored home appliances
Solution Approach 1:
The light valve module enables the display screen to dynamically change its appearance between dark and white states. When turned off or on standby, the display screen presents a white appearance that matches light-colored appliances, while during operation it can display content. This dynamic switching capability allows the same display to adapt to different operational modes and match different appliance appearances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies color change technology through the light valve module, which can switch between a dark state (when displaying content) and a white state (when turned off or on standby). This color transformation allows the display screen to present a white appearance that matches white or light-colored home appliances, resolving the contradiction between maintaining unitary color and adapting to different appliance appearances.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a white color frame is used for the touch display, then it matches white home appliances, but the dark appearance of the display screen when turned off creates visual obtrusiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The light valve module changes the appearance color of the display screen from dark to white when turned off or on standby. This color transformation eliminates the visual obtrusiveness caused by a dark screen against a white frame, while maintaining the white appearance that matches white home appliances.
Solution Approach 2:
The light valve module makes the display screen homogeneous with the white frame and white home appliances when turned off or on standby by presenting the same white appearance. This homogeneity eliminates visual obtrusiveness and creates a unified aesthetic appearance across the entire device.
3Measurement precision
If the display screen is made dark when turned off, then it provides good contrast for display content, but it creates poor visual concordance with white or light-colored home appliances
Solution Approach 1:
The display system dynamically adjusts its appearance based on operational state. When displaying content, the screen provides high contrast for readability. When turned off or on standby, the light valve module switches to a white state that matches the home appliance appearance. This dynamic behavior allows the system to optimize for different functions at different times.
Solution Approach 2:
The display screen periodically switches between dark and white states based on operational requirements. During active display periods, it maintains a dark state for high contrast. During standby or off periods, it switches to a white state for appearance consistency. This periodic switching between states resolves the contradiction between display contrast and appearance consistency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enhances visual concordance by presenting a uniform white appearance when the touch display is off or on standby, reducing visual obtrusiveness and maintaining a consistent color scheme with white or light-colored home appliances.
Implementation Method 1
the incident light can be scattered, and a portion of the incident light further penetrates the light valve module towards the microstructure optical film and is reflected back by the microstructure
Implementation Method 2
a conductive film, disposed inside the casing and configured to be charged to generate the electric field
Implementation Method 3
a portion of the incident light further penetrates the light valve module towards the microstructure optical film and is reflected back by the microstructure
Data Source
AI summary
A unitarily white touch display comprises: a cover lens, a viewing area, from an upper surface to a lower surface of the cover lens, formed in the middle of the cover lens; a touch module disposed under the cover lens to provide touch functions; a light valve module disposed under the touch module and filled with a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer; a microstructure optical film disposed under the light valve module, and a second surface of the microstructure optical film composed of a plurality of micro-prisms. When incident light enters the touch display, the incident light is scattered by the polymer liquid crystal module, and part of the incident light is reflected by the microstructure optical film, re-transmitted and scattered through the polymer liquid crystal module, so that a user can observe foggy white at the viewing area of the touch display.