In modern household appliances, an element such as a TFT display is widely used. It is used in various types of devices: computer monitors, televisions, screens of cell phones, in camcorders and cameras, as well as in many other devices. What is this technology, what are its advantages? In this article, we will analyze what a TFT display is, its advantages and disadvantages.
Thin-film transistor (TFT) in English means thin - film transistor. These elements are made of a thin film 0.1-0.01 microns thick. It is these transistors that control the TFT-matrix, it is also called "active". Passive include liquid crystal devices. Active TFT-display, unlike LCD technology, has a high speed, much higher clarity and contrast of the image and a significantly wider viewing angle. These devices do not have a flickering screen that makes your eyes tired. In active matrices, pixels generate light emission with a given color, so the TFT display is much brighter than passive liquid crystal matrices. All these advantages are explained by the fact that the described technology has a higher refresh rate. This is due to the fact that each display point is controlled by a separate thin-film transistor. The number of such elements in TFT technology is three times greater than the number of pixels. Therefore, one color dot corresponds to three color cells: red, green and blue (RGB system). As an example, consider a matrix: a TFT display (color) with a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, respectively, the number of transistors in such a device will be 3840x1024.
The first liquid crystal matrices appeared in 1972. Since then, these technologies have developed and changed significantly. However, all the shortcomings could not be eliminated. For example, due to the large number of pixels, often among them you can see “broken”, that is, broken ones. Such damaged points cannot be repaired. It should be noted that on active matrices “broken” pixels are less noticeable than on passive devices or dual-scan displays. The constant development of TFT-technologies has significantly reduced the cost of manufacturing such monitors, now the "expensive exotic" has become a commonplace. An important factor in the wide distribution of active matrices in industry has become ease of use. Nowadays, a TFT touchscreen will not surprise anyone, and twenty years ago this was the ultimate dream. The spread of touch monitors was preceded by the appearance of models that can work in harsh operating conditions. As a result, a TFT display was developed that combines a means of displaying visual information, as well as a data input device (keyboard). The operability of such a system is provided by the serial interface controller. This device is connected to the monitor on the one hand, and on the serial port (COM1 - COM4) on the other. PIC controllers are used to control and decode signals from the sensor, as well as suppress “bounce”. They are able to provide high performance, as well as the accuracy of determining touch points.
In conclusion, we say that TFT-technologies as displays and sensors surround us in everyday life, they are used in almost every household appliance.