High performance liquid crystals for vehicle displays

We report three liquid crystal (LC) mixtures with a wide nematic range (−40°C to ~100°C), small visco-elastic coefficient and low activation energy for vehicular displays. Physical properties at different temperatures were characterized. These LCs greatly improve the performance of different display devices in a car: 1) for head-up projection using liquid-crystal-onsilicon with an average gray-to-gray (GTG) response time less than 1 ms at an elevated temperature. 2) The average GTG response time is maintained at ~10 ms for fringing field switching LCD at T = 0°C and also ~10 ms for twisted nematic LCD at T = −20°C. ©2016 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (160.3710) Liquid crystals; (230.3720) Liquid-crystal devices. References and links 1. P. M. Knoll, “The use of displays in automotive applications,” J. Soc. Inf. Disp. 5(3), 165–172 (1997). 2. M. H. Schuck, D. J. McKnight, and K. M. Johnson, “Automotive head-up display using liquid-crystal-on-silicon displays,” J. Soc. Inf. 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