What Does a Black Light Do to an LCD Screen?
Although LCD technology is mainly attributed to televisions, it is used in a variety of devices including calculators, computer monitors, cell phones, digital watches and other small electronics. Despite the importance of LCD technology, liquid crystals themselves do not produce an image without a backlight.
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LCD Technology
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An LCD display contains a mixture of liquid crystals pressed between two sheets of glass. Since liquid crystals cannot produce light on their own, a backlight is used to electrically charge the crystals in order to produce the image the viewer sees.
Incandescent Backlighting
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Incandescent backlights are the least reliable of all backlights. Although incandescent backlights produce an extremely bright light, they also generate large amounts of heat and produce uneven light. Incandescent backlights are mainly used when low cost is the top priority.
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LED Backlighting
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Light Emitting Diode backlighting has always been a popular light source for small and medium-sized LCD displays. Recently, it has become an increasingly popular backlighting source for LCD televisions. LEDs are the brightest and longest-lasting (50,000 hour average) backlight; the one drawback is that it requires more power than other backlights.
ELP Backlighting
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Electroluminescence Panels are lightweight, thin and consume low amounts of power. Although it is a popular LCD backlight, ELPs do not last as long as LEDs and they do not provide steady brightness. The half-life of an ELP is only 3,000 to 5,000 hours.
CCFL Backlighting
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Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp's offer a bright light and consumes less power than other backlight sources. CCFLs distribute an even light with the use of a diffuser. It is currently the most popular form of backlighting for LCD TVs.
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