The more things change
"A liquid that changes colour when exposed to a magnetic field could cheaply replace the colour components in conventional LCD monitors, claim US researchers."
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12280-chameleon-liquid-could-outshine-lcds.html
The more they stay the same..
What's an LCD? Liquid Crystal Display. I'd argue that LCDs _were_ some of the first artificial tunable photonic crystals*. These new particle systems are cool. I like the idea of balancing electrical repulsion with magnetic attraction to form a stable structure; and providing a full range of colors from a single pixel on a reflective display is pretty neat in itself. But the fundamental idea of having a liquid/crystal suspension with optical properties that depend on an applied electromagnetic field has been common on digital watches and hand calculators for a long while.
*If you don't count Roman/Victorian ruby glass.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12280-chameleon-liquid-could-outshine-lcds.html
The more they stay the same..
What's an LCD? Liquid Crystal Display. I'd argue that LCDs _were_ some of the first artificial tunable photonic crystals*. These new particle systems are cool. I like the idea of balancing electrical repulsion with magnetic attraction to form a stable structure; and providing a full range of colors from a single pixel on a reflective display is pretty neat in itself. But the fundamental idea of having a liquid/crystal suspension with optical properties that depend on an applied electromagnetic field has been common on digital watches and hand calculators for a long while.
*If you don't count Roman/Victorian ruby glass.