Parameter space representation of liquid crystal display operating modes

A parameter space approach is used to represent the operation of all liquid crystal displays. The Jones matrix nematic is used to analyze the static optical properties of liquid crystal displays with any twist angle, cell thickness, natural birefringence, and polarizer angles. All the usual display modes such as 90 degrees TN, ECB, OMI, SEE, and STN can be visualized on a simple parameter space diagram. Besides its pedagogical values, this formulation has the advantage of simplicity in showing the physics and operating conditions of supertwist as well as low twist liquid crystal displays. It can also be used to analyze novel situations such as reflective displays which do not require any back polarizer. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.