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Information displays are the primary medium through which text and images generated by

computer and other electronic systems are delivered to end-users. While early computer systems

were designed and used for tasks that involved little interactions between the user and the

computer, today's graphical and multimedia information and computing environments require

information displays that have higher performance, smaller size and lower cost.

The market for display technologies also has been stimulated by the increasing popularity of hand-

held computers, personal digital assistants and cellular phones; interest in simulated environments

and augmented reality systems; and the recognition that an improved means of connecting people

and machines can increase productivity and enhance the enjoyment of electronic entertainment

and learning experiences.

For decades, the cathode ray tube has been the dominant display device. The cathode ray tube

creates an image by scanning a beam of electrons across a phosphor-coated screen, causing the

phosphors to emit visible light. The beam is generated by an electron gun and is passed through a

deflection system that scans the beam rapidly left to right and top to bottom, a process called

Rastering. A magnetic lens focuses the beam to create a small moving dot on the phosphor screen.

It is these rapidly moving spots of light ("pixels") that raster or "paint" the image on the surface of

the viewing screen. Flat panel displays are enjoying widespread use in portable computers,

calculators and other personal electronics devices. Flat panel displays can consist of hundreds of

thousands of pixels, each of which is formed by one or more transistors acting on a crystalline

material.

In recent years, as the computer and electronics industries have made substantial advances in

miniaturization, manufacturers have sought lighter weight, lower power and more cost-effective

displays to enable the development of smaller portable computers and other electronic devices.

Flat panel technologies have made meaningful advances in these areas. Both cathode ray tubes andflat panel display technologies, however, pose difficult engineering and fabrication problems for

more highly miniaturized, high-resolution displays because of inherent constraints in size, weight,

cost and power consumption. In addition, both cathode ray tubes and flat panel display are difficult

to see outdoors or in other setting where the ambient light is brighter than the light emitted from

the screen. Display mobility is also limited by size, brightness and power consumption.

As display technologies attempt to keep pace with miniaturization and other advances in

information delivery systems, conventional cathode ray tube and flat panel technologies will no

longer be able to provide an acceptable range of performance characteristics, particularly thecombination of high resolution, high level of brightness and low power consumption, required for

state-of-the-art mobile computing or personal electronic devices.