Crysoptix Introduces New Retarders for LCDs

Tokyo, Japan; March 26, 2009. Crysoptix, a designer and manufacturer of image-enhancing optical films for LCDs, has announced a new, low-cost range of coatable Thin Birefringent Film (TBF) retarders (films that allow viewing of an LCD screen from oblique angles). The new retarders are designed to provide efficient optical compensation for various LCD designs, including TN, STN, VA, and IPS modes.

Crysoptix technology enables the production of printable retarders with functions of negative A-plate, negative C-plate, positive A-plate, biaxial BA-type, and AC-type plate. TBF retardation films are produced by solution-processed technology--such as roll-to-roll, slot die, or spray coating--from proprietary lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) coating materials based on self-assembling organic compounds.

The proprietary Crysoptix technology is designed to enable reduced material consumption and reduced cost for LCD optical compensation films. According to the company, replacing a set of conventional stretched polycarbonate retarders with one layer of submicron, solution-processed TBF will provide a substantial cost reduction for LCD optical components.

The coating material can be applied directly to any substrate, including glass and polymer; the drying step produces the TBF retarder. The company claims that high thermal stability makes the Crysoptix retarder suitable for in-cell LCD design. In contrast to liquid crystal polymerizable retarders, TBF coating technology does not require pre-formation of alignment layers on the substrate surface.

The biaxial BA-plate TBF retarder is now in the process of pilot production, and the A-, -C-, and Ac-plate retarders are at the formulation and prototype stages of development.