| We all know that the world's number one TV | | | | used for digital gadgets. Such digital gadgets include |
| technology today is none other than the LCD TV. The | | | | digital clocks, digital watches, digital calculators and |
| technology used by its competitors known as Plasma | | | | many more. Its potentials were limitless. The digital |
| and DLP are all left far behind. | | | | alarm that we commonly use in our watches today is |
| Today, LCD TV demands have rapidly grown | | | | attributed to the work done by George Heilmeier at |
| worldwide. The LCD TV's expanded technology | | | | the RCA. |
| makes it the most up-to-date in high definition | | | | The next in line to be expanding the LCD technology |
| televisions today. It can even be compared with the | | | | was James Fergason. He was a graduate of the |
| technologies used by that of IBM and DVD. However, | | | | University of Missouri. He was the associate director |
| have you ever wondered how this number one TV | | | | of the Liquid Crystal Institute in Kent State University. |
| technology came about? | | | | While being an associate director there, he discovered |
| The technology of LCD was discovered by an | | | | something called the nematic field effect. This |
| Austrian scientist named Friedrich Reinitzer. Friedrich | | | | discovery subsequently took the technology of the |
| Reinitzer discovered the properties of liquid | | | | LCD that he had inherited from Heilmeier's team |
| crystallization more than 80 years ago in 1888. Later | | | | toward the modern LCD technology that we currently |
| on, George Heilmeier, who was an Electrical Engineer | | | | use today. |
| from the University of Pennsylvania, made the first | | | | However, Fergason's discovery of present day LCD |
| efforts of utilizing the process of liquid crystallization for | | | | technology was not perfected squarely at that instant. |
| commercial products. Besides being an Electric | | | | When his team debut their first LCD TV in the year |
| Engineer, Heilmeier also held MA, M.S.E, and PhD's in | | | | 1971, it was a disaster. Everyone was disappointed. |
| several fields of Solid State Electronics. All of these | | | | The images reflected in his team's television were filled |
| achievements he garnered from Princeton University. In | | | | with "phantom images" during the TV's action |
| the RCA Laboratories, he worked with Richard | | | | broadcasting. |
| Williams, Lucian Barton and Louis Zanoni. He also | | | | They had to make a lot of adjustments. After adding |
| worked with Joseph Catellano, Nunzio, Luce and Joel | | | | a method called "reverse pull-down correction" their |
| Goldmacher. During his work at the RCA Laboratories, | | | | LCD TV became a hit. The picture quality was |
| he experimented one by one with different molds and | | | | excellent and there were hardly any picture distortion |
| worked with the different liquid crystallization methods. | | | | during transmission of images. Because of this |
| The work he performed at the RCA eventually | | | | success, Fergason started his own corporation. With |
| became stepping stones in shaping the LCD TV | | | | his corporation he then forged over 100 patents |
| technology as it is being used today. | | | | worldwide. |
| But before the method of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) | | | | Today, viewers of television using LCD TV's report |
| was applied to be used on televisions, there have been | | | | having a one of a kind viewing experience. At the rate |
| several stages of experimentation with the LCD | | | | of the LCD TV's popularity, LCD TV's are to replace |
| technology. | | | | the old CRTs as the technology to be used in the |
| In the RCA laboratories during the time of George | | | | future of television manufacturing. Especially now that |
| Heilmeier, there were a lot of experiments done using | | | | LCD TVs has amazing capabilities of providing high |
| liquid crystals. As a result of these several | | | | viewing resolutions which, when connected to all other |
| experiments, George Heilmeier and his team found out | | | | electronic gadgets, deliver a home theater experience. |
| that this technology, the LCD, can be crafted to be | | | | |