polymer networked liquid crystal (display) (PNLC)
Polymer Networked Liquid Crystal (PNLC) is a display developed by Sharp that works with reflective technology and pixel memories. It thus belongs to the memory LCDs, comparable to the MIP display.
The PNLC display has a paper-like character like that of the Electronic Paper Display( EPD) or the Mirasol display used in e-book readers, but uses a slightly different technology. The PNLC display can be used as a reflective display in bright ambient light and as an emissive LCD display in poor lighting. It is characterized by extremely low power consumption. Since the power consumption of LCD displays mainly depends on the refresh rate, the PNLC display operates at a low refresh rate of about 1 Hz and uses a 1-bit SRAM under each pixel. At this refresh rate, monochromatic displays have a power consumption of about 10 µW. Because of the SRAM under each pixel, the PNLC display is flicker-free.
The PNLC display is available as a monochromatic display and as a color display with 8-bit color resolution. The screen resolution is relatively low, around 100 pixels. As for the reflection technology, it reflects about 50% of the incident light and has a contrast ratio between 5:1 and 15:1. The response time is relatively sluggishand ranges between 50 ms and 300 ms.
PNLC displays are used in, among other things, small devices such as digital watches, cell phones, temperature measuring devices and in industrial equipment for operating support.