Leaky fibers could lead to flat screen

Leaky fibers could lead to flat screen

An Australian researcher has combined leaky optical fibers with simplified liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to produce thin, lightweight, energy-efficient flat screens. Developed by Ramasoft3 (Sidney, NSW, Australia), the optical-fiber flat screen (OFFS) overcomes some of the design and manufacturing problems that plague current flat-screen technologies. Standard LCDs that are bigger than 17 in., for example, can cost more than $15,000. The panel of the OFFS is formed by optical fibers, their walls etched to allow light transmission. An array of red, blue, and green light-emitting diodes is coupled into the fibers. The OFFS should be cheaper to manufacture, have low power consumption, and possibly be less than 2.5 cm thick.