{"id":656,"date":"2017-06-07T10:09:09","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T17:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/?post_type=encyclopedia&#038;p=656"},"modified":"2021-07-27T15:40:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T22:40:19","slug":"reflective-lcd","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/reflective-lcd\/","title":{"rendered":"reflective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A reflective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/lcd\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. An LCD is composed of two pieces of glass with a thin layer of liquid crystals between the glass layers. When a voltage is applied to the glass, the orientation of the crystals can be changed. This change in the crystal's orientation (called polarization) will make either a dark&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">LCD<\/a> depends on having sufficient ambient light to reflect in order to be read. A reflective LCD does <em>not<\/em> have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/backlight\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"A backlight is used behind the LCD glass to allow the LCM to be read in dark conditions. The vast majority of backlights are now LED. Historically there were also EL (electroluminescent) and CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light) backlights, but as LED efficiency has increased and cost has decreased, EL and CCFL backlights have all&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">backlight<\/a> and does <em>not<\/em> make any light on its own.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 380px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/product\/cfah1602lnfgjt-lcd-16x2-reflective-character-display-module\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/phpthumb\/phpThumb.php?src=\/images\/products\/CFAH1602LNFGJT\/CFAH1602L-NFG-JT-Front.jpg&amp;w=380\" alt=\"\" width=\"380\" height=\"157\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reflective <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/stn\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"STN stands for Super-Twisted Nematic. STN is the commonly used LCD material in passive character and graphic LCDs.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">STN<\/a> LCD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_375\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-375\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/product\/cfap200200a00154-epaper-display-200x200-mono-graphic-bistable-eink\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-375 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ePaperSquare-250x383.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ePaperSquare-250x383.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ePaperSquare-120x184.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ePaperSquare.jpg 522w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-375\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reflective ePaper Display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A reflective LCD can be seen well in any lighting situation where you could read text on a paper, they are perfectly suited to typical office lighting. In bright sunlight, a reflective LCD is still visible and does not wash out&ndash;this is also called &ldquo;sunlight readable.&rdquo; A reflective LCD is not a suitable choice for dark environments.<\/p>\n<p>Reflective LCDs are often used for low power applications since there is no backlight using power, the overall power consumption is small. ePaper displays, although not an LCD, are an example of a reflective display. ePaper is the hands-down winner of the low-power race since they use zero power between updates.<\/p>\n<h3>View&nbsp;Crystalfontz Reflective and ePaper&nbsp;Modules<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/products\/parametric.php?polarizers%5B%5D=Reflective&amp;price=.1&amp;search=Search\">Reflective and ePaper Displays<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Related Terminology<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/transflective-lcd\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"TRANSFLECTIVE is a portmanteau of TRANSmissive and reFLECTIVE. A transflective LCD combines the best features of a reflective LCDs and transmissive LCDs. &nbsp; A transflective LCD will reflect ambient light, allowing it to be visible in normal office light without using a backlight. In bright sunlight, a transflective LCD is still visible and does not&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Transflective<\/a> LCD and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/glossary\/transmissive-lcd\/\" target=\"_self\" title=\"A transmissive LCD depends on light from its backlight being transmitted through the LCD to your eyes. Transmissive LCDs are always combined with a backlight. Transmissive LCDs can be seen easily in normal office lighting, and in darkness. Typically transmissive LCDs will not be visible in bright sunlight. It is possible to make a sunlight&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Transmissive<\/a> LCD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A reflective LCD depends on having sufficient ambient light to reflect in order to be read. A reflective LCD does not have a backlight and does not make any light on its own. &nbsp; A reflective LCD can be seen well in any lighting situation where you could read text on a paper, they are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"class_list":["post-656","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>reflective - Crystalfontz LCD Glossary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"reflective : A reflective LCD depends on having sufficient ambient light to reflect in order to be read. 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