Until somebody invents cheap display screens with realistic viewing angles and decent colour – and plenty are trying – we’ll just have to rely on AlliedSignal Inc’s stop-gap, sticky-backed plastic films that adhere to liquid crystal displays, to give them all the above features. The Morris Township, New Jersey-based company reckons that SpectraVue gives liquid crystal displays vivid, true colours that do not change with viewing angle, aids reading in sunlight and will enable liquid crystal displays to surpass cathode ray tubes in image quality. The company originally developed the plastic films for aerospace applications such as cockpit displays and it has adapted it for use in a variety of other applications, including video products, and automotive, laptop and desktop monitors. The products are produced and marketed by the company’s MicroOptic Devices unit, a new venture created to commercialise novel optical devices and part of the corporation’s engineered materials’ performance materials business. A $25m facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey was opened in May to manufacture SpectraVue components, and it produces 1m sheets per year of up 11.3, larger sizes are due next year.
