UWVD LCD Options

UWVD LCDs have lots of options for customization

UNIQUE LCD WANTED:

A LCD with a BLACK BACKGROUND, CUSTOM ICONS and ADJUSTABLE DIMMING FEATURES

REQUESTED BY:

A company that builds dashboards serving both the automotive and railway industry.

Considering the complexity of machinery that this company designs dashboards for, it came as no surprise that there would be additional specifications involved.

Needless to say, they came to the right place when they sought out FocusLCDs.com because we have over sixteen years of experience with unique LCD design challenges.

THE RIGHT UWVD LCD OPTIONS

We were presented with an opportunity to design a LCD with some rather unique qualities as it must:

Be a unique shape and size to fit the next generation dashboard.
Have capability of adjustable dimming for both day and night conditions (very low settings were needed for night conditions and very bright for day conditions).
Come equipped with a wide viewing angle allowing the controls to be read straight on and from the right line of vision.
The background needed to be pitch-black since a large portion of the display contained icons indicating low-battery, signal strength and other components that the machine operator might need to reference from time to time.

Important to note: The LCD would require several segments, such as the one below that when energized, illuminate to the desired brightness and, when turned off, leave the display, again, pitch-black.

Above: The style of icons that would appear on this particular LCD screen versus other dashboards that use numbers, letters or graphics to convey information.

THE CHALLENGE

We were asked to create a custom-sized display with a black background as well as icons that would indicate the condition of the engine.

Okay. So, this was just the beginning. The entire backlight needed to be adjustable in terms of brightness for the operator or user. This would require adding a custom touch screen, or screens, to areas in which the user would interact with the screen. Therefore, if the operator touched the screen to the right, the backlight would illuminate and, if touched on the left, it would dim. Pretty awesome, right?

It gets better. The touch screen is innovative, not only aesthetically but for its functionality as well as durability. The display must maintain brightness for a minimum of 60,000 hours before starting to dim. The touch screen made it so that the operator did not have to take their eyes off of the windshield in order to access the brightness knob. Simply pressing ones finger would suffice.

THE JOB PUT OUR THINKING CAPS TO THE TEST

We had to contemplate logistical questions as well as those concerning production longevity and availability for the client. (This had to stay in production for at least five years. End of Life = very bad.)

How do we, efficiently, approach such a unique request? In this case, we began by eliminating options that would definitely not work given the design parameters. Despite the fact that TFTs contain a built-in capacitive touch panel (these are panels like those used on the face of today’s smart phones), a multi- color TFT does not offer a true black background. Worth mentioning, the costs involved in building custom-sized TFTs can be astronomical. ($$$$$) And very high Minimum Order Quantities. That’s out.

So, what did we do next? We started with a custom monochrome display and fitted it to the customer’s precise size specifications. Far more brilliant than previous fluid technologies, we utilized a new fluid technology referred to as UWVD (Ultra-Wide Viewing Display Technology). UWVD also boasts the same costs comparable to older forms of FSTN (Super-twisted nematic display), an older technology that maintains applications in fields of aviation, manufacturing and medicine today. UWVD would ensure a wider viewing angle in order for the icons to be read from multiple vantage points.

Lastly, a capacitive touch panel was designed and installed in order to provide the touch interface for the user.

THE BOTTOM LINE: SEEING IS BELIEVING

We didn’t remove our thinking caps when it came down to the bottom line. This is made possible since we can guarantee the monochrome LCDs being in production for almost another decade.

SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED

Did we mention that our customer has committed to re-ordering this unit for the next five to ten years? The total tooling cost was $2,800 with a yearly minimum order quantity (MOQ) of 500 units.

ENOUGH ABOUT US…

Talk to us today about your LCD needs. In order to provide you the best experience possible, first, we need to hear more about you:

Where will the production be built (US/CANADA or offshore)?
Will this be a new design or an existing design?
- If an existing design, how might we be able to improve it? Be specific, we need a clear vision of what you expect and why you have come to us and not our competitors.
Will the unit require daylight visibility?
Is the unit battery-powered?
Does the LCD supplier need to be ISO 9001: 2015 certified?

Do you have questions about UWVD LCD Customization options? Contact us today!