liquid-crystaldisplay

liq·uid-crys·tal display (lĭkʹwĭd-krĭsʹtəl) top: When turned off, polarized light reflects off a mirror, passes through the liquid crystal layer,and leaves the display looking white. bottom: When turned on, polarized light is blocked by the rear polarizer. Without the reflection of light, affected areas of the liquid crystal layer look black. Precision Graphics n. Abbr. LCD

A low-power flat-panel display used in many laptop computers, calculators and digital watches, made up of a liquid crystal that is sandwiched between layers of glass or plastic and becomes opaque when electric current passes through it. The contrast between the opaque and transparent areas forms visible characters.

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