IBM Discards the Velvet Cloth with Less Expensive LCD Technology

IBM researchers have figured out a new method of producing LCD displays that not only improves display quality but is also a heck of a lot cheaper than the method that has been used for the past 20 years. Surprisingly, no one can actually explain exactly how the old method of creating LCDs works. LCDs are currently produced based on a discovery from 95 years ago, which demonstrated that when a substrate is rubbed, it forms a pattern that liquid crystals align to. Until now, the only method to reliably align the crystal molecules involved rubbing a polymer substrate with a velvet cloth. IBM's new method uses beams of ions to align the liquid crystal molecules. IBM expects that its new process could save the LCD industry millions, and is considering licensing the patented process to other manufacturers in the $20 billion per year flat-panel display industry. Whether the process will bring down the price of LCDs or merely make the industry more profitable is a question for the gods.