| Frequently Asked Questions. |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| What is a Nit? |
| A Nit = a candela per square meter (cd/m2), which is the measurement unit of luminance intensity. The luminance intensity is the amount of visible light leaving a point on a surface, and is usually measured per unit of projected area of the surface viewed from a single direction. This luminance can be due to reflection, transmission, and/or emission, and is better known as the "brightness" of a LCD. Depending on the tool of measurement, another unit used is "fL", where 1 fL equals 3.426 nits. |
 |
| |
| What is contrast ratio? |
| A contrast ratio is one of the measurements of a display system, and is the ratio of the luminance intensity of the brightest color, white, to that of the darkest color, black. A high contrast ratio is usually a desirable feature of a display system. |
|
| |
| What is the Nit reading of sunlight on a sunny day? |
| The Nit reading of sunlight can easily be 30,000 ~ 50,000 nits on a sunny day - this is what is referred to by the "strong ambient light" that will shine on an outdoor display. |
|
| |
| What is the reflectance of a surface? |
| The reflectance of a surface is defined as the ratio of the reflected light intensity of a surface to the incident light intensity, and can be expressed as a percentage. For instance, the surface reflectance of a piece of white Xerox paper is more than 90%, and the reflectance of the untreated surface of a regular LCD is 3 ~ 4%. |
|
| |
| How does the Nit reading of a LCD relate to its sunlight readability? |
| Considering the 4% surface reflectance of a LCD and the intensity of bright incident sunlight - 40,000 Nits, the surface glare of an outdoor display is about 1,600 Nits - this light enters your eyes before you can really read the contents of the display. Thus, it is theoretically accepted that the higher the Nit reading of a LCD, the more sunlight readable it would be. However, practically, a LCD with 1600 Nits without surface treatment may still not be totally readable under 40,000 nits of direct sunlight, which produces 1,600 Nits of surface glare and greatly reduces the contrast ratio of the display. |
|
| |
| What is considered a sunlight readable LCD? |
| A LCD with a contrast ratio of at least 4 ~ 5 would be readable. Considering everything that has been discussed so far, it can be concluded that if the surface reflectance of a LCD is reduced to 1%, even a 400 Nit LCD could perform as well as a 1,600 Nits high bright LCD, yet without the additional cost and heat generation of adding on CCFL bulbs. |
|
| |
| What is a TrioLCD? |
A TrioLCD is a true sunlight readable LCD, readable regardless of its Nits of luminance. This innovative and trademarked product of RayShine Photonics is the direct result of years of R&D. Our R&D involved a thorough consideration of the many aspects of an outdoor display unit and its operating environment, such as the surface properties of an LCD's sub layers, the lighting environment, the incident light waves, etc. - resulting in the final design of the TrioLCD. The name "Trio" was given by taking the first letter of each word describing the unique passive LCD enhancement process - "Transmissive and Reflective Illumination Optimization" - a process that makes the LCD transflective and direct sunlight readable. In fact, the stronger the incident light on a TrioLCD, the brighter it would appear - ensuring that the contrast ratio of a TrioLCD is always high, regardless of the intensity of incident sunlight. |
|
| |
| Are there thermal management issues with TrioLCD? |
| Absolutely not! Our measurements clearly show that the passive modification process of a TrioLCD imposes no extra heat generation on the LCD - it does not introduce extra operational heat. TrioLCD is truly made for harsh outdoor lighting conditions. |
|
| |
| What are the usual delivery times of Trio products? |
| The usual delivery time of Trio products is about 4 weeks after the purchase order is received. However, quick turnaround is available upon customer request. Please contact us for details. |
|
