Zom-B
0
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2008
- Messages
- 895
- Points
- 28
Ones who have dissected Blu-Ray or HD-DVD sleds know they contain a small piece of glass with electric connections that looks like a tiny LCD panel. The article on Sam's Laser FAQ calles it a "Mutli-segment LCD panel for wavefront aberration correction" (Item J). I wanted to see what kind of LCD segments were on it because no one else ever did.
Normal LCD's use polarizers to make the segments visible to humans. The polarizers block light with certain polarizations and the segments rotate the polarization. This LCD seems to come without polarizers, so I have no way to see the segments. I have a polarizing glasses, and a polarized laser, with which I can do an experiment. I will make use of the effect that LCD segments will activate from static electricity from the mains (ungrounded).
This is my setup. From left to right: Screen, Mirror, Strong lens, Polarizing glasses, LCD (not shown, because I hold it with pliers), Laser (rotated to align with the polarizer) and tweezers (electrically connected to the laser; to touch the ribbon on the LCD to activate segments)
I will create an electrical circuit by touching the wires of the segments to the tweezer, and letting the electrons flow out of the display through the glass and pliers and my body to the floor. I know this creates a closd circuit because I can slightly feel the static when touching the laser body. Glass conducts enough for the segments to activate (I know this from experience).
This is the LCD on front of the laser without active segments:
And this is when I touch random paths on the ribbon with the tweezers (technically, I touch the tweezers with the ribbon)
I'm shifting the LCD a bit around because it doesn't fit the screen completely (the laser beam is too tight for that)
It seems to consist of a circular center (not clear if this is a segment) with a ring of 180 degree segments around it and a larger ring with 45 degree segments around that. Each ring consists of several rings of increasing diameter.
Normal LCD's use polarizers to make the segments visible to humans. The polarizers block light with certain polarizations and the segments rotate the polarization. This LCD seems to come without polarizers, so I have no way to see the segments. I have a polarizing glasses, and a polarized laser, with which I can do an experiment. I will make use of the effect that LCD segments will activate from static electricity from the mains (ungrounded).
This is my setup. From left to right: Screen, Mirror, Strong lens, Polarizing glasses, LCD (not shown, because I hold it with pliers), Laser (rotated to align with the polarizer) and tweezers (electrically connected to the laser; to touch the ribbon on the LCD to activate segments)
I will create an electrical circuit by touching the wires of the segments to the tweezer, and letting the electrons flow out of the display through the glass and pliers and my body to the floor. I know this creates a closd circuit because I can slightly feel the static when touching the laser body. Glass conducts enough for the segments to activate (I know this from experience).
This is the LCD on front of the laser without active segments:
And this is when I touch random paths on the ribbon with the tweezers (technically, I touch the tweezers with the ribbon)
I'm shifting the LCD a bit around because it doesn't fit the screen completely (the laser beam is too tight for that)
It seems to consist of a circular center (not clear if this is a segment) with a ring of 180 degree segments around it and a larger ring with 45 degree segments around that. Each ring consists of several rings of increasing diameter.
