Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device, column signals intended to be applied to the liquid crystal material in first and second regions of the device are carried by first and second sets of column conductors disposed adjacent to a first substrate within the first and second regions, respectively. A portion of each second set conductor passes through the first region, but the singals thereon are prevented from being applied to the display material in the first region by using the first set conductors to shield from the display material that portion of each second set conductor which passes through the first region. In particular, the portion of each second set conductor that passes through the first region is disposed behind (relative to the display material) a respective first set conductor and is narrower than that first set conductor.

Abstract: There is disclosed an ac plasma panel having gray tone and color control. The plasma panel is constructed using a matrix of discharge sites, each site associated with one or more migration sites. The migration sites, in turn, have phosphor areas in conjunction with an electrical field controlling conductor. During the ionization of the plasma gas a selective electrical field is established between a discharge site and an adjacent migration site and the electrons from the gas ionization are free to migrate to the phosphor area of the screen in accordance with the magnitude of the electrical signals on the control conductor.

Abstract: An AC plasma panel display (100) is described with selective row and column shifting capability. The column conductors (C.sub.2, C.sub.4 . . . , C.sub.512) are common between a staging area (11) and an exhibiting area (12) while the other column conductors (C.sub.1, C.sub.3 . . . , C.sub.511) are terminated at the boundary between the two areas. The row shifting is accomplished in the staging area to enter display data on the panel. Column shifting is used between the two areas to transport display data onto the exhibiting area from the staging area. The modified display panel requires a minimum number of drivers and intrinsically isolates column and row shifting during operation.

Abstract: An ac plasma panel is arranged with selective row and column shifting capability. Shifting in both the horizontal and vertical directions is accomplished by arranging for display site discharge transportation under control of eight control conductors with four conductors serving the horizontal direction and four conductors serving the vertical direction. The eight control conductors are used to provide sustain pulses for the ON display sites, and, using the same conductors, an out-of-phase pulse is used to freeze any of the display sites in any row or column while allowing display site transfer to occur selectively in any other row or column.

Abstract: A liquid crystal cell having memory is provided by disposing a liquid crystal material having nematic directors between two substrates which are fabricated to contain an array of singular points. The cell may further include means for detaching singularities such as appropriate electrode arrangements.These substrate configurations provide multistable configurations of the director alignments because disclinations must be moved, either through the bulk of the liquid crystal material or on the substrate surfaces to switch between the stable configurations.The switching of the device between stable configurations may be accomplished by the application of electrical fields to the liquid crystal material.The stable configurations may be optically differentiated by the incorporation of pleochroic dyes into the liquid crystal material or by crossed polarizers.

Abstract: An ac plasma panel is provided with self-shift cpability. Alternate columns of discharge sites, of the panel, referred to as "display" columns, hold the display information. The latter is shifted to adjacent "transfer" columns by concurrently applying an excitation pulse to the sites in the display columns and a priming pulse to the sites in the transfer columns. The excitation pulse creates a gas discharge at those display sites which are in the ON state. The excitation and priming pulses, in combination, cause charge from the charge cloud created by each ON-display-site discharge to be transported to the adjacent transfer site. The transported charge represents incipient wall charge for the transfer site and the latter switches to the ON state. An erase pulse is then applied to the display sites. Other pulses are utilized to preclude undesired inter-site interaction.