Super-twisted nematic display

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A super-twisted nematic display (STN) is a type of monochrome passive matrix liquid crystal display (LCD). STN displays provide more contrast than twisted nematic (TN) displays by twisting the molecules from 180 to 270 degrees. STN LCDs require less power and are less expensive to manufacture than TFT LCDs, another popular type of LCD that has largely superseded STN for mainstream laptops. However, STN displays typically suffer from lower image quality and slower response time than TFT displays. STN displays are used in some inexpensive mobile phones and informational screens of some digital products.

CSTN stands for color super-twist nematic, a color form of passive matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) for electronic display screens originally developed by Sharp Electronics. The CSTN uses red, green and blue filters to display color. The original CSTN displays developed in the early 90s suffered from slow response times and ghosting (where text or graphic changes are blurred because the pixels cannot turn off and on fast enough). Recent advances in the technology, however, have made CSTN a viable alternative to active matrix displays. New CSTN displays offer 100ms response times (TFT 8ms or less), a 140 degree viewing angle and high-quality color rivaling TFT displays - all at about half the cost. A newer passive-matrix technology called High-Performance Addressing (HPA) offers even better response times and contrast than CSTN.

[edit] Other STN displays

DSTN can stand for:
- Double layer STN - An earlier passive matrix LCD technology that used an extra compensating layer to provide a sharper image.
- Dual Scan STN - An enhanced STN passive matrix LCD display. The screen is divided into halves, and each half is scanned simultaneously, thereby doubling the number of lines refreshed per second and providing a sharper appearance. DSTN was widely used on earlier laptops. See STN and LCD.
FRSTN - Fast Response STN
FSTN - Film compensated STN, Formulated STN or Filtered STN. A passive matrix LCD technology that uses a film compensating layer between the STN display and rear polarizer for added sharpness and contrast. It was used in laptops before the DSTN method became popular.
FFSTN - Double film super-twist nematic
MSTN - Monochrome super-twist nematic