ViewSonic to launch LCD display with 1ms response time

DailyTech runs a funny story today on ViewSonic's new LCD displays. They kick off by stating the ViewSonic VP930b LCD display has a response time of 16, 8, 3 or 2 milliseconds. It all depends on which ViewSonic representative you speak to.

But it gets even better, as according to internal memos ViewSonic will soon release an LCD display with a 1ms gray to gray response time. The memo claims this was able with a combination of OverDrive, Dynamic Structure and Amplified Impulse technologies.

Gray to Gray response times are traditionally the average time it takes the LCD crystal to twist from one state to another. Specifically, the Viewsonic 1ms LCD panels use a 6-bit twisted nematic LCD panel; each subpixel on the display is capable of 64 states. Akin to a window shade, the further the liquid crystal twists, the more light passes through the display.

Viewsonic's current displays advertise 2 and 4 millisecond response times on gray to gray (GTG) scales over 256 data points. What the company does not disclose is the actual gray to gray states -- meaning the GTG response time may only represent the twisting of the liquid crystals from the 1st to the 2nd subpixel state, or the 2nd to the 3rd, etc. In essence, Viewsonic's 1ms response time is the measure of the liquid crystal twisting from #FF to #FE.

Now the real catch is that ViewSonic doesn't produce its own LCD panels. They buy them from AU Optoelectronics and that firm only makes LCD panels with a response time of 12ms and 16ms. So like DailyTech writes, it's quite a miracle that ViewSonic manages to bypass the laws of physics to twist liquid crystals faster than the manufacturer's advertised response time by adding a digital signal processor.