We covered this technology in our review of AUO’s presence at CES 2025 but it may deserve a little more explanation because there’s something to be said for LCD technology, even with the dominance of Chinese manufacturers overshadowing the technological achievement of foreign competitors.
AUO’s HiRaso display technology employs a sophisticated reflective optical stack architecture that fundamentally reimagines traditional LCD principles. The technology utilizes specialized liquid crystal molecules with bistable properties, meaning they can maintain two stable orientations without continuous power input. This bistability is achieved through precise surface alignment treatments and optimized cell gap engineering that creates stable energy wells for the LC molecules. The optical stack incorporates advanced polarizers and reflectors specifically designed to maximize ambient light utilization while maintaining high contrast ratios.
The power efficiency stems from eliminating the traditional backlight unit and implementing an ultra-low-power driving scheme that only requires energy during state transitions. The bistable LC configuration is maintained through carefully balanced elastic and surface anchoring forces, requiring minimal to zero holding voltage. The driving waveforms are optimized using complex algorithms that account for temperature variations and pixel history to ensure clean transitions while minimizing power consumption.
The wide temperature performance is enabled through a combination of specialized LC materials with broad nematic ranges and compensated elastic constants across temperatures. The cell architecture incorporates temperature-stable alignment materials and robust sealing technologies that maintain cell gap consistency across thermal cycling. Advanced compensation films are integrated to maintain optical performance across temperature variations. The reflective structure is optimized with wavelength-selective layers that enhance contrast and readability across varying lighting conditions while maintaining temperature stability.
