enhanced specular reflector (backlight) (ESR)

Passive LCD displays do not light up, their playback is activated by backlighting. Only then does a non-illuminated LCD display become an illuminated one.

Backlighting is about uniform illumination of the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and the color space of the backlight. There are different methods for this, using cold cathode tubes( CCFL) and light emitting diodes( LED). With LED backlighting, the light from the side-mounted LEDs must be refracted by many micro-optics so that the LCD panel can be evenly illuminated from behind. The technology is relatively complex. That's why there are newer diffuser techniques such as Enhanced Specular Reflector( ESR) and Collimating Multilayer Optical Film (CMOF).

Enhanced Specular Reflector (ESR) was developed by Vikuiti. It is a multilayer specular polarizing film composed of hundreds of individual films with different refractive indices in which light is reflected back and forth. LED light entering from the side is cast at different angles onto the specular ESR film, from where it spreads evenly across the entire ESR film by multiple reflection, exiting from it and illuminating the LCD panel.