The Basics: LCD TVs totally work different to CRT TVs or PDPs by blocking light. By sandwiching a solution of TN liquid crystals between two perpendicularly aligned panes of polarized glass, it becomes possible to manipulate the intensity of light as it passes through this crystalline matrix and out the glass panel at the other end. Depending on the voltage of the electrical charge running through them, liquid crystals will untwist so that the intensity of light able to pass through the second polarized pane is affected. Basically, these displays can switch between light states (where the liquid crystals are fully twisted) and dark states (where the liquid crystals are fully untwisted), or somewhere along the gray scale in between.

Addressing: A liquid crystal display consists of an array of tiny segments-called "pixels"-that are manipulated to form images or to present information. Addressing is the process by which pixels are turned on (which disables the passage of light) and off (which enables the passage of light) so as to create an image on the polarized display pane in front of you. So-called active-matrix LCD TVs employ thin film transistors (TFTs), or tiny switching transistors and capacitors arranged in a matrix on a glass substrate, to direct electric charges down columns to reach a particular pixel. This, in turn, causes the liquid crystals to untwist and "display" a predetermined amount of light generated by the light source-usually a florescent bulb-in back of them.