Labelled with liquid crystal

Price labels on the shelves of all branches of a supermarket could change automatically at the touch of a button in a central office, thanks to new electronic labels.

The bi-stable liquid-crystal devices were developed by ZBD Displays, a QinetiQ spin-out company, in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU). The researchers anticipate the new technology could also be used in low-power mobile phone displays and smart cards.

Professor Chris Care from the University’s Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI) said, “It takes supermarket staff a long time and up to three people to change prices overnight. The new device will change all prices instantaneously and it can be coordinated nationally or even worldwide.”

The labels use very high definition liquid crystal displays with an innovative grating inside. One surface is scored with 1-micron ridges using CD-making technology.

Cliff Jones from ZBD said, “”We use an embossing technique. A nickel master is stamped into the film. Equivalent energies competing across two alignments create a fully black and white state that won’t change until a further charge is applied.”