Optimization of liquid crystals for television

— LCD TVs have dramatically improved in performance during the last 2 years. At the same time, the sale prices decreased by more than 50%. Together with the introduction of digital terrestrial broadcasting, this resulted in increasing sales of LCD TVs. This paper gives an overview of the main liquid‐crystal display (LCD) technologies used for TVs. We discuss key materials, synthesis, structural property relationships, and the optimization of LC mixture properties. For all technologies, we have achieved fast‐switching LC mixtures (16 msec). Novel materials for LC mixtures for the next generation of superior performance LCD TVs with 8‐msec switching times are shown.