Can this cold weather damage an LCD?

[VBboy]

This seems fairly technical.
If I order an LCD monitor and UPS ships it ground, won't the crystals leak or freeze because of the extreme cold we're experiencing here in the US?

Do LCDs generally handle such low temps well?

Thanks!

 

[dkozloski]

Here in Alaska , the LCD displays on the outside gas pumps still work when it is -50 deg. F.

 

[Mday]

it is called an LCD, but it's not like water in a glass bottle which breaks when it freezes.

LCDs shouldnt be exposed to EXTREME temperatures whether operational or not. but these temperaturs are nothing. just sit it in your house for a bit for it to warm up before you do anything.

 

[AbsolutDealage]

There should be no problem. When an LCD gets cold/freezes, the response time of each element is noticeably longer.

You can see this if you have an LCD for the radio in your car on a cold morning. When you start the car, watch how slowly the elements on the display change when you adjust the dials. Now, obviously, that is a monochrome display with very large elements, but the same thing will apply to your monitor.

If you plug your monitor in while it is still cold, you will see ghosting/slow response. Don't worry about the shipping, just let your monitor warm up before you plug it in.

 

[VBboy]

Thanks for your help, guys!

 

[Peter]

The LCD won't take any damage from the cold. However you REALLY want to let it warm all through before turning it on. Else you'll have condensation water inside, which is something that the higher voltage components in there (transformers, backlight circuitry) won't quite like.

 

[Mday]

CRTs should REALLY be allowed to warm up in a room. the thermal shock can damage the tube.

 

[f95toli]

LCDs can actually be damaged when exposed to cold. A few years ago a new type of LCD screen was introduced in Japan (it used a different class of crystals than conventional screens). It was a good screen (back then) but it was never sold abroad because it was too expensive to transport since it had to kept warm at all time or the crystal would be destroyed (due to an irreversible phase transition), you could for example not send it by air since the cargo-hold in airplanes would get too cold. Later the production was shut down (not only because of this).

All LCDs that are sold today can handle very low temperature, I think the regulations say down to -65C but I could be wrong.